A good-bye pic on the motorcycle
(less protective gear since it was a short drive
through the suburb)

 Turns out AJ’s morning class was canceled so she was easily able to drop me off at the bus stop. Her mom came over with breakfast - some fried rice and prawn crackers. We also had the leftover pancakes. I gave my bag to the luggage people and got a free bottle of water. Easy enough to board and find my seat. AJ waited until the bus left before driving away. Ah, I’m so lucky to have made such an amazing friend. I felt really welcomed and included. As awesome as AJ is online, she’s even cooler in person. I’m glad I got the chance to do this!

It was rather toasty during my stay since the rain stayed away. We had two short rain showers in the evening, but otherwise it was always sunny despite it being the rainy season. Thus the sunburn, and a bit of a tan. Lucky me!

The bus took about two and a half hours with no traffic. I could see the road and we actually kept moving, gasp! One crazy thing happened in a small traffic jam. It looked like a small truck had bumper hit another car. The car driver was outside yelling at the truck driver. He was so angry. He goes back to his car and pulls a huge pipe and goes to either smash the truck or its driver. Luckily, whatever the truck driver said stopped him and the truck driver gets out! Terrifying!

Bad timing for me though since my flight wasn’t till 9 pm at night and we got to my terminal at 1 pm. Normally I’d just hang out somewhere at the airport, but it had a weird set up. You had to go through security before you could check in. Usually you can check in about four hours before your flight to get access to the nice part of the airport, but here you had to wait till your flight showed up on the screen so that you could show the security guy your itinerary or ticket. So I had to wait an extra two hours. The airport was mildly air-conditioned but jam-packed with people. It was also really dirty, people throwing trash on the floor left and right.

There were some full benches, people sitting on the floor, and no real places to hang out. Definitely the least nicest airport I’ve been in. I think there were just too many people for the size of the airport. At least there was free wifi. I ended up reading the whole time with bathroom runs. My stomach wasn’t dealing well at all. It was hard because the lines were long and I went in with my pack. The rack to drop off your luggage was right at the entrance to the toilets and I didn’t trust that it would remain untouched. I definitely couldn’t do the squat toilets though ha. Somehow I managed all those hours. Once I got past check in, it was much nicer. Many shops. I stopped by Starbucks and ate a small dinner there. I exchanged the rest of my money - about 2000 yen left so in total I only spent about $50 for a week! Everyone kept treating me.

Boarding went fine. Our plane had been downsized though from a super fancy version. The individual screens weren’t even touch-screen. Made me think of the days before individual screens at all. I watched one movie that my students had also recommended to me - Heroine Shikkaku. It was really funny. This the same movie that was partially filmed at Heidi’s Village, the place I went in Yamanashi.

 AJ had class this morning so I got to work on my reading. Been relaxing and enjoying my books like a proper vacation. I packed up all my things as I was spending the night with AJ so that I could catch the bus early the next day. We went to check out from the boarding house, but T wouldn’t let me pay. Once again, I was treated. The kindness and strong family ties here… We headed off with my ginormous pack on the back. It wasn’t that comfortable of a ride, ha. The straps ended up digging in my shoulders and I had to hug my knees to place my center of gravity more forward. It felt like I could tip backward anytime. It was okay for the short distance but I can’t believe people do it on pilgrimages with two adults and two children too.

We got breakfast at Baker Street cafe which was super yummy! Fruit smoothie and eggs benedict with hashbrowns. They had a bunch of delicious looking fruit cakes including one with dragon fruit! Post brunch, we went to the nearby geology museum. Some of the signs were in English which was nice. Lots of pretty rocks and Earth science information. I really enjoyed it. We walked by the Gedung Sate which is where the governor’s office is located. It’s nicknamed Sate after the peak tip of the building which looks like satay, the Indonesian meat kabobs.

I ended up staying at AJ’s aunt’s house as she and her family were out of town. Usually someone spends the night, as AJ’s ninety-two year old grandmother lives there as well. It’s impressive to me that she still lives at home and just has live in nursing staff. Much different from the Western way of nursing homes. We hung out for bit before AJ’s mom and sisters swung by to pick us up for dinner. We went back to the Paskal food market. This time I was able to help pay a little for the food - finally, lol. I tried some more new things including avocado juice/smoothie. It was really yummy and had some chocolate syrup mixed in. Tasted nothing like my expectations. AJ’s sister also got frogs so I got to have those. They were covered in some good sauce and tasted fantastic. And exactly like chicken with many bones. I would definitely eat them again! On the way home we stopped by a street vendor selling Indonesian pancakes, martabak. They come in a thin and thick version with different toppings - chocolate or cheese. I really liked the thin one, but with the chocolate filling. I was so full though I could barely try them.

