JAKARTA

1. Hotel
I stayed at the Four Seasons, which was super-expensive but very nice! :-) One of my friends was there recently and she stayed at Crowne Plaza which she said was pretty good. It's also close to the highway to the airport, so should be quite OK. The shopping areas are quite spread out, so no really good place to stay. Better to stay at a more central area, so that easy to go out for makan and to move around, I think. A cheaper hotel that some of my colleagues have mentioned is Ibis, but I don't know the location, sorry.

2. Shopping:
I think many people like to go to WTC Mangga Dua, to buy all sorts of stuff, like Handbags, cheap baju, etc. It's like Sungai Wang, but 10 times bigger and 10 times more crowded! It's quite far out and traffic getting there is quite bad (esp on a Saturday afternoon), so it's worth it only if you REALLY want to do and see the place.
Another place that people always talk about if they want to buy kain/material is Majestic (Mayestik), I don't know where that is, but seems like that's the best place to buy materials.
If you want to buy/just look at Indonesian handicrafts, the best place to go to is Pasaraya. It's got an amazing collection of Indonesian products on the 5th floor, really a nice way to spend an afternoon....it's also very peaceful and relaxed...!! The other floors are like normal malls, so you may find something nice or a bargain there as well.
The shopping malls are pretty OK, but mostly expensive. Plaza Indonesia and Plaza Senayan are the most posh, and most likely you wont want to pay to buy anything there...!! Plaza Semanggi is a bit mid-range, and OK to spend a couple of hours just jalan-jalan... The malls are open until around 9-10pm, so if you have nothing to do in the evening, then can go there. Another place is Jalan Surabaya, which is just one street of antiques (and "fake antiques")...nice to walk around and look at the stuff, but can get hot in the afternoon.

3. Makan
I would be careful about eating things on the street...generally it's OK (and I've eaten at some really dirty-looking stalls), but I would only do that if someone local, like my colleague, takes me there. One place I'd definitely recommend is Salero Jumbo for Nasi Padang. It's very good and authentic Indonesian food...the place is behind BII bank at the back of Jalan Thamrin. Usually the hotel will know.
Another place you should try is Bakmi GM, which is all sorts of rice and noodles, Chinese/Indonesian style. Some of it is pork, but mostly chicken - the ayam cabai hijau is good, and the chicken with mushroom (can't remember it's name). They have a few branches around, so if you ask the local people they should be able to tell you.
If you're really adventurous, on your way to Pasaraya, you can try to find this place called Soto Kudus...it's in a nice building, and clean. They make a special kind of Soto Ayam, where the rice is in the soup. Pretty good!!
The hotel food (room service) should be pretty affordable as well, not cheap, but not that expensive either, so you might want room service one of the nights...and there is also Secret Recipe in Plaza Indonesia, and all the other usual food chains. There is a good Indian restaurant called Ganesha in the BRI building quite near your hotel as well, a taxi should know how to take you there, or check with the hotel. But not sure how expensive it is, coz I never paid the bill-la :-)

4. Cultural
The museums and all are quite poorly taken care of, and there's nothing really that is a "must-see"...you might want to take a walk around the Monas park...especially on a weekend, you will see a lot of locals out with their families, so that's quite a nice thing to do. The National Museum (locals refer to it as the Muzium Gajah coz there's an elephant statue outside) is very nice with a lot of things that we can identify with, from Indonesia's Hindu past, and it also shows all the different types of Indonesian people and culture...but it closes at 1pm or sthng funny like that, so make sure you go early. we couldnt see the upstairs coz we were too late.

5. Getting Around
It might be worth asking at the hotel about renting a taxi/car for the day and have the driver take you around, prob works out cheaper and more convenient for moving about the city. ONLY use blue bird or silver bird taxis. They are safe and reliable. Silver bird is the luxury taxi but it's not that expensive. You should use this when you're coming into town from the airport. (Make sure they don't offer you Golden Bird, coz that's SUPER expensive).
It's quite easy to hail a cab here and there, and if you're in a group, quite safe. Just make sure it's BlueBird, coz there are some copies which look similar!
Another option you may want to consider is using the BusWay...it's safe, cheap and convenient, but a bit crowded. Depending on where you want to go, it's an easy way to get out of all the horrible Jakarta traffic. Ask at the hotel each time, whether you can use the Busway to get there...they will try to discourage you, but I've used it a few times and it's totally fine...like LRT but in a bus! :-)

