I started this article with a not-so-travel-watch-like description. Garuda Indonesia Airlines is conducting an inspection tour, and the destination is the area around Flores Island, where Komodo dragons live.
The Komodo dragon lives in Indonesia’s Komodo National Park. Although it is a type of lizard, the largest one is said to be over 3 meters long. The rough skin and other features of the dragon give it an air of being a dragon.
Dragons. For men (including former men), dragons are an object of awe, or perhaps a kind of longing. Although the image of dragons is that of creatures that exist only in fantasy, there are real animals that bear the name of dragons in the real world.
The time difference is minus 2 hours in Jakarta and minus 1 hour on Flores Island, so there seems to be no need to worry about jet lag. The unit of currency is the rupiah (IDR), and 1 rupiah is approximately 0.01 yen. The outlet shape is “C-type. If you have a multi-type converter, you are covered. As for communication methods, there is no problem since overseas roaming is available. Insect repellent, sunscreen, and a light jacket for those who are sensitive to air conditioning are also recommended.
Other basic information to keep in mind is the climate. Indonesia is an equatorial country with a dry season from April to October and a rainy season from November to March. In other words, we are in the middle of the rainy season at the time of this interview (mid-December). In addition, while winter is in full swing in Japan, the maximum temperature in Jakarta is in the low 30s throughout the year. This means that you will go from mid-winter to mid-summer. We have to take care of our physical condition, including our clothes.
However, as of August 27, 2024, an additional “SATUSEHAT Health Pass” declaration is also required as a measure to prevent the influx and spread of Mpox (monkeypox) into Indonesia. The electronic self-reporting form can be filled out from a PC or smartphone. The results will be printed out as a QR code, so be prepared to print it out or take a screenshot.
Well, you can get a general idea by reading this. The necessary advance preparations include obtaining an arrival visa (e-VOA) and applying for an electronic customs declaration (e-CD). Both of these can be done at home without having to travel anywhere, so let’s get it done quickly to make your itinerary smoother later.
I’ve decided to go. So I thought I would do a little preliminary research …… and found a report on Travel Watch in August 2024.
About an hour after taking off from Haneda Airport, it was time for lunch. I had a choice between Western and Japanese food, so I chose Japanese food to say goodbye for a while. Although the number of dishes and the volume of the meal were small for an economy class flight (according to my subjective opinion), I was able to enjoy a very tasty Japanese meal that was well seasoned with a strong dashi broth. I was so hungry that I dozed off for a while and realized that we had already passed the equator. About an hour before we were to arrive, ice cream was handed out. Ice cream stings when you wake up from sleep.
Garuda Indonesia’s Airbus A330-300 aircraft is available in three different configurations, but the aircraft I flew on this time, registered PK-GHA, has 24 business seats and 263 economy seats. The seat assigned to me was a window seat in the rear, and when I sat down, I noticed that there was quite a bit of room around my knees. The maximum seat pitch is about 86 cm, so even if a plump old man crosses his legs, there is room for about a fistful of room. The seat is equipped with a monitor, power supply, and leg rests, so I should be able to spend the eight hours to Jakarta in comfort.
Well, I flew to Jakarta from Terminal 3 at Haneda Airport. After going through all the formalities, I headed to the departure spot, where an Airbus A330-300, flight GA875, was waiting for passengers. Although this aircraft is used as the basic aircraft, it seems to be used in a rather flexible manner, with the Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-900neo aircraft sometimes being deployed. In fact, GA874 on the return flight was a Boeing 777-300ER.
In addition, sports equipment such as surfboards and diving equipment are free of charge up to 23 kg per set (size restrictions may apply depending on the item), in addition to checked baggage, which is a nice consideration for those who wish to bring such equipment from Japan.
Although Indonesia domestic flights are slightly restricted to 40 kg for first class, 30 kg for business class, and 20 kg for economy class, there is no need to worry because the conditions are the same as those for flights departing from Japan if purchased as part of an international ticket departing from Japan.
Garuda Indonesia offers free checked baggage allowance on flights between Japan and Indonesia, with a maximum weight of 46 kg in Economy Class and 64 kg in Business Class and First Class.
There are only two domestic flights a week to Labuan Bajo on Thursdays and Sundays, although direct flights from Japan are not available and you need to change planes at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Therefore, the shortest round-trip schedule is 5 nights and 6 days (including one night in the plane), departing on Wednesday, staying one night in Jakarta, arriving in Labuan Bajo on Thursday, returning to Jakarta on Sunday, boarding a flight to Haneda, and arriving in Japan the following Monday morning. Therefore, our tour also took this schedule.
