Intercontinental MidPlaza Jakarta: Rasa Restaurant and Scusa Italian Restaurant Review

Intercontinental MidPlaza Jakarta is a very familiar place for me. If you check their Facebook page, you will see how close they are with the staffs. It just feels like a home. I mean Hotel Industry is all about Hospitality. But in Intercontinental, they take it to the next step which is Friendliness, just the right amount of it without taking away your privacy.

I couldn't count how many times I have been to their Rasa and Scusa Italian restaurant. Our main reasons for keep coming back were because of the price for their outstanding buffet and with that price you get to enjoy buffet in both restaurant. Yup, you heard me right. Pay one for 2 buffet restaurants. I don't really remember the price, but I am pretty sure it was cheaper than Ritz Carlton, Sultan, Mulia, and ShangriLa.

Plus the staff won't hesitate to approach you and ask about your day or your food experience in the restaurant. They do care and they are friendly without being intruding your space.

These are our plates:

The Indian food was not bad, but I didn't feel the authenticity. Rasa Restaurant

Very creamy. Bf seems to like it. I am not a big fans or creamy milky stuff since I have lactose intolerant.

A plate from Scusa

Was hoping they would have dark choco fountain. This one is too milky for me.

Some kind of interesting looking pasta that made him go yummmmmm

Another plate from Scusa. Aaah look at the fresh looking veggies.

A plate from Rasa yummmm

A pancake plate from Rasa drizzled with plenty of dark chocolate and yes oh yes it was yummy.

Milky chocolate ice cream, too milky for my taste but great for those who loves milky creamy flavor.

BBQ Plate from Rasa Restaurant, freshly BBQ-ed by the staff.

Delicious soft bread and perfectly cooked salmon.

Another plate from Scusa. Boyfriend really loves their cheese collection especially the Blue Cheese. He claims that he ate the best cheese ever in Intercontinental MidPlaza Jakarta. This is big deal, since he is American yet the best cheese he ever tasted was sold in Indonesia hihihi

Grade:

Service: 8/10

Food: 8/10

Place: 8/10

Price: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

Call for Price.

Where to go:

InterContinental Jakarta MidPlaza 
Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav. 10-11, Jakarta 10220, Indoneesia 
Tel: (62-21) 251 0888 | Fax: (62-21) 251 1777

My 20+ (something) Birthday, A Day Closer to 30

A week before the big day:
Gyaaaaaaaaaa
I am gonna be a day closer to 30 and I haven't reach to a place where I wanna be yet.

2 Days before:
I think I am gonna have a lonely birthday. None ask me out for dinner party nor preparing a surprise birthday party for me. I am no longer in college, none will do that here.

A day before:
I don't think people will even remember.

The Day:

Morning;
Someone left a gift on my doorstep with a cryptic note saying "TO: 나의 사랑하는 진구" which means " TO: My lovely Friend"
I found a really cute wooden color keys and rubber strap. The note says that this might be a key to open door of my happiness or any other fortune door. I love the concept. Totally romantic. I know it then, that my day is gonna be great. I can feel the air of greatness.

It doesn't say who sent the gift. But I could guess. It must be a friend from college who stays in the next dorm. And I was spot on. She admitted it. Love her sweet gesture and looooove the gift.

Morning in the office;
A friend of mine who sat right in front of me and whose face I saw everyday gives me a really cute jar. I was so happy because I am collecting cute jars now. I have always been a fan of cute packaging and jars. I started collecting it after a trip to Singapore where I found small jelly jars. Her gift was the perfect addition to my collection. Also I love flowery pattern.

Afternoon;
Boyfriend has been sulking since last night. He said everyone trying to steal his thunder, first with the first one to congratulate me and now with the cryptic yet romantic gift. I didn't notice he was plotting something. Until the security in my office said that there is a package waiting for me in the front desk.
Turned out he ordered cookies set from my fav bakery in town, The Harvest.

Love the classy packaging and colorful cookie jars. Another addition to my jar collection and I am sure it will taste great. Tho I will try not to open it till July 28th for Ied Day. I am sure everyone in my hometown would love to try this cookies.

