We made our way to Labjuanbajo Airport early for our Wings Air 0830 flight to Denpasar-Bali for our connection to Jakarta.
We never expected a traffic jam in a little town like Labuanbajo. But today was the day that locals were departing for their Haj in Mecca. The main road was chocka as was the outside of the airport. Thankfully, Indonesian airports allow entry only to passengers and not well-wishers. In any case, the Haj flight wasn’t till later in the day.
After a 1h20 propeller flight to Denpasar-Bali, where we had a 1h20 connection, we continued on a relatively longer jet flight of 1h55 to land at Jakarta at 1205. Here we would spend 3 nights with a friend David who is setting up a business importing personal care products from New Zealand into Jakarta. Indonesia is a big country and Jakarta (“The Big Durian”) itself has a population of nearly 10 million people … so there’s a decent market!
After resting up, we had a couple of beers at a posh wine bar overlooking a major intersection (Jalan Sudirman) and landmark buildings, before dining at a food court in a mall.
The next couple of days would be rather relaxing. His apartment complex had a nice pool and the basement carpark had a very good massage spa where 90 minute treatments were about IDR90,000 to IDR150,000 (with Happy Hour discounts of 25% during certain times of the day).
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- View from David’s apartment. Building on the right is the Shangri-La and has a gorgeous garden pool which isn’t in the picture.
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- View from David’s apartment. There is a mosque right below.
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- View from David’s apartment.
During our stay, we had some nice meals together, notably one at a fine Indonesian restaurant called Lara Djonggrang and some street food comprising of local style sate.
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- At Lara Djonggrang.
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- Bebek Betutu and other delicious dishes.
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- At Lara Djonggrang.
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- Local style sate, without peanut sauce.
