How It All Began

I was looking for a place to go for a short trip in January with mum and dad, preferably somewhere we’ve never been before. After speaking to my friends WY and ZH, I decided that Jakarta would be a feasible choice because it is near Singapore and can easily be done in three days. On 21 November 2025, we booked our flights on Citilink, the budget airline of Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda.

We each paid about IDR 2,968,735 (S$232.25) for the return air ticket. The price includes 20kg checked baggage, 7kg cabin baggage and seat selection. It costs S$7.24 to select a window or aisle seat and S$6.84 to select a middle seat, i.e. S$0.40 cheaper. The price also includes a free bottle of mineral water. 

For our accommodation, we booked HARRIS Hotel & Conventions Kelepa Gading, located in North Jakarta. WY and ZH recommended this hotel because it is directly connected to a large shopping mall and it is not as congested as in Central Jakarta. As the hotel did not have any Triple Rooms, we booked two double rooms at IDR 1,916,800 (S$150) per room. The price is for two nights, excluding breakfast.

Later on, two of mum and dad’s friends decided to join us for this trip so it became a party of five. We intended this to purely be a relaxing shopping trip so we won’t be doing any sightseeing activities. Anyway, Jakarta is not a big tourist destination and its traffic jams are known to be among the worst in Asia, so I didn’t want to cram too much in and spend most of our time being stuck on the roads. Just shop and eat will do.

(Exchange rate: IDR 100,000 = S$7.67)

Day 1: 11 January 2026, Sunday

We left home at 7:05am and booked a Tada car to send us to the airport. As it was an early Sunday morning, traffic was light and we arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 3 about 20 minutes later. Upon meeting up with mum and dad’s friends at 8:00am, we checked in for our flight and dropped off our extremely light suitcases. We then had breakfast of kaya toast, eggs and coffee at the 24-hour food court before hopping on our Citilink flight QG523, departing Singapore at 10:10am.

On paper, the flight takes 1 hour 50 minutes but we touched down in Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta International Airport Terminal 2 at 10:42am local time. Jakarta is one hour behind Singapore. Prior to arriving in Jakarta, I had already completed the Arrival Card online via the All Indonesia website (click here). I also applied for visa exemption as Singaporeans can travel to Indonesia visa-free.

Clearing immigration was a breeze as Singaporeans are entitled to use the Indonesia Autogate at Arrival and Departure Immigration Checkpoints. It was really fast and convenient. However, luggage retrieval took a really long time. We waited for 50 minutes before our luggage appeared on the belt. For a small plane and a small airport, it sure was very long. After collecting our luggage, we breezed through Customs and stepped out of the airport at 12 noon.

For travelling within Indonesia, the most reliable transport app to use is My Bluebird, which is Indonesia’s largest and most well-known taxi company. It is like our Comfort Delgro in Singapore. There are also private-hire car companies like Grab and Gojek but Bluebird has the largest fleet of drivers so you can usually get a taxi easily.

Upon exiting the terminal building, I booked a standard Bluebird car, which is a regular metered taxi and seats six people. I got a Bluebird car within seconds. There is also Silverbird, a premium executive black taxi that is more comfortable, luxurious and costs more. However, we went to the wrong pickup point. We waited at the pickup point for Goldenbird, which is another premium service offering exclusive airport transfers. I only realised we were at the wrong place after the driver sent me an in-app message.

I discovered that the pickup point for Bluebird is located in the next building, a short zebra crossing away. The pickup area was very small and it was quite chaotic because there wasn’t enough space for all the people to wait with their luggage and barang barang. It didn’t help that it was raining and the sheltered area for the cars was tiny, so all the cars were trying to squeeze into the small bay to pick up their passengers.

Due to congestion, our driver parked a short distance away from the shelter and used a big umbrella to shelter us to the car. The rain wasn’t too heavy so we just hastily scrambled onto the vehicle. The backseat was quite cramped for four people so the driver stopped shortly after leaving the pickup point, and brought the backseat down so one person could sit in the last row, beside all the luggage. Everything fitted nicely but in hindsight, I should have booked a bigger Silverbird or Goldenbird for our party of five.

