JKT-BDO OCT 2012 : Day 2 - Jakarta Raya

Day 2: October 20th 2012

Mission: Tanah Abang & Around Jakarta Raya

While waiting for the last group to reach Jakarta in the evening, the group has decided to pay Pusat Grosir Tanah Abang a visit.

There are many theories of shopping in Tanah Abang including: 

(Warning: Read somewhere in the net but not necessarily true)

1. Tanah Abang is the centre of distribution of clothing. hence, the price is abit lower than others including the infamous Pasar Baru in Bandung

2. Block B shops sell their goods a bit cheaper than Block A

Well, i found No 1 is not entirely true but somehow, after being lost for few times, alone, i do find No 2 is , well, live up to its reputation.

Why?

Block A: New shoplots maybe. More organised and neat

Block B: Typical shoplots in textile centres perhaps

By the way, there's a building named Metro which is also a prt of Pasar Tanah Abang.

Did i go there? Seriously, i have no idea. It is a big place.

We started the day quite early and the idea was to stay in Jakarta city for the weekends and head for Bandung on weekdays to beat the traffic.

This tip is very useful and i personally advise you guys to actually note this...

again, somewhere in the net, Jakarta dwellers will reduce to about 5M people in the weekends compared to 15M during the weekdays. Usually, the city peeps will head to out of Jakarta places for liburan.

This is also backed up by our Supir Pak Dedy.

Early traffic

Jakarta Central.Bulatan Randy (Pangalila) - according to me.
the Red lines mark the busway.

It took us about 45 minutes to reach Tanah Abang from Tebet, Jakarta Selatan.

Our minds were fixed at-kain, kain,kain- for i have plans to sell some of em back in kantor. 

This is where we get off and the entrance is at SLG level.

...and was greeted by:

mau tak gila tengok kain cantek2.

tapi den tak berani [yet] nak pakai kebaya kat belakang yang penuh dengan sulaman tuh.

overall, kain yang cantek2 average harga is RM50 (RP150K). Ada jugak yang cheaper.

but this time, Sulam Timbul (From Bukit Tinggi??) was hot seller.

(TW update: habis dengan budak office je)

One of the main objectives was to but lace, and textile for Yun's wedding.

It was supposed to be cheaper here in Tanah Abang.

and i guess it was indeed. The winning point is always that they have the latest and chic and pretty designs.

aaaa..one of the ready made set on sale and surely, i grabbed one (the above to be exact). Chantek kan?

Hungry? no worries. There's a foodcourt on level 8. This one is way better than the foodcourt in Pasar Baru.

No one will actually bugs you trying to get you to order form them.

Here, as any other foodcourt, we shall order at the counter.

(actually, in Pasar Baru, there are biiiiiiiiiggggggggg reminders to the patrons to order direct at the counter to avoid others to mark-up on top of the actual food price).

well, as usual, food that can be found here are Nasi Timbel, Nasi Uduk, Ayam penyet, Sup Buntut, etc etc. For muslims, please look into the menu carefully as some kiosks maybe selling pork.

There is a shop, i think it was CFC, which has a special menu - Menu Astaga. If not mistaken it was supposed to be super spicy chickens. urrghh...i forgot to try it...heheh

At the end of the day, voila..my 45+10l backpack is full to the brim with?

here it is...

and some other stuffs not pictured here...

anyway. a reminder to all eager shoppers.

see below sample?

i thought i was getting the exact one.

naaayyyy..i got similar. without the bottom flowers..

so, next time, a reminder for me as well, check EACH AND EVERY package. i even got 2 which are stained but luckily managed to get it clean easily.

after some rest at our homestay after nearly 10 hours at Tanah Abang alone, we proceed to pick-up the last group to reach Jakarta Raya.

At Bandara, there was one peculiar man who wanted to get onto our bus.

Luckily, our group is not that huge to not notice this man.

He tried to get onboard by opening the door few times which scared some of us.

We managed to get away safely.

Nevertheless, hopefully the man will be just fine. maybe he just wanted a ride to jakarta city but sorry, u just scared all of us.

anyway, we proceeded with dinner at one of the resto - seafood i guess. When we reached, it was on last orders. Hey, did the resto here actually closed at 9pm?

hmm...anyway, i do notice that it is much easier to get food and resto in Bandung.

Before we head back to our bunk, we stopped by Monas and i am quite impressed by the view.

There were patrol cars around and according to our supir, sometimes, there are demonstrations here and also at the Bulatan Randy (ehem) as per above pictures.

hence, there were on standby in case those get worse.

Istana President

All in all, 2nd day experience do enlighten my view of liburan or weekend.
we can just hang out pretty much anywhere permitted.
It does not mean that we need to be at pay-to-use areas just to have a chat.
i wouldn't know where and what for you, but for me..
we have many parks, lakes around.
Bulatan Randy (refer above roundabout) can be accessed and people can hangout on the curb at night.
but i don't think ours are accessible.

there's always the first to everything.
why don't we give it a try (grin)

Being normal: We're only human

Fuhhh...1 hour in Daiso store boleh menyebabkan aku kurang duit RM70. Walaupun yeay to myself sebab beli yang perlu sahaja (errr...yes, perlu), tolong jangan amalkan. I thank Zulia of SMSS for the strength to say "let's go". I am telling you, Daiso is not easy to part with.

