The incredible Hospitality of the
Indonesians
The Sentul Healthy Happy Living Group of
Pak J.
I am just finishing my third trip in 2012
to Bogor, Indonesia-all to be in the company of the above people. PJ JW EM WW
and many new and old friends.
In April,
MIA-EWR-NRT-SIN-CGK
In August,
OMA-IAH-DOH-CGK
In December, OMA-ORD-KG-SIN-CGK
It usually takes over 40 hours including stopovers
to reach CGK from USA.
The return trips have always been back to
Paris
CGK-KUL-PNH-BKK-ZRH-CDG
CGK-BSB-DXB-CDG
CGK-KUL-CDG
Thai Airways on BKK –ZRH was impressive,
both MH on KUL-CDG and RBI on BSB-DXB were unimpressive.
But Indonesia and Indonesians have been
impressive.. Including their attention to the details of the wellbeing of their
guest.
CGK and Jakarta are notorious places to
fetch arriving and take departing passengers, not that CGK is inefficient, it
is rather pleasant including its Low Cost Terminal, but one has to take into
account the notorious and unpredictable traffic jams!
On one occasion I stayed at a hotel in
Jakarta so that I can leave at 3 30 AM not to miss the 6 30 AM flight. But from
Bogor one has to calculate additional hours into this equation.
Today’s flight luckily was at 1545. Yet we
left Bogor at 10 AM. To arrive at CGK at 12 30 pm. Then the usual landside
security, check in and then the immigration, all reasonably quick and
efficient.
One has to plan so well, so PKJG has to
designate people to fetch me and take me to the airport, including the time I
had to leave Bogor at 3 AM! in fact at least half a day has to be allowed to
this task!
My friend PKJ and the friends I made in
Bogor all knew that I looked forward to good food, and they made special
efforts to make sure that I had the taste of the great variety of the cuisines
of Indonesia.
One example: they were discussing among
themselves some of the dishes I am yet to taste! The Doctor has not tasted
Gudeg, so PKJG instructs the person to make sure I get to taste Gudeg before I
leave Indonesia this time.
Someone knows that in Terminal 2 of CGK
there is a resto that serves the said dish. So one hour was built into the
departure procedures. Two young men who took me to the airport had lunch with
me, explaining the cuisine.
Gudeg is a
traditional food from Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia. Gudeg is made from young Nangka (jack
fruit) boiled for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk
During this visit of six days, I had been
treated to:
Padang Style
Chinese style Breakfast
Bubur Ayam in the mornings
Herbal preparations to drink: ginger and
Tumeric
Home made Choy Pan and Bacang, Pontianak
style
Sundanese food at various setting
Javanese food variations
Twice ate at a Japanese resto whose chef
was trained in Jakarta.
Always, surprisingly, at the office there
was Nespresso! I tasted the same coffee that I drink in Paris!
(It is always good to have some reminders of Cuba when I travel..Pak Che this time)