We eventually left the airport at 12:25pm for the drive towards North Jakarta. The traffic was surprisingly smooth and our driver said it was because it was Sunday. As the port was not operating, the expressway and roads were clear of container trucks and other heavy goods vehicles.

As we drove towards North Jakarta, we saw some slums and houses with zinc roofs. Most of the buildings looked quite old. It reminded me a little of Manila. I also saw a few auto-rickshaws plying the streets. When I pointed out the tuk tuk, our driver said that they are called Bajaj here in Jakarta.

The traffic was mostly smooth until we exited the expressway and hit Jalan Boulevard Raya. This long avenue is filled with restaurants on both sides and it was busy because it was lunchtime. The traffic came to a crawl as drivers tried to park along the road in front of the restaurants.

After getting through the jam, we drove past Summarecon Mall Kelapa Gading and arrived at our HARRIS Hotel & Conventions Kelapa Gading at 1:20pm. Our journey from the airport to the hotel took 55 minutes, faster than expected. The fare was only IDR 271,770 (S$20.83), a very reasonable amount.

The hotel didn’t have a Triple Room so I got a room for myself, while mum and dad took the other room. It came with a Queen-sized bed and was very spacious. There was even a large sofa that can fit a child. The entire room was nicely furnished and the bathroom had beautiful, white marble tiles. At S$75 a night, it was really good value.

After dropping our luggage, we headed out for lunch at 1:55pm. The hotel is directly linked to Summarecon Mall so we literally had the mall at our doorstep. The locals were out in full force on this Sunday afternoon. It was crowded everywhere so we settled for Steak 21 since they had a table available and we didn’t have to wait.

I ordered the truffle tenderloin steak, which was served on a sizzling hot plate. I wanted it Medium but it turned out more like Medium Well. However, it was still good, though I couldn’t taste the truffle anywhere. It was only after I finished my steak that I realised the truffle was inside the brown sauce, which came in a separate saucer. I did not pour the sauce on my steak because I thought it was the usual black pepper sauce. Oh well! The total bill for our lunch was IDR 887,326 (S$68.01), which is pretty good for five people.

After finishing our lunch, I booked a Bluebird to take us to Mall of Indonesia (MOI). It wasn’t far away but the roads are not big enough for the volume of cars here. It is really an issue of urban planning. The ride took 18 minutes and we arrived MOI at 3:30pm. The fare was only IDR 52,050 (S$3.99).

MOI is quite an upmarket mall, with polished marble floors and a cavernous interior. Some of the anchor tenants include H&M, Uniqlo, Decathlon, Sport Station, Haidilao, GrandLucky supermarket and Az-ko. I was quite excited to check out Decathlon and Uniqlo but I discovered that the prices were not cheap. In fact, they were a bit more expensive than in Singapore. I think MOI is probably good for dining but not shopping.

At 4:50pm, we left MOI on a Bluebird to our next destination, Mal Artha Gading (MAG). Actually, MAG is located very near to MOI, but the sky was overcast and I wanted to minimise our walking. We arrived at MAG at 5:00pm. In fact, getting out of the carpark of MOI took longer than the drive to MAG. The fare for the 10-minute ride was IDR 38,000 (S$2.91).

MAG is an older mall and the shops are more mid-range. It is definitely a much more accessible mall than MOI. There is a large Matahari department store here, with a very good range of trendy and well-priced clothes. We managed to get some shopping done here.

As we were getting tired, we decided to have a quick dinner at MAG before heading back to the hotel. Nobody seemed to be terribly hungry so we opted for a simple meal at a halal Japanese restaurant called Ramen Ya! Our dinner came up to IDR 272,800 (S$20.91).

I then booked another Bluebird to take us back to the hotel. The return journey took 11 minutes and we arrived at 8:05pm. The fare was IDR 42,530 (S$3.26). We then called it a day and had an early night.

Day 2: 12 January 2026, Monday

I woke up naturally at 6:00am this morning, probably because Jakarta is one hour behind Singapore, so it was already 7:00am back home. As the weather forecast had predicted, it was another wet day, with thunderstorms and heavy rain all morning. Our room booking didn’t include breakfast but we decided to pay IDR 125,000 (S$9.58) each to try the hotel’s breakfast buffet.

