Jakarta Day 1

Jakarta Day 1

Let me round up the travels for the year. Hee. Off I went to Jakarta on a 5-day work trip in end Nov.

It was my first time travelling for a real working trip, so was quite nervous abt it.

Luckily the mission was just to attend a seminar to gain learning experiences, so I could tell myself to relax and try to treat it like a hol.

I flew to Jakarta with some of the ppl who are going there and shared a hotel cab to our hotel. We arrived in the late afternoon at about 4plus I think.



The scenary as we drove out of the airport before we get near to the city and the notorious jams enveloped us.


In the cab. Lucky I pre-booked a hotel cab lor. As I walked out from the immigration area, there was so many ppl crowded at the arrival hall entrance, all waving sign boards. So scary.

And when I reached the luggage belt, I almost had the shock of my life. There were no labels at the belts to say which flight it is serving. We had to walk almost to the end of the hall before we find a belt that had a screen saying it was our flight.

After abt a 40mins ride (it started drizzling during our cab ride), we reached the hotel. This is the elevators to take to the hotell lobby after you enter the hotel. So grand right.

Sg hotels are never so spacious and grand. I have observed that most of Jakarta's big hotels are very big in nature with very grand architecture. Think it's becos they have a lot of land.

I was quite worried about making the trip, what with the terrorism threats and earthquakes.

But over the course of my stay, I grew to feel quite safe in my hotel.

There are many security measures in the hotel and while they made me feel sad that terrorism is part of the locals' everyday lives, it also made me feel safe.

More importantly, the staff at the hotel are all genuinely warm and friendly. Anyone who passes you along the corridors will greet you and smile. By the end of my stay, they made me feel like I could really count on them to do their best to save me if anything happens.

The friendliness of the locals is the thing that I missed the most when I come back home. But then maybe they were so nice cos I may be like an expat to them. Just like how ang mohs get better treatment here in Sg.

The hotel lobby


Looking down from the lobby to the hotel entrance

And the Christmas tree that the staff took 4 days to set up. I wonder was it that difficult or it's just their relaxed way of lifestyle.

And my hotel room! Very big and nice but slightly aged. But at US$90 per night including breakfast, it's a steal.

The bathroom area

And the room with a big plasma tv

My dinner at a restaurant in one of the shopping centres. Luckily my travel companions wanted to go out and explore after we settled ourselves in the room.

It's the best meal I had during the trip. The chilli was superb.

Think it only cost about 35,000 rupiah. And we get to eat in a restaurant setting. Cheap and good!

But the shops over there close quite early though at around 8.30pm. So there wasn't much to do and we ended up shopping more at the Giant supermarket to buy food and drinks.

Hoot of the day!