Ritz-Carlton experience in Jakarta

I am writing this post as I wait for my flight back to Manila coming from here in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. I flew to the city last Monday morning from Manila with a stopover in Singapore via Philippine Airlines.

 

early morning flight!

 

Food in-flight. Little servings, but just enough to fill you in for the slightly over than 3 hours flight.

At the stop over, all passengers, including those continuing to Jakarta, has to transit thru Singapore by deplaning and boarding the same plane again so I had a chance to sneak a little time to buy some macaroons in TWG at the terminal.

 

 

 Jakarta bound!

snacks served in-flight

 

After arriving in Jakarta, I met up with a hotel personnel who led me to the executive taxi I arranged prior for transportation between the airport and the hotel. It is a first for me to finally stay in a Ritz-Carlton property. I've always longed to experience one however the price per night is usually preventing me from doing so (specially on personal travels). It was a good thing that we have a corporate rate with The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Mega Kuningan, that I managed to sneak a few nights stay here. A sister property The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place would have been more convenient for me as it is located just across our office but the steep rates and lack of negotiated price would not permit.

 

As I enter the hotel security gates, my service car was stopped and went into the usual full physical inspection done to vehicles in most hotels and establishments in the city. Here I was greeted by a staff by my name so I must be on record. Upon reaching the driveway and ultimately at the lobby entrance, I was whisked into another security point where they do x-ray for baggage and persons entering the hotel. It has been a very pleasant experience so far.

 

As I finally enter the hotel door, I was greeted by my name by a staff named Diantika who then led me to my room on the 17th floor. Then I was awed when I saw the room. It was huge and spacious and later did I know upon checking my reservation online that I was actually upgraded as the staff didn't tell me about it. I originally booked using company rate for USD125 for a Grand room (63sqm) with 1 king bed, inclusive of breakfast and internet but I was given a Tempus Grand room, with 1 king bed, which is actually a corner room and has 75sqm of space.

 

Upon entering the room, a welcoming ambience of the closet that actually contains the honor and mini bar greeted me. On the left is a walk-in closet, connected to the bathroom and on the right is the bedroom with a space for sofa and working table.

 

minibar items

walk-in closet, walking inside and further to the right leads to the bathroom

The room is very spacious indeed! The ceiling was high at 3.5 meters which emphasizes the feeling of having a big room. The window is very inviting as well and has a view of the surrounding area outside the hotel.

The working desk is ample enough for my business duties. Wireless and wired internet is available for free (or inclusive) and for power, they even provided an adaptor for those who brought home devices with a different plug (they use rounded 2 prongs here).

 

the working desk

 

view of the room from the window

 

A big highlight of the room of course is the bathroom. Spacious and luxurious if I may say, marbled throughout. The tub is separate from the enclosed shower which I always prefer so as not to slip while climbing out of the tub when using the shower. A couple of sinks is always welcome so that a couple sharing a room wouldn't have problem having his or her own space.

 

 

bathtub

toiletries

 

welcome fruits

 
Bottled water is provided, around 4 bottles in different areas in the room. They recommend that even for tooth brushing to use bottled waters for health and sanitation purposes.

 

view from the room at daylight, overseeing the Mega Kuningan area

 

 view from the room at night

Breakfast is served at Asia Restaurant, located at the lobby level of the hotel. It features cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, American/Western and of course local Indonesian food. There is a wide variety of food available for diners, and servers does rounds on tables for freshly baked breads and pastries.

 
my breakfast plates for the first morning and second, respectively

 

I didn't get a chance to go around the city for food due to weather and for most of my meals, I just had them at the restaurants housed at the nearby Oakwood Shopping Arcade. The area is the same where I stayed 2 years ago for my first business trip in the city. I went back to a restaurant where I've eaten local food that time but I remember it was named as Waroeng Kampong at that time if I'm not mistaken. Right now, this restaurant is called Pawon Nyonya.

 
Again, I had my favorite food in Indonesia - Sop Buntut (or oxtail soup). There's another variety of this dish that I like better called Sop Buntut Goreng where the oxtail is fried and usually separated from the soup.

On another occasion, I ate at Eaton Restaurant - Ah Mei Café, who serves Singaporean and Japanese style food, together with some baked goods at the café.

 
nasi bebek

 
lumpia udang mayonaise

 

wonton soup

 
all together now!

 

 

Such a short trip. I was to stay for 3 nights but my flight falls at the wee hours of Thursday so I had to checkout Wednesday very late at night and headed back to the airport. It is regretful for me that I didn't get to experience this city much, knowing that it may be the last of my travel to this city for quite a long time due to a realignment of my job role.

Another round in Jakarta

I was back in Jakarta again this week. I left Manila last Sunday bound for Jakarta with our flight stopping over at Singapore first. The flight left 7:20AM Sunday morning so I had to be at the airport earlier (around 2 hours prior).

