Biqque's February Lucky Follower

It's time for Monthly Lucky Follower againnnn!

Gosh! Been SUPER busy with Makassar trip and India trip and fighting the worst diarrhea that I've ever had (thanks to Incredib!e India),
now it's time to give back!

1. Create an entry "Biqque's February Lucky Follower" as your entry title.
2. Find your profile picture in my follower list and circle it.

(Those who has submitted for January, you may use the same picture. Easy kan?)This month kita guna sample muka Chawana plak :D

3. Leave your entry link in the comment section.

Lucky follower will get ONE mystery gift.
Stay tune on 7th Mac 2011 at 9.00am,
to know who got lucky!

P/S: To Fadzillah Kamaruddin, January lucky follower, ya ampunnnnn...I've posted yours :) muahs!

Fort Rotterdam, Makassar

It was quite a shiny day. We packed our bags and went out for some quick shopping at Jalan Somba Opu, to get some souvenirs to bring back home. Beforehand, we stopped at one mart and bought instant noodles. We ate in front of the mart while watching locals opened their shops.

Tips : For Makassar souvenirs, go to Jalan Somba Opu.

After walked into three to four shops, which more or less selling the same thing, we finally stopped at one shop and get ourselves two t-shirts each. We also bought sarung and batik for our parents.

Tips : There are many types of sarung and batik. Pick wisely.
Rain started to drizzle once we went out from the shop but we still wanted to go to Fort Rotterdam. At least, we do one outdoor visit coz since we came here, we did none due to rain.

We asked around on the direction and lucky us, it was only 10-15 minutes walking distance. We reached the fort and saw lots of busses that full with locals. Hmm…no tourist?
We went inside and there was a desk where we should write down our name and citizenship. The officer behind the desk then said something to me which I couldn’t understand but I saw some locals contributed few Rupiah to him. Well, I didn’t contribute any. Hehe! You see, the fort isn’t really huge or unique, it is slightly the same as Fort Cornwallis at Penang, so nothing much to contribute right?

Tips : Entrance is free.

This Dutch fort was built during 1670s that originally known as Ujung Pandang, and it became a center of Dutch colonial power in Sulawesi. It’s been said that this fort was in turtle shaped that resembled the Gowa Kingdom, who live both, on land and in the sea. Almost half of the fort portions still in good shape, including the Galigo Museum that keeps the history of it.
Not for long, we walked back to the hotel and took our bags. The bell boy then called up a cab and off we went to the airport. The cab driver asked 16,000rupiah in advance, to pay the toll fee.

To cut the long story short, when we arrived at the airport, the cab driver then asked another 6,000rupiah from us, BECAUSE THE BELL BOY ASKED HIM TO DO SO! No wonder lah! Hubby told me that he saw the cab driver secretly gave few amount of money to the bell boy before we took off! Hubby insisted not to give the cab driver the extra money, as we didn’t know what the arrangement between him and the bell boy was.

Tips : Never trust anyone. Deal on your own.
The cab driver finally conceded and advised us not to trust anyone. We thanked him and I told hubby, I am going to complaint this to Mercure Hotel! Such a very good hotel with this kind of attitude? What a bad impression.

We checked in and to kill time, we ate at Toraja Food Hall. I ordered bakso mee while hubby ordered soto. Since we still have rupiah in hand, we decided to buy a bottle of markisah, to bring back home.

Tips : Markisah Juice and Coto Makassar are must try items.
But once we went into the immigration scanner, they took our markisah! We almost got into fight when they said all water bottles are not allowed. If it is not allowed, then why sell it in the departure hall?! Plus, it is categorized as Makassar-must-buy item! Crazy! It was 40,000rupiah! The officer then smiled and said, it wasn’t them who disallowed, it’s Air Asia.

She then tried to talk to the Air Asia so-called crew, but still, water bottles are not allowed on board. Dang!
We left the drink and get on board. And guess what? HOW COME MY DRINKING WATER THAT I KEPT IN MY HANDBAG, ABLE TO GO THROUGH???

