[Hi all - sorry for the long spell of silence but I was tied up with work and then there was a nice vacation followed by another spell of work. Anyway, here's me back at the old vacation write-up game. No pics yet. Sorry! To those I owe personal replies, will do so in the days ahead. Stay cool! ]
I came in early to the office at around 7:00AM and rushed like mad throughout the whole damn day to get everything done so that I could leave at 4:00PM. It's bloody hard to stay focused when all I can think of is the holidaaaaaAAAAAAy yay yay yay!!!Heh heh! A friend, Ad offered to drive me to the airport. However, we chit-chat so much in the car that we missed the turning and continued driving for at least another 20 minutes right through Nilai and Seremban exits and on the way to Malacca before it hit us that we were so way out of this. His wife, Aid had a good laugh on the handphone when she called to say goodbye.
Walked through the airport to the counter wondering if I should buy the vodka but decided against it until I checked in since I didn't feel like lugging it with me. Unfortunately, once I passed through immigration, the shops selling duty free liquor were closed. I kid u not. Aside from Chili's and a few cafes/kopi tiams, there were only two other retailers and one was Harrods. Agh! I walked from one end to the other getting panicky by the moment. But what to do?
Plane was incredibly packed, warm and so uncomfortable. Hey! It's a MAS, right? And as it was a MAS, u can guess the food for short journeys if you have ever flown with them over the past 15 yrs. Yup. Fried noodles. No changes. Consistent. Including the flat taste. Hah!
Reached Jakarta, disembarked, eyes scanning all around especially when I marched out of the immigration counter. I was so damn sleepy and the officer was asking what I was doing in Jakarta as it isn't exactly a touristry place. I grinned like an idiot, thanked him n wham out!
Anyway, as I exited, I had a minor panic moment. I couldn't see my friend anywhere. Deja vu of my Vietnam trip came back. I tried to call him on the handphone but couldn't get through since my handset is programmed with International codes. After sweating it for a good 10-15 minutes and being bugged almost incessantly by damn taxi touts, I went back into the Arrival Lounge through a mid-entrance and saw the back of someone who looked like my bro. I sneaked up on the side and bingo it was him! W.i.l.l.y.a.m - yes spelt with a "Y" and not an "I". Phew! Big sigh of relief there. He was with a couple of friends.
So what was Jakarta like? Huge and sprawling, not that many high rise but rather everything was very tightly packed and congested. Toll booths everywhere. Roads are pretty wide on the way to the airport though. Oh yeah name of the airport is Soekarno Hatta, names of their past political bosses.
I had my first sampling of local food that very night as we stopped by a roadside shop (I know I know everyone warns about the dangers of dining this way in Indonesia but ...) and ordered "Roti Bakar" or traditional toasted bread with stuffing. It was two thick slices of bread stuffed with cheese and egg for mine and cheese and chocolate for W.i.l.l.y.a.m. Huge stuff. Couldn't finish it but very yummy! 
Culture shock for the night - residential neighborhoods were divided into zones. So each area has walls surrounding them and with a few entrances to the neighborhoods. Each entrance has gates with barricades and guards. The guards are sometimes armed. 
And Jakarta is HOT! Swelteringly so. Roads are filled with potholes. Huge wide storm drains are chocked with stagnant water that resulted in a mob of mosquitos when sunset comes.
But who gives a damn, right? It's a different country and the greater the difference, the better. If I wanted the same old thing, I would have just stayed at home.
*** END OF DAY ONE ***
