Once again I find myself writing with a backlog of days as I have been kept away from my computer by having fun so I am having trouble remembering what I actually did today but I definately remember what happened in the evening and it was pretty A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
It’s funny how the world works and things are interconnected and you never know where you will end up.. Thanks to someone reading this blog, I met the guys from Peeta Planet at the InterContinental Midplaza Hotel in Jakarta a few weeks ago, and while there I met the lovely Catrina who is the Social Media Officer at the Hotel. Thanks to Catrina I received an invitation to the InterContinental Hotel’s Jimbaran Outdoor Lounge Opening Party tonight.
As the evening drew closer, down came the rain and I was a little unsure as to whether we should still attend as the traffic and rain don’t make a good mix especially on a Friday night. Lucky for me Treen and Claire were still keen to go and so picked me up via a taxi and off we went, full of enthusiasm, until we got stuck for over an hour on a short section of road right next to the house.. it turned out that the traffic lights weren’t working so that, plus rain and heavy traffic meant it took us almost two hours in the taxi to reach our destination. I must admit that as we pulled up into the lobby my enthusiasm was dwindling somewhat, but as soon as we passed through the bar and into the registration area of the Jimbaran Outdoor Lounge my energy levels went right up! The theme was black and red cocktail party dress, so there was a sea of black and red filling every space available outside. The ladies at the registration table were so friendly and made us laugh and put us in the mood to party!
There were waiters carrying around trays of delicious tapas and a super long line going down the stairway of people wanting to eat, and we know how much Indonesians love their food, so we decided to skip the line and go and see what was happening downstairs. The first thing I noticed was a table set up with the cheesecakes I had tried here before (ENAK!), and there were bowls of chocolate, churros, nuts, apricots and healthy snacks and it instantly made my mouth water. There was another line for this so we headed straight to the bar for a glass of white wine. Oh it has been so long since I had a glass of wine so I was in heaven. While we sipped on our wine laughing I had the chance to take in the atmosphere, watching everyone looking so happy and the place was absolutely packed! It looked so beautiful, with lights hanging overhead in the trees and the garden ‘pods’ with chairs were filled and looked magical in the night lighting. The pods are unique and their intimate seating spaces are above the soothing sounds of running waterways and it looks like you are sitting in a tropical jungle in the middle of Jakarta.
There was a large section of grass with tables, chairs, and lounges set up and once again, as it is so rare to see grass in Jakarta, this was enough to make me excited! A real garden oasis that makes you forget about the traffic and chaos outside its doors. We laughed so much as we tested wine from Australia and Chile and made new friends and I also ran into some familiar faces which was so much fun. We decided we better put some food into our bellies as we had been drinking wine, so went and lined up in the crazy line near the front door, only to leave the line about 30 minutes later as I realised it was all seafood and so I couldn’t eat any of it. Nevermind, we had met some lovely people while we were in the queue and then my heart SANK as I ran into another friend, Suci, who I also met at the Peeta Planet event and she told me they had called out my name as the grand prize winner but had to redraw the prize as I didn’t go up to the stage! Apparently the prize was a trip to Bali to stay in the InterContinental there.. I never win anything and to have been that close and miss out I was in shock! Not to worry, it wasn’t meant to be this time, and I had a really amazing time at the party, so much so that I didn’t even remember to take many photos as I was too busy enjoying myself..
The Jimbaran Outdoor Lounge is open from 5.00pm until late daily every day of the week and is the perfect destination to sit and wait for the traffic to ease, and to catch up with friends after work. They have a delicious selection of tapas, tasty light bites, wine and cocktails and it is a really cool natural setting and the staff are super friendly and helpful.
So a huge shout out and THANK YOU to Catrina for the invitation, we had an amazing night and look forward to getting back there again soon.
Day 87: Straight to the desserts! YUM! Happiness.
Day 87: JimBARan garden pods. Happiness.
Day 87: Enjoying the view while getting some delicious wine. Happiness.
Day 87: Claire testing the microphone. It’s off! Happiness.
Day 87: Cocktail bar mixing up the best drinks. Happiness.
Day 87: Enjoying the garden serenity. Happiness.
