My wife drove me to UNPAR that morning. We stopped at McD for me to buy a quick and easy breakfast, and I arrived at UNPAR at 6.30. Some students and other lecturers from International Relations department arrived one by one. This was a Program Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (some kind of corporate social responsibility) headed by the International Relations Department in cooperation with Faculty of Information Technology and Sciences, to teach a pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) students in Sukabumi, West Java. We started our journey at 7 AM, driving all the way to Sukabumi. We had simple lunch at a Sundanese restaurant in Sukabumi, and drove again to the pesantren.
We arrived at Pesantren somewhere at 13.00. It was still in semester break, so classroom was empty, as in the room was dusty and no chair for students inside. Lucky we had many personnels to clean the room, bring the chairs, and prepared it for class. The chairs were relatively heavy since they were made from real woods, whereas modern chairs in the city are usually made from lighter materials such as plastic or aluminium.
About an hour later, students coming in one by one, and when enough people were there, Mas N started his presentation about Japanese culture and the environment. He told a story about Japan’s journey, from when the people did not care about the environment, up to the era where stuffs are reused again and again.
We took a break and then my turn to perform the workshop. I taught the students how to use WordPress app to write blog posts. It was fun yet challenging. There were no computers, but almost all students had a smartphone with internet connection (I provided free wifi, though). I asked them to download the app from Play Store and write the post using the app. I was lucky too that this event was held in July, one month after the pride month. I can’t imagine how to explain why the WordPress logo is colored rainbow, let alone the LGBT+ movement to the Islamic students. It also made me ponder, how app developers can have large influence to people in other countries.
A picture of me teaching to blog
At 17.00, activities ended. Students did their prayer and went home, and we traveled again to our hotel in town. Midway, we stopped at another restaurant and had porridge for dinner. Why porridge? It was one of a few meals that is still within the price limit enforced by the university. After dinner, most of us took rest in the hotel, while I ordered a spagethi from the hotel since a portion of porridge was not enough.
The next day, I arrived in the restaurant earliest for breakfast. Without my colleagues around, I had a coffee while writing blog posts (mostly the previous parts of this Long Weekends series). Teaching blog to the students triggered me to regularly write blog posts again, just like I did many years ago. Stay at home due to pandemic limited the ideas, and family responsibilites reduced my time to write one.
We then traveled again to the pesantren. In that morning the activity was painting on tote bags, led by Mas K. Students were asked to paint with the theme of environment, and tell a story about what they painted. I served as one of the judges, and painted one, too. We had mini games afterwards, and lunch. Lunch was served by the owner of that pesantren himself, with the most delicious gepuk (meat jerky) I have ever had.
The girls seem to buy my random explanation about the painting
At around 14.00, we waved goodbye and returned to Bandung. Traffic was much worse than when we departed, and we arrived in Bandung somewhere around 20.00. I took a taxi back home, and get a well deserved rest, before the next morning when I had to bring my kids to their first day of school.
Next event was the FLS2N SMK (Festival dan Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, Art Competition and Festival for Vocational Students). I spent morning time still in Harris Hotel, since I had to participate in student’s defence online. Had a team meeting on lunchtime, then headed to Bogor station for Jakarta-bound commuter line, followed by another trips to Serpong.
I arrived at Hotel Grand Zuri around 4 PM, and H was already in the room, checked in earlier. It was a very lavish hotel, but I’d rather stay in Harris. Harris was a tropical themed hotel, so you could walk around using shorts and slippers. In Grand Zuri, all the staffs wore proper shirts, and some of them in suit. That night H briefed the judges on how to use the application that we made for grading students’ submissions.
The next day, I briefed the students on how to submit their art products, in Zoom. For the next few days, it was the judges who briefed students on producing the art, also in Zoom. On the last night, I took a photo with some of the judges, including Ibu Rita Matu Mona, the star of Ngeri Ngeri Sedap.
Wefie with some of the judges
The event was planned to end on Friday morning, so for safety I booked a train ticket for Friday afternoon. The only seats left were from Economic class, and those was the best option. On Thursday my parents visited the hotel to drop some oleh-oleh, but unfortunately I could not meet them because we had an evaluation meeting. Also on Thursday we received news that we would no longer have any more meetings on Friday morning.