Evening after office:
I spent an hour dinner with my boyfriend's mom. She was a sweetheart. We talked about the house, her trip, my trip to Bira Island this upcoming weekend, and about his son/my boyfriend. We shared a lot in common like our favorite chicken part is the leg or how we like tempe, etc. It was fun. And I get to play with the adorable cousin whom her laughter will lit up any room she is in. Love this little girl.

Night:
Earlier this morning, my fav hotel called me to congratulate me. I was surprised because it has been a while I haven't visited that hotel. To my surprise, they said they want to send something. I have them sending it to my home. I thought it was probably some merchandise.
When I came home, my 'mbak' said there is a package for me and she put it in the fridge. Turned out it was a huge Strawberry Cheesecake. They also came with a note of congratulation. They wrote it with pen and they signed on it. I can feel the sincere of it. How nice of them to send me the cake, write handwriting note too.
I must have talked a lot about this hotel and brag a lot about it. How could I not if they are this sweet?

Intercontinental

I decided to bring it to the office. And now, everyone has been urging me to cut the cake. I think it is gonna be all gone by the end of the day.

It was a perfect birthday. I got so many wishes on all my socmed account, not to mention the personal message on almost all of my chatting app. I feel blessed and loved. I wasn't even thinking about how old I feel like. If being 28 years old is gonna be this amazing. I will embrace it gracefully. The first day of 28 has been awesome!!! I am proud to be 28.

JimBARan Outdoor Lounge: Grand Opening Night

JimBARan 4 days before the launching

Address: Intercontinental Jakarta Mid Plaza Hotel. Jalan Jenderal Sudirman Kav 10-11, Jakarta Pusat, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 10220, Indonesia

Phone:+62 21 2510888

Website

Jakartan will be very happy to know that there is a new hotspot to hangout with a new unique concept located in the heart of Jakarta or known as the Golden Triangle of Jakarta, Sudirman area.

Intercontinental Jakarta Mid Plaza Hotel or known internationally as Intercontinental Hotel and locally as Mid Plaza Hotel, finally launched their new bar with a unique concept. They merged a bar/lounge with an essence of Indonesian culture on their design. It is not just any bar, it is more like an outdoor lounge where you can gaze at the stars or Jakarta lights. The lightning surrounding the area made to look romantic and comfortable for the eyes. The sounds of dripping water merge beautifully with the music.

Prior to the event, they sent me an invitation by mail with the cutest form of invitation. I adore the design so much that It will definitely stay in my table as a room decor. I didn't expect the invitation to be this gorgeous yet adorable. I am a sucker for everything cute. They definitely know how to capture their audience. When I got the invitation card, I know the event would be an awesome one. And I was right!

Catrina, their friendly PR, told me that I can bring a +1. So I came with Dewi (I met her from an online gathering community once, and we have been friends for almost 2 years now). We were so surprise with how packed it was around 6.30pm. Usually the party would not start that early unless it is a really cool place. We saw the line for the seafood was so long. We decided to stroll for other tasty sweet tapas collection. 

I am a big fan of Churros. So happy to find it there.

The Wine was so light and smells nice. It has a little hint of sweetness on the smell and the taste. I love the taste. Too bad I forgot to ask the name for this wine.

We also tried their Photo-box section. The photographer was impatient, we didn't get to practice our best pose. Both of us were not happy with how it came out.

We decided to get back to Seafood section. We had to stay on the long line for a while. But it was super worth it. Their main chef cooked it himself on the outdoor area. It was amazing to see the master worked on his art. I forgot to take video/picture. We were too amaze with the foods. We both fell in love with the mushroom tapas and their fish delicacies. Super Lezato!!

 I ordered this sweet and delightful "Red Revenge" from their free flow cocktail bar. Surely a very pretty and pleasant-tasting beverage. I was quite content. Not too long, I met my friend that I met previously in Peeta Planet Blogger Gathering, Tasha. She introduced us to 2 of her friends. We had a quick chat. I told her she won a price but she was not coming to the stage so they had to choose another winner. Unfortunately, I won nothing that night. But the night it self already very rewarding experience for me. I suggested my 3 gorgeous  friends to try JimBARan's "Red Revenge".  I hope that would make Tasha less disappointed about not claiming her winning prize.

