Category Archives: travel

Communication gone really wrong: How to get out of the Soekarno Hatta International Airport, where no ones speaks English, at 1 freaking am

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This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

This was my first time in Jakarta. I cannot pinpoint any reason why it took me a long time to visit Indonesia. Maybe I associate it closely with work. Or maybe because of my experience below (which I half-expected already).

Anyway, because I have no idea how to navigate in Jakarta, a friend told me to just book Blue Bird taxi to bring me to my hotel, Artotel Thamrin, safely. I saw a Blue Bird ad at the airport and learned that it had an app so I quickly downloaded it and proceeded to book my taxi online.

The problem is it could not pinpoint my pickup point since I was under the train tracks or some kind of structure. The GPS was out of whack. So I had to ask a lot of people (airport personnel, guards, airport police) if the pickup point was correct. But they could not understand me. No one speaks English nor understand it. And they kept pointing me to different directions 😭.

All they understood was Blue Bird. Then pointed to me to these queue of taxis.

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

So I had to call Durian Writer to ask if Blue Bird is a generic name for taxi as well (kinda like Colgate and then there’s colgate). He said no. (Oh btw, I called him up at halfway past midnight for some SOS). He talked to one of the guards via my phone to give him instructions in Bahasa to direct me where a Blue Bird taxi can pick me up.

But the guy kept pointing me to this. He just kept on saying “Blue Bird, Blue Bird.”

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

I was already going in circles for an hour. I went up because Durian Writer said maybe the pick up point for Blue Bird may be at the 2nd level.

I was really tired. I wanted to cry. No one understood me. I asked Durian Writer if I can just hop on in one of the taxis queuing. But you know, we were both Filipino reporters and know that it was a terrible idea to do that in Manila so we both thought we’d rather err on the side of caution. Stick to Blue Bird. But no one could properly point me or instruct me how to get a Blue Bird taxi.

Then an idea struck Durian Writer: Take a picture of where I was. I did. It was the photo above, showing the monitor for the taxi queue. Then he said look for a kiosk where they issue taxi queue slips.

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Then he said look for Blue Bird. I did. I clicked on the touchscreen and ordered a Blue Bird. And took my queue ticket.

And my taxi came a few minutes later.

We took the expressway, traffic was not so bad, about 45 mins to Thamrin. I had Google Map with me to make sure the driver is not taking me anywhere I shouldn’t be (horror stories of rogue Manila airport taxis kept popping in my head). I had to pay for about IDR 17,000 tollway fee and my taxi fare or about IDR 127,000 plus booking fee I think.

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Total was between IDR 150,000-IDR 200,000 (PHP 540-PHP 720). I no longer remember the exact amount because my brain was no longer functioning.

I got to check in my hotel at 2:30 am. Slept at 3 am. And I had an appointment at 9 am.

It was a miserable experience. The airport could have had some kind of instructions how to get taxis plastered at the exit for foreigners who are new to Jakarta. Just like what they had in Bangkok.

There was no instruction in English that says Blue Bird can be booked via an app AND via the kiosk outside.

The airport people whom I asked for help should have brought me to the kiosk and pointed out that I could order Blue Bird via the screen. But no, they kept pointing me to the taxi stand.

I should have read blogs on how to fucking get out of the airport especially no one speaks English.

So now, I am writing a blog entry for hapless idiot travelers like me who have arrived in Jakarta for the first time.

*no more train service so I was limited to taxis

Chinese and Indian food tripping in Singapore

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Pork, chicken, and duck. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Food tripping in Singapore is not complete without Chinese and Indian food.

@kongapored brought me to Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road before I flew back to Manila later that day. She said she was curious about how the Cantonese-style congee tasted like in Singapore (she is Hong Kong Chinese but has lived in Singapore for about four years now). Singaporean congee, she said, is nothing but watery rice gruel so it was unappealing to her. To me as well since I am used to the strong flavors that the best lugaw/arroz caldo house serve us here in Manila.

Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

This was ok, as far as Chinese congee is concerned. It has a slight ginger taste (maybe a sliver of ginger there?) and the pork meatballs were a good foil to the blandness of the rice soup. I had to give the congee a good dollop of soy sauce to kick my taste buds.

Mui Kee Congee along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I forget what’s the name of this dish but @kongapored said this should not be dry and sticky like this one served to us. It’s supposed to be saucy and not served like this with the sauce separate from the dish.

My travails for the memorable Chinese food has been fruitless since the ones I had in some Chinese restaurant (supposedly earning one Michelin star) in Chinatown are pedestrian but expensive.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkQH-c_jTEA/?igshid=nqjp9xm3po9g

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkQH4Z_DZW4/?igshid=11kvs90a2jwxc

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkQH1p2jNq4/?igshid=1uw45w5ctt0mq

Fish head curry is not really Indian but it is a Kerala-style x Chinese fusion cuisine that is signature Singaporean. I am including this to show the crossbreeding of cuisines that reflect Singapore: a crossroads of two civilizations.

Ocean Curry Fish Head along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After having this fish head curry, I have more appreciation of fish heads, which I dismiss here in the Philippines because they do not yield me anything at all. I could tell that the fish in this dish was fresh (no lansa) and the curry was spicy enough to heighten my senses as the spicyness level of this dish is not normally found in the Philippines. I even find Bicol express and pinangat mild compared to this one.

For more “authentic” Indian food (read: vegetarian) head to Little India or somewhere near that enclave. I cannot remember where this was because I just walked for four hours in MacRitchie Reservoir prior to this to clear my head (but ended up more confused that day). This was a purely vegetarian dish that did little to satisfy my hunger. And it was spicy to boot. I just neutralized it with sweet lassi, which I felt like was the only sugar source for me that evening.

This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After this dinner, I drowned myself with a lot of alcohol. Jumped from one bar along Club Street to another one somewhere in Tanjong Pagar.

Satay feast along Boon Tat cor Robinson Road, Singapore

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Satay feast outside Lau Pasat. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Having a taste of satay grilled along Boon Tat Road between Lau Pasat and Sofitel five years ago has changed the way I look at that quintessential Singaporean/Malaysian street food. It’s skewered meat of every kind: chicken, beef, pork, mutton, rabbit, lamb, and even prawns. It can be eaten as is, or for extra oomph, you can dip it in peanut sauce.

The meat (of whatever kind) is tender and savory and not sickly sweet like how some of our Pinoy barbeque tend to be. Hindi sya nakakaumay. The meat size is cut just right so it’s not much of struggle when you bite it off the skewer.

Every night (around 7 pm-ish) they close off a section of Boon Tat so satay vendors can roll out the tables and chairs for al fresco diners.

There are senior citizens who go around selling wet wipes or tissue for SGD 1 a pop. If you’re feeling charitable, go ahead buy some because you will need that after stuffing your face. Otherwise, save your 40 pesos (roughly SGD 1) and use your own handkerchief to wipe the peanut sauce off your mouth.

I never fail to have one dinner there with coworkers or other Singapore-based friends like @barbaruuu there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUeWZtygJAu/?igshid=1tcl7g63dziso

Satay is best paired with beer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUZjdNDAiFr/?igshid=k6c0bahlft8w

And more beer

Beer and satay outside Lau Pasat. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

After that eye-popping moment five years ago when I discovered how the real satay tasted like, I can confidently declare that the ones served by Shangri-la Makati and Shangri-la EDSA are complete garbage.

Peranakan food in Singapore… Again

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Why is it that the most expensive food I get to eat in Singapore is peranakan?

Wait, what is peranakan food? It is fusion cusine, a combination of Chinese ingredients with Indonesian and Malaysian spices and cooking techniques (as described by The Culture Trip).

Good thing I was not the one paying for the dinners there (it’s usually company dinner) since these restaurants are either highly rated locally or has obtained at least one Michelin star, therefore, $$$ 🤑🤑🤑.

I love peranakan vegetable dishes. They’re cooked in a way that seems very familiar to the taste buds (Southeast Asian taste) but it’s alien in some sense because it is not my daily fare in Manila. Or I don’t get to eat them in Manila.