Friday morning, my dad and his driver picked us up from the hotel, and drove us to nearest MRT station. From there, we took MRT trip to Grand Indonesia, followed by another taxi ride to the intercity train station, just in time for boarding. We boarded the train, and as I joked to one of the committee, there is no excuse for developers for not working as long as there is internet. That happened to H, who had to finish some work in the train.
H working with his laptop
We arrived in Bandung, somewhere around 18.00. My wife and the kids picked us up from the station. We got home, I finished some leftover work, then get a rest.
On Saturday, we visited a nearby cinema to watch another movie, Minions. My son D was the one who enjoyed the most, laughing all the way during the movie. Indonesian speakers may notice that some Indonesian words were said out inside the movie, such as nasi goreng and terima kasih. Further research after the movie revealed that Pierre Coffin, the voice actor for the minions is Indonesian descendant. Another research when I wrote this blog revealed that he was actually the son of NH Dini, a famous novelist who wrote Pada Sebuah Kapal and La Barka.
Family Time
Sunday, I attended a conference with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bandung, since I volunteered as the head Information Technology Bureau there. The bishop was there to lead the mass and during the mass he reminded us to stay happy during our volunteerism.
A few days before, I made appointment with my former students, W, to meet. He worked in BSD so it was a good chance to meet. Since I had to travel again to Bogor later that week, I asked W to visit us for breakfast in the hotel.
Meetup with Warren
We had a nice chat, then walked a bit to DNArtworks office in Gading Serpong, just a few hundreds meter away. From there we supported the NSDC submissions that, like LDBI, happened during the day. D treated us with Thai food for lunch, and around 17.00 we prepared ourselves for a trip back to Bogor (Sentul to be exact).
This time, we took a cab to a nearby station, took a Railink (airport shuttle train) trip, followed by another commuter line trip to Bogor. From Bogor, we took another Go-Car ride to Harris Hotel. We arrived late at night and the buffet dinner was already cleaned up. We had no choice but to order an ala carte meal, a Rp100k per portion fried rice! We took a rest afterwards.
The next morning, we had our buffet breakfast, and I jokingly asked C whether the fried rice served at breakfast is as good as last night dinner. Fortunately the answer was “no”, so at least we had some extra value with the expensive fried rice dinner.
During that week, we also discussed potential improvements to the website that was used to collect submissions. We also made a trip to a local market Pasar Bersih Sentul City to buy oleh-oleh (gifts). The market turned out to be a hidden culinary gem as well, with many traditional meals available.
Since the FLS2N event was held a day after this NSDC event, I extended my stay a night in Harris. My wife mentioned that a promo was happening in Nanny’s Pavilon newly opened branch nearby, so I went there for dinner. It was about 1km long from the hotel, so I took a Go-Ride. It was buy 1 pancake free 1 waffle. I ordered extra salad to make me less guilty in eating too much carbohydrates.
SinfulNot sinfulSinful
It was way too much for dinner for one person. I then decided to walk back to release the tension in my stomach, but with not much result. I enjoyed my night time relaxing at the tropical-themed hotel alone, since C has already gone back to Bandung.
It all started on end of June. I and team were responsible for the submission system for national high school students debating championship, which required us to stay in a hotel with the other committees. We were responsible both for the LDBI (Lomba Debat Bahasa Indonesia) and NSDC (National School Debating Championship) competition. The submission period happened on Saturday, where I and C also had to perform a trip from Bandung to Jakarta. Since we had to be standby for technical solving problems that might arise, I decided to take a public transit trip instead of driving my own car. We took an intercity train, followed by commuter line service. Sometimes we had to stop for a while and open our laptops in odd places, including a crowded KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) restaurant while eating our lunch.
C working with his laptop on a commuter line waiting area
We arrived at Hotel Grand Savero after lunchtime, using an overpriced Go-Car service. That was the time when startups starting to stop crazy promotions and try to make money. For the rest of the day, our job was mostly done. Then submission data was passed on to the judges, and we were there for the next 5 days mostly for opening ceremony and support in case of problems or questions.
