My Jakarta adventure

MANILA, Philippines - My first visit to Jakarta in 2008 went like a blur. All I saw were the four walls of my hotel room and the Hard Rock Café where I had an artist performing that night then flew out the next morning. Since then, I had a hankering to return and visit Jakarta as a tourist. Reading Dennis Garcia’s blog about his various Jakarta stories fanned the fire further.

When Philippine Airlines offered the Fly All You Can promo in September, I was one of the very first to purchase and put Jakarta on my priority destinations. I boarded flight PR535 that gets into Jakarta just around midnight when Sukarno-Hatta International Airport is almost asleep. My enthusiasm was immediately doused with disappointment when we waited for over half an hour for our suitcase to arrive in the hot baggage retrieval hall. Like adding insult to injury, our suitcase that had a priority tag arrived close to last.

Wearily emerging from the customs hall, I searched for the hotel representative for transport to the hotel. There was no one. It took me another half an hour to find a taxi to take me to the Ritz Carlton. The duty manager got a mouthful from me about the no-show of the hotel transport upon checking in. I told him I bought their vacation package I could hardly afford that included airport transfers and amenities so I could be complacent and comfortable then this fiasco. He profusely apologized and escorted me to my room at the club floor. 

The concierge woke me up the next morning and apologized again. He offered me and my wife the full spa treatment in a private villa as a peace offering. Now this is my kind of hotel. They find ways to appease and please. My mood turned jovial and got me hungry so I rushed to the coffee shop for breakfast. What a spread for buffet breakfast. There was Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese and Continental fare to choose from. The only thing missing was tapsilog. I found it strange that they offered three types of bacon — beef, chicken and pork. Out of curiosity, I tried all three. The pork bacon was crisp, crumbly and tasty in contrast to the beef bacon that was tough as leather. The chicken bacon was so-so. After breakfast, my cousin Jake who migrated to Jakarta 20 years ago picked me up for a city tour.

Jakarta has grown by leaps and bounds and is now the best performing economy in Southeast Asia (Philippines is second). They have better paved roads and great infrastructure but the traffic is more chaotic than Metro Manila. There are malls every few blocks. One golden rule I learned was never fold the currency you wish to exchange for local money. They deduct a percentage from the exchange rate when there are folds, creases or any visible markings on the face of the currency. 

The Ritz Carlton spa located on the fifth floor is an oasis of serenity. We were ushered to a private villa that had all the amenities of a de luxe room plus a jacuzzi that could accommodate an entire baranggay. The masseuse scrubbed and washed our feet then ordered us to don the paper underwear for the massage. I refused to wear it because it would definitely rip as my tummy was still loaded with breakfast. The quality of the massage was difficult to gauge because I fell asleep but I would rate the jacuzzi experience a perfect 10.

Lunch with my Indonesian friend Untung at Sarikuring restaurant was next. We were served seafood cooked Indonesian-style in a private room. Spicy crab, snails, prawns, spicy kangkong and Gurame. Gurame or Gourami is a big Indonesian favorite like our bangus. It’s served deep-fried, grilled or boiled and appears in menus in most restaurants. I didn’t taste it though because it reminded me of my childhood where I kept Gurame as pets. I hardly touched anything because of my low tolerance for spicy food and returned to the hotel with a grumbling stomach. Early that evening, I dined with a vengeance on foie gras, truffle-infused mushroom soup, French oysters and prime Angus short ribs with all the trimmings at the hotel’s Italian restaurant Lobo. I could hardly walk when dinner was over. The bill got me shocked — 1,241,000 Rupiah until it dawned on me that converted to our currency it was less than P6,000.

Late next morning, my cousin Jake with his wife April picked us up for a trip to Puncak. It was a two-hour plus drive from the traffic-infested streets of Jakarta to the mountain resort Puncak. It’s somewhat a cross between Tagaytay and Baguio. The roads are narrow and winding through acres and acres of tea plantations and verdant hills with a smattering of fruit and handicraft shops. Our main destination was the Taman Safari, a government run nature reserve with thousands of free range wild animals from all over the world similar to San Diego’s “Lion Country Safari.” One needs a car to enter the nature reserve as the animals roam free and can get a bit aggressive when asking for food. The carnivores like lions, tigers, cheetahs and bears are segregated in another section. I was amazed at the variety and had fun interacting with them. You could touch the zebras, llamas, ostriches, wildebeest, deer, giraffe, etc., if you dare. I didn’t dare pet the crocodiles or hippos as they are ill-tempered. It took us over an hour driving through the various animal habitats. Exiting the jungle, there are restaurants, rides, shops and a petting zoo for baby lions, tigers, orangutans and kangaroos. We left Taman Safari around twilight for the long trip back to Jakarta. Tired but happy, it was a fabulous day with the animals.

I wish I had a few days more in Jakarta. So much to explore, so little time. Thank you, cousin Jake and April for taking me around. Thank you, Untung for the wonderful dinner. Thank you, Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan for the excellent service. Checking into my flight back to Manila, I was amazed to find that business class passengers and elite members of Mabuhay Miles can go through immigration at the lounge instead of lining up at the immigration hall. What a novel, convenient and hassle-free concept! I hope we adopt this soon to avoid congestion.