AJ picked me up in the morning and we were off to her university campus. No motorbikes are allowed to drive through the campus. There are two parking areas, and both were filled with so many motorbikes! It’s unbelieveable but the government supports owning one via grants. They’re cheap too. We dropped off her paper with one of her fellow students that was collecting them. Apparently the professor doesn’t do that. Then I ate breakfast outside. AJ had brought me some traditional food from a cafe.

She gave me a campus tour. It was interesting to learn that they don’t have a cafeteria because it’s a non-profit government university so they can’t make money. Instead there’s a bunch of little eating areas that disappear anytime the government comes by to do inspections. Her campus is quite beautiful. We saw Villa Isola and walked through a park area. The park was really peaceful, and had some birds in cages, but was also filled with hungry mosquitoes. I got five new bites within minutes.

Afterward, we drove further, back into the mountainy area, to a vihara - Buddhist monastery. Vihara Vipassana Graha is located in Lembang, on the west side of Bandung. It’s a really beautiful place. They welcome all people and photos. We got to go inside a lot of the buildings after removing our shoes. There was this coin thing where you dropped a coin in a bucket all around this building. Depending on how many coins you have left, you can read about your fortune.

For lunch, we went to a nearby restaurant that has many huts (large and private) among ponds and rice paddies. The atmosphere was really nice and explored the grounds afterward. During lunch, people kept getting boat rides on a rickety boat in order to take pictures.

I stupidly stayed up till 2 am reading so dragging myself out of bed was especially hard. The sun rises at about 5:30 am so it was already very bright outside. AJ was taking the day to work on her finals so I spent the day doing things on my own. We drove up some steep and narrow roads starting into the mountains to a forest conservation park, Taman Hutan Raya Juanda. Bandung is really hilly. The traffic was already in full swing, but we easily got a parking spot in the lot. T went to hang out at the cafe while A and I hiked. We ended up doing a total of about 7 km, but didn’t go all the way to the end. The number of people around really picked up as well as the motorbikes on the trail. You had to keep hopping to the side as they blazed through. Apparently you can pay to get a ride up to the end… This park has two sets of military caves - one from the Dutch and the other from the Japanese occupation. The Dutch caves were nicely formed, organized with drainage canals. You could tell they had been there a lot longer than the warren of Japanese ones. Sadly the water in the river was still really polluted and filled with trash.

Supposedly you can see monkeys along the trail, but we didn’t spot any. We picked T up at the cafe and drove back. Getting out of the parking lot was quite the challenge. Weaving in and out of all the parked cars. All the “attendants” aka locals getting tipped for helping with the maneuvering. On the way back, we stopped by a cafe, where A bought me some traditional snacks and sweets. It all looked so yummy.

Later in the afternoon, post-nap, I decided to take a walk to a sculpture park, NuArt, about 30 minutes away. It was a hot walk. Sidewalks aren’t really a thing here either, but it’s a bit more dangerous with cars and motorbikes weaving around.I definitely got stared at and some hellos. Nothing too creepy, until this one guy started following me. He spoke English really well and was ranting about how he’d save my country with positivity. Of course then he started talking about the Quran and gave me his full name - like 10 names long. I think some people called him off, or because I finally got two blocks down the street when I turned, he gave up. I didn’t want to be really rude, so I kept saying okay. Here I am representing all of America with my actions. People already hate us enough.

The area around the park was in a rich neighborhood and needless to say I took a different path back near a university. The guard at the gate tried to talk with me, but all in Indonesian so I just smiled and kept walking. The outdoor sculptures were nice, but the cafe there was closed as well as the exhibition hall. The hall was under heavy construction, otherwise although it was Sunday, I’m not sure why the rest was closed. It wasn’t really worth the walk. I stopped by the grocery store to buy some bottled water on the way back. Not risking tap water here on top of street food, ha.