The next day was Sunday, and I offered C to take a stroll around hotel. The hotel was located near Bogor botanical garden, but we didn’t know earlier that there was an entrance near our hotel. Therefore, we walked along the perimeter of the garden, all the way to Suryakencana street, which was famous for its culinary adventure. There was a funny occurrence on the street, where I found signage that separates lane for pedestrian, people with wheelchair, and cyclist. However, the last two lanes were obstructed by poles and trees.
Confusing design
At Suryakencana, there were plenty of options but we decided to take a (non-halal) mixed rice for breakfast, just across a church.
Mixed rice
Suryakencana itself is Bogor’s Chinatown, newly renovated, oriental style decorated, and filled with messages about inter-religious tolerance.
An alley in Suryakencana
For the next days, we simply did a WFH (Work From Hotel), but at one night I asked C to watch a movie in a nearby cinema. The movie was entitled Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap, and it told a story about parents in Sumatera who really wished their 3 sons to come home from abroad. They faked a fight so that their sons would come home, but eventually became a real fight leading to potential divorce. I intended to watch this movie because I knew one of the cast (Ibu Rita Matu Mona), and hoped for funny story because it was made by Ernest Prakasa, one of famous comedians in Indonesia. I found Ibu Rita in the movie, but a bit disappointed because the movie contained more drama than comedy. It turned out that the movie was made by a production house founded by Ernest, instead of himself directing the movie.
On the last day at Grand Savero, my parents picked us up from the hotel, and brought us to another hotel, Fame Hotel, in Gading Serpong. We moved to Serpong because there will be another competition, NSDC, that was planned to be held in a hotel in BSD (Bumi Serpong Damai). Therefore, staying in a nearby hotel seemed like a good idea. Also in that day I received news from another client that the committee for vocational students arts competition (FLS2N / Festival & Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional) will be holding a socialization event, also in BSD. Although a bit sad that I will stay longer without my family during the school holiday, I am relieved that it seemed that I would stay in the same area for the rest of my trip.
Or not. That night, I received the formal invitation for the NSDC event, and stated in the invitation that the NSDC will be held in Hotel Harris Sentul, which is close to Bogor but far from Serpong!
Saturday morning, I with my family drove to Jakarta. I was about to attend an on-site wedding of a cousin that day. The wedding involves the Tea Pai, a ceremony where the newly wed present cup of tea for their elders. Since my dad decided not to attend the ceremony due to COVID-19 precautions, I represented him to accept the tea; as well as attending the party. However, this trip turned out to be more of a family leisure trip for me.
We arrived in Jakarta around 10AM. First stop was the Maison Weiner cake shop. Dubbed as the oldest cake shop in Jakarta, it serves mostly Dutch-style cake and bread at affordable prices. We bought some bread for breakfast, and continued driving to our hotel.
Our hotel was located very close to Bundaran HI, a landmark of Jakarta and not far from a busway (Jakarta’s bus system) stop. Since we could not check in yet, we just parked our car and took an MRT ride to Blok M BCA station. Kids were very happy as it was their first MRT trip after some time. There were some strict rules due to COVID-19, though: mask on, not to sit in X-marked seats, and… no speaking. If you wonder how the officer could remind us about the last rule if he was not allowed to speak, well, he had a small cardboard with the rule written on it.
The younger oneThe older one (from 2 years before)
After about half an hour, we arrived at the Blok M BCA Station. We walked through Jl. Melawai to visit a small restaurant called Claypot Popo. When we arrived around 11.30, the restaurant was just about to open and several people were already standing there waiting. When it opened, we were instructed to write our orders downstairs, climbed the stairs to second floor, pay the bill, and wait for the food to come.
Open kitchen in Claypot Popo
It is not an exaggeration if one says that Claypot Popo is a hidden gem in the city. From outside it looked like an old unmaintained building, but inside it was very lively with thick Chinese ambiance. Most meals in the menu were served in a claypot bowl. The concept of open kitchen allowed the visitor to see how the meals were made.
