After only a week in Jakarta, we’ll head back to Manila tonight at 1AM.

It’s been a very different kind of holiday (well, compared to Boracay), but good nonetheless.

There’s definitely a different feeling to Jakarta when returning as a tourist. Most of my friends have moved on to other countries, and Novita’s family was quite busy to hang out much. I ended up spending a lot of time in Kelapa Gading simply because it’s the area I know best.

I didn’t have my car, so I was thrown into the heat head-on. I’m not sure if it’s the temperature difference or humidity, but this week I found Jakarta more uncomfortable than the current weather in Manila. Then again, Manila does get a bit cooler but also a bit warmer – we just happen to be coming out of the cooler season there. And by ‘cooler’ I mean like 3-5 degrees. But man, after 8 years of living on the equator, I’ve grown to appreciate those 5 precious degrees like you wouldn’t believe.

The gastronomical reacquaintance was another story. It was so nice to dig into some bebek monggo, sambal hijau, nasi merah, mie ayam, cumi bakar, etc. Oddly enough my stomach shrugged all the spices off with the confidence of a linebacker. As I write this, Novita is off hunting for spices to bring back to Manila. Hopefully the customs officers will be in a good mood at 5AM.

It’s always hard to please everyone on a week long trip – especially with friends in all ends of the city and in all walks of life. We weren’t able to juggle our time well enough to meet up with all our friends. But then again, we’ll always be returning periodically to Indonesia, so it’s not that big of a deal – hope we’re forgiven.

Sampai nanti.