Sama jugak online shopping. pergh..pantang tengok Groupon, confirm browse walaupun tak beli..

Sekarang aku berjaya jugak untuk berpegang teguh kepada Keperluan vs Kemahuan punya cakap. almost all the time..sometimes, i just let it be..haha..once in a while kena la babe..

Kadang2 shopping theraphy bagus untuk kita lepaskan pent-up emotions.
Hence the recent purchase of some new stuffs for the wardrobe plus i need some new clothing items to  match my new .....appearance kan..

Well, since menulis pasal appearance neh, i had a very good, or rather painful, lesson of my life recently.
Appearance really can fool anyone. Be it for good or bad.
Being the subject of a gossip, or secara kasarnya fitnah, is never good. Lagi2 bila tau rootcause nya disebabkan oleh suatu situasi yang sangat unfair dimana we're never given the chance to explain ourself.
Dan yang membawa cerita adalah mereka-mereka yang projected appearance yang sangat bagus or pardon my interpretation, sangat islamik. I don't wish them bad but i just hope they will change for better.

In this case, i don't bother to explain myself to certain sides. They're not worth the attention.
However, i did clear the air with some of them whom i think are important people in certain aspects of my life.

After some intelligent (eceh) conversation and reference to dear hubby whom is by the way, loves to experiment with people management matters, i have decided to step-up to my reputation and responsibility. Along with it, some peeps may not like this but hey, that's life (working life that is).

I also made some reference to articles on the net (yes, i do read non-FB related posts), i came across below points on " How to Be a Good Supervisor: 10 Tips for Being a Better Boss"
I do hope i, at the least, scored 5. Tho i may fumble, i know, but by criticising me behind my back, it won't help at all. My team should also understand that i have expectation to meet and i am not perfect. So do they.
Nevertheless, let's accept that being human, we make mistakes. we have our own preferences. own friends. own life.

1. Make Expectations Clear
It's right there in the title, "boss." You're supposed to tell people what to do. All too often, though, people in management positions forget to make expectations clear, so make sure your employees or supervisees know exactly what you want from them on every project.

2. Make Expectations Reasonable 

With budget cuts sweeping the nation, more and more people are shouldering extra responsibilities. From volunteers at non profits to high level employees at large corporations, we're all working extra hard. In this climate, it's important to keep reasonable expectations. Don't give people tasks that are doomed to failure. If your company or department is suffering from budget cuts or employee losses, productivity may dip, so it's important not to blame employees for things they're not responsible for.

3. Correct Mistakes When someone makes a mistake, let them know. This gives them an opportunity to correct it rather than making the same mistake. Correcting mistakes does not mean you're being a bully. Rather, it means you're giving people a chance to succeed.

4. Communicate When you're in a position of power that allows you to see the big picture, it can be easy to forget that not everyone has the benefit of your bird's eye view. Communicate frequently with people you supervise about future plans, projects, and goals. Make sure to communicate both the positive and negative. Too often, bosses get caught up in criticizing rather than praising, so avoid this common mistake.

5. Treat Employees Like People You shouldn't be overly involved in your employees' personal lives in most cases, but that doesn't mean it's not a good idea to invest in them as people. Make small talk and convey a sense of genuine care for them as people. Remembering birthdays, offering condolences when someone dies, and creating a team environment can lead to a substantially better working environment.

6. Criticize Constructively Criticism can be beneficial to a person's job performance, but not if they feel like they're being torn down as a human being. Rather than questioning a person's dedication or competence, give specific instructions about what they can do differently. Don't engage in blaming or name calling.

7. Offer Praise Perhaps the most important thing a good boss does is to offer praise when someone does something right. Aim to praise everyone at least twice as often as you criticize them. Even employees who are slacking off or not performing well can benefit from regular praise. When people feel good about themselves they tend to do better.

8. Accept Criticism
Perhaps the most critical difference between good bosses and great ones is that great bosses are willing to accept constructive criticism. Ask your employees what you can do to be a better supervisor, and be willing to listen to their concerns.

9. Don't Engage in Office Gossip Every office has its own politics, with in groups, out groups, and cliques. Don't get embroiled in these cliques or your own job performance, as well as your ability to manage, will suffer. Treat each employee equally, and don't judge performance based upon how much you or someone else likes a particular employee.

10. Don't Be a Pushover It's true that some of the worst bosses are just blatantly mean, but being a pushover can be equally problematic. If you're afraid of confrontation, your employees don't have a chance to get meaningful feedback and improve at their jobs. Work to straddle the line between being a pushover and a bully, and instead be assertive but kind. Your employees will be grateful for your combination of assertiveness and friendliness.