Before I went home, Aileen and Catrina reminded me that they have goody bag for us. There are what I got on the bad; A picture frame that looks like on of JimBARan's Bamboo decoration and a voucher worth 35% discount.

Oh, you can also check my friend, Tasha's blog for another story of the event in this link;

WeLoveJakarta

Social Travel 101 with Peeta Planet

Hi guys,

I am glad to tell you that I was being invited by the coolest Social Travel show ever, Peeta Planet, to their small get together in Intercontinental Hotel Jakarta. They were visiting Jakarta for their finale for Season 2 of Peeta Planet trip. I guess saving the best for the last, huh? ;-p

Spoiler: Peyman visiting Coffeewar in Jakarta

I was surprised that they would invite me, because I rarely wrote my blog nor do I have a lot of followers on my social media. Turned out they also invited Jakarta cool people, I guess I was one of them then. (Shut up, let me have this moment!) Yes, I am a cool Jakartan.

Anyway, Mohammad and Peyman introducing us to a new cool way of traveling which is 'Social Travel' in the event. I have a lot of curiosity. I am not sure what 'Social Travel' means, not even sure it was a fun way to travel. But after a while, I learned that 'Social Travel' might be a best way to travel. I mean being a tourist is boring right? Following the group leader here and there, visiting same places with all other tourists and they were everywhere. You can't even enjoy the awesome place you want to visit because tourist were everywhere. So, why not try a new way of traveling. Don't be a tourist, Be a Social Traveler!

Oooops I haven't told you what 'Social Travel' is? Well, it is about time you should know. Social Travel (in my understanding) is a way to travel while connecting yourself to the locals. You will find place to stay, to visit, and what to do by asking locals recommendation. Why I think it is nice? Well, for a long time, traveling has become a way out of our regular boring life (boring job, boring school, or whatever it is that you want to get away from for a while) and a way to satisfy your curiosity of the outside world. But, would it more satisfying to travel through the eyes of the locals? They know the best place, they know the best food, they know the history, that's what makes it interesting. We get to connect with random people with various background. We open up to stranger and we might learn so much for them. That's just screaming 'Awesome' in my ear. I got to do this someday, very soon I hope.

Now that you know about Social Travel, did you know Peeta Planet? I am sure you did, but if you don't know them yet, you should totally check them out. They have a really cool Travel show on Dubai Television. Here is the link to their website and YouTube page; peetaplanet.com and YouTube Peeta Planet

I accidentally find out about them when I was looking for video about Seoul on YouTube. They were filming about Seoul through the locals eyes. I have been to Seoul before and I love it so much. I was so glad that they didn't just show us a tourist destination, they took it to the next level. They visited a startup small time company too. I was so immersed when they were doing fabric painting scene. The only time I saw that was on Arirang culture related show. To actually see it in travel show is something new for me. Refreshing, don't you think?

Are they boring? Definitely not boring at all. They have good sense of humor. Muhammad and Peyman are brothers, not just fraternity brothers. They will find a way to tease each other and they do it quite often. It was adorable. They are also the most down to earth person I have ever met. Always smiling, polite, and nice. Who would not like those combination? I also love their outfits. Somehow they manage to pull it out in a very manly way.

Sometimes, when you watch something on TV or YouTube, you feel disconnected with the MC. But Peeta Boys will not make you feel like that at all. They are super friendly, super warm to people, and pretty cheap in giving away smiles. All Peeta Planet crews were very friendly and down to earth personality. I adore them so much for this good quality traits. That's what makes them the best at social travel show, they know how to connect with people.

So guys, if you are not hooked yet by what I said about Social Travel. You should definitely check out their videos on their YouTube channel or their website. They will show you how fun it is to do Social Travel instead of being your regular tourist self.

I wish they would do an episode in India, or a lot of episodes, I won't mind. I wanna know how they will show India from their point of view. I am sure it will be great. It will be a great intro for me and a  way to encourage me to finally visit India, a place that I always feel longing to go (not just to meet Shahrukh Khan, I promise).

Enjoy your weekend, Happy People! Stay Safe, Stay Awesome!

Suci Park

PS; Picture of Tapas Collections from Intercontinental Jakarta who hosted the event. Drooling time...slluuuurp!