KL Holiday Tips

On the whole, Journey Malaysia is the best website to get info on Malaysia and things to do, whether in the cities, islands or jungles. You can also book hotels and get tours from there. www.journeymalaysia.com

KL (within and around city centre)

Museums
Islamic Arts Museum is supposed to be very good (though I've never been there myself), also the National Art Gallery, Petrosains Musuem (in Twin Towers), National Science Centre, Rumah Penghulu at National Heritage Centre

Parks
Eye on Malaysia (Titiwangsa Lake), KL Bird Park (also a couple of other parks/gardens in the area worth dropping by if you're in the area)

Shopping
all the usual places - KLCC for high-end, Bukit Bintang for medium-high, Petaling Street (Chinatown) for fake goods, Central Market for souvenirs/cultural, Little India (Jl Masjid India) for Malay & Indian stuff, Brickfields (around KL Sentral main train station) for Indian food and clothes

Religious monuments
Walk around old city centre to Masjid Jamek, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple & Chinese temple opposite. This is all in the same area as Chinatown and Central Market, so if weather is good you could spend about half-day in this area just walking around.

There is a hop-on hop-off bus service which takes you to major tourist attractions in the city for about RM 40 per person. Might be worth doing that for one day, to get an orientation of the city and the major tourist attractions. It's called KL Hop-on Hop Off, and should be available at major hotels.
http://www.myhoponhopoff.com/
http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MC_kualalumpur.htm

Around KL (day-trips)

Batu Caves + Orang Asli Museum - definitely worth a day trip. Should just rent a taxi for the day and get them to take you to these two places.

Sunway Lagoon - big water theme park, probably fun for older kids and teenagers. There is also a huge shopping mall next to the theme park.

Fireflies in Kuala Selangor - this is an evening event, and only if weather is good. Hire a taxi to go out to Kuala Selangor (1.5 hours drive) and take a small boat cruise to see fireflies along the river. This is the only place in the world that you can see so many of them in the wild like this. If you dont mind eating chinese seafood, there is also a place where you eat seafood by the river.

Outside KL (1-2 nights' stay)

Fraser's Hill (Bukit Fraser) - nice cool place up in the mountain, abt 2 hours drive from KL. Old golf course if you're interested to play. Otherwise just a quiet place to relax, jalan-jalan and enjoy nature. Have to rent a car/taxi to take you there. http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MH_fraser.htm

Melaka (also possible for day trip) - historical city with a lot of monuments, museums, antique stores, abt 2 hours drive from KL. There are buses every hour from KL, very convenient for day trip4. Very good local food.

Makan

Malay
Kelantan Delights in KLCC. Also, for very good Nasi Lemak there are 2 places: AJ in Jalan Lumut next to Vistana Hotel and Puteri in Desa Sri Hartamas
Chinese (Halal)
Spring Garden in KLCC (price and taste ok, but not very good), Dim Sum at Mandarin Oriental (expensive but very very good, especially the durian pancake), Little Penang Kafe in KLCC or MidValley (my favourite - good food at reasonable price), Precious (upstairs of Central Market - great food, not too expensive)
Indian
Lots of places!! For Banana Leaf rice - Nirwana Maju in Bangsar from 12noon - 3pm, Roti Canai - Nirwana Maju from 8-11am, B'Sentral in Brickfields opposite KL Sentral. For Indian sweets, Jai Hind in Jalan Melayu, near Masjid India/Masjid Jamek (very famous!!)

Areas where you can find a lot of restaurants & good food:
Hartamas - many pubs and restaurants, one of my favourites is Souled Out (very popular and good value for money)
Bangsar - Delicious, Marmalade at Bangsar Village II, Sakae Sushi, Nirwana Maju, Devi's corner, La Bodega Deli & Lounge (one of my favourites for brunch)
Bukit Bintang area - lots of restaurant franchises/chains.
If you like Japanese food, the Japanese Buffet at Jogoya (4th floor Starhill) is really good value (RM 100 per person - all you can eat, with good quality and good taste). Also the area in the basement of Starhill has a lot of nice restaurants (Tarbush - middle eastern - is best value for money in the entire place), very nice to walk around even if you don't eat there.
If you really want to find more eating places, try www.friedchillies.com