 

During boarding time, I was surprised that Philippine Airlines had to make us board the plane parked at the side not using a jet bridge. It was no big deal but it sure took some as the busy has to ferry back and forth between the terminal exit and the plane to bring passengers in. I find it odd s I can see some jet ways are free and not being utilized. Oh well!

I was hungry at that time and glad that as soon as we are stable up in the air, the crew started to serve breakfast.

As the flight had a stopover in Singapore, we had almost an hour of connecting time to spare. As usual, we had to deplane, do the security screenings and be back at the gate to board again on the very same seats.

nice view of the sky on our flight from Singapore to Jakarta

Upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after lunch time and exiting the terminal, I took the service of Silver Bird again to drive me to the hotel where I stayed this week. Since it was Sunday, traffic was very light and I got at the hotel in no time

Selamat Datang Monument or Welcome Monument

This time, I stayed in Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta. I noticed that so far, I've been staying in different hotels in the city. This is my fourth time to be in Jakarta.

The room I booked for was a Superior Room with 1 King Bed. The rate for our company is USD120++ inclusive of breakfast and internet access. I was surprised when I entered the room as it was so big - rated at 47sqm of space. The room is furnished with a working table, a sofa, and a center table. Mounted on the wall is a TV screen. I actually felt as if I was staying in a junior suite than a regular room.

fresh fruits at the table

 

pot, cups and saucers

Another thing to note is the view from the window. My room is facing the Selamat Datang Monument and is a fantastic view to see all day round!

 

 

The bathroom was also spacious. From the toilet area to the enclosed shower and the separate bathtub. Everything is indeed luxurious in this hotel. There were even two faucet sinks so that if there are two people staying in the room they do not have to fight for space.

 

 

 

Of course, the toiletries were top notch as well. Everything as expected plus more was provided by the hotel.

As it was past lunch time, I really was starving so I stormed the nearby mall and had lunch at Kafe Betawi at its branch in Grand Indonesia Shopping Town. I had my favorite sop buntut gorent (fried oxtail soup).

I passed by The Food Hall Gourmet at Plaza Indonesia to grab some drinks and snacks that will keep me awake at nights whenever I work or prepare for the next day.

 

For dinner I had take out food items, also from Kafe Betawi.

 

my room at night

view from my room at night

The next morning (Monday), I had breakfast at Cinnamon located at the ground floor. The rest of the day was spent with the customer which is walking distance from the hotel.

 

For dinner, I went to Seribu Rasa where I ate dinner with some colleagues on my last year's business trip here in the city. The place is walking distance from my hotel too.

table setup

my appetizer, lumpia crab mabuhay

my main meal, fried chicken with mango sauce

Tuesday was similar to Monday, spent mostly with the customer but for dinner, I had beef pepper rice at the Pepper Lunch branch in Plaza Indonesia.

Wednesday, still the same. Had breakfast in Cinnamon at the hotel lobby and off I went to customer for our engagement.

For dinner that night, I went to Citywalk Sudirman and dined at Lada Garam

is this a desert or drink/beverage?

fried fish with sauce

I loved the fish served to me that night. It was a break from the usual curry-added or spicy food I've been eating so far. Best with nasi putih (steamed white rice).

Yesterday's schedule (Thursday) is the same, but it was close-out day so had my customer engagement wrapped up and was free late that afternoon. For dinner last night, I went to Din Tai Fung in Plaza Indonesia.

rice and mie angsio sapi (braised beef noodle soup)

xiao long bao kepiting & ayam (steamed crab meat & chicken dumpling)

 

 On the way back to the hotel, I stopped to take some pictures of Selamat Datang Monument at night.

 

Today was uneventful. I left the hotel in the morning to catch my flight to Manila (with a stopover again in Singapore).  I arrived early at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport so I had time to roam around the terminal (Terminal 2). I admire the look of this terminal that was finished in the 1990s as it has a local touch and cultural feel of being in Indonesia, unlike the usual modern airport terminals.  

 

The flight from Jakarta to Singapore left at 1:35PM and again, on the way, the good view over a good weather was a sight to see from ourside the window.

sandwiched served in the flight to Singapore. again, I love the orange juice but still too small!

Jakarta to Singapore

We had a couple of hours stopover again in Singapore. After security checks and boarding the plane back, we were finally enroute to Manila. As we taxi towards the runway, it was nice to see two A380 planes parked side by side, one from Singapore Airlines and another from Qantas Airways.

finally off the air

route to Manila

Unlike my previous post, I would like to say that definitely the meal service in Philippine Airlines flights is way better this time. Better food servings at the very least.

They even served ice cream as desert!

approaching Manila

For this trip, I tried to focus more in trying out local cuisines if possible during lunch hour (at work) or dinner. I may not have enough time to go around the city, at the very least, I have the time to go different restaurants around the hotel. It is also fortunate that the hotel is nearby a lot of malls and establishments that made things easier. Hope to be back next time!