When AJ picked me up this morning, we went to meet my hosts, the owners of the boarding house, T and A. They are newlywed, expecting their first child and completely adorable. Then we were off into the daily traffic. We went to get breakfast at a cafe - also some distant family connection - and had brunch. AJ bought me two yummy things to try from a vendor outside. While we were eating, a bunch of loud drumming started up. Outside, there were street performers - two men in a dragon costume, others playing music. It’s a Chinese based performance where you put money in the envelope they provide and place it in the dragon's mouth. Quite acrobatically skilled as they stood on top of each other.

Post-brunch, we went to the Asia Africa museum. It took us a bit to find a parking spot even with her motorbike because it was so crowded. I didn’t realize that this huge conference had taken place in Bandung. The museum describes a bit of the history and has the actual conference hall. Almost everything was also written in English and it was free to enter. I learned a lot more about colonialism and the rule of the Dutch and Japanese in Indonesia. The museum closed for prayer time so we continued walking around the main city area.

We headed towards the Grand Mosque, the biggest one in Bandung. I got stopped quite a few times and asked to be in photos. It was all younger girls! Like a celebrity. Once I put my hair up (too hot), it slowed down. It surprised me, I didn’t expect that to happen at all! Then we walked through Braga Street which was famous in 1920s for all its European style cafes and restaurants. The street still was made of stone blocks. We walked through a park and saw where the mayor works, and the cathedral that AJ goes to. They had a giant Christmas tree made of umbrellas. Finally saw the train as well, there’s not strong railway system.

The drive back to my place was harrowing. Super narrow road that was not a one way. Cars were backed up driving in the opposite direction of us, but we could scoot by on the side unless we came across a parked car. Way too many people parked along this narrow road, and few cars would wait to let us get by. Plus you have open drains on the side and motorbikes going both directions. Wahhh. When I got home I noticed I got sunburnt, too much time in the sun! My sunscreen will no longer stand untouched.


That evening I got a ride with A and T (B’s cousins) to a family Christmas party. It was held behind a restaurant. There was a Christmas tree with a bazillion presents underneath! I was introduced to B’s family, from young to old. One of the little boys worked up the courage to start a conversation with me. He goes to an international school and spoke beautiful English. Adorable. The evening consisted of a bunch of food, singing Christmas carols - all but one in Indonesian, listening to the whole family history, watching a picture slideshow with the family tree, and then receiving presents. AJ kindly translated for me like a pro. I even had presents waiting for me! It’s supposed to be a mystery who the presents are from. Everyone packed up their presents in bags and took them home. B’s brother’s family had so many bags full! The two little girls were so excited.

A and T drove me through Asia Africa area of town during night as it was all lit up. The traffic was much worse, almost standstill. We then went to Paskal Food Market, the largest food court in Bandung. It has all these food stands encircling many tables. They serve anything you could possibly want. They treated me to some strawberry juice and T got more food to eat - feeding two. By the time we got back, it was almost midnight and we made plans to leave early at 6:30 am to do a little hiking. Trying to beat the traffic.

We finally arrived in Bandung at 2 am Christmas morning, after 10 hours of driving, a trip that normally takes about 2 hours. It actually reminded me of driving home from Nashville in the wee hours of Christmas, but completely traffic free. They dropped me off at B’s cousin’s boarding house that I was staying at. The staff gave me the key and led me to my room. Bandung was much cooler than Jakarta, all those mountains helping to keep the temperature down. All the buildings I’ve been in have tile floor which certainly helps too! The boarding house I stayed at usually has a bunch of students. My room had a bed with sheets and pillows. All the places I’ve stayed had a body pillow. It’s more comfortable to curl around it rather than a blanket when it’s hot. I had a desk, chair, bedside table, closet, and a one room bathroom that was all tiled for the shower. Thank goodness I took some free tissues at Narita, because again, no toilet paper. Most toilets had a bidet type function or a hose to wash yourself down with. All I saw was a lot of water on the floor, and how are you supposed to get yourself dry after?? Many toilets had signs to throw the toilet paper in the trashcan instead of flushing it.

I was supposed to contact AJ once I woke up, but I didn’t have the wifi password. She figured that out and showed up on her own at 11 am. We hopped onto her motorbike - my first time! - and headed over to her home about 30 minutes away. AJ’s a really safe driver and it was so much fun! In general, motorbike drivers look much more properly dressed here - helmets, long pants, jackets, close toed shoes.

AJ lives in a subdivision. There are a lot of bar gates blocking off roads where guards have to raise and lower the bar. We drove past a field filled with butterflies. In the subdivision, younger folks drive around on bikes, racing them until they hit the speed bumps. Many of them don’t have licenses and aren’t properly outfitted because the police don’t come by to check.

