Jakarta Raya - My life, My city

Whoa....meet again dear poochies!! Hope you readers are doing well and fine. I know, I know...what's the deal with going MIAs so many times....this time my excuse is valid!! hahahaha....I am back to my dear birth city, Jakarta Raya....as some of you may know, Jakarta doesn't have the facility to support high-speed internet connection!! All I got to work with was a 56k modem and that alone does not allow effective blogging.... =D (say all you want...and if you don't accept my excuse.....shoo!) hahaha.....

Anywhoooo....I went back last Thursday...16th March to be exact! Ran to catch the bus first thing in the morning that took us to Changi Terminal 1. Got there at around 9:30 and we were way too early for the 11:05 ValueAir flight. It's a very cozy plane...leather seat, roomy leg space, comfortable cabin.....but as soon as I landed on Soekarno Hatta....I know I was home again after a 2-year layoff...My dad and I were picked up by my mom's brother...he was driving an old and beaten Kijang (fyi: kijang is the well-known toyota mini-van in jakarta!) well, to let you guys know how bad it was, the car broke down 4 times before we could muster the last bit strength to get us home! hahaha....quite an experience...As soon as I got home, I got to eat Padang food!! YUMMYYYYY!!! hahahaa.....it's been too long my fellow poochies....all been too long!!

Great! now...I know what I need to do back in Jakarta...renew passport, meet and greet ol' pals (SD, Singapore, Waverly, Ames, Windsor) man....all this packed into the "supposedly" 1-week stay. I don't know for sure how long it'll take to git my passport done, but I'm hoping I can meet as many friends as I can. So first off....Cipto is on the priority list since he's coincidentally in Jakarta till Friday...he called me after a few SMSes and we agreed to meet before surprising Zul. Cipto wanted to go to PIM before finding Zul, but that plan was scrapped and he ended up coming to my home to chat and also meet up again with my dad. We talked for about 2 hours before finally deciding to go to Zul's house before he comes back so that we have the element of surprise! (talk about Sun Tzu strategy!) hahaha....Zul doesn't know that I'm back and Cipto, as his usual self, likes to play pranks on people. So there we go, I managed to squeeze out Zul's typical shocked look! hahaha...it's great to see him again and what do you know? he presented me with his name card.....Zulkifli Adijaya, Assistant Manager.....damn him!! hahahaha.....
We then proceed for a nice dinner in Muara Karang.

Next day, Andya and Vincent was next on the list. Andya already called to meet for dinner that Friday. Again, I went to Muara Karang to eat, dun know the place...and since I was not allowed to drive on my own, my dad insisted on driving me there. Ate at this Hay Thien restaurant...not bad but nothing too special. While still waiting for Vincent aka bos babi, Andya and I head to iPool in Pantai Mutiara....great nice place, it's in the old sports club, but renovated to a pool/lounge place. There, we were greeted by a deadly charming hostess....."Ko, mau minum apa? Alkohol? Jus? atau apa? Yang ini enak jg koq..." hahaha....Andya couldn't resist, I could tell. Then she moved on to ask me....she recommended me a few drinks....and yes...you know it....I couldn't resist either! hahahaha.....Then Vincent joined us and we chatted and pooled for a bit. I still suck since my white ball likes to find the holes! hahaha.....Finally, we went to Jetski restaurant nearby to chat and kill off the night. Before ending the night, Vincent suggested a morning golf session. Alright....since I'm here, I'll do anything!

Golf morning was there...7 in the morning in Pantai Indah Kapuk. Beautiful golf club....a cool morning as you can tell, and we were off whacking those balls....Vincent and Andya seems to be a regular, as I struggled hitting those balls....damn....never played on grass, and never had the courage to "ruin" the grass although it was meant to be a driving range. Then in the afternoon, I had Ahai and Cherish on the agenda....Man, those two wackos....it's fun being around them. They're very loose, and they know I don't get mad easily......reminds me that it's fun being a student all over again. Then we picked up Edward before going for lunch in Imperial Chef....nice dimsum servings.....We talked about everything, from what's left in Windsor to business, and everything. They got a good sense of business opportunities in Jakarta but all of us were limited to the ideas since we don't have the means to the capital.

Sunday....wow....consecutive two and a half days of activities sure drain my strength. It was hard gathering up the people of Iowa State alumnus the night before and thankfully it was a pretty huge group. Zul and his brother picked me up at home slightly before 1 in the afternoon. Then we head to Plaza Senayan (my first time!) to meet Meis, Juli, Stephen, and Filbert. First, I met with Stephen (Asoi), well well well, I seem to get the hint that banking is employing so many people. Zul is in LippoBank, Asoi in Bank Mizuho, as he presented me with his name card, I was told that Filbert is in Citibank...wow! What's going on? All Engineers and MIS students going to banks? hahaha....Then we met with Meis....she's still the same....and then Juli who brought Martono along....and old alumnus too....Wow...quite a gathering....we then went to Bakerzin since other restaurants were pretty packed. Filbert then joined us a bit later with his girlfriend. Before ending the meet, I got lucky! First, we were told that since we spent more than 300,000 rupiah, we got the chance to a lucky draw that might reward free air ticket to fly to Singapore....they were all excited and told the waiter to let me draw since I will be going there....I gladly accepted it since it's a chance for a free ticket. Sure enough....I drew one, and I did get a coupon for a free ticket!! Return trip for Jakarta-Singapore....WOW!! Everyone was excited for me! hahahaha.....Thanks AdamAir!

