Indonesia | Jason Around the World

Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur with KLM

2019 Asia and Arctic RTW, Indonesia, Malaysia 2 Responses »

Nov 262019

After a bit of time relaxing and enjoying my last few hours in the Presidential Suite, I decided to head down to the executive lounge for one last snack. All things considered the haze and humidity wasn’t too bad, and I had a nice view of Jakarta. I really enjoyed my short time, and can’t wait to come back for longer.

Afternoon tea was being served, and I took the opportunity to have a diet coke and some sweets before checking out.

Grabbed a grab to the airport, and since KLM’s app was cooperative I had managed to check-in online with no problem. Took a couple work calls en route before heading to security…and proving that yes, I’m in Jakarta!

Security and passport control lines weren’t too bad, and I was through both in under 15 minutes and decided to start looking for the Garuda lounge. It’s not easy to find, but eventually I did. Very warm staff at reception…and even warmer in the lounge. They even had a sign apologizing that the air conditioning was broken. It was about 78F in the lounge so very warm, but not horrendous.

The lounge was reasonably bright with plenty of seating, and I had no trouble getting a good seat near a power outlet. I was also near the “Difable” washroom. It really begged the question: is this just a common Asian English mistake, or is it short for “differently abled?”

The food selection was so-so with quite a few options, but I wasn’t that hungry and nothing really spoke to me so I settled for a glass of wine and what I thought were prawn crackers. Unfortunately, no prawn and they were just flavourless puffed rice, but still something crispy to munch on.

Our flight arrived from KL about 45 minutes late, just 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave, and the lounge agents were great about telling the KLM passengers that there was no need to rush to the gate. I waited about 30 minutes longer than I would have and then headed down. Good choice too – I’ve never seen a flight with so many people swarming the group one lane!

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight 810
Jakarta, Indonesia (CGK) to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL)
Depart 19:25, Arrive: 22:30, flight time: 2:05
Boeing 777-300ER, Registration PH-BVK, Manufactured 2013, Seat 01D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 184,598
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,876,900

After boarding, my suspicions on the seats were confirmed. They were in a 2-2-2 configuration, and seemed identical to what you would find on United’s ex-Continental 777s. A decent seat in the middle section, but absolutely zero privacy. As an added bonus, however, my seat today came with no pillows but bonus earplugs….

Pre-departure beverages were offered, and the champagne came in probably the most elegant looking PDB glasses I’ve ever seen in business class. I’m personally not a fan of overly ornate glassware (except the amazing Ultima Thule on Finnair) but it did feel a little more “special” than what I’m used to…

Despite a flight time under two hours, a full dinner was promised tonight!

Other airlines may have larger washrooms, or fancier fru-fru amenities, but nobody has Delft Blau Huisjes on the walls! AMAZING!

We were only airborne about 15 minutes when dinner was served. Yes, it was all on one tray, but quite a large meal for a short flight. I love the water glasses too – I think KLM now has my second favourite glassware after Finnair! It was way more food than I needed, and I think I only had the chicken, some rice, and of course can’t say no to chocolate cake!

As soon as my tray was served, the drama started. A page went out (20 minutes into flight max) asking if there was a doctor on board. It took me a bit to realize what was going on…and that the stricken passenger was right behind me! He was a younger guy, maybe mid 20s, and was foaming at the mouth getting super agitated and hyper.

The crew did a great job surrounding him and holding up blankets for privacy, but it was pretty clear that someone had taken something and was higher than our 777…

Meal service completely stopped, I think only row one got food, and for the next hour there were several crew members and doctors with him the entire time. I was shocked we didn’t divert to Singapore given just how terrible the guy looked, but the crew and ground-based medical services obviously know better than me!

While landing, one of the flight attendants even knelt in the aisle holding on to keep him in his seat which remained mostly flat even for landing. They had him on oxygen and he looked a little better, but wow what a crazy experience.

The downside of the service ending is that they also weren’t able to offer the little huisjes either. One of the crew apologized to me after landing and I said no problem – I was really looking forward to it, but obviously safety and health come first.

That’s what something that restored a bit of my faith in humanity happened. The woman across the aisle had two of them (from AMS-KUL-CGK a few days prior) and offered me one – commenting to the same flight attendant that she hoped they could give her two to make up for it. I wish I’d gotten her email or something to thank her more properly, but it was the nicest onboard gesture I’ve seen in a long time. In this age where tensions are often high in the air, it was so nice to see!