I met her mother and her two sisters, as well as her brother at the restaurant. Her mother wanted to take me out for a Christmas lunch. I gave AJ her Christmas present that I already spoiled yesterday since I’m horrible at keeping secrets. I had some brunch food - a salad and an omelette. The omelette was deep fat fried though which was interesting, and the dressing super sweet. I got a green tea latte that was delicious. Different from the Japanese ones.

While the rest of the family took their afternoon nap (which everyone does here!), AJ and I took a stroll around the subdivision. I got some cash from an atm, but it froze during the processing stage and wouldn’t give my card back even after hitting cancel. Since it was a holiday, the bank was closed and there was no staff around, but luckily AJ got a security guard. He wasn’t able to help, but the machine finally spit my card back out. I tried a different atm, that clearly had the VISA logo on it and had no problems. Only took out about $70 but it was 1,000,000 rupiah! The largest bill denomination was only 50,000 so that made for a wad of bills. So confusing to use the money! We bought a bus ticket for my return journey to Jakarta that left early in the day. Couldn’t risk insane traffic again.

It’s interesting to see that all the houses are surrounded by high gates to prevent thieves. There are some really ornate houses and they tend to be huge! Usually multiple generations are living in them, like at AJ’s aunt’s house, her 92 year old grandma lives with them. Again, no central air that I saw, just the same wall units as Japan. You could spot some of the distant mountains. There are mosques everywhere. I knew Indonesia had the highest percentage of Muslims (98%?) but seeing it in person was still shocking. All the headscarves and call to prayer five times a day. All the mosques had speakers in their towers and the chanting was really loud. It woke me up a lot in the morning. I don’t think I could’ve ever gotten used to it. I definitely got oogled at with my hair and height by random folks driving by on their motorbikes. The first comment by everyone, as per usual, was about how tall I am.

We stopped by her aunt’s house and I met her and AJ’s cousin. They offered me some Christmas cake, a durian roll cake and a layer cake. Both were very yummy! So many people have house staff here as well as drivers. Nannies, maids. It was weird to leave my dirty plates around and just have them cleaned up by the maid.

We went to best street food market area for dinner. Stalls upon stalls of food. The family treated me and bought an assortment of different things to try. I liked everything, but one tofu dish. The mango with the sticky rice was especially heavenly. They taste so much better if they aren’t transported. The main utensil here is a spoon, but people eat a lot with their hands too.

I video chatted with my family after I got back to my room. Nothing like experiencing Christmas morning via camera. The twelve hour time difference helped. This was my first Christmas away from family since even in 2013, I spent it with my German side of the family. AJ and her family really made me feel welcome although it was an untraditional Christmas for me!

I met both of B’s nieces, an eight and four year old. Everyone greeted me in English! Apparently English starts quite young here and both the little girls can speak it as well. They even watched a movie completely in English while I was there. Breakfast consisted of different fried rices and noodles, with a curry sauce, plus some other things. The birthday girl’s cake was astonishing! Beautifully designed based on Inside Out. Another family member created it. B’s parents and brother were set to arrive later in the day. AJ told me that the driver got to Bandung at 7 am! We went out to get some lunch for the family.

Since everyone had left Jakarta to go to Bandung for vacation, traffic was really light. We drove by a lot of the famous spots in Jakarta - government buildings, museums and the National Monument. We actually ended up picking up lunch at Chili's! They have so many of the same chains here from around the world: Carrefour (French), Gold’s Gym, A&W. While waiting for the food, we went into a shopping area that sold traditional crafted items and batik clothing. Back at the house, we had lunch and then ate cake!

I got to see a house lizard crawling along on the inside of the wall! It was small and cute. Their dogs went crazy trying to get it.

AJ, B and I left with B’s parents and brother back to Bandung at 3 pm. Attempt #2. We definitely made quicker progress today with getting out of the inner city. Again we snacked on bread. At 9:30 pm, we made a pit stop at mall at a cafe and to use the restrooms. The mall was hopping even though it was so late. First surprise, people don’t line up in the restroom, they just barge into whatever door opens. I had to be aggressive. Second, there’s no toilet paper. Everyone carries tissues in their purses. (But unlike Japan, you have soap and dryers.) Then it was back on the road again!