It wasn’t crowded when we went to the restaurant just before 8:30am. The selection was quite good, with a mix of breads, pastries, local dishes, an egg station, a salad bar and beverages to choose from. Being a halal establishment, there was no pork so I had beef bacon for the first time.

Following breakfast, the original plan was to make a trip to Grand Indonesia mall at Central Jakarta. That is where the iconic Selamat Datang Monument with the huge fountain within the roundabout is located. My friends recommended shopping there and seeing at least one iconic landmark of Jakarta. However, I didn’t manage to book a Bluebird or Gojek car after trying for about 15 minutes. I think it was due to the combination of a weekday morning peak hour rush and heavy rain. Hence, we changed plans and shopped at our adjoining mall instead.

Summarecon Mall is pretty big – bigger than MOI or MAG. In terms of the shop offerings and target market, it is somewhere in between the two, leaning a bit closer to MOI. The anchor department store here is SOGO. Beside SOGO’s supermarket, there is also another large supermarket called Farmer’s Market, where we bought some local snacks, coffee and tea. I was also delighted to find a bookshop (Periplus) and I bought a book called I Am A Cat by Sōseki Natsume, a title I had been eyeing for some time.

At about 12:35pm, we had lunch at Rempah Bistro, a classy restaurant serving authentic Indonesian food, recommended by mum and dad’s friend. We ordered an assortment of dishes to share – Sate Ayam Pamekasan (grilled chicken satay with peanut sauce), Ayam Goreng Galangal (fried chicken with shredded savoury galangal), Tahu Telur Tawangmangu (crispy bean curd and scrambled egg with Javanese style petis sauce), Gado Gado (assorted boiled vegetable, fried potato, bean curd, crackers with peanut sauce), Tumis Kangkung Udang Teri (spicy, stir-fried kang kong) and Sop Gurame Rempah Bistro (deep fried gourami fish fillet in collagen chicken broth).

We also ordered steamed rice and beverages. I had Wedang Uwuh, a traditional drink of ginger tea with a combination of herbs, spices and rock sugar. The bill came up to IDR 683,280 (S$52.41). For such a big meal, the price is very good. The food was excellent and highly recommended. Would love to try their signature beef rendang next time.

After lunch, it was time to venture to another mall. Earlier, we saw that the heavy morning rain caused flooding in the streets around Summarecon Mall. I considered making another attempt to go to Grand Indonesia but I was worried that the flooding and traffic jams in Central Jakarta would be too much trouble, so I opted for somewhere nearer instead. At 2:32pm, we boarded a Bluebird taxi and left our hotel for Aeon Garden City.

The rain had stopped but the waters had not subsided yet. The street just in front of our hotel was partially flooded but passable to traffic. On 14 January 2026, The Straits Times reported that Jakarta is sinking deeper due to land subsidence, with Jakarta’s land estimated to be sinking at an average rate of 3.5cm a year (click here). North Jakarta is especially susceptible to flooding. Over the past four decades, the area in North Jakarta has sunk by as much as 4 metres, leaving roughly 40% of it below sea level. With climate change and more extreme weather events, that is worrying indeed.

I’m all for safe driving but our Bluebird driver was driving very slowly, even after we had moved away from the flooded zone. I was seated in front so I could see that he was driving at 30km/h on a normal road. Maybe it’s because the fare was running on meter so he wanted to take it slow.

As we approached Garden City, the traffic came to a standstill on a one-lane road. As we inched closer, we saw that the main traffic junction ahead was being blocked by a large container truck so the vehicles in our small road couldn’t move even though the traffic lights were in our favour. It took at least 15 minutes for us to inch ahead and crawl out of that spot. Well, it’s not Jakarta if you’re not caught in a jam.

Finally, we arrived at Aeon Garden City at 3:15pm. The fare for the 43-minute ride was IDR 100,050 (S$7.67). The entire mall was extremely quiet on this Monday afternoon. We split up to shop free-and-easy. I spent all my time at the Aeon department store and supermarket and bought only toothpaste and toothbrush. The others didn’t have anything to buy and we decided to leave and make our way back to Mal Artha Gading (MAG).

Our Bluebird car left Aeon at 4:14pm. This driver was much better than the one before. He used the expressway instead of the small road and that saved us a lot of time. The toll for the expressway was IDR 22,000 and it made for a smooth ride because practically no one else was on it. We arrived at MAG at 4:39pm and the fare was IDR 114,000 (S$8.74). It cost only about S$1 more and we saved so much more time by using the expressway.

Like Aeon, MAG was also very quiet, a complete contrast to yesterday’s crowd. We explored the shops we missed out yesterday and revisited Matahari department store. But it didn’t take long for us to be done so we left MAG at 6:03pm on another Bluebird. The ride back to our hotel took 11 minutes and the fare was IDR 37,750 (S$2.89).

Back at Summarecon Mall, we shopped at the wing close to our hotel, which we haven’t covered yet. I was briefly ecstatic when I visited Best Denki and saw that they were selling a Sony Blu-Ray player, because you can’t find them anywhere in Singapore anymore. I have a stack of Blu Ray discs at home but I don’t have a machine to play them. However, my happiness turned out to be disappointment because it was a display set and the staff couldn’t find the power cable and accessories so they refused to sell it to me. Sad…

For dinner, we settled for an easy option at A&W. Not the most exciting meal, I know. We ordered a butter waffle, a fish burger and a combo set with 4 pieces of chicken, 4 nuggets, 2 rice balls and 2 root beers. The meal cost IDR 226,000 (S$17.35).

After dinner, the two ladies and I went for a massage at Meíso Reflexology, as recommended by my friend WY. The 60-minute treatment cost IDR 143,000 (S$11) and you can choose between a foot or body massage. I went for the body massage option. It was a “dry” massage, i.e. clothed body massage, and it was done on the same reclining chair as the foot massage. I’m generally not a fan of clothed body massage. I kinda fell asleep when I laid on my stomach and the masseuse massaged my back. After the massage, we were offered hot ginger tea, which was nice. We each tipped our masseurs IDR 100,000 for their good service.

We were back in our rooms before 10:00pm. And with that, Day 2 in Jakarta has come to an end. Not terribly fulfilling because we didn’t get to go to Grand Indonesia mall or see the Selamat Datang Monument, and the shopping wasn’t great. One more sleep before we return home.

 Day 3: 13 January 2026, Tuesday

For our third and final day in Jakarta, we had breakfast in my room. Last night, we bought some buns from the bakery near our hotel so we munched on them while having coffee in the room. I also bought Ambon from Rica-Rico, a stall at the SOGO Food Hall. Ambon is a popular chewy Indonesian kueh (bite-sized cake) with a springy texture and sweet, caramel-coconut taste. The box of Ambon had two flavours – original and pandan; three pieces of each, and it cost IDR 66,000 (S$5.10). Both flavours were great.

The rain from the past two days had finally stopped but it was still cloudy outside. We didn’t have anywhere else to go so we spent the morning at Summarecon Mall once again. There was an additional wing at the far end that we hadn’t visited so we walked over to check it out. As it was not yet 10:00am, the mall was still closed and the security guards didn’t allow us to walk through the mall, so we had to walk outside, around the building.

Before coming here, my friend NI told me that Jakarta is not a good city for walking because the pavements are not well-connected and you’ll have to walk on the road frequently alongside traffic. I found that observation to be quite accurate, and it makes me appreciates Singapore’s well-paved streets and continuous walkways even more.

The additional wing at Summarecon Mall is called La Piazza/Gafoy and it had a large Uniqlo and Nitori store, but it was mostly for dining, with many high-end, classy restaurants. There was a large outdoor seating area with a big stage where bands can play. It will be quite nice to sit here and enjoy some live music and drinks at night.

When I checked Google Maps, I saw that there was a large department store here called STAR but I couldn’t find it anywhere. When I asked the security guards, they pointed me back to the main Summarecon Mall, but told me that the department store was currently closed for renovation. I thought we could do some last-minute shopping there, so we were disappointed to learn that it was closed. Hence, the info on Google Maps is not always accurate because STAR was still listed as “Open”.

We really had nowhere else to go so we went back to SOGO, where we persuaded dad to buy another batik shirt. We then searched for a place to have coffee. Google Maps proved to be useful this time as I found a place called Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters at Summarecon Mall, near our hotel.

The café was very nicely furnished and everything on the menu looked good. I couldn’t resist and ordered a truffle bacon and egg croissant and a cup of chai latte. We also ordered two creamy mushroom soups and two hot lattes. The total bill was IDR 559,323 (S$42.81). The food took a while to arrive but it was worth the wait. My croissant was overrunning with scrambled egg and the bacon was nicely fried. The chai latte was good too. Besides the lunch at Rempah Bistro yesterday, this was the second-best meal I had in Jakarta.

After the coffee break, we went back to our rooms at 12:20pm to get our luggage. The hotel very kindly agreed to extend our check-out by an hour to 1:00pm. Our flight back to Singapore was at 5:10pm but we wanted to play it safe by allocating two hours to travel to the airport in case of traffic jams.

Learning from our experience two days ago, I booked a Goldenbird instead of Bluebird for a more comfortable ride to the airport. Goldenbird offers a fixed fare for airport transfer whereas the fare for Bluebird and Silverbird is based on the meter. There are several types of cars available for Goldenbird, including Toyota Innova, Toyota Avanza and BYD M6.

In view of the potentially long drive to the airport, I decided to book the BYD Denza because it is the newest model of EV. It was the priciest at IDR 500,000 (S$38.27) but it was still reasonable considering the length of the journey. In comparison, the estimated fare for a Bluebird was IDR 186,000 – IDR 254,000, and that for a Silverbird was IDR 415,000 – IDR 551,000.

Goldenbird requires advance booking of at least 60 minutes. I made the booking via the Bluebird app at 8:40am for our pickup at 1:00pm. At 11:30am, the driver messaged me via WhatsApp to confirm the job, and said that he was already standing by at our hotel lobby. I think he must have arrived early because he was afraid of being caught in a traffic jam as well.

After checking out at 12:35pm, we were ready to leave so I contacted the driver and he swung by to the lobby immediately. The car was huge and it was very spacious inside, with plush camel-coloured leather seats with armrests on the middle row. It was a luxurious and smooth ride befitting of an EV with the latest technology.

As it was a weekday, the traffic on the expressway was heavy with lots of container trucks, as described by our driver on the first day. Traffic was slow, but it was moving at least. I dozed off during the ride. When I woke up, I realised we had already arrived at the airport. We reached Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Terminal 2 at 1:42pm, exactly an hour after departing from our hotel. The traffic jam wasn’t that bad after all.

As it was still very early, our Citilink flight was not available for check-in yet. Our check-in counter only opened at 2:10pm, three hours before our flight departure. We cleared immigration via the Autogate again so it was a breeze. After passing through security checks, we searched for a place to have lunch.

There were a few restaurants but they all weren’t terribly exciting so we settled for MM Juice – Taste of Indonesia. We ordered three plates of fried rice, a bowl of kambing soup, goreng pisang, (white) otah and beverages. The total bill was IDR 548,000 (S$41.94). It was as you’d expect of airport food – not great.

Boarding for our Citilink flight QG526 started at 4:35pm and we took off promptly at 5:10pm. After 1 hour 20 minutes, we touched down at Changi Airport at 7:30pm local time, bringing an end to our short trip to Jakarta. Home sweet home!

Closing thoughts on Jakarta: As this was intended as a shopping trip, we didn’t do any sightseeing. I’m sure Jakarta has more to offer in terms of historical sites, museums and attractions, but I can’t comment on those aspects since I didn’t visit any of them. But based on what I’ve seen and experienced in three days, Jakarta is not really a tourist destination. Traffic is bad, drainage is a problem after heavy rain and English is not widely spoken. But the service staff are all very friendly, helpful and have smiles on their faces. We visited a few shopping malls but unfortunately, the shopping wasn’t great either.

Will I return to Jakarta? Maybe, but it’s not high on the list. Indonesia is such a vast country and there are so many other places to go. I still want to visit Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen and Tumpak Sewu Waterfall in East Java, and Borobudur and Prambanan temples in Yogyakarta. But coming up next in March: Labuan Bajo in Flores!