After lunch, we walked to the front side of Blok M Square, where a street food festival was held. We ordered kerak telor, a Jakarta special. Y said that the one we had in Jakarta Fair event was much nicer than this one. We then walked again to Filosofi Kopi Melawai, a coffee shop inspired by a movie with similar name. The movie was a success, followed by a sequel, and actually quite good. However, the coffee shop turned out to be not that special. It was just an ordinary millenials’ coffee shop. It was the price for kopi tiwus (the coffee variant mentioned in the movie) that was special. Special-ly overpriced.
Street Food Festival
It was almost 1.30 and we took another MRT ride back to the hotel to check in. I did quick preparation for the tea pai at 3.
With complete suit, I crossed the street to the venue. It was fun to meet my relatives again. We were actually a big family, and the tea pai room was not that big. Therefore, after finishing my duty of receiving the tea (and giving the red envelope), I and some other relatives left the room to give more space to the other elders doing their turn.
The wedding “party” started around 6 PM, somewhere after sunset. Strict protocols were enforced and the guests were asked not to share photos onto social media, including WhatsApp group. I can only guess that the reason is to prevent one or two disobedient guests damaging the hotel reputation by not following COVID-19 protocols. Takeaway food were provided to guests instead of dining in.
Astonishingly most guests obeyed, and there were absolutely no mention of the wedding in the social media.
By generation-z standard, this wedding didn't happen 🙂
After the party, I joined Y and the others for dinner in Grand Indonesia. Y had decided to eat at the food court and it was a good choice for me, who brought in these two takeaway meal boxes. If we were eating at a restaurant, I would most likely be not allowed to consume the takeaway meal. It was raining when we finished our dinner so we took a cab back to the hotel.
The next morning, we had our breakfast at the Pantjoran Tea House. We went there using busway. The kids were so happy for taking the bus. It is a restaurant famous for their premium tea servings with, again, classic Chinese decoration. We were not really tea persons, so we just enjoyed dim sum meals that morning.
The Pantjoran Tea House
The dim sum was just a warming up for our next culinary trip: The infamous Kopi Tak Kie. This is another gidden gem in the city, just a few meters from the tea house. Famous people including President Jokowi had tasted this uncle’s ice coffee. Aside from coffee, they also serve non-halal meals like nasi campur and bakmie (noodle).
Kopi Tak Kie is located inside a wet market area, and this area has a special meaning to me. Many years ago when I was in Bandung, my mother had her lunch with her friends here, suffered a stroke, and collapsed. Friends helped her and brought her to hospital, but she passed away about a week later. I still imagine that one of these people in the area knew about the incident and able to tell me a story about it.
Me and those famous people
After double breakfast, we rushed back to the hotel because we had to ensure enough time to prepare for checkout. Lucky we managed to check out on time, and we headed back to Bandung.
List of locations:
Weiner Cake Shop: Jl. Kramat II No.2, Jakarta Pusat 10420
Claypot Popo: Jl. Melawai 9 No.38, Jakarta Selatan 12160
Filosofi Kopi Melawai: Jl. Melawai 6 No.1, Jakarta Selatan 12160
Pantjoran Tea House: Jl. Pancoran No.4-6, Jakarta Barat 11120
Kopi Tak Kie: Gang Gloria, Glodok, Jl. Pintu Besar Selatan III No.4-6, Jakarta Barat 11120
The Indonesian education ministry has this department called Pusat Prestasi Nasional (Puspresnas, National Achievement Center) that holds various competitions for students in Indonesia. One of their program is the FLS2N SMK (Festival dan Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional untuk Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan). It roughly translates to Art Competition and Festival for Vocational High Schools, though during the pandemic “competition” part is thicker than the festival counterpart.
A play from Rizakustik, one of the judges for solo guitar.
It all started many years ago when our team was asked to build the online competition system for FLS2N SMA (similar, but for regular high school students). I admit that it was a huge failure, mainly because (1) we did not understand fully the competition system and (2) huge resistance from provincial governments to not use the online system. In the end, the system was practically useless and works of many students submitted to the system were never, viewed let alone judged by the judges.
Composition from Dhanang Guritno, one of the judges for song composition.