Tips : Put any drinks in your handbag. Do not leave it visibly seen. If it is not allowed, drink there and then. Haha!
Bad Air Asia.

Even the hot seat got hole at the armrest! (Ya I know, that's the only for us to travel CHEAP!)
Last but not least, do you guys want to know how Makassar looks like from above? Fully covered with water!
And it has lots of islands around it.Even I was mad at Air Asia, I still buy myself a set of Air Asia fridge magnets. Haha! :)

Live From India via iPod Touch

India is such an Incredib!e country. Visit the Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur) is a MUST thing to do. But, you need to do it in a local way. Trust me, you will experience it like what you should! Don't afraid to explore, coz that's how you learn the Indian way of travelling.

I'm in the middle of doing it. Gonna post tons of entries that I myself, not quite sure when and how to start!

-biqque-

नई दिल्ली - आगरा - जयपुर, भारत!

I yem woff to YINDIAAAAAAA!

Preparation for India Trip

Some preparation for India Trip.

IPod Silicone Cover.

Since I didn't manage to get this thing during my visit to MTC Makassar, I need to get one at our beloved Lowyat lah. Though the box stated it comes with screen protector, I didn't get one coz it is made in Malaysia. Hahaha! Ok what...as long as it doesn't get scratch. Thought of getting a flip cover but it was quite expensive, so a cheap silicone with separate screen protector are quite a minimal investment for me. Anyway, still having issue with iTunes, where my colleague said the OS is too old and somehow, he unable to crack it! Hmm...someone, help me?

Rechargeable AA Battery with Charger.

Currently, I have to sets of GP rechargeable batteries (2500mAh), and Energizer fast charger (4 slots). Though these brands are known with its higher mAh (up to 2700mAh) and fast charging (45minutes), they are non-lasting. With some suggestions and 6 hours window shopping (crazy!), this time, I bought Enelop. It comes in 1900mAh but the most important thing is, it is long-lasting! That's what I care most. And getting Uniross battery will cost me a bomb, I just get its battery cases. Hehe!

Compact Hair Dryer.

Hmmm. I had one before, "cap ayam". Sent for warranty at Giant, but until now, I haven't claim for it. Hahaha! I have Philips - Salon Dry Pro at home but it is not suitable for traveling (jumbo size ma!). So I get myself a new compact hair dryer with 1100watt, in the same brand. Not that India hotel don't provide this facility, but I'm just afraid that the same issue that I had with Mercure Makassar Hotel, is repeated. All blowers were out! Why can't they just be like Amiga Motel at Seoul?

Walking Shoes.

My BIG issue! I never have any shoes that fulfill my comfort-feet-zone. NEVER. UNTIL I bought my RM10 rubber-shoes that served me well for almost more than 5 trips. Envy looking at hubby getting his new cheap white walking shoes, I BOUGHT one for me. Can't tell much on her performance, need to try it first. Let's see whether she serves me well in India, ok? (Terpijak taik kat India pun tak nangis ni Chawana! Hahaha!)

Sup Konro Karebosi, Pantai Losari, Makassar

We walked as fast as we can and came out from the mall, there I saw one familiar face. It’s Aniz AJ! And she’s taller than me! Hahaha! She walked with us to the other corner and asked whether we had fun in Makassar and how we found Makassar so far. She then suggested to try ‘pete-pete’ since we already tried bus, cycle-rickshaw, and cab. She stopped one ‘pete-pete’ and we hopped in. She didn’t have to say anything and the driver just drove away! Hubby and I were smiling and laughing, enjoying the ride, and acted like local.

Anis then said “Kiri pak” (left please) and the driver stopped us there, right in front of the famous rib resto! We paid 3,000rupiah=RM1 each and hell yeah, it was darn CHEAP! As easy as that if you take ‘pete-pete’? We never tried it before coz we didn’t bother to know how it works and sitting with TOO many locals in one car is quite scary. Now we know how to use ‘pete-pete’, thanks to Anis. Hehe!

Tips : Get adventurous by trying different types of transportation. It is fun!