Good food in KL

Jalan Imbi
Oversea Restaurant (Chinese) - it's behind the Westin area, on Jalan Imbi. Very good Chinese food - almost anything on the menu is good. I really like the cod fish.
KTZ (Chinese ice desserts) - after dinner at Oversea, cross the main road (Jalan Imbi) to get to KTZ for Mango Ice. It's basically mango puree with shaved ice and pieces of mango. There are other flavours too but my fav (and I believe still the best!!) is mango.
Meng Kee (Chinese) - this place is behind KTZ. Very famous for beef and prawn noodles, however, may be a bit risky coz you need to go with a local chinese who will know how/what to order. If they know you are foreign, highly likely they will overcharge you :-)

Tengkat Tung Shin - this is a small street 2 rows parallel to the main Jalan Bukit Bintang.
Sao Nam (Vietnamese - Halal) - One of my favorite places. It's actually a row of colonial shophouses which have been refurbished to create lovely little restaurants. I like the Pomelo and Prawn salad, and the duck breast with orange. Best to order a few different dishes and share.
Old Siam (Thai - Halal) - next to Sao Nam. Have not eaten here but keep hearing from people that it's very good.
Famous Beef Noodles Stall (Chinese) - excellent place for late dinner/ supper. It's a stall right at the end of Tengkat Tung Shin. It's become famous now, so it's quite clearly marked as the "Famous beef ball noodles" :-) Hygiene is subjective, though I've never heard of anyone who had problems after eating there, but be careful if you have delicate stomachs.

Changkat Bukit Bintang - this is another small street very close to Tengkat Tung Shin.
El Cerdo (European) - absolutely the ONLY pork heaven in the universe!! It's totally porky from items on the menu to decor on the walls (even in the bathrooms!!!). Very good quality food, and very tasty!! Should try to make reservation as they are usually packed. +603 2145 0511 2. Ceylon Bar (Western/Local) - the only reason to go to this place is the all-day brunch on Sunday. For RM 26, you get a very filling meal of pork sausage, bacon, eggs, etc etc. Starts late - go after 11.30am only.

Other great places
Yut Kee Coffee House (Hainanese) - Jalan Dang Wangi. Very very good traditional coffee shop, gets packed on weekends, so go around 11am or after 2pm. Pork chops here are legendary, as is the Belachan Fried Rice (very spicy!), and noodles overall are very good too. Also make sure you have the cakes for dessert - marble cake or Kaya roll (kaya is a sweet jam made from coconut milk and eggs)
Souled Out (Western/Local) - this place in Sri Hartamas is very popular and great place to hang out and chill. Good mix of locals and foreigners, mostly groups of friends relaxing and having a good time. Food is generally good, and great selection of cakes for dessert. The Hartamas area itself is a lively night spot with lots of restaurants, bars, pubs, etc.
B'Sentral (Indian) - this place is in Brickfields, opposite KL Sentral station (you can take the monorail from Bukit Bintang to KL Sentral Station and walk from there). Must try Roti Canai - this is almost Malaysia's national food, Claypot Biriyani, Roti Prata, Mango Lassi (drink). The tandoori and other oven-baked chicken is really really good too.

Good Food in Melaka

Ball Chicken Rice
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice Ball - corner shop next to OCBC Bank (Jalan Hang Jebat). Go before 12noon else there is a big queue.
Chung Wah Restaurant - across from St Paul's church (Right at the beginning of Jonker Walk)

Chinese Food
Restaurant Sin Yin Hoe, Lorong Hang Jebat (near Melaka River and Melaka Clock Tower) Mr Khoo's (shellfish, etc) - lane at the side of Jalan Melaka Raya (next to Madam Kings Emporium)

Snacks
Roti Bakar Nam Thye - in front of the beach in Limbongan (5am - 5pm)
Satay Celup - Ban Lee Siang, 45 Jalan Ong Kim Wee, off Jalan Hang Tuah
Pork Satay - Xiang Ji Satay Shop, opposite Pay Teck school on Jalan Portugis, a few blocks from Jonker Walk
Cendol - Stall 88, Jonker Street
Mille Feuille - Nadeje G23-25 Jalan PM 4, Plaza Mahkota (in between Mahkota Parade and Hotel Sri Costa)
Popiah - Old man on bicycle at Jonker Street (really very good, and so cheap!!); Famous popiah outside of Madam King's
Wantan Mee - Kedai Makanan & Minuman Wantan Mee (Heeren Street)