Stranded in Jakarta on Christmas... that's what and where I am right now, and explains how I feel, too. Because of problems with my Dinas Visa, I am here in a small internet shop at the ground floor of Semanggi Mall in Jakarta. Except for the initial shock (I actually didn't expect they'd stop me at the airport immigration and tell me not to leave!) and the disappointment at not being able to spend Christmas with family and friends in the Philippines, being stranded in Jakarta isn't bad at all.

Mall window shopping and movie watching is the order of the day (more like "weeks", though). My friend Anie Soemantri and her friend Indah had been my constant companions, and had patiently tolerated my ignorance of everything Javanese (both Anie and Indah come from Salatiga in Central Java). I've been given a tour of the newest mall in town ... the Grand Indonesia ... and GRAND isn't an exaggeration at all... and I'll explain it all in a while...

Well, here's a heads up on some of the malls in Jakarta...

PLAZA SEMANGGI. A mid-sized mall with both high-end and "bargain" shops. High end on higher floors, and bargain shops on the lower floors. It's here where I bought a really neat NIV translation slim bible (yes, in English, isn't that neat?), in a small shop called "Blessings" at the Lower Ground floor. It's also only the other mall that has an internet "cafe" where you can rent a computer and surf the web for about $2 an hour! It's really close to another mall called the Pacific Place. (Sorry, I'm not one for directions -- north, east, south. Also pretty bad at estimating size/length. I just ride a taxi (Blue Bird, nothing else), and tell the driver where I'm going. If I get lost... who you gonna call???? --- Ibu Anie!

GRAND INDONESIA... This is where Ibu Anie and Ibu Indah took me for a movie (two movies in one week, for under $3 per movie!). We saw National Treasure, and Heartbreak Kid. The former was okay, the latter ho-hum, but the theatre was awesome! Fully carpeted, really clean, North Pole cold inside, huge buckets of popcorn (I really like the caramel flavored ones), great sound.

Grand Indonesia also houses on the 3rd floor the Alun Alun (in Bahasa Indonesia, "square") where they sell local/native Indonesian products. Of course, the first stop for me is the food place.... where I bought these blocks of chocolate candy called "Coklat Monggo". Monggo is the Central Javanese term for "please". And really, they didn't have to say "Please" for me to eat the creamy black chocolate, some with pistachio and ginger, some with almonds, some with dates, etc. Really good chocolate bars that can compete with any other. The bars were wrapped in silver foil and packaged with brown paper cover. And they're available for only $2.50 each. Well worth the bucks you pay for. There are of course other stuff in the Alun Alun, like the standard batik dresses/blouses, and bags in the most wonderful of designs, colors and shapes.

After the movies/shopping (well, more like window shopping), we ate at the Restaurant near the Alun Alun on the 3rd floor where they serve authentic Indonesian (mostly Central Java) food. I will never forget the Kopi Wedang Jahe (or Wedang Kopi Jahe, or some combination of those words)... It's Toraja coffee done with ginger water, served in a transparent glass, and with about 10-15 small roasted (slightly burned) shelled whole nuts. Ibu Anie says this is the traditional coffee in central Java that one can buy in the old days in roadside Warung's (food stalls). Definitely a must-try.

MAL TAMAN ANGGREK... The mall I usually go to whenever I'm bored of hotel food. This hotel is near the hotel I stay in when I'm in Jakarta (Hotel Mega Anggrek). Anggrek is the Indonesian word for orchid. The area where the mall and hotel are used to be a huge Taman Anggrek (Orchid Farm) owned by the former President Suharto's wife who was an orchid aficionado. This brief history was related to me by a taxi driver on the way to the mall. It's a 6-storey mall with a movie house in the 4th floor and a grocery store on the lower ground. My favorite restaurant here is the American Grill, where you can eat yummy steak and/or just feast on their salad and dessert bar (only Rp 50,000, eat all you can). There's also the Cafe Seberang on the lower ground floor near the groceries which serves reasonably priced noodle meals.

MAL AMBASSADOR (text to follow)

PACIFIC PLACE

more to follow.... (sorry, I'm running out of internet time... mall closes soon).