Landed right on time, and unfortunately I had to sit in the terminal for an hour taking a work call before clearing immigration and heading to the hotel. I was meeting my friend Ian in KL, and even with my phone call he was still at least 30 minutes behind me, so I decided to head to the hotel on the KLIA Ekspres Train which is wonderfully convenient.

Checked in to the Le Meridien, no upgrade despite being a titanium member, but at least there was a Tiffany blue carton in my room with sweets for pre-bed!

Mmmmm macarons! They were pretty good quality too – not amazing, but definitely good!

Met up with Ian, and chatted a bit before crashing. Since I’d already been in Asia a couple of days I was sure I’d be up early so didn’t set an alarm, while he promised to set one for late morning to ensure we didn’t waste the whole day.

At some point I rolled over to the phone which wouldn’t stop ringing. WTF, why was someone calling me in the middle of the night. No way I was answering….but it had woken me up, so after 10 minutes or so I gave up and rolled over to look at my phone…it was after 1pm! I’d managed to sleep more than 12 hours – something I don’t think I’ve ever done before! I don’t even think I’ve broken 10 more than a couple of time.

I felt like I’d been hit by a truck (and it couldn’t be from two glasses of wine) so clearly all the travel had gotten to me. Rushed to get going so we could at least enjoy what was left of the day…

24 Hours in Jakarta

2019 Asia and Arctic RTW, Indonesia, Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Nov 262019

After landing the walk to immigration seemed endless, but eventually made it and signs seemed pretty clear where I needed to go. The visa on arrival desk was well marked, and despite a rather lengthy queue pretty efficient. The lines for passport control looked pretty long, so I was relieved to see that after paying my money and getting my visa I was also stamped in and waived past normal passport control. Overall, pretty efficient!

I already knew there was no Uber in Indonesia anymore, but Grab was available. It took me a bit to figure out where the Grab pickup point was, but once I got close there were helpful Grab “agents” in “Grab green” helping you to find the car that was picking you up. Overall, it worked quite well.

The drive to my hotel wasn’t too bad, and soon I was at the Ritz Carleton Pacific Place. I attempted to check-in at the desk in the lobby, but was escorted up to the Executive Lounge for check-in. What hadn’t been fully clear to be before arriving is that the Ritz is the top floors of the hotel and all rooms have Executive Lounge access, while lower flowers are the “residences” which you can still book as a regular hotel – but don’t necessarily have Executive Lounge access. Confused yet? Read on.

Once I arrived with my escort in the lounge, the lounge agent instantly knew who I was and told me she would escort me to my room to check in. “I hope you do not mind, but we had to change your room for an upgrade.” Ok, I’ll never complain about an upgrade. I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention until we got outside and I realized…

I’d been upgraded to the Presidential Suite. All 3,600 square meters of it. It’s pretty awesome when your room has its own website! I was a bit floored…and it was a new experience sitting on “my” own living room sofa to do check-in.

Best part of all? I was informed that “President Obama has stayed in this room as well!” Sweet! Maybe greatness will rub off on me after all!

So, let me give you a tour. The dining room:

The kitchen, complete with bar. The door to the left is the kitchen area with a fully stocked fridge (chargeable as minibar) and full silverware, crystal, tableware, etc…

Living room #1:

The foyer:

Living room/lounge #2:

The office…which strangely had no outlets, so I didn’t find very useful…unless I wanted to invite my minions over and shout at them across the table?

The master bedroom:

I’m definitely not fancy enough to need a dressing room complete with walk-in closet, but just in case you are…

The washroom. Biggest question I never figured out: why the need for a chair? In case someone wants to watch you in the jacuzzi tub (with great views of Jakarta) or while you’re on the throne?

Yup…this is mine (for one night). All mine!

After luxuriating a bit I was a bit tired, so decided to go to the attached Pacific Place Mall to find some caffeine. While attempting to locate Starbucks, I first came across a really odd sculpture display in the mall of smiling food…and then a restaurant oddly-named…”Fook Yew!”

It was super convenient being on top of the Pacific Place Mall, which is connected to the Ritz via an underground walkway with no need to go outside. It’s definitely a high end upscale luxury mall with super fancy brands, but also lots of restaurants and most importantly: Starbucks!