We got introduced to her friends, Radin, who her sister has two ICs due to a very long name (I just got to know that you can have two ICs) and Ana, who later cried in happiness, remembering her jokes which we never get it. Each of us ordered set of ‘sup konro’ (rib’s grill with soup) that came with rice. AND IT WAS HUGE! Enough for two to eat, but we managed to finish it all. Hehe! Sarah came along with her boyfriend and we had so much fun, chit-chatting, laughing, complaining, discussing, about the whole wide world.

I don't know what these beautiful-brilliant-kids do in Makassar!
And that's why I went there...TO SAVE them...hahaha!

Tips : 'Sup Konro'. A must dish to try!

Since it was too early and we had nothing to do, we decided to ‘lepak’ with these doctors-to-be at Pantai Losari. Just to be LOCAL on Saturday nite! Radin and Ana rode their bikes there, while Anis took us on another ‘pete-pete’ ride. We even challenged Radin and Ana, who reached there first!

We stopped one ‘pete-pete’ and the driver agreed to bring us there. While chatting with Anis, we noticed that the driver took a longer time to reach Pantai Losari. The place should be just few blocks away and Anis noticed that the driver has taken us to some sort of place named El Bay (if I was not mistaken). She quickly asked the driver to stop while argued on why the driver conned us. Well, she said that was how ‘pete-pete’ earned their income. Pffttt! AND I PAID!

Tips : Never talk big. It's karma. Haha!

I told Anis, in EVERY trip, there must be at least, one time, we got cheated. Normal. That’s what you called, experience. Something that we can tell others about.

AND I PAID!

Tips : Don't regret. Take it and go! Experience ma...

The ‘pete-pete’ left us by the road side and we stopped a cab, and finally, reached Pantai Losari, WHERE Radin and Ana started to laugh at us! Hahaha! Findddd! We lost. We snapped pictures and had fun laughing at Ana, for taking photo that she never actually did. We then sat on the bench and continued chit-chatting bout funny stories, UNTIL rain started falling.

The is the pic that Ana tried to snap. Hahaha!

WE STILL DIDN’T go back! We went into one resto and drank more ‘teh botol’ and ‘es teh manis’ while discussing about Egypt issue. Wahhhh! (Ariel Peter Pan also in topic you knowww...)

And I love them.

We called off the night around 12.00pm and went back to hotel, via feet. Planned to visit Fort Rotterdam the next day, IF and ONLY IF, it wasn’t RAINING.

India Trip Cookbook

OMG!

My time is running out! I have so much idea but no time to create India Trip Cookbook! Many things to search, many things to confirm, many things to do, many things to compile, YET, I have no time to do all this!

This is the best that I can do in 2 hours...enough la huh?

Front Cover

Back Cover

Jai hoooooooooooooooo...jai ho!

MTC, Lapangan Karebosi, Makassar

At 4.00pm, it was still RAINING, so we took a cab to MTC, where we supposed to meet Anis. We went there earlier just to kill time and to see what the mall has to offer (as Anis said it is like Lowyat). It’s located right in front of Lapangan Karebosi which served the ONLY underground mall in Indonesia, via Karebosi Link.

Anis told us to wait her at the main entrance and once we reached there, I quickly identified which one was the main entrance. Since it was still early, we decided to have a quick window shopping, started with ground floor.
Tips : A must place to go.

The place was actually pack with IT gadgets, accessories, clothes, shoes and many more, exactly like Lowyat. Amazingly, they were selling DVDs, 10,000rupiah-RM3 for 4 pieces! And some of them are still in cinema! Hell yeah…I would have bought MANY DVDs if I wasn’t afraid of being caught by Malaysian Immigration. Hahaha!
Hubby tried to look for CF Card but there wasn’t much option to choose. The price was actually more than what Lowyat can offer, so he skipped buying it. We did look for shoes to be worn during India trip, but none can satisfy us. I had difficulties in finding the IPod casing as ALL salespersons didn’t get what I was trying to say. They know IPhone, but not IPod. Duhhh…
Anis then sms-ed and told that she will be coming after Maghrib prayer. So we still have more time to loiter around the mall. We stopped at one café at 4th floor and sat next to the window, where we can view the whole Lapangan Karebosi and Mandala Monument. While sipping ‘teh botol’ we had a chat with the waitresses.
There are four type of multitudes in Sulawesi. The Makassar, Toraja, Bugis and Mandara. She’s a Makassar and according to her, Makassar is quite rude compared to Toraja. Rude in terms of they way they talk to people. Besides, they will bring ‘badik’ (small knife) along with them. If they say they want to kill someone, they will kill that person there and then. Meanwhile, Toraja is a kind of race that is too arrogant. They embarrass to do cheap labor work. They let themselves unemployed, get poorer, than selling food at the street.

