Jakarta trip: Shop Until U Drop Dead Gorgeous! (Traveling Tips)

Syukur Alhamdulillah, trip berjalan smoothly as planned.

However, due to the super-packed-shopping-schedule, I have not jot a thing in my travel log during the trip! Hahaha! This is rare & abnormal!

So now, I am clueless on what to type for this entry coz not only there was no notes on the trip, but at the same time, I have only a few pics to share!! ;p

Let me start with the basic traveling tips.

My Checklist

1. Hotel arrangement - Grand Cemara Hotel. Agoda confirmation slip printed. Google map dulu location and get the approximate distances from hotel to the places that u wanna go..ini supaya u tidak senang2 boleh dikelentong oleh taxi tak bermeter nnt!


2. Supir/ driver - deposit slip & emails pertaining the arrangement printed. No telefon supir juga sila save siap2 di dlm hp supaya x terkial2 nnt nak belek documents.


3. Money matter$ - prepared a few envelopes to ensure that we have put aside enough money for the basic expenses (Supir fees, hotel, meals, ANCOL entrance fees, Tmn Safari entrance fees, airport tax, etc). Ini sgt penting utk mengelakkan diri dari menjadi hilang kawalan semasa shopping! Maka duit balance saja le yg boleh diabiskan di malls etc!


4. Extra Empty Bags - hahahhaha bak kata pepatah, sediakan beg kosong sebelum memborong! ;p

5. Tentative itinerary & tips gathered from online research & friends. Make sure tahu mana nak pegi, bila nak pegi.. Masa itu emas! kalo baru nak argue among group members di dalam taxi, adalah sgt x efficient namanya! Buatlah briefing awal2 dgn all group members, so that masing2 tau rough idea abt the plans of the day and know what to expect.

6. To buy list - this is like endless!!!! Make sure tahu apa nak dibeli di mana, tingkat brp (if possible, nama kedai yg bg harga murah), harga brp (supaya senang nak implement negotiation skills) etc.. Cth: Kain lace, lantai B1&B2, Tanah Abang, RM20-40.. Detailed plan mcm ni akan buat your shopping experiences lebih efficient!


7. Roaming service - sgt penting! Ini kes malas nak beli simcard sana. Tp sila pantau calls/ sms yg masuk or keluar..takut nnt budget burst! ;p


8. Sila block segala fb alerts, twitter alerts etc jika x mahu menanggung beban bil ala2 ribuan ringgit! baiklah abiskan duit itu di malls!


9. Call bank to inform that u r going to which country. Senang nnt kot2 nak withdraw duit from ATM (kalo emergency case ala2 antara hidup & mati di shopping malls!) and nak guna credit cards (plural ye, byk cards!)

10. Tukar duit rupiah awal2..usually i pegi the one yg kat warta, bangi tu..rate dia ok. Jgn kat airport baru nk cari money changer!

11. Bawak lah biskut utk stand by, esp bila ber vacation with kids.

12. Buat currency converter table siap2, print, potong ikut size yg boleh disimpan dlm wallet. Percaya lah, it will be your best friend!! Cth spt dlm pic di atas :)

Best regards,
LeeN from TRaVeL-LeeN

And of course, paling utama:
Tickets and passports - ini adalah nyawa!