Fast forward to 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Pusat Prestasi Nasional department was, I assume, in total distress. Everything had to be online, and I was lucky that my team is in their contact list. We had a few weeks to bring the old system back to cater the competition online. My team was awarded the project for vocational school, while the regular school was handled by another team.
There are of course some challenges working on this project. But just as Morgan Freeman, I mean Nelson Mandela, once said, “It seems impossible until it’s done”.
It seems impossible until it’s done
Nelson Mandela
With only a few weeks before the system was actually being used, I was lucky to have a half-baked system. However, it also turned to be a disadvantage as well. Since the architecture was well set, adapting to new requirements become slower and need extra care to not introduce regression (errors due to change in the code).
Solid metal song from Ponco Satrio, one of the judges for solo singing
Actually working with art judges is also another challenge. Unlike science where it’s easier to differentiate right answers from the wrong ones, giving score to art product is in some part subjective. At the same time, Pusat Prestasi Nasional needs rationale for each score given.
In 2020, most challenges actually came from half-preparedness of the system. There were some bugs that caused extra work. For example, the automatic detection of students’ school identity resulted in many students registered to come from Kepulauan Seribu, a regency in Jakarta.
In 2021, we were glad to being awarded the same project again, and we have fixed those major mistakes we did in 2020. However, there came another challenge: more provinces (about half of all provinces in Indonesia) were ready for and chose their own selection mechanism, hence untracked within our system. Therefore most of the participants from those provinces must be inputted manually to the system. We are lucky to have a dedicated staff from Puspresnas who has the knowledge and capability to ensure those participants are well recorded.
At the time of this blog writing, the national judging has just finished. From past experience, the national judging is much easier, since there are only at most 35 participants being graded for each division. As you may see when reading this post, I inserted some music that was actually made by some of the judges. Below are more videos from the judges.
As you may have seen above, I inserted some products of the judges. Below are more example of their products.
As you may have known from this blog, I spent a fairly amount of time in Singapore, and its culture has a special place in my heart. One of the many things I miss is the Singapore kopi (coffee) and kopitiam (coffee shop).
In Singapore (and Malaysia), kopi is actually not a plain coffee. It is coffee with condensed milk. When I moved back to Indonesia, I tried to satisfy the need for nostalgia with Nescafe instant coffee and local condensed milk. As time goes by, I realized that it was not the same. Then I used real ground coffee, making the taste richer and more original.
However, things changed again when I bought Singapore-brand Cafe 21 instant coffee. I tasted something different that I could not find in a local ground coffee. After posting that finding on Facebook, my Singaporean friend Don opened my mind that such taste actually comes from the margarine that was used to roast the coffee. So I began searching for more, the “nanyang” coffee.
I tried the supposedly real Nanyang ground coffee, which in most cases come in bags, like the tea bags. Ah Huat Kopi O is one example. However, it somehow does not taste and smell the same. It’s just plain bland. The reason is still a mystery for me until now.
In this last occasion, I bought the Toast Box ground coffee “powder”, which does not come in bags. There is a slight nanyang aroma when I made the coffee using V60 coffee filter, but it was still far from perfect. The surprise came when I left the residue for about an hour. Just when I was about to throw the leftover away, I smell that unique aroma of the kopitiam! Therefore, my conclusion so far is: the kopitiam aroma actually comes not from freshly brewed coffee, but from the leftover coffee.
So this “Screw the French Press, we’ve got the socks” poster at most Ya Kun Kaya Toast stalls now makes very sense for me. The socks keep the leftover from the first brew, to the next, and the next, and so on!
I noticed two extremes in how my acquaintances respond to COVID-19 stay at home notice. At one end, those who stay at home as much as possible like there is zombie apocalypse. At the other end, those who think that social distancing is nonsense and COVID-19 is a conspiracy. This story is for those who goes toward the first end, to show you what is going on outside.
Me and my team helped the Ministry of Education developing a simple mobile app for their World School Debating Championship 2017 event, as well as the 2018 Festival & Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional (FLS2N, or the National Art Festival and Competition for Students) online competition portal. The 2018 project was a complex and challenging one, as some provinces decided to use the classic on-site competition while other provinces decided to go online. 2020, COVID-19 came and everybody must go online. Long story short, our team was invited to Sentul, Bogor, for meeting with the committee and judges, to prepare for the part of the FLS2N and debating (LDBI & NSDC, Lomba Debat Bahasa Indonesia & National School Debating Championship) 2020 full-online competition.