Monday comes and it's time for renewing the passport! We left home at about 9 in the morning and the immigration office was near the airport. And since Indonesia are prone to sidetracking....getting my passport to still bear foreign address was an easy feat...Money talks! so, we went there and met with the agent.....unfortunately, the immigration officer he normally deals with hasn't arrived...and we were made to wait for 2 hours before I get to get into the office to take care of my passport...first, all the information for passport, name, DOB, place of birth, and all those nittygrittys....then came the digital photo-taking and digital fingerprints that accompany new passports....got done with that, then all I needed to do was sign the new passport, the agent gave the officer the Indonesian handshake (money hidden underneath the palm =D) and we were done in less than an hour. The agent said it will be delivered to my home the next day. All these cost 850,000 rupiah....when a normal procedure will cost around 500,000 rupiah.

So yes, the next day my passport came and I don't like it. Normally, the photo and personal identification are on the back of the cover page, but now it's on the 2nd page of the book. It feels so flimsy! I don't like the picture on the passport either! Damn them......anyway, I had plan to meet Ocep and Freddy at night and the location: Pandan Bistro. This time, I managed to convince my dad to drive on my own there...I mean it's only less than 3 km away and he don't trust me and worry that it's unsafe? hahaha.....I manage to get there safely nonetheless! We chatted and talked abut stuff and the dinner was pretty good.

Finally on Wednesday night, I get to meet Yahya after Juli drove with him to my home. When Yahya was going home, Juli asked me to accompany him to send Yahya home. On the way, we stopped by Bakmi Gajah Mada....hahahaha....my favorite restaurant! Great, great! Get to eat the special GM noodles, and the fried meat dumplings (the specialty of the rest.) Then, I got the brunt of Indonesian traffic when it took more than an hour to get me home when it's about only 20 minutes drive without any congestion. I needed to rush home since there's a memorial for my dad's "step-mom" (She's not really a stepmom but she had taken my dad as her own son - fyi: my dad built her home) It was quite a gathering and it's an experience for me since it's the first time I get to experience a Catholic mass Indonesian style) After that, the catering that she had prepared was super delicious...too bad those Bakmi Gajah Mada noodles kept my stomach full, and I couldn't eat more than what I had. Then also, some big-time bosses were there.....Oma's (as what I call my dad's stepmom) second son is now with Mulia Group and has numerous projects that often get offered to my dad. But since my dad doesn't work no more, he helps his friend get the tender in for the bidding. Then also, there's the boss for Gajah Tunggal tyres. Well, I only get to know that he once was an Industrial Engineer and we chatted for a bit.
Whew.....so far it's quite a long rant huh?? Bear on poochies since I got more to tell.....

Then on that last day before I leave for Singapore.....I exchanged my coupon to travel on Friday, 24th March....I got to meet my SD friends....Yossy and Hendry. They came to my house, and we went to eat in the school canteen. The school is near my house and surprisingly, the lady in the canteen still remembers us very much.....that's some 10 odd years ago.....hahaha...how time flies....and the building still looks the same as when we left. We were talking about jobs, and nostalgic moments. So.....after 2 hours, I had to finish my packing and leave for the airport. I am travelling by myself since my dad has to stay for another week to take care of the tax. So...AdamAir....well to be honest, it sucked! hahaha.....crampy seat, no leg room (at least for me), packed box meal was a MickeyD's beefburger! hahaha....oh man....and the worst is that the plastic glass mineral water was accompanied by a rather flimsy straw. It kept getting bent whenever I try to stick it into the plastic cover sheet! I needed to get 3 straws to finally get the straw in. Anyway, the landing was also bad and I don't think I'll ever fly with AdamAir again....talk about the remaining Singapore-Jakarta trip. I'm not sure if I'll let it get void or if I'll fly back to Jakarta, since it's slated for April 22.

In short, I enjoyed my stay very much in Jakarta....I wanted to stay longer if I could, but there's too many things that reminded me it's not such a good ideal. First off, 24th March is my brother's (Andrew) birthday and I don't think I ever celebrated it with him other than his first day out of my mom's womb and maybe his 1st birthday! I left home for studies when he's one and since his birthday falls on school term, it doesn't let me to be there with him. Next, my dad's worrying does not let me to drive on my own to meet with my friends....It's a little troublesome since not all my friends live nearby. And lastly, they're busy working so I only get to meet them at night or weekends, guaranteed that they're not exhausted from their busy work schedules.

So anyway, sorry for going MIA for so long....but then, hope this fills the gap so far! hehehe...have fun reading....Ciao...til the next post!