I could hardly believe it that it was nearing a year since my last Indo trip to Jakarta and Bandung. So I approached my Indo friends and told them of my intention to make use of the long Wesak Day weekend to visit them. They were also wanting to take the opportunity to go to Ciletuh.
At first I was thinking of taking a 9 o'clock flight out of KLIA on that Saturday, which would arrive in Jakarta 2 hours later. But my friends were planning to leave at 5 in the morning! 😅
So I booked a flight the day before at 1:45pm to allow time to time prepare for the trip on the next day, mostly for my tummy 🤣 (I'll elaborate on this on the next post 😅).
I took grab to Bandar Tasik Selatan (BTS) station to catch the ERL transit to KLIA. I opted for BTS instead of KL Sentral because the traffic was still heavy towards the city even at 10 in the morning.
After dropping off my bag at the check-in counter, I passed immigation and headed towards the satellite building. The usual gates for Southeast Asia nations are usually right after immigration, but not today. I didn't know what were the reasons for that, but I was loving it because it felt that I was going farther away 😁.
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| Sample of KUL to CGK route (courtesy of Flightradar24) |
The flight was on time and uneventful. Clearing immigration via the autogate and customs at Soekarno-Hatta after collecting my bag was a breeze. Of course, one has to register for the A1 visa and submit the BEA Cukai form online beforehand. I still long for the old visa stamps in my passport though. Oh well.
My two friends were so nice to pick me up at the airport and drive us to ibis Styles Jatibening. It was the start of rush hours as we treaded our way across Jakarta towards Bekasi.
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| CGK to ibis styles bekasi - may not be the route that we drove on that day itself (courtesy of Google Map) |
We arrived at the hotel before sundown. Later that evening we met up with another 2 friends after they got out of work. The place that they took me to was XLY Coffee and Eatery at the Grand Kota Bintang. Pretty cool place with lots of restaurants and shops.
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| to XLY Coffee |
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| My 'Mie Godog Gunung Kidul'. I bit into the chili thinking it was green beans 🙈 |
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| Happy faces after the meal |
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| Five out of 7 :) |
Here's a summary of the trip itinerary before we delve into each of them in individual blog posts (hopefully the wait won't be too long 😄)
| Date | Location | Lodging |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 9/5/25 | Jakarta | ibis Style Jatibening, Bekasi |
| Saturday, 10/5/25 | Ciletuh | Penginapan Bale Kambang |
| Sunday, 11/5/25 | Ciletuh | Laska Hotel & Resort Ciletuh |
| Monday, 12/5/25 | Bandung | R's family home |
| Tuesday, 13/5/25 | Sukawana | Bobocabin Sukawana |
| Wednesday, 14/5/25 | Garut | Cahaya Villa Hotel |
| Thursday, 15/5/25 | Bandung | R's family home |
| Friday, 16/5/25 - Monday, 19/5/25 | Jakarta | Ascott Jakarta |
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