Trip of Wonders Wonderful Indonesia: The Foodie revisits Indonesia - Day 0

I must say Indonesia has always been a country I wanted to explore and blog about but I never seemed to have the opportunity to. I first visited Jakarta and Bandung before on a government sponsored trip to assist a fellow education officer in giving a talk at Institute Technology of Bandung almost 6 years ago and really enjoyed the food in Bandung especially. 2016 was a very interesting year for me as I was first asked if I wanted to go on a FAM trip with Indonesia Tourism early in the year but naturally I couldn’t go due to my work commitments.I was also surprised again to receive an email from Trip of Wonders to join for their first batch ~~ but naturally couldn't go as well. Fortunately for me, they replied and gave me the dates for two more upcoming trips. I decided to go on the October trip to Yogyakarta and Bali and after a long wait ~~ the day has finally come!

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism wishes to highlight the 5 wonders of Indonesia which includes natural, cultural, sensory, modern and adventure wonders of Indonesia – from their divine tropical beaches, heartwarming local traditions, inspiring art performances, exquisite cuisines and handicrafts as well as majestic mountainous landscapes! Oh how I can’t wait to explore as much as of these wonders as possible ~ though I am more towards the sensory and cultural wonders ~~ LOL

 

I was glad that fellow Brunei Foodie Gzul Yusof was able to join on this trip as he’s been a walking bundle of joy throughout the trip of wonders and its hard not to love this guy! He’s also more experienced than me when it comes to Indonesia as he has visited many times before as well as being an avid traveler to many countries ~~ a valuable travel companion!

 

Picture of me being a millionaire ~ woooo ~~ Indonesian Rupiah is the currency used here and you can easily change them in Brunei airport before you depart for Jakarta or Bali ~~speaking of flights ~ our favourite airline Royal Brunei Airlines has direct flights to both Jakarta and Bali so you don’t need to worry about long hours transit flights. Both flights are estimated short two hours flight!

 

 

Gotta say the food I had on the flight to Jakarta was pretty yummy! Prawns with nasi briyani and eggplants! Thumbs up RBA!

 

Window seat privileges ~~ checking out the sky view of Jakarta!

 

We arrived at the airport on time and I was surprised at how much has changed especially when it comes to immigration as I needed to wait almost an hour in my previous trip due to stringent procedures of taking pictures and fingerprints. Now it takes just less than 5 minutes through customs for me. Woo hoo! At the airport, we got to meet fellow social influencer Satya Winnie who is more of the adventurous traveler type ~~ We got a taste of Jakarta traffic as it took us some time to get to our hotel in Swiss Belhotel where we meet Vesta and Leya, two lovely organizers of Trip of Wonders! We handed them our souvenir from Brunei – a bucket of Jollibee Chicken Joy! LOL ~~ it appears that they don’t have it here ~~ so this makes a pretty good gift as suggested by Maurina and Marul who were in the first batch Trip of Wonders. In the photos, we have Satya Winnie and Leya! 

 

This is our hotel room for the night as this is the most convenient place to stay to transit to our next destination in Yogyakarta! Only 12 minutes from the airport (without traffic) and is conveniently situated at the airport hub with shops, cafes and restaurants as well as place for massages. Naturally I couldn’t wait till dinner so I went scouting for some good food ~~

 

At the food court – I was spoiled for choice but decided on this plate of delicious rice dish which includes stewed chicken and some gorgeous spice braised beef tendons, which the Indonesians are expert in cooking! Bon Appetit!

 

During the dinner, we were allocated seats to mingle with one another and also listened to speeches and the program. It was good to get to know other social influencers from the ASEAN region and I must say I was really excited to know everyone! We were asked to introduce ourselves and I must say I only tell them I love to eat ~ and that’s why I am fat ~~ OMG THAT’s a BAD introduction ~ but anyways .. If I could change it I would had said I am 1) North Sumatran and 2) I love to add cheesy travel quotes from Google to my Instagram travel posts ~~~

 

Naturally being the pig that I am ~~ despite the meal just now ~~ I still went on to enjoy more of the food ~~ tsk tsk ~~~ no wonder I’m fat ~~ LOL

 

Useful gift from Indonesia Tourism for our Trip of Wonders group ~~ these proved very useful throughout the trip – and I would also be using them for future trips!

 

Being the social creatures we Bruneians are ~~ Gzul and I joined for late coffee session at Starbucks at the airport hub ~~ to get to know the other Indonesian bloggers better ~~

 

 

Stay tuned for more upcoming Trip of Wonders updates!! Where to eat in Yogyakarta ~~ the beautiful Borobodur Temple ~~ and Instagram photo tips ~~ woo hoo ~~

 

 

 

Thank you Indonesia Tourism for sponsoring my trip to Indonesia through Trip of Wonders 2016! Follow them @Indtravel on Instagram or visit their website Wonderful Indonesia