Travel Footprints

We strolled a bit towards their antiquated train station near the kota and was inspired to try a local Indonesian snack of pancit baksho (noodle soup which can get too spicy) in one of the local stands. I was a bit nervous (it is street food after all!) but took comfort in seeing men in their office attire eating there as well. I emphatically instructed manang from the baksho stand not to put too much spice on my soup. It was actually pretty delicious, especially when paired with the local bottled green tea.

Checking out the local street food near the train station

We rode the TransJakarta instead of a cab to go back to the city center. TransJakarta is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. It operates just like a light rail transit (e.g., LRT, MRT) but uses specially-designed elevated buses (hence, less expensive to set up and operate). Unlike the buses in Metro Manila, the TransJakarta have designated bus stops where people could get on and off, just like an MRT. It is impossible to alight the TransJakarta anywhere since the bus is elevated. We took a cab from our bus stop and headed to the malls for dinner and a nightcap at Plaza Senayan and Senayan City. These are posh malls in Jakarta and very near my hotel (allows me to squeeze in extra time before the hour-long ride to the international airport).

While in the streets of Jakarta, terima kasih (Thank you!) is what you will be saying often while selamat detang (Welcome) is what you’ll be hearing often.