Cerita Satu Hari di Yishun

Yishun, sebuah neighborhood di bagian utara Singapura, adalah tempat yang cukup sering saya lewati. Area ini sebenarnya didominasi oleh perumahan penduduk, dan bukan tempat orang berwisata, tetapi Yishun memiliki tempat-tempat dengan ketenangan alam karena ada banyak taman hijau di sana. Yishun juga memiliki beragam fasilitas modern, termasuk pusat perbelanjaan, restoran, dan tempat hiburan, yang memenuhi kebutuhan penduduk lokal dan pengunjung.

Nama "Yishun" sendiri diambil dari Lim Nee Soon, seorang pengusaha terkemuka yang dikenal sebagai "Raja Karet dan Nanas" pada masa kolonial Singapura. Banyak perkebunannya terletak di tempat yang sekarang dikenal sebagai Yishun dan Sembawang. Jangan heran kalau di daerah ini banyak nama Nee Soon yang ditemukan pada taman, perumahan atau fasilitas umum.

Foto ini diambil ketika mall sudah tutup, dari Yishun MRT Station

Untuk sampai ke Yishun, ada beberapa cara yang bisa diambil. Pertama adalah naik MRT. Meskipun tidak sesibuk Bishan atau City Hall, stasiun MRT Yishun termasuk ramai, dan ada banyak bus yang berhenti di sana. Salah satunya adalah bus nomor 858, yang punya sejuta cerita kalau saya ke Singapura. Selain rutenya yang panjang, bis ini adalah langganan saya untuk ke kota dari Changi Airport. Yang suka bikin kesal adalah bus ini suka tidak sesuai waktu prediksi di app dan Google Maps. Suka muncul tiba-tiba tanpa terdeteksi, datang lebih cepat atau malah tidak muncul-muncul ketika ditunggu.

Kalau naik bus nomor 858, yang memiliki rute Woodlands - Changi Airport, ada satu area di Yishun yang bisa didatangi.

Slow Bakes

Cafe ini mungkin adalah salah satu cafe yang bisa disebut sebagai hidden gem, dikenal dengan roti yang dipanggang sendiri yang lezat dan suasana yang nyaman. Tempat ini sempurna untuk bersantai dan menikmati secangkir kopi O kosong atau minuman khas Singapura lainnya.

Cerita Pertama Kali Naik MRT Jakarta dan Nostalgia di Sarinah

Duo anak Jaksel coret ini akhirnya pergi nyobain MRT Jakarta. Cerita #Datewithdudu pergi ke tengah kota. Selama ini MRT cuma sekedar kereta lewat, pemandangan ketika menunggu lampu merah di perempatan RS Fatmawati. Sekarang kita berdua jadi penumpangnya. Gimana rasanya naik MRT Jakarta? 

Kita berdua naik dari Bundaran HI ke Lebak Bulus Grab. Harganya 14rb sekali jalan. Buat masuk keluar stasiun bisa pakai e-money dan sejenisnya. Bisa pakai apps juga tapi menyadari beberapa stasiun ada di underground yang sulit sinyal, sepertinya pakai kartu lebih aman. Jangan lupa scan Peduli Lindungi saat masuk stasiun, pakai masker dan menghindari berbicara di dalam kereta untuk mengurangi penyebaran Covid-19. Keretanya ada setiap 10 menit di hari libur dan setiap 5 menit di hari kerja.

Akhirnya naik MRT berdua (kalo Panda dihitung jadi bertiga)

Keretanya nyaman dan bersih. Jadi senang naiknya. Bisa lihat Jakarta dari sudut pandang berbeda. Oh iya, MRT ini underground sampai Senayan lalu baru bisa liat pemandangan menjelang stasiun ASEAN. Yang jadi masalah kalau naik MRT adalah hujan. Karena kebanyakan dari pintu masuk dan keluar MRT belum tersambung dengan mall atau gedung, jadi bawa payung untuk jaga-jaga kalau disambut hujan deras di pintu keluar.

AEON Mall BSD City

While Jakarta is already too packed with shopping malls, its suburban, Serpong, is still growing. A new mall called AEON is attracting everyone’s attention with the light-up Sakura Garden and low-priced sushi.

The mall is family friendly. From it’s elevator, stroller rental, family and kids toilet to the different playgrounds and seating areas available throughout the mall. Arriving at the mall before noon, we got a parking by the department store door. The closest ones are reserved for priority parking. Entering the double doors, which remind me of malls abroad, the AEON department store gives a different ambiance compared to those of Indonesia. AEON is a Japanese brand (I’m most familiar with their credit services), and it’s currently developing services in lifestyle area. AEON Mall BSD City is the first AEON in Indonesia.