Adequately caffeinated, but still super tired, I headed back to my room for the evening, in hopes I would have enough energy the next day to enjoy Jakarta before heading to the airport.

Back to my room, and noticed something I’d overlooked before. Looks like President Obama left something behind…I knew it! LOLZ

After a bit of rest, I decided to head down to the executive lounge and see what “Happy Hour” was all about.

So yes, it was a regular happy hour with free-flowing drinks, but also a buffet so large you could easily make a meal out of it. I wasn’t terribly hungry still from the flight, so light snacks was all I wanted…and they were absolutely delicious.

On top of that, the service was absolutely stellar. I don’t know how they do it, but all the staff knew my name the moment I walked in (do they take pictures at check-in? This was a different crew…) and never once was I not addressed by it. Not that this is a big deal to me, I was just really impressed by all the little details. It was a wonderful and relaxing evening especially given I was too tired and jetlagged to really adventure much.

After a great night’s sleep, it was back to the lounge for a light breakfast:

I say light breakfast, because you could easily have stuffed yourself with made to order hot items and a huge expansive buffet as well. You really would never need to leave the hotel if you didn’t want to. Breakfast was provided, morning tea, full lunch service, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails and a buffet. It was basically an all-inclusive hotel, and probably the single best hotel experience I’ve ever had….and I’d even be saying that without the generous upgrade.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, the AC was also wonderful in my room(s). All five AC units worked wonderfully – LOL)

While the choice of like 12 different teas at breakfast was nice, you know where I headed for my predictable caffeine fix in the attached mall. Complete with Christmas decorations in early November. Ugh.

Decided to do a little shopping after coffee, and picked up a couple of awesome batik shirts for myself.

After that, I decided to ride Jakarta’s relatively-new subway system and find myself somewhere authentic and local for lunch. An Indonesian co-worker told me one of her favourite places, and since I’m a subway geek I rode it to the nearest stop before taking a Grab the last mile or so. The subway is only about a three minute walk from the Pacific Place mall, so not terrible even in the extreme heat and humidity.

I exited near the Selamat Datang monument, so had to grab a picture to prove I was in Jakarta:

Lunch was at Gado Gado Cemara, which my coworker had told me to visit when I told her I liked gado gado. The Grab driver was hysterical – when he saw my destination he just kept saying “salad – you get salad!” – which I only later learned that gado gado is bahasa for salad.

The menu looked promising:

Although the inside was spartan, it was 100% locals and packed, which was a great sign. (This picture taken after everyone but me left – every seat was taken when I arrived):

Amazing and delicious gado gado and chicken satay. The perfect “local” lunch and a great experience of wandering into a neighbourhood where there wasn’t a single westerner or tourist, the staff spoke not a word of English, and the food was delicious. Given it was crowded I figured it was “safe” but we would see in 24 hours….oh, and all this was maybe $4.

Full and happy, I grabbed a Grab back to the Ritz to wind down, cool down, and shower for a couple hours before heading back to the airport. I was really happy with how much I did in such a limited time given the jetlag, and excited for the next stop: KL!

Bali to Dili, Timore Leste in Sriwijaya business

Airports, Business Class, Indonesia, South Pacific Tour 2014, Timor-Leste 1 Response »

Oct 282014

Woke up super early the next morning due to the whole time zone thing, and managed to catch a bit of the sunrise over the hotel pool. Few cups of coffee and it was time to head to the airport where I hoped to avail myself of some Starbucks. No such luck, the Starbucks was located in the domestic terminal, and my flight was in the international terminal. Sad panda.

Check-in was nice and smooth, and soon it was time to pay the airport tax of 200,000 Rupiah (around $18) and wait in line for immigration. They had 6 desks open, but still took nearly 30 minutes to clear immigration. Sriwijaya had invited us to the “Premier Lounge” which was an adequate place to wait. There was caffeine and little raisin rolls, so life could be a whole lot worse!

The lounge was nice and spacious, however, it was rather warm inside:

Soon they called boarding, and I rushed over to the gate…which was right next to the lounge. Boarding was just starting, and I got some dirty looks for walking to the front of the queue, but that’s part of what you pay for with business class.

