They served breakfast on the plane at an ungodly hour. I was fast asleep and wham lights on. I think it was around 2 am Indonesian time. I was hungry, but with an unhappy stomach so I didn’t eat too much. Upon exiting the plane, it was freezing! Only 2C/33F. All the passengers were shivering. You could see your breath. At immigration I first went in the wrong line as the re-entry permit line only had one small sign and was separate from the special permanent residents and Japanese citizens area (unlike what I had read). The flight attendant onboard actually asked me which forms I need as well so it was easy to only get the customs form. My bag was one of the last ones out. I immediately pulled out my wonderfully warm jacket. Customs asked me more questions than my first entry where they basically waved me through. Nothing weird or complicated though.

I saw the bus ticket sign right away like my JTE said. Super easy, but more expensive than I had been expecting, 4650 yen to Takasaki station while my bus from Tomioka to Shinjuku only cost around 2000 yen. The airport is so much further out from Tokyo, in Chiba. The first bus left at 8:30 am and it was only 7:15 so I hunkered down in some chairs near an outlet to charge my phone. I made a few excursions to the atm, the toilet (my poor, poor stomach), and to buy Pocari Sweat. Need to keep those electrolytes up.

Nothing like leaving a country to really make you appreciate it. The cleanliness, the safety. Actually understand more of a language ha.

It took us a little over 2 hours to get to Takasaki where I then caught my train back to Tomioka. My next train left in 4 minutes so good timing! Got home about 12:15 and immediately started packing for the trip back to Tokyo. I biked over to the post office to mail my cards to the US and pick up my package. It was very busy with the new year’s cards rush. People were dropping off gigantic packs of them. Ravenous but only dared to eat four pieces of bread. No time to nap, but I read a bit in bed, until I went to meet my teacher and her friends at 3:30 pm so we could drive to Tokyo Disney Sea. There was an unbelieveable amount of people waiting in line. We were cordoned off in sections. Some people were sitting and had been waiting since the morning. When we arrived all the day guests were leaving and the restroom lines were also insane. This even beat the Eiffel Tower lines. We got there at 6:30 pm. The park was supposed to open at 8:00 pm and it took us about 30 minutes to get through the gates and security. I got rather cold just standing there for that whole time. I wore an insane amount of layers including my wool long underwear because it’s right on the ocean. Thank goodness for the 2 hour jet lag, because I was much less hungry than the others at this point. As the herd spread throughout the park, it wasn’t as bad of a crowd. Actually less people than I had expected.

This was my first time ever going to a Disney park and I was blown away. My jaw kept dropping. Every area was something different and intricate. I felt transported into all these different worlds. Honestly, the design and architecture interested me more than the rides. We split into two groups, E and I went to get in line for food and her friends to get us some fastpass ride tickets. The place they had wanted to eat had a four hour wait! And still, people kept getting in line. We backtracked a bit to a restaurant that was just serving one dish, seafood chowder. No wait here. I got some hot tea to warm me up as well. It was super delicious. The first ride we rode was the Indiana Jones Temple of the Crystal Skull. With Fastpass, we didn’t have to wait in line at all. Again, the details were astonishing. The ride had no ups and downs just sideway movements so it was okay with my motion sickness. Not too scary either ha. We also did an interactive 4D video about storms that I did not look at since I knew I’d get sick and I didn’t join them when they later rode a roller coaster ride.

For the countdown and fireworks, we found a spot up top a huge boat with a great view of the water and the fake volcano. Surrounded by people counting down in Japanese, I stuck with English. I’m pretty sure I was the only foreigner in the park (didn’t spot or hear any others) as you have to win an advance lottery to get tickets. This was the earliest I’ve celebrated, only my Aussie and Kiwi friends beat me.

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.