I left early from D’s place, at 7:15 am and grabbed breakfast at the conbini. It was about a 2 hour train ride over to the airport. My flight left 10:55 am. The airport was crowded with everyone going on holiday. Kiosk check in failed for some reason and I had to wait in line for quite some time. Luckily, everything seemed okay with the attendant even though I didn’t specify my middle name on the ticket. Flying outside the US is so much easier, no matter what country I’ve been in. You can keep your shoes on and no body scanners, just good old metal detectors. I had to fill out my special re-entry form right before going through exit immigration. You just do the right side of the paper, and can leave the kanji name part blank. I forgot to bring a pen with me for customs forms and studying so I stopped at a bookstore and bought one of my fav erasable pilot pens.

The flight was all during day time so I was determined not to sleep despite Dramamine always knocking me out. We had a really nice plane with usb charger ports and outlets, and a large touchscreen. The movie choices were great! I ended up watch a Japanese movie first that I’d heard about from my students - S: The Last Policeman. It was a sequel, but you could still watch it easily. Then I moved on to an Ant-Man rewatch and Ocean 11, plus a little Japanese studying. The pilot was great despite some turbulence. The food yummy too. My first time flying with JAL and it was lovely. Such Japanese style dinner even with miso soup. We only got one snack, a main meal and a small breakfast snack for a seven hour flight, but lots of tea and drinks. It felt less than one we get to Europe.

We landed at about 5 pm Indonesian time which is two hours behind Japan thus no real jet lag, yay. Ugh, it was hot and humid. The pilot told us 33C/93F outside. I started dripping sweat immediately in my sweater, long sleeved shirt and jeans. Felt less bad than that Tokyo arrival in August though. The air con was not strong here either. This is the most run down airport I’ve been to as well, it just felt old, but functional for a smaller number of people passing through it. Figuring out which line to get into for immigration was a bit tricky as they had a booth for paying for the visa on arrival. I knew I didn’t have to pay anything, but ended up asking a British guy. So I stood in the normal immigration lines. As soon as I got my bag, I headed back to the toilets to get changed. The restroom attendant greeted me quite enthusiastically. There were so many porters waiting to help you with your luggage. I’ve never seen anything like it. They seemed official at least with uniforms and numbers. Customs also x-rayed all your luggage like in Australia.

My exit options split into two and I didn’t know which side my friend AJ would be waiting at. I didn’t see her after exiting so I headed for a bench and to try to figure out the wifi to send her a message. Right away, a woman approached me and asked if I was Sabrina. It was AJ’s girlfriend, B! She actually had a sign too, but I didn’t look around well enough ha. We went outside to meet AJ and B contacted her driver to pick us up. Although we’ve known each other for seven years, this is our first time meeting in person! AJ has such a brilliant smile. No awkwardness, I was immediately comfortable with her. They gave me a heads up on the traffic situation since it took them 2 hours to get from a mall to the airport. It’s normally only 30 minutes away. About 10 minutes later, it hits me that we are driving on the left side of the road. Ahh, it’s become my new normal.

Thus we entered a nightmarish situation of traffic. Even the locals said this traffic was unbelievable and the worst they had ever seen. I just can’t. After 5 hours driving we barely made it into inner city Jakarta, a distance that would normally take about 45 minutes. Luckily, AJ and B had thought ahead to bring water bottles and bread that we ate for dinner. AJ’s mom was also stuck in the traffic heading to Bandung, but about an hour ahead of us. At 11:30 pm, we finally gave up. B had to return to Jakarta the next day anyway for her niece’s birthday party. The driver dropped us off at B’s brother’s house. They welcomed me into their home. It was like 2 am for me so I just went straight to bed in the room AJ and I were staying in.

I understand why people have drivers here now. Driving was insane. No lanes were followed, a three lane road became five, one lane into three. Motorbikes and cars weaving in and out. People merge horribly. Sometimes traffic lights are broken, stop signs don’t exist. The traffic infrastructure is hopeless. Plus without proper public transport, all the people need cars so the traffic gets even worse. What a vicious cycle. The police do nothing to help direct traffic, instead it’s some local daredevils that jump in front of cars to stop and help other cars pull out into traffic. They then get tipped by the driver. This was a common occurrence I saw many times throughout my stay. I also noticed a lot of people doing jobs that have been automated in the US like parking attendants. No automatic pay machines although Indonesia is a card, not cash, country.