IndoCafe along Scotts Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

True Blue Cuisine along Armenian Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

True Blue Cuisine along Armenian Road. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I wasn’t able to take a picture of the okra dish I fell in love with in Blue Ginger. It was cooked in coconut milk but was spicy like it had a good helping of sambal.

I also forgot to take a picture of the fish curry I had in IndoCafe. That shows how busy I was, stuffing my face with good food.

While Indonesian food is not peranakan, I am lumping it together with peranakan to save me one blog post (yes I’m that lazy).

I went to Pagi Sore (“Morning Afternoon”) along Telok Ayer twice with co-workers.

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

Indonesian food at Pagi Sore along Telok Ayer. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

I liked peranakan food that I bought a jar of sambal so I can stir fry kangkong with sambal, pinakbet with sambal… every ginisang gulay with sambal.

I’m getting hungry.

Back in Singapore for bak kut teh

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Singapore is boring compared to drama queen that is Manila (where you can have strong earthquakes, super typhoons, and coup d’ etat back to back to back in less than three months, I kid you not). But I keep coming back there for the food. Peranakan food, satay at Lau Pasat at 7 pm, sting ray with kalamansi and sambal, chicken rice…

… and bak kut teh (“meat bone tea”).

This dish was introduced to me by a Singaporean ex-colleague who brought me to this hole-in-the-wall eatery a block away from our office.

Hwa Ji Bak Kut Teh. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

It’s like a very peppery nilagang baboy but not quite. It’s best eaten when it’s hot and when you’re about to get sick with flu.

There’s a debate as to where it originated–Singapore or Malaysia (like any other dish that can be found in both countries)–and which tastes better. The peppery one is Singaporean and the herbal one comes from Malaysia–Klang Valley to be precise.

A Malaysian colleague of mine dismisses the peppery one and declares the Malaysian herbal version as heavenly. My Hong Kong Chinese colleague @kongapored and I like the peppery version.

So @kongapored one time brought me to a famous bak kut teh place called Founder in their Bugis branch. She said one Kpop idol was seen dining there, so naturally the fans swarmed the place.

I liked it and it was more generous with the meat compared to Hwa Ji (which is very stingy with meat and you can only compensate by asking for more soup refills).

Another one liked was Old Street (I went to their branch in Kallang Wave Mall), which was also generous with meat (it seems like everyone else is generous compared to Hwa Ji 🤔).

Old Street Bak Kut Teh (Kallang Wave Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

It was perfect at that time when I had it in July last year when I was barely myself.

Another favorite is Song Fa and I usually have it in their Chinatown Point Mall in Chinatown along New Bridge Road. I usually have the one with the rib part with more meat in it (around SGD 9-ish).

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (Chinatown Point Mall). This photo is owned by callmecreation.com and can be found on @callmecreation on Instagram

So what’s it really? While eating alone in Old Street, I read the writing on their wall that told the Singaporean version of its origins. It was supposed to be a dish for Singapore’s dock workers (coolies) to keep them energized and to stave off illness. It’s tea from pork ribs = you cook it until the meat falls off the bone. You can buy the bak kut teh packs from grocery stores like NTUC Fairprice (my go-to place for groceries) or Chinese medicine/food specialty stores in Chinatown.

I once made a mistake of opening one of the bak kut teh bags, spilling all the spices in the big pot of pork ribs (1 kg). You should never do that or else you will end up with a super peppery (to the point of being inedible) sorry mess of a bak kut teh. I tried finishing 1 kg of pork ribs of that sorry excuse of a bak kut teh by myself but I failed miserably and had to throw it away. What I should have done is to cook the bag–the entire lot–like a tea bag in the pot with one whole head of garlic. You can separate the garlic into cloves but I preferred to cut it in half and dunk it in the pot. Same thing.

The best way to stew it is to use a slow cooker for this.

But stupid me, I always forget to buy the bak kut teh mix whenever I go to Singapore. Please remind me to do so in October when I come back.