She also told us that Javanese are more civilized coz they are willing to work, anywhere, regardless what type of job they have to do, just to earn more. And that is why we see many Javanese in Malaysia. The story became more and more interesting when she started to tell us, there are syndicates of kidnapping babies and adults (below 40), kill them and take out their lung, heart, eyes and other organs, for black market! She, herself, as local, comes to work and goes back home using ‘pete-pete’ (small van without door), might put herself in that terrified state.

Tips : Always be cautious and aware of your surroundings, whenever you go.

She later changed the subject to Makassar type of marriage and burial. Makassar isn’t different with Malay where guys give dowry to girls. But Makassar can never marry a Padang, coz Padang guys will ask for dowry from the girls too. Hahaha! But burial ceremony even interesting! It’s all depend on how much money you have coz burial ceremony needs you to give the WHOLE village the meat. Sapi (cow) meat! Not one, not two, but more than three, A VERY VERY VERY GOOD type of Sapi (depend on how good it’s skin is). Crazy huh? So don’t be surprise if you find corpse in their house, on their bed, for more than a year.

And I don’t know why, a girl whom her grandma has passed away, need to give cow to the whole village! For what???

We were then speechless when she suddenly changed the mood to a vast issue of Malaysian victimizing Indonesian, a.k.a maid issue. We quickly told her that EVERY country has good and bad people. EVERY where is just the same. We told her what Indonesian workers have done to our country, like killing people, house-breaking, fighting each other, and she’s been quite tolerant when she heard that.

Tips : Pick your strangers and your topics. Try to avoid racism or country issue. Some people might not happy with it.

We ended up by paying for the drinks and said bye-bye to her. Such a beautiful young lady who gave us much info of Makassar. We continued walking down the mall and took the Karebosi Link to the other side. We snapped few pictures and seemed like they were preparing for something huge tomorrow. Some sort of ‘GODS parade’ where they wear like ‘dewa-dewi’ around town. (Don’t ask me what was that for.)
We then went down the underground mall and the place was actually quite huge. There were outlets selling bags, clothes, accessories, shoes, handphones, blablablabla…but wait…199,000rupiah for a ‘blueberry’ phone? Who cares if its not a BLACKberry? I don’t! So we quickly asked one of the salesperson but too bad, the price wasn’t for that ‘blueberry’. Duhhh…

Tips : Just grab any cheap gadgets! If it's not working, it's worth a buy. Haha!

Anis called! She has arrived at MTC!

Trans Studio, Makassar

It was still RAINING!

I told you…

We had to skip few plans that morning. We need to switch outdoors with indoors. While watching live updates on Egypt, we decided to go to Trans Studio. It’s been said that this mall has the largest indoor theme park in the world!

Click on image for more info.

Tips : Always have plan B in your trip.

Well, Hosni Mubarak ain’t stepping down till September. Who gonna replace him as the new America’s puppet? Well, his son has resigned.

Protestants still get nothing even after Friday prayer. Egyptians are requesting for democracy LIKE WHAT MALAYSIA HAVE. Indonesian parents are requesting for government to bring back their kids, LIKE WHAT MALAYSIA DID.

So be grateful, MALAYSIAN.