My team member refused to go due to fear of COVID-19, so I as the team leader, had to go alone (I kind of miss those day when I was not a leader and can throw responsibilities to my boss). My wife was also worried and upon returning I would not be allowed to go to office before 14 days, but well, the show must go on.
I started driving to Sentul around 8 AM, and the traffic was very clear, comparable to those at 2019 Lebaran time (where most of people are outside the capital city), so that was one benefit of the stay at home policy. I arrived Sentul at 10.30, 1.5 hours earlier than schedule of registration at hotel. I spent my time at Starbucks to reply to e-mails and video call with my team. I chose Starbucks since it has the lowest risk to contract the virus, compared to other places like Dominos, KFC, or a bakmi (noodle) restaurant.
Starbucks has a pretty good policy towards COVID-19 prevention. Markers on the floor helped people who queue to keep a distance one another, all customers were scanned for fever and required to wear mask. I brought my own tumbler, and asked to put my tumbler in a plastic bag that the staff held, in a way that the staff would never have to touch my tumbler at all during the process. This ensured germs or virus from one customer does not contract to the next customer.
At 1 PM, I arrived at the hotel and registered. As I traveled alone, the staff said that I will be assigned a roommate. At this point I realized that to achieve global survival from COVID-19, people must work together. If my roommate was the conspiracy theorist like I said earlier (unfortunately he was not), I would have a much higher risk of contracted with COVID-19 even though I follow all hygiene and social distancing recommendations).
From the hotel itself, they have implemented various measures to limit spread of the virus. Mask and plastic gloves are compulsory while you are inside the restaurant, and guests are not allowed to take their food by themselves (yes, including to prevent those guests who pick the food to their plate, then change their mind and return the food to the tray). Guests are also not recommended to use the swimming pool (which some of them did, anyway). When I entered my room, the blind was largely opened, allowing sunlight to pass through at maximum level. When I closed it that evening (I don’t want to see ghosts at night), they reopened the blind next day.
As for the meeting itself, COVID-19 briefing is held at the first night. My roommate complained that it was a waste of time, but the organizer told me that such briefing is compulsory for holding the on-site meeting. During the meeting, it is not possible to 100% perform social distancing. At one time people have to open their mask and speak close to the partner for a secondary discussion. Other time, you have to lend your smartphone to your partner to show an image stored in your phone. After all, the goal of having on-site meeting is to overcome the difficulties in discussions due to social distance.
There is not much story to tell other than those, since the meeting was held for two nights only. One thing for sure, when I returned home, I decided to isolate myself from my family, to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Yang kesatu: belajar. Yang kedua: makan. Yang ketiga: berenang. Udah.
Hari ini belajar ca ci cu ce co. Habis itu bermain. Bermain lego. Setelah itu menjahit. Habis itu main miniset bunga. Miniset bunga dibentuk-bentuk. Bikin semacam kendaraan yang ada roda. Udah cuma segitu aja.
Setelah itu makan bekal apel.
Setelah itu di sekolah bajunya dibuka, diganti dimasukkan ke kantong kresek. Setelah itu berbaris depan kelas. Setelah itu turun ke lantai satu. Habis itu duduk di tangga lepas sendal. Setelah itu berenang dari besi pakai ban di tengah lompat ke air. Habis itu pulang, dijemput mama, mamanya dipanggil sama Ibu Guru Dila. Udah.
Every year, our team at PT DNArtworks Komunikasi Visual spend a few days for company outing outside our city of residences. The team itself is split into Jakarta and Bandung team. While in previous years we met at our destination, this year we met at Jakarta, and flew together to Malang.
The Bandung team, seven of us, were supposed to meet at the train station in the morning. However, one member Carissa cancelled last minute, due her illness and an important life event that would happen a few weeks later. Therefore, six of us traveled to Jakarta by Train.
The guy in the back seemed to be happy to be included in the picture.
