Monday, February 19, 2024

So even though I had only been in Jakarta a day, Kiana had planned for us to spend several days away. She is taking vacation days during my visit, so we need to go on vacation!

Monday morning, we caught a 6:20 AM train for our trip to Yogyakarta. We left a little bit later than planned, so we sped walked it. As I mentioned, the train station is the same direction as the National Monument, so I didn’t think I was missing anything. I definitely think I wilbe l getting my steps in this trip.

Kiana had already reserved tickets, so we just needed to print them out at the ticket machine. It was pretty busy, but the lines were not that long.

To ride the train, I needed to show my passport in addition to the ticket to get onto the platform. Other than that, it was like my other train riding experiences. . . except they had local television shows showing on a loop on screen. There were also people with carts that came to offer snacks and food for purchase

The train ride was about 7.5 hours, and I was wishing I thought to bring my airplane neck thingy because of course I slept . . . a lot. I was so sleepy that I didn’t ask for lunch. I did taste some of Kiana’s, and now I want to make sure I have some Indonesian fried rice before I leave the country.

When we got off the train, we didn’t realize that we were supposed to cross the track and literally walk through a commuter rail train to get to the exit. I think we both thought that this could not be true, so we kept looking for another way out until we realized what we were doing and had to go back to the staff person who had originally been pointing us in the right direction. He was probably just shaking his head and laughing inside because he probably sees this countless times since it’s probably the main reason he is posted in that exact spot.

Kiana had arranged for a ride to the hotel. We are staying at the Phoenix Hotel, a historic place with lots of it’s own history (see link and comment below). Check-in time wasn’t until 2, but they offer a complimentary beverage in the bar, so we left our bags at the front desk and went to sit.

It’s much classier than most places I stay. We felt very special.

We also got an order of lumpia, Indonesian spring rolls, since we were both a little hungry.

When it was around the time to check in, we got up to go the front desk, but staff were at the door of the bar to greet us and took us up to our room.

Part of me just wanted to look around more, but the other part was tired and just wanted to get settled.

It’s always interesting to stay in a hotel that wasn’t originally built as a hotel and to think that this was first built as a person’s house. There is so much history here just in the building alone from its beginnings as a manor house to the change to a hotel to its being used by the Japanese Imperial army as its headquarters in WWII. You can actually feel the different historical voices as you walk through the halls.

The hotel and the room made us both feel fairly dramatic as if we were in some historical novel, so of course we had to have a room photoshoot.

However, to be honest, the highlight of the day was going in search of an umbrella. I have one, but Kiana lost hers and getting drenched at the National Monument is not her idea of fun. And since we are in the rainy season . . .

Looking for an umbrella may not seem fun to you, but if you get to take a motor taxi to get one, then the fun is all in the journey. Something that I have seen in videos are the large number of people riding motorcycles and scooters here. Far far more than cars. I wanted to try to get some pictures from the train from the places where we crossed a road with the road, even small roads, packed with motorbikes. You can call them with the same app as you can get a car. I have video and wish I could share it here because you need to see how close we are all together. I didn’t have the nerve to take video on way to shopping district, but on the way back I did.

My goal is to be as composed as the woman who was in a suit, riding side saddle, while texting on her phone!

We walked around, bought an umbrella, shopped for batik (didn’t find anything) and then went back to hotel. We had thought about eating out but decided to just have dinner at the hotel and call it a night.

When we went back to our room, we had Mangosteens for dessert. Kiana bought a bunch at the grocery store as one of the bag full of snacks she brought along for the trip. I had never tasted this fruit before, but both my daughters stated that it was their favorite fruit. And I know why. I can’t belive that someone hasn’t figured out a way to bottle the juice! Or maybe they have, and I just don’t know about it.

I also need to mention how hot it is which is I think the main reason why I am so behind in the blog. It’s not just hot, but it’s really humid. We are in the rainy season here, and the humidity hasn’t been below 93% since I have been here.

Everyone who knows me knows that I am not good in hot weather, which is funny because both my daughters thrive in it. At the end of each day, I need to shower and sleep. I’ve been sleeping a lot, too. More car ride naps and stories to come.

So much has happened on this trip within a trip! It’s weird that I’m writing this right before getting ready to pack for the train back to Jakarta.