Sriwijaya Airlines flight 270
Bali, Indonesia (DPS) to Dili, Timor-Leste (DIL)
Depart 9:55, Arrive 12:50, Flight Time 1:55
Boeing 737-500, Registration PK-CMC, Manufactured 1995, Seat 2F

These seats look awfully familiar….wait…this used to be a United Airlines plane, and they’re the exact same seats! A quick check of the registration number, and check against my spreadsheet, and I’ve been on this plane before back in 2006! Matter of fact, I was in the exact same seat…as I doubt they’d changed them since then!

Oh, look what’s in the loo! Now THAT is just terrifying. They got this plane from United over a year ago, but still haven’t changed the soap dispenser?!

My seatmate was a very cranky Timorese guy, who kept complaining about everything. He was trying to seem worldly and important by speaking English with the flight attendants, but they were having none of it and kept speaking back to him in Bahasa, lol. He was a little Napoleon who just liked complaining and feeling important.

Pre-departure beverage choice was apple juice…so there was no choice. Take it or leave it. Not many drink choices once we were underway either…no diet coke, so I settled for water. The “chicken rice” was pretty decent at least. The desert was some super gelatinous thing that tasted better than it looked, but was still rather scary.

About 90 minutes later, we were on approach to Dili:

No jetbridges at Dili, and this is the walkway to the terminal:

View of our plane parked at Dili:

Overall, Sriwijaya Air was a perfectly pleasant experience. Decent small meal, relatively clean plane. It was clearly showing its age, but that’s not necessarily the most important thing as long as it’s well-maintained. I survived it, so I’ll just leave it at that. Overall, I’d fly them again if they were convenient on a route I needed to go on.

Visa on arrival counter was quick and efficient – pay your $30, stamp in your passport, receipt, and you’re on your way in 5 seconds. Immigration was also quick and it was time to get exploring my 160th country visited…Timor-Leste!

Singapore to Bali in Singapore Business and 24 hours in Bali

Airports, Flights, hotels, Indonesia, Singapore, South Pacific Tour 2014 3 Responses »

Oct 272014

Ah Asia. I got to the gate area about 10 minutes before boarding, and there was nary a gate louse in site. I politely sat in the first row of seats near the boarding door, and nobody was anywhere near. There was going to be no fight for overhead bin space on this flight. There was a guy sitting a few seats down who had his own Singapore Airlines personal assistant, and she was filling up his Indonesia immigration card. I caught something about “you must be having people to do this for you as next in line to the throne” but couldn’t figure things out. Based on looks, I’m going to guess somewhere in Northern Europe, but once we boarded he was in economy, so who knows!

Singapore Airlines flight 942
Singapore (SIN) to Bali, Indonesia (DPS)
Depart 9:35, Arrive 12:05, Flight Time 2:30
Boeing 777-200, Registration 9V-SRH, Manufactured 2001, Seat 12A (bulkhead window)

First on the plane, and this is what regional business looks like on a Singapore 777-200:

…bubbles are delivered, and I’m happy.

Brunch looks tasty, and it was a tough call between nasi lemak and dim sum, before I remembered that I’d pre-ordered via book the cook:

Flight was looking about 75% full in business, despite showing completely sold out online. Was looking like I was going to get lucky with an empty seat next to me. Until. Heavyset 30-something guy boarded, holding two small infants, maybe 2 months old, which looked like twins. Yes, I’d booked the bassinet row and know it’s a possibility, but ugh. I have nothing at all against children in business, especially if you’re going to pay to get them there, but be considerate. Seemed he’d upgraded last minute, and his wife was in coach, so he was holding both of them until departure.

Cabin filled up about five minutes later when a delayed connection arrived, and the agents came on board and upgraded his wife as well. Few last minute seat swaps, and the heavens opened up and I was spared. Nice Indonesian woman ended up to me, and I was relieved to have no small children. Until…

She asked me if I had peace in my heart? Did I have the true inner peace which could come from meditation? I couldn’t pull the “no speak english” card because I’d already thanked her for saving me from the children, so I had to cowboy up. Told her I was happy with my spiritual situation, and prefered not to discuss it with strangers…thanks.

Despite waiting for the connecting flight we were off on time, and the crew was quick with the meals. They seemed confused when I told them I’d pre-ordered with book the cook, but found it quickly enough. Mmmm lobster thermidor: