This is my very first
TR! I hope you enjoy reading it and seeing the many photos I have in store for you.
I felt it was time for me to visit friends and relatives in Indonesia. They lived in Jakarta, Purwokerto and Yogyakarta (also written as Jogjakarta ala Dutch spelling). Besides making courtesy calls, I had the desire to go on the tourist trail and explore Central Java. Jakarta is located on the western half of Java, whereas Purwokerto and Yogya are in Central Java province. Yogya is known as Java's cultural heartland.
I knew exactly where to book my ticket - at my favourite hair dresser. Yes, that is right. My hair dresser recently decided to become a travel agent her self and so besides cutting people's hair in her salon, she also sells airline tickets. A world's first one stop hair salon and travel agency!
The prices (in AUSD) I was quoted by the hairdresser were: Garuda at $505 $210 tax;SQ $660 tax,
QF $787 tax!!! Almost $300 difference in base fares with Qantas. Although $300 may not seem much, in Indonesian terms, it is a lot. $300 equates to approx Rp 2.4 million, which translates to a 6 nights stay at a 3 star hotel, enough to cover my Indonesian hotel stay.
I then compared the price with a well known travel agent in a shopping centre. It turns out the price quoted on Garuda was $130 more expensive than the fare quoted by the hair dresser. $130 still goes a long way in Indonesia. I suppose you guessed it by now where I bought my ticket from.
So Garuda it was. I just love bargains, who doesn't?
***********************
12 September 2007
Departed home at 14:35 hours, arriving at the international terminal at 15:10 hours. The clouds outside were grey and heavy laden.
13 airlines serve Perth international airport, not bad hey? Note: OzJet logo is not shown
I went inside the terminal building to find it to be almost deserted. Passengers from other airlines have already checked in and have made their way to immigration.
the arrivals area
Perth airport was now left at the mercy of Garuda passengers.
Not exactly Heathrow, Schiphol or Changi airport is it?
There were 3 counters available: Service, Executive (business) and Economy. As there was no one in the queue, it was a straight whiz to the front of the line waiting to be called to the Economy counter. The economy counter was serving a group of passengers, whilst there were no passengers at the Service and Business counters. However, the agents at the Service and Business counters seem to be pre-occupied with work. So I just waited to be called next. Now, this 3 member Indo family who were behind me, just simply "Nyerobot' or 'jumped the queue' bypassing me and went straight to the Business counter, despite only being economy passengers. The agent at the Business class counter became annoyed and told them to wait until called. That is so typical Indo behaviour - the fastest and craftiest wins. Serves them right I thought.
Eventually I got called by the agent to check in my luggage. It was a nice looking blonde, but there was no warmth radiating from her face. Not even a smile. She just did her job. After receiving my boarding pass, I immediately headed for immigration and to the waiting lounge. I checked the departure screen. Departure time was pushed back by 30 minutes to 17:10 hours. The only other aircraft at the airport was MAS, which had already commenced boarding. Soon, Perth airport became eerily quiet, with only a few, I say a few, Garuda passengers lounging about.
I counted the number of Garuda passengers: one, two, three.... errrrr a total of 34 ..... plus 3 coming out of the business lounge. I counted again, just to be sure to be sure. An empty plane. Out of the pitiful number, approx 60% were westerners going to Bali.
I then did some plane spotting.....
Perth's woefully inadequate domestic terminal
my plane!
GA 731 Reg:
PK - GGF
PER -
CKG
Boeing 735 12 J/84 Y
ETD : 16:40
ATD: 17:10
ETA: 20:15
ATA: 20:45
Assigned seat 18A
After the door closed, one of the sweet looking flight attendants asked if I could move to 16A. They wanted to keep seats in 18 free so that they can store sleeping blankets. I did not mind moving to another seat because the seats in row 18 can not recline back as it was backed onto a wall. I happily obliged and moved to 16A, and surprise, surprise, with not many passengers on board, I got the whole row to myself! Now that is economy plus space.
Orange "Berri" drinks were handed out.The usual safety announcements and demonstrations were made. The PA was literally blaring into my ears, like it was a call to prayer to the faithful. The PA needed fixing as the announcements literally spluttered.
An hour after we departed it came time for a drink and dinner service. Images of what food will be served came into my mind. The last time I flew with them, which was years back, I remember chicken noodles being served which tasted like Indomie (a famous brand of instant noodles) was served. I became horrified at the thought of this. Don't get me wrong, I like noodles, but not those instant noodles types. I probably eat less than 1 packet of instant noodle a month. I just get sick of eating those chemical laden noodles. My horrors were confirmed when the flight attendant said: chicken noodles (D'Oh!!) or lamb and rice.
I was cornered into an unwinnable situation: Indomie noodles or lamb which i don't like. In the end, I caved in and opted for the chicken noodles.
Then came the meal tray. I was shocked! The main meal was soooo small barely enough to keep me satisfied. The meal came in a cheap looking aluminium container and the plastic containers were showing its wear.
Maybe because all this time I have travelled with
SQ and got used to their meal serving size and presentable meal trays in Y.
SQ has raised the bar sooo high that perhaps I had unrealistic expectations from Garuda. At least we were given real cutlery.
First I had the cheese crackers and bread roll. I took my time chewing to stretch out the time, otherwise I would have finished the meal in a matter of minutes. The passengers on the other side seem to have finished their noodles. Then with a fork I delved into the Indomie. Before I could whinge any further, my taste buds were mesmerised by the rather exquisite and delicious noodles covered in a secret sauce, with chicken pieces thrown into the mix. It was noodlelicious! It did not taste like an instant 3 minute noodle at all! Alas, I slurped the last noodle before moving on to the pitiful looking pasta salad and cake. The meal was just enough to keep my stomach satisfied throughout the flight. I reckon I easily could have eaten another meal. About 30 minutes later, all the meal trays were cleared.
sunset somewhere over the Pilbara region of Western Australia
I pondered what to do next. I took the head set and started listening to music. The analog volume and channel dials on the armrests were classically 80's and early 90's style. Have not seen them for ages. Sound quality was not good. I started to watch some movie on the main screen. They were screening some ancient movie. I did not even bother to look up the movie title. A quick look around the cabin, and out of the pitiful number of passengers, not many had their headsets on. So then, I too decided to go with the majority and opted to do some light reading of an in-flight magazine.
Indonesia is a multi-faith country - a safe journey prayer for Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Hindus. After saying all 5 prayers, I really felt safe flying on GA
My mouth became somewhat dry and thirsty. Time to do a spot check on the in-flight service. 'Ping!'. One of the cabin crew immediately appeared and she carried out my request for a glass of water. 10/10 for immediate attention.
3.30 hours later since departure, the movie finished. There was a rush to the back to use the lavatories. The cabin crew re-appeared and offered another drink service of water, orange juice or apple juice. I was still thirsty and opted for water.
Soon after this, more drinks were offered and again I opted for water. I was so thirsty. It made me wonder whether the noodles were laced with Ajinomoto (a Japanese brand of msg flavour enhancer).
With half an hour flying time to destination, the plane started descent. There was a rush to use the lavatories. Fortunately, I had made an earlier trip due to excessive drinking to quench my thirst.
Landing was slightly hard. Perhaps the pilot was trying to beat Adam Air's record of splitting the fuselage in two due to hard landing in Surabaya several months earlier.
We soon disembarked the plane. The moment you step out of the plane, the suffocating humidity spiced with the familiar sweet kretek aroma hits you. Kretek is typically Indonesian cigarettes spiced with cloves, giving you a distinctive and exquisite scent, a favourite with Indos. Although I am a non-smoker, I love to 'sniff' kretek cigarettes. I reckon it is a substitute to Eau de Cologne 4711 and makes a good guise for undesirable smells.
I soon entered the dark corridors of Soekarna-Hatta airport. It has low ceilings, walls made of grey concrete and paved with orange coloured bricks.
Being a WNA (Warga Negara Asing or foreign citizen), I had to apply for a visa at the Visa-on Arrival kiosk, just before immigration. The Aussies that were bound for
DPS had to go to the transfer desk next to the visa-on arrival facility. There was only one staff manning the primitive transfer counter. Being in Indonesia, things at the visa and transfer counters, seem so slowww. I was dreading the immigration counters. I was prepared to act dumb when it comes to oleh-oleh (gifts). This did not eventuate...is this really Indonesia? It was a quick stamp in my passport and off I went.
Immediately after leaving the immigration counters, I came to a dimly lit T-junction. Where do I go to the baggage carousel?? I turned right, a decision I regretted.
(I should have turned left but I honestly could not see a sign to indicate this) There were no baggage carousels from Garuda flights at all, and finally was directed to turn the other way.
Later I found out that a large earthquake hit Bengkulu in Sumatra. My father was quite worried that a tsunami might strike the low lying toll road linking the airport and Jakarta. His fears were later unfounded - thank goodness!
Verdict:
Check-in: 3/10 . I can not blame
GA as this was handled by
QF ground staff. They looked like they had enough for the day and just wanted me to be processed and done with.
In-flight service: 7/10 prompt attention to my needs. They made several rounds of drink services through the flight.
Meal: taste: 8/10 the noodles were simply noodlelicious.
serving size: 5/10 disappointed with the measly size. It seems that
SQ serves a bigger portion or have my eyes
been tricked?
presentation: 4/10 the colours on the salad and cake containers were fading and showing its wear. The main
meal was served in a cheapo looking aluminium container. Not impressed!
Entertainment: 2/10: Don't expect the the latest block buster movie. Sound quality was not the best.
Overall experience: 6/10. It takes you from A to B with meals and drink service. It was like flying used to be in the 80-90's before the introduction of AVOD. With Indonesian aviation being in the spotlight for air safety and according to well known experts on airliners.net - Garuda being way better than other Indo airlines - I felt confident to fly with
GA. It is also much cheaper compared to
QF and
SQ. The saved $$$$ I used to fund for my hotel stay in Central Java. I certainly would not hesitate to fly with them again.
Here are selected pics of my travels in Central Java. The highlight of the trip was the Indian influenced Ramayana Epic with 9th century Prambanan Temple as a backdrop. It is a must see when you visit Yogya. Note: it only runs during the dry season from May to October
for only Rp 5500 = AUD 0.67 = GBP 0.30 = USD 0.75!!! Can't complain. It really tasted delicious. A typical Sundanese dish (ethnic Sunda people from West Java) of sweet and sour spicy vegetable soup, tempeh and sambal, served with rice on a banana leaf
Baturraden hot springs:
At the Keraton - Java's Royal Palace in Yogyakarta:
A Gamelan ensemble
Royal guards
9th Century Borobudur Temple (Buddhist):
9th Century Prambanan Temple (Hindu):
Ramayana dance with Prambanan Temple as a backdrop, based on the Indian epic Ramayana:
Gamelan ensemble playing music to accompany the dances
A smouldering Mt Merapi:
Waterfall at Cipendok:
2008 is now officially designated as Visit Indonesia Year - I highly recommend you to explore this part of the world!