Goodbye Singapore, and thank you Jonas!

I set the alarm at 8 so I would have enough time to pack. As usual, I had too much time set aside so I was done when the clock hit 9. I took a shower, checked out, and then went out to find myself a mug, the souvenir I bring from the cities I visit.

I went to a mall called Bugis that was a few minutes walk from our hotel. It turned out to be three or four different malls connected via walkways, almost got lost a couple of times. I stopped for some “breakfast” at a café in the middle.

After the delicious meal, I found a side street where all the “tourist souvenir shops” were residing and I finally found my mug. Jonas joined me in the mall and we walked around a bit before having our last meal together.

I’m so happy that we found each other at the pre-meeting in January. Not just because it’s nice to reconnect, but I’m certain that this trip has been much better by having him as my travel companion. Even though we have spent about 17 days together (though mostly sleeping in separate rooms), we never had a shortage of things to talk about. We always managed to compromise regarding when to start the day, where to eat, and what type of transportation we should use. Thank you Jonas! <3

We returned to the hotel, I grabbed my bags, said goodbye, and ordered a cab to the airport. Apparently, several road was having work done because the driver had to take a couple of detours. There was no line at the bag drop, though the machine mistook my black duffle bag for multiple bags so it took a couple of tries.

Through the Swedish IST Discord, a guy was looking for someone to retrieve his daughters’ cellphone from the Singapore Airport lost & found. I went to the desk but the staff needed more information than I had and there would be a delay after I’d been authorized to pick it up since it was stored in some central storage, so I wouldn’t have time to grab it anyway. I managed to connect the guy and Jonas, who were flying six hours after me. Hopefully, they will have better luck.

Before going through security I headed outside the terminal into some mall and looked at the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, about 40 meters apparently. Quite cool and soothing to be in there.

I went back into the terminal to go through security, which normally takes quite some time. Here it was just one X-ray machine checking the carry-on luggage. No unpacking, no metal detector and if you didn’t have any luggage, just walk past. I was rather surprised but looked for a café instead, bought myself another biscuit, and browsed the news. Gate opened an hour before take off and that’s probably because this is where the security was. However, just took out the laptop, emptied my pockets, and went through. Even kept my belt on. I’m surprised by how little security there was. Especially in this country, where they fine you S$1000 for feeding the birds in the wrong place.

Waited on boarding by watching the bronze medal game between Sweden and Australia. Managed to see about 60 minutes, missing the second goal by just a couple of minutes. Got word of the final score through KLM wifi limited to “messages”. When I checked in online a couple of days ago, I paid extra for an aisle seat with more legroom. Can’t say I was disappointed.

Landed at 18:15 local time and started to make my way through immigration. Realized I hadn’t done enough research because first I had to pay for a “Visa on arrival”. Luckily I had cash with me cause it cost 500 000 RP. Next was the line for immigration. Took some time and I was a bit nervous because a few of the ones in the line before me had a bunch of papers they showed and, I hadn’t been able to do some custom registration form because I couldn’t connect to the “free wifi”. Note to those who put up these signs, write the name of the SSID!

It turns out I was worried for nothing, just a couple of questions about the reason for my visit and how long I would be staying, and the form wasn’t required at this time. Waited a while on my bags and then finally found an open wifi that I could connect to and fill out the form. At one part it stated I needed to register my electronic devices, like phone and laptop. The form asked for RAM and storage and I didn’t know these by heart so I asked one of the staff if I could leave these blank. She just told me to clear that part of the form and press next, no need to register the devices. That was a relief, but they could have put that on the form.

When I passed customs I came across a booth selling SIM cards. Since I rely heavily on cell data for navigation, ordering cab, and communication I decided to get one. The process was a bit tedious though. First, choose the amount of data. Then hand over passport and phone. One girl put in the SIM card. Next two persons registered your IMEI number, phone number, and passport, together with a new picture of you. The next one ensured the phone connected to the cell network through the new SIM and the final one took care of the payment. Took a while and when I went through the exit, I realized there were more booths selling SIM cards outside. Didn’t dare to check their prices because they might be cheaper and I would feel fooled.

It was now time to get to the hotel. The app we used in Singapore, Grab, works here as well. There is a couple of things I like about using an app. You can pay by card, there is no negotiating about the price since it’s given when you order the cab and there is a digital trail if something would happen. So I ordered a premium one, the price difference was not even 30 SEK. However, it took some time before it got confirmed, and some more time before it showed up. Grab had their own pick-up point outside the terminal so it was easy to find a good meeting spot.

The car ride took about 30 minutes, there were lots of traffic, and lots of scooters, with one to four people on them. More people with helmets than without, but there were a lot of unprotected heads on those scooters. During the ride we got passed by a police motorcycle with its lights on, escorting a black SUV. Wonder what entails that treatment 🙂 We passed by a toll booth and the driver had the card for the booth on something like a flyswatter so he could easily reach the machine without getting too close with the car. Really smart! Though, I would have preferred to have some sort of transponder so you didn’t have to stop at all.

When we arrived at the hotel I wondered if I’d gotten the right address. Millennium Hotel Sirih Jakarta is quite an impressive building. We came to a gate, where a guard went around the vehicle with this kind of mirror that checks underneath the car (for explosives?). He seemed satisfied because he opened the gate. At the door, a guy took my bags while I went through a metal detector, though they didn’t care it was beeping. I checked in and then got followed by the same guy and a trolley to my room. Nice not to have to carry them, but at the same time a bit uncomfortable. Not used to this kind of treatment.

After unpacking in my rather spacious room on the top floor, I think I’ll enjoy my stay here, I went down to the restaurant to get some dinner. Chicken with pasta noodles and an episode of East New York.

Now I’m sitting in a comfy chair writing this blog post and listening to the sound of motorcycles going by outside. I have no idea what to do tomorrow. If nothing else, I can take a swim in the hotel pool, or hang around in the lounge which I have access to since I got a “millennial club room” or something.