Jakarta Food Bazaar Adventure

Bazaar is trending in Jakarta. Mainly dominated by food and fashion, these collection of pop-up markets are taking over the shopping centers. So, on one occasion, I took Dudu to a Mom and Kids Market called Shophoria at Grand Indonesia and going through the food tenants. And this is what we have to say about the unusual yet delicious bazaar food.

What makes bazaar popular is the unique concept offered by the food tenants. Each booth is competing to be the most singular store that everyone would talk about whole year long. Often started with online (mostly instagram) store, these food and beverages concept go offline on the weekend when there are chances to meet their customers personally.

How to Have Fun Mall Dates in Jakarta

It’s rainy season and mall seems like the best weekend destination. If you're in Jakarta (or most big cities in Indonesia), going to a mall is unavoidable. Be it for food, movie or checking out the latest sale. Despite the different shopping center selection, we're never that fond of malls. But when we do have to end up in a mall, this is what we do to make an out-of-the-box trip:

1. Takeover Oma’s shopping list. Mama can’t really cook and is clueless when it comes to groceries. So, if we’re going to a mall with a large supermarket, we try to play detective by taking Oma’s shopping list. This was a favorite when Andrew was younger because it’s like a show-and-tell of fruits, vegetables... and seafood.
2. Hit the game center. The gadgets at home are hard to resist but game center doesn’t deprive you from social interaction. At least not for us because once we’re at the game center, we always find something we can both play. We learn to tolerate each other’s preferences because we have to play together. From basketball and bowling to racing and zombie shooting games, game center dates are always awesome! P.S. Challenge yourself with a dancing game.
3. Bring your homework. When it’s hard to concentrate at home, just bring your stuffs out and hit the corner of your favorite cafe in the mall. Set an hour or two only for homework.
4. Bookstore stop. Checking out the latest books and comic collection, English-language publications on sale, or just sit and read for the rest of the afternoon.
5. What’s on. In “winter” some malls like our favorite Pondok Indah Mall has ice skating. Others may offer seasonal attraction as fun as snow fall, mobile planetarium, cartoon shows and different events at different time. So, check out the calendar before starting your car.
6. Sign up for holiday classes. Some malls have playground and kids informal school of some kind. Check out what they have to offer for the holiday and if there's anything that might spark an interest, why not giving it a try?
7. Mix and Match. I did this with Dudu sometimes when there are sale at the department store, where clothes are dumped in large baskets. We have to dig in to see what's available and to prevent Dudu from being bored while waiting for caught-up-on-a-sale-mom, I would give him task such as "find a green shirt." He would be busy treasure hunting and I'd be happy to have another pair of hands searching for the item I wanted.

While we don't go to malls, if we have other places like park, nearby zoo or science museum we can visit any weekend, these places never cease to amaze us. The never-ending attraction, like they're trying their best to win visitors' heart. Some malls are more family-friendly than others, simply because they have labelled themselves as "family mall." 

A research and forecast report released by Colliers.com showed 27 new malls on the pipeline for at least the next three years. Not only Jakarta, shopping centers are expanding to the suburban area of Bogor, Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang. So, hopefully, when these malls are being more creative, we can actually see them as a destination instead of merely an extension of shopping and another branch of stores we have in nearby shopping centers.

Adventure Time Christmas With Finn & Jake

We visited the playground on its last weekend on Gandaria City (thanks to a Twitter quiz for the free tickets). 

Land of Ooo Playground - it's FUN!

We didn’t get a chance to experience the meet and greet of Finn and Jake, but we did try  the playground. It’s not as big as we had expected and there are only three items on the playground: the pink-colored princess bridge, the ball-throwing game and the slide area. I thought my son was too old for that.

The First HI-5 Mall Show Ever In Indonesia

Hi-5 are Ainsley, Lauren, Mary, Dasem dan Stevie. Kids are familiar with them, thanks to the Australian TV Show. Now they are coming to perform LIVE in Jakarta. 

If you're a Hi-5 fan, you'd be excited. Even if you're not a Hi-5 fan (like my 7-year-old son who didn't know who are these people before coming to their show), this show is still as entertaining.

KidsFfest 2011

Open Air Cinema is arguably one of the best thing about this event. It's a good first watching movie experience for younger children who haven't been to movie theaters. 

KidsFFest is a movie festival for kids and teens in Indonesia. Started back in 2009, the festival has been screening movies for the younger audience inside the Blitz Megaplex movie theatre as well as outside on the side foyer. For there older children, there are short film competition, dubbing workshop and many other activities. The three Paddle Pop movies screened this year is Pyrata, Kombatei and Elemagika. So we came and watched Paddle Pop. Other than that, there are many other kids movies from around the world such as: Kung Fu Kid (Japan) and The Magic Tree (Poland).