We arrived at Jakarta three hours later, and took a Blue Bird cab to our Jakarta office in the Serpong area. As usual, picking the right taxi was difficult, due to illegal taxis pushing us to use their service instead.
After arriving at the Jakarta office, we had some light discussions then headed to O! Fish restaurant chain nearby. They serve western style seafood menu, with healthy options to cater concerned millennials’ need like me. The most interesting option for me was to replace potato with quinoa seeds, a food normally consumed by body builders, at least in Indonesia. We then had a team photo.
All is full (photo by Daniel)
We spent another few hours at the office, then Bandung team headed to a hotel nearby in Alam Sutera area. We had dinner in a Manado restaurant called Sarang Oci, which was not disappointing at all. The best part of it was klapertaart for desert.
Bandung team at Sarang Oci
The next day, we checked out early at 4.30 and took another Blue Bird cab to Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport. At this point we noticed that for a group of 5 or 6 persons, it is less expensive to take a Blue Bird van compared to GrabCar 6, since Blue Bird charges the same price for small and large car. The flight from Halim Perdana Kusuma to Malang’s Abdul Rachman Saleh airport was slightly delayed but generally smooth.
Our tour guide was already there at the airport to pick us up with his minibus (commonly called by its brand: Elf). Without further delays, we went to have a simple Javanese lunch near Jawa Timur Park (Jatim Park) 3 then went to the Jatim Park 3 itself.
Jatim Park 3, the latest of the park series, is a very big area, hosting several thematic parks like The Legend Stars park, Dino Park, and Museum Musik Dunia. On our trip, we visited The Legend Stars park, which surprisingly took more than two hours to explore, even by skipping some attractions. The park mostly shows replicas of various famous people and buildings from around the world. It was clear that the park was built to cater the need of most Indonesians to get the best spots for taking pictures. Some of the replicas like President Jokowi have a very good detail and worth to appreciate.
That is not real Jokowi
After Jatim Park 3, we visited another park, that is the Museum Angkut (transportation museum). Similar to The Legend Stars park, the museum were mostly filled with replicas of various vehicles, ranging from trains, airplanes, and cars (mostly sport cars). At certain times, they presented live attractions, like the one I saw at 3.30, where they showcased 3 sport cars drifting on the road. Overall, the museum was huge as well and it will take time to explore everything, and even longer if you take pictures in different spots.
Sport cars show in Museum Angkut
We had early dinner at a bakso (meatball) warung called “De Stadium” which looked humble from the outside but turned out “famous” as it is frequently visited from celebrities around Indonesia. Just before dawn, we headed to our hotel for our first night, De’Boutique Style Hotel. We had a chat at the social area in the hotel, while tasting Malang’s Cwie Mie and Tahu Petis, then went to bed early.
Just before midnight, we woke up and checked out from the hotel. With our luggages in the van, we headed to a small town called Tumpang. From there, we transferred to three 4WD jeeps that would take us to the Bromo mountain area.
The jeeps that brought us to Bromo mountain area
We arrived at the viewing point around 3.30, and waited another hour to view the sunrise. While waiting, we had some hot drinks and instant noodles to warm our body. The price for the meal, though expensive, was not that bad. It was the cost of toilet usage that surprised us: IDR 5.000 for regular use and IDR 10.000 for a shower. We found out later that they cannot make a well due to the high sulphur concentration, making the water practically unusable. This made them to buy water transported from somewhere else hence make the cost higher. The view of sunrise was amazing, but however good the camera is, it will not capture the breathtaking view if you were there yourself.
Panoramic picture of sunrise in BromoPasir berbisik, a large sandy area we visited after the sunrise.
We had simple lunch at a warung nearby, then traveled another 3 hours to our next destination: Plataran Bromo. Plataran Bromo is a rather up-class hotel, which is located near the peak of Bromo. It is not too far from the spot we visited in the morning but our Elf can’t navigate through such road, hence we had to take a longer route.
Even the longer route was very nasty for our Elf. There were so many sharp turns and steep ascends, making the drive difficult and slow. We took the wrong turn twice and had to spend a few more minutes only to turn around. When we arrived at Plataran, the driver decided to just stay overnight there. He would rather sleep in his Elf rather than going back and forth such difficult route to pick us up the next day.