We got ourselves ready and requested for a cycle-rickshaw to bring us to Pantai Losari for breakfast. We stopped at one Muslim resto, 999 Rumah Makan & Café. Hubby paid 10,000rupiah=RM3 to the cycle-rickshaw since he didn’t understand how much was the cycle-rickshaw asking for. What I know, the cycle-rickshaw had a big smile on his face.
I ordered ‘bakso mee’ while hubby ordered ‘soto sup’. While waiting, we finally noticed that this resto located right in front of the Pantai Losari trademark. You know, the big letters of

P, A, N, T, A, I, L, O, S, A, R, I ?

Hmm…I wish I can snap pictures in front of it.

The food came with additional four packs of ‘buras’ (like nasi impit). We didn’t order it but looking at the picture on the wall menu, it came with the soup. So hubby tried one, but it didn’t taste good. (Yet, we had to pay for all four additional 'buras'. Dang.

Tips : Always re-confirm on whatever you ordered.
I then asked the old uncle at the counter where can we get umbrella around that area and he told us, we can only get it at market, which was actually quite far from his resto. I looked across the street and there was one small street vendor selling things. I ran under the rain and asked the boy whether he sells any umbrella and he seemed speechless. So I assumed he didn’t.

Tips : Always spare a poncho to Asian countries.

We took another cycle-rickshaw back to the hotel and this time, we paid 5,000rupiah instead of 10,000rupiah. Hehe! That was the actual fee you know. Hubby and I then asked the receptionist, how far the Tranx, as that’s what they called it. With a big smile on her face, she told us that there’s a shuttle from Tranx to this hotel at 11.00am. She asked us to wait in our room and will call us later. Great!

Tips : Always ask how much the fee before you hop on any cycle-rickshaw.

We waited in the room and watched more news on Egypt. At 10.00am, the receptionist rang our room and told that the shuttle was full and will not come to this hotel. Duhhhh! When I asked for hair dryer this morning, she said all blowers were out. Now shuttle bus also out?

We didn’t want to waste more time, so we decided to take cab since it was still RAINING and we had no other choice. It wasn’t far actually but it was not a walking distance. 5km maybe. We paid 15,000rupiah=RM5 for that distance, and this answered to why the cycle-rickshaw had a big smile on his face when he received 10,000rupiah for 100meters distance. Hahaha! By the way, passengers need to pay extra 2,000rupiah for taxi entrance fee.

Tips : Always rent a cab with meter.
Once we entered the main entrance, we had to scan our bags and ourselves. Wah, like China! Who wants to bomb the largest theme park…in the world? Some countries maybe, hahaha!

There were big butterflies on the ceiling. Nice and beautiful. Luxury outlets and expensive brands like Chanel, Guess, Tods, Coach, occupying the mall. But…the mall was…emptied with people…no locals coming here? Just look at the shops, I guess, only rich people come here.
We walked around from Ground Floor to Third Floor and the mall wasn’t that big. Mid Valley has more to explore. Since it's Chinese New Year, they had dragons came out from the wall. Hahaha! (What's with 2562?)
We finally reached the main entrance of the biggest theme park and there we saw Julia Perez on the jumbo screen! Hahaha! Guess how much is the entrance fee? 150,000rupiah=RM49! We passed.
Anyway, I managed to get 4 pieces of fridge magnets for travelholic clans.
Since I saw one hotelier brought back Carrefour’s plastic bag yesterday, I asked hubby to look for Carrefour to get something to eat. We asked around and one of the cleaner told us it was located at the basement. We finally found the way to the basement area and there was Carrefour, in front of us.
I bought potato bun and a drinking water while hubby bought a pack of Toraja coffee for his mama. (Either coffee or tea, it always for his mama. Hehe!) We stopped at one cigarette counter and saw all local cigarettes were only ‘kretek’. I asked for non-clove cigarettes for Adib but the girl said no other kind of cigarettes other than ‘kretek’. Hmmm…

While walking, we ate potato bun and walked back to the main entrance. It was still RAINING and it was even HEAVILY pouring. We can see the open sea from this mall and the waves were so huge and wild. Coconut trees and palms were waving left and right. Scary!
So we texted Anis, asking where we can look for Makassar souvenirs but unfortunately, Jalan Somba Opu was an opea walking area, so we went back to hotel.