Jayleen Hotel, Clarke Quay, Singapura

Menyambung review ku tentang Singapore, dan memenuhi janji ku untuk me review tempat menginap selama di sana, nah ini tempatnya! Jayleen Hotel, yang terletak di daerah Clarke Quay. 

Kami mendapatkan hotel ini dari situs AirBnB. Dan harga yang kami dapatkan untuk menginap di hotel ini selama 5 hari 4 malam yaitu kurang lebih SGD1600 (dengan asumsi kurs waktu itu 1SGD = Rp 9800). Mungkin karena kami bepergian pada saat High Season juga, sehingga sulit untuk mendapatkan hotel murah selama di sana.

Tapi walau begitu, aku merasa sangat beruntung bisa menginap di hotel ini. Kamar yang kami tempati memang tidak terlalu besar ukuran nya, tetapi masih cukup nyaman untuk ditinggali, at least masih cukup lega untuk menaruh barang barang kami :)

Hotel ini letaknya persis di seberang Clarke Central, pusat perbelanjaan yang lumayan rame di Singapura. Dari hotel ini, cukup dengan menyeberang jalan atau naik jembatan penyeberangan. Dan di bawah nya, langsung ada Stasiun MRT Clarke Quay. Menyenangkan banget kan tinggal di sini? Strategis sekali, karena sarana transportasi yang sering kita gunakan berada dekat sekali dengan hotel. Oh iya, persis di depan hotel ini juga ada stasiun bis, yang bisa kita gunakan kalau kita lagi malas naik MRT :D  

Hotel ini makin nyaman dengan keberadaan salah seorang resepsionis nya yang bernama Mr. Lee, dan dia suka dipanggil dengan nama Mr. Bruce Lee haha.. He is so so nice by the way. We are so lucky! (again). Dari pertama kali nya kami sampai, beliau langsung menyambut kami dengan senyum ramahnya, dan langsung memberikan kunci kamar kami, kemudian ketika kami hendak keluar makan malam, dia menyarankan kami untuk membawa peta Singapura dan peta MRT, in case kami nyasar di jalan. LOL. Ga cukup sampe di situ, dia juga menunjukkan jalan nya! How nice he is. Dan yang cukup berkesan waktu itu adalah, jika kami menemukan hal yang membuat kami tidak nyaman di kamar, maka kami akan langsung menyampaikan keluhan kami ke Mr Lee dan dalam waktu tidak sampai 1 hari, he fixed it! Orang ini betul2 berdedikasi sekali dalam bekerja loh. Hmm nice! 

Nah, kalau yg ini, hotel Jayleen 1918 yang berada tidak jauh dari lokasi hotel kami. Mereka masih dalam 1 payung yang sama yaitu Group Hotel Jayleen dan sejenisnya. Kami biasanya having our breakfast di sini. Makanan nya pun enak enak :D Kira-kira dibutuhkan waktu 3 menit berjalan kaki untuk sampai di sini dari hotel kami. Hm tapi menurut pendapatku, mereka tidak seramah Mr Lee dalam melayani pelanggan. Entahlah.. 

Akhirnya, setelah 5 hari 4 malam yang terasa sangat cepat itu, kami harus pulang ke Indonesia. So sad. Nah, sebelum kami berangkat, pagi-pagi si Mr Lee ini tiba-tiba membelikan kami roti Prata, yang katanya enak banget, yang dijual di penghujung jalan hotel kami. What a nice surprise. Sayangnya, roti prata tersebut tidak sempat difoto, karena sudah keburu habis LOL. Enak banget, persis seperti yang Mr Lee katakan.

Thank You Mr. Lee for your hospitality! Suatu hari, kalau aku ke sana lagi, aku rasa aku akan tetap memilih Jayleen Hotel sebagai tempat menginap favoritku! :D

JAYLEEN HOTEL CLARKE QUAY

25 New Bridge Road

Singapore 059390

+65 6817 0470

Ying Thai, Pantai Indah Kapuk Jakarta

Hi Everyone!