Our hotel complex from afar. Picture taken the day after, after cycling a few hundred meters.
The view and facilities of the hotel was actually very nice (and expensive). We had a family room with a pool, but the water was just too cold for swimming. They provided complimentary fresh fruit, which unfortunately attracted flies. Espresso machines and various tea bags were also available. Considering the price food in this hotel was just too expensive (IDR 120.000++ for a fried rice!), we started to think how to get food in this remote area.
The best option we found at that time was three of us to borrow a bicycle each (free) to cycle 2,4 km to the nearest warung we found on Google Maps that sells basic meal options. Seemed hard, but not impossible we thought. It was 3 PM, and we decided to start cycling at 4, to give time for some of us to explore the hotel area. One group went to the lobby to play billiard, another group went to the hotel-owned glasshouse. I myself stayed at the hotel to write this blog.
A few minutes later haze started to come, wind started to blow strong, and at 4 it was raining hard. I texted the group whether we wanted to continue buying food or switch to another plan. The glasshouse group replied that they were stuck inside the glasshouse due to the heavy rain. I offered them to walk there to bring some umbrellas, but when asking the reception the route to the glasshouse, he offered to pick them up with car. What a delight!
The glasshouse team was successfully rescued, and it was time for a free afternoon tea at the restaurant. We had our light snacks while discussing our alternative plan for dinner. It was too late to cycle there, since we could not take risk cycling after dawn and the strong wind didn’t look like it’s going to stop soon. There were no go/grab-food drivers available around. We also crossed out the option of borrowing the hotel’s car to buy those cheap dinner (we are Asians, we had to save our face). The tour-provided Elf was not an option too, since we didn’t to trouble our driver furthermore due to the difficult road conditions.
The team spending few hours for afternoon tea
As a backup plan, we ate more portions of the snacks provided, which ended their service at 6 PM. Then Daniel suddenly had this idea: Contact the warung’s WhatsApp number listed in Google Maps. Long story short, we managed to order the food with an ojek to deliver the food to our hotel. Daniel, Hizkia, and Eko waited at the lobby for the food to come, while the rest went back to our villa. The strong wind didn’t stop, it made scary whistling sounds and throw some small objects outdoor. Thanks to the strong foundation of the villa we stayed at, we felt very safe inside.
It took some time for the food to come. Around 8 PM, the reception called our room, saying that a courier came to bring our food, under the name Mr. Daniel, and we had to pick it up at reception. I immediately called Daniel, who were supposed to be at the lobby to wait for the driver to come. Daniel and friends picked up the food, and we had a lovely dinner. It turned out later, that people entered and left the lobby, making strong cold wind enter the lobby when the door was opened. They decided to play billiard instead in a separate room, while asking the warung to inform them when the food is about to be delivered. The warung didn’t inform them.
I slept early that night, to safe my energy after being drained the days before. I was surprised myself to know that I could sleep really well amid loud chatter from the living room, cold weather, and loud wind whistling. The bed was just too comfortable. Just like my wife said:
Price don’t lie
Pascal’s wife
Around 4.30 in the morning, I already woke up and couldn’t sleep anymore, due to sudden realization that my bedroom window (more of a glass wall, actually) points to east, and I could have a chance to see the sunrise. However, due to the clouds the sunrise was not that beautiful. I wanted to have a morning exercise, but the wind was still too strong and cold. An hour later, I decided to just go outside anyway, borrowing the bicycle and climbed to a hill just across the hotel. Even only for about 200 meters, it was an exhausting journey due to the cold winds and steep climbing.
I was glad that I was back at the hotel without passing out. After a while, I went out for breakfast with Daniel, followed by the others. There were so many options available, but I opted mostly vegetables and fruits, because I have had too many junk food the days before. We took some group pictures at the hotel, then checked out.
Group picture at the hotel lobby
Our minibus took us back to town, where we had simple lunch, then moved again to the airport. The flight was smooth, and we arrived in Jakarta earlier than expected. We waved goodbye to Jakarta team since we had to take another train trip to Bandung, which marks the end of this year outing.
