Have Perut Will Travel...: CGK Day 5 │ JAKARTA Jaunt Pt1 • Plaza Blok M

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Thursday, 30 January 2025

CGK Day 5 │ JAKARTA Jaunt Pt1 • Plaza Blok M

Terrific Thursday

We went to sleep at midnight, but I was already awake by 5:00am. The ordeal with the pickpocket gang at Kota Tua kept replaying in my mind, so I got up and continued editing our video.

Cat woke up a little later. By 7:00am, we had taken turns in the shower, and an hour after that, we were out the door.

Breakfast at Plaza Indonesia

We walked past Thamrin City along Jalan Teluk Betung Boulevard, turned right toward Grand Indonesia, continued along Jalan H.M. Saleh Ishak, then crossed over into Plaza Indonesia.

We headed straight into Starbucks and ordered:

Spicy Tuna Toastie
Double Iced Shaken Caramel Coffee
Strawberry Açaí with Lemonade

Our first breakfast back in Jakarta came to IDR142,200 (≈ MYR38/USD9/EUR8).

On a personal note, this was the last time we ever set foot in Plaza Indonesia. Why? Walking into Plaza Indonesia feels less like entering a mall and more like reporting for interrogation. Before you even see a shop, you’re scanned, searched, and ordered around like you’ve already done something wrong. Sure, security matters—but the cold, rude, zero-respect way it’s handled makes you feel small, not safe. Funny how a place selling “luxury” starts by treating normal people like suspects instead of customers.

MRT to Blok M

We exited Plaza Indonesia and walked down to Bundaran HI MRT Station. At 9:26am, we caught a train south to Stasiun MRT Blok M for IDR8,000 (≈ MYR2/USD0.50/EUR0.50). Seven stops, fifteen minutes.

Plaza Blok M wasn’t open yet, so we waited on a bench until the shutters rolled up.

We browsed every floor, right up to the top. We asked several salons about eyelash services, but either the artist wasn’t in yet or it was strictly by appointment.

T Shirt Mission for Brendan

We rode the elevator back down and found a stall selling 3 T shirts for IDR170,000 (≈ MYR46/USD10/EUR10). Then we stopped by Hammer and got 2 more T shirts for IDR229,900 (≈ MYR62/USD14/EUR14).

Five T shirts for Brendan — mission half accomplished.

But we still hadn’t achieved what we came for, so at 11:10am, we hailed a fixed fare Bluebird taxi for IDR46,000 (≈ MYR12/USD3/EUR3) to Bellezza Shopping Arcade.

The Wild Goose Chase

We arrived fifteen minutes later and went searching for Kee Indonesia, a local camera bag retailer. Ten minutes in, we realised we were on a wild goose chase — I had misunderstood their Instagram location.

We abandoned the search and hailed another fixed fare Bluebird taxi for IDR77,000 (≈ MYR21/USD5/EUR5) to Sarinah Mall.

What’s Next

Be sure to catch our next video — we have lunch at Sari Ratu Kitchen.