This time i would like to share another story, when we visited one of the best Thailand food, Ying Thai at Pantai Indah Kapuk, and finally they open their branch at Jakarta since foodies do know (i bet) they also located in Melbourne, Australia. Actually, this is not my first time coming here but i'm never get bored! :D

We arrived at 3 pm. Hmm.. it is quite a late lunch so we directly ordered the menu. First thing that comes out to my mind is: their Pork Knuckle! I have my several times ate it, yet it is still so damn good, so damn delicious! Here is the picture:

Pork Knuckle, 248K

This pork knuckle is really stunning! Bigger than we thought it would ever be. We started to eat then, and guess what? The meat is so tender and juicy enough, also permeated with the perfect marinade. However, don't worry, you can eat all of the parts of it. Hehehe.. Maybe, if you ever eat this Pork Knuckle in some other places, you find out there are some parts are quite difficult to eat, but you can find something different here. so, give it a try! :D

Mango Sticky Rice, 48K

And, for the dessert, they have Mango Sticky Rice, Thai specialties dessert. For sticky rice and coconut milk sauce is savory enough for me. Mango is sweet, lucky us i guess, because it is seasonal as i know.
Though still, we can not compare them from the one at Bangkok :)))

Thank you Yingthai Indonesia for the lunch! We did enjoy our visit, and we will come back again soon :)



YINGTHAI INDONESIA
Ruko Crown Golf Blok B No 8-9
Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta
Phone: (021) 2952 5756
Opening Hours: 11 am-10pm
Spending for two (approx): 400K

Filosofi Kopi, Blok M

Filosofi Kopi coffee shop at Blok M becomes popular since its movie published last year.  This coffee shop located inside the Pusat Niaga Blok M Square area at Melawai 6 Street across M Hotel. 

Actually, i have been several times coming here, but it never get me bored. The place is build from the abandoned building which is renovate to a cozy and charming place to chill.

They have coffees and non coffees menu available here. While snacks are like french fries, waffle and fried cassava. Limited, but i always order their coffees when i get here.What makes their coffee feels special? Hmm... i don't know but it can always make me enjoy every scenes of the movie from every corner while i enjoy the coffee as well.

Filosofi Kopi is a movie adapted from a short story made by Dewi 'Dee' Lestari. The film lasted 117 minutes, the story of two friends, namely Ben and Jody, who initiated to make a business together  called Filosofi Kopi coffee shop. In the coffee shop, Ben is the 'barista', and Jody is the manager.

Well, the film "Filosofi Kopi" actually not only talked about coffee. The movie was just a lot of talk about relationships between human and how coffee became their intermediaries to terms with the bitterness of the past.

And here is what we ordered on our last visit on June 25th, 2016. One is espresso (in a small cup), and the other one is coffee latte. They are awesome! The espresso taste really good, appear in a thick one, but still feels fit and balance. Meanwhile, the latte also feels good as well, the mixture between coffee and milk is great. It doesn't feel too milky nor too bitter.

This coffee shop is very recommended especially for coffee lovers (like me), and for foodies out there who wants to try a different way (place) to enjoy coffee. Find this coffee shop at the address below, and if you guys are lucky, you can meet Rio Dewanto at the coffee shop! :D 

Address:
Filosofi Kopi
Jl. Melawai VI
Blok M, Kebayoran Baru
South Jakarta, 12160
Opening Hours:
08.00-11.30, 13.30-22.00

Instagram: @filkopmovie

Chinatown, Singapore

 

Eat, drink, shops, and be very merry

Chinatown is a subzone and ethnic enclave located within the Outram district in the Central Area of Singapore. Featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements, Chinatown has had a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population. We did not find any difficulties went there (most of the place in Singapore), because the MRT is everywhere! :D

As we get there, we had our lunch first and then we went around the shops, they have so so many shops there, so prepare your stamina to explore them. The shops sell anything; welcome to one stop portal for all things (Niu Che Shui!) I also bought Pashminas, which cost SGD 5 each! Cheap, but you can never doubt the quality. I think i can not find it anywhere in Jakarta for the same price and quality.

Later, while we were enjoying our shopping, the rain fells down. But it did not disturb us at all. We can still walk on through the shops because they connected each other so we did not have to accross the street to reach the other shops.