Landing in Indonesia. After a traditional dinner, stay in a 5-star hotel suite!
The plane landed at Soekarno Hatta Airport almost on time, looking out over Jakarta Bay, which was crowded with many vessels. Garuda Indonesia arrives and departs from Terminal 3 (T3), the newest and most spacious terminal in the airport, which also houses SkyTeam member airlines.
However, this T3 is very wide and long from east to west. Although the spot where we arrived was at the very end, it took more than 10 minutes to get to the immigration. Even so, there were some photo spots and artistically decorated fire extinguishers placed at regular intervals, so I was able to arrive without getting bored.
I thought I would be able to pass through easily since I had all my documents ready, but I was surprised to find myself being asked questions such as, “What is the purpose of your visit? How many days will you stay? Where is your hotel? I was asked a lot of questions. Other tour participants were asked only about their purpose of entry, but did the old man look that suspicious to them? With my poor English, I managed to get through the questioning and successfully entered the country.
The next step, customs, was a simple presentation of the QR code on the e-CD. Oh, by the way, I didn’t have to present my SATUSEHAT Health Pass results at all. …… Later, I received an email and an attachment that allowed me to stay temporarily in Indonesia. This is necessary for the application to enter Loh Buaya Komodo National Park, which I will visit later to meet Komodo dragons, so be careful not to delete it.
It was already around 9:00 p.m. Japan time when I picked up my luggage, but I wanted to exchange money into rupiah at the airport. Since we could use credit cards at the places we visited on our tour, we didn’t need much cash, so we exchanged only 3,000 yen. I gave the money changer a mix of old and new bills and got back six 50,000 rupiah bills. There was no receipt at all, and the exchange was very rough.
As expected, we were hungry, so it was time for dinner before checking into the hotel. A welcome dinner at “Plataran Menteng” was arranged for this tour. We had to wait outdoors for a while until the minivan that had been prepared to take us there arrived, but it was so hot and humid that it felt like we had gone from midwinter in Japan all the way back to summer. It was so hot and humid that we were thankful for the air-conditioned minivan.
Plataran is an Indonesian hospitality group that operates eight resort hotels and 20 restaurants. This tour will stay at the Plataran Komodo Resort & Spa in Labuan Bajo.
The three-story building was renovated from a Dutch colonial house and has a stately atmosphere with a sense of history. The historic interior is full of a stately atmosphere. The restaurant’s historic interior is filled with a stately atmosphere, which I, who usually travel in poverty, found a bit daunting. The menu was a full meal, including appetizers, soup, main course, and dessert, and was beautifully arranged, not to mention tasty.
Incidentally, this is a bit of a side-track, but if you are a frequent visitor to Tokyo, you may have heard of Plataran. Plataran has a restaurant in Shinjuku called “Plataran RESORT & RESTAURANT”. Here, too, you can enjoy dishes based on original recipes, so if you are interested in Indonesia, but not so far away, please check it out.
The hotel for the day was the Grand Hyatt Jakarta, a 5-star hotel not far from Plataran Menteng. It is located next to the roundabout “Bundaran Hl” where the “Welcome Tower” stands in the center of the city, and right next to the Japanese Embassy, which makes it look like the Nihonbashi or Ginza area. Although the location may seem business-oriented, the hotel has a total of 415 guest rooms including suites, eight restaurants including Le Grand Chef, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a jogging course, and a tennis course.
Here we were shown to the “Capital Suite,” which has only 10 rooms. The suite includes a dining room with sofa and table, bedroom, bathroom, powder room, and walk-in closet. The hotel has been in business for about 30 years, but the interior is said to be renovated as needed, so it is beautiful and shows no signs of age. The cost of staying at the hotel starts at about US$300 per night, but don’t tell me I almost swooned when I heard that a capital suite costs around US$2,000. Yes, but we only stayed for about 8 hours and mostly just slept. ……
The Keraton at The Plaza, a new hotel from the Unbound Collection by Hyatt, will open right next door on December 27, 2024, and will feature 138 rooms with Indonesian-style interiors.
The next day after spending the night in the suite. Breakfast is served at the GRAND CAFE on the lobby floor. The basic menu is a buffet, and it is open from 6:00 a.m., which is great. The wide variety of Indonesian, Chinese, and Western dishes on the menu is quite tempting. After breakfast, it was time to leave for the airport. That’s all for this first installment. In the next installment, we will finally land in Labuan Bajo.
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