If you are a foodie, try char kway teow (stir fried noodles) and satay (barbequed meat skewers) at Chinatown Food Street, a row of hawker stalls, shophouse restaurants and kiosks along Smith Street. For trendier tastes, try restaurants and bars in Neil Road, Duxton Road and Keong Saik Road. 

Overall, you will love Chinatown, especially if you love to eat and shops :p

I will review one more shopping area: Bugis Street on my next writings. So, stay tuned! :))

Singapore Chicken Laksa With Dishes

Tarraa... Here we go! 

This is called: Singapore Chicken Laksa or so called Hainanese Chicken Laksa. There are various theories about the origins of Laksa, in Indonesia the dish is believed to have been born from the Chinese coastal settlements and the mixing culture between Chinese merchants and the local cooking practices. As peranakan Chinese communities have blended their ancestor's culture with local culture, Peranakan communities in different places now demonstrate diversity according to the local flavour.

In Singapore, Hainanese Chicken Laksa is easy to find, from school canteens, hawker stalls, to major restaurants. The price range is around SGD 8-10, but mine is SGD 15 (Maybe it's quite expensive for us, Indonesian people?) because they put some side dishes to the package. The side dishes are: three slices of tofus and two somays. The taste is delicious and makes my tummy full :)) 

Some people said: Don't you ever leave Singapore without trying laksa. And i did! :D

Maybe this Singapore Chicken Laksa of mine is not as delicious as Katong Laksa, which has been very famous among Singaporean, but i think this one is very special too :)) Oh, i almost forget, i tried this kind of Singapore Laksa at Rasapura Food Market, located inside The Shoppes at Marina Bay. But, if you guys want to try Katong Laksa, maybe you can visit East Coast Road, and this is the address: 328 Katong Laksa, 51 East Coast Road, Singapore 428770. Phone: (65) 97328163. They open from 10 am until 10 pm. 

Happy eating!! :D

Singapore Trip

Pada dasarnya, aku senang sekali berkunjung ke negara yang satu ini. Jadi ketika diajak untuk liburan kesana bareng keluarga, tanpa mikir panjang langsung mengiyakan. Lalu singkat kata, berangkatlah kita kesana. Kali ini rombongan nya cukup banyak, ada 8 orang including me. Dari awal kita berencana untuk mengurus semuanya sendiri dari pesan tiket, hotel, jalan-jalan di sana sampai hal-hal kecilnya.

Hari pertama, kita landing di Changi International Airport. Kemudian langsung menuju hotel. Nah hotel tempat kami menginap kali ini ok banget deh. Nanti akan aku ulas di tulisan ku yang lain ya :) Lalu kami mulai drop barang dan berencana ke tujuan pertama: Merlion Park. Karena waktu itu br nyampe banget dan kita jg masih bingung arahnya, maka kita putuskan untuk berjalan kaki. Eh rupanya jauh juga ya haha.. Sampe sana udah cape dan lapar.

Setelah ambil beberapa foto, kita putuskan untuk cari makan di daerah sana. Tp ternyata sudah penuh semua, lalu kita kembali ke hotel dengan naik MRT. Lagi-lagi disitu kita bingung mencari station MRT terdekat, after walking around dan tanya sana sini, akhirnya ketemu juga. Huft! And guess what, akhirnya kita makan mlm di Burger King seberang hotel karena semua restoran uda pada tutup.

Well, hari pertama yang cukup melelahkan.

Kemudian, petualangan kami berlanjut ke hari kedua, ketiga dan seterusnya. Kami mengunjungi lumayan banyak tempat, seperti misalnya: Marina Bay Sands yang terkenal dengan Gardens By The Bay nya, lalu Resort World Sentosa, Bugis, Chinatown dan lain-lain (akan diulas di tulisan berikutnya) yang masing-masing memiliki pesona tersendiri yang ga bs kita lupakan.  

Akhirnya, setelah 5 hari kita bertualang di Singapura, kita pun pulang ke Indonesia. Thank you Singapore! We'll meet again soon! :))