June 28: Severe Stomach Pains/1 IDR for Public Transportations

I was planning to go to judo practice at a dojo where both Japanese and Indonesian judokas train. However, I woke up at 3 AM with severe stomach pain. I had to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes after that, which caused me to wake up much later than planned. I assumed it was from the nasi goreng or something else I had eaten at a food stall near the judo competition venue. I had been very satisfied with the taste and price of the food, but something must have caused this stomach issue.

I quickly decided not to join the early morning judo practice. Since I started traveling, I have eaten almost nothing but street food or other affordable meals. The only other time I had stomach problems was in Mongolia, where I ate local food in a ger. I had been pretty confident in my stomach’s ability to handle almost anything, but the nasi goreng—or whatever I ate or drank—has humbled me.

I was not really hungry in the morning, so I went to a small coffee shop located on the same floor as Bobobox. The coffee was quite pricey, and they had several different coffee beans to choose from. I ordered an iced coffee with one of the beans at random. Although I did not feel well, I updated a blog entry and later had lunch at the food court. Since it was the weekend, it was much more crowded than the last time I had visited.

Although I wanted to eat Yoshinoya again, I decided to have lunch at a restaurant that offered an Indonesian-style buffet. There was a line in front of many different dishes. While I was waiting, a woman who looked very enthusiastic about her job handed me an empty plate. I watched what the other customers were doing. It seemed that customers could choose whatever they wanted and take as much as they liked. They started with white rice and then added various dishes from the metal trays onto the same plate.

I was not sure what most of the dishes were, so I picked a few of them at random. The guy in front of me took much more food than I did. When he paid at the cashier, I noticed that his plate cost almost 100,000 IDR ($5.60). Mine cost 85,000 IDR ($4.70). It seemed that the cashier simply estimated the price by looking at the plate, as there were no food scales. I thought the price was reasonable considering the amount of food. I found a seat at the food court and started eating. I did not like one of the green vegetables I had chosen, but other than that, I was satisfied with the meal. I just hoped it would not make my stomach feel worse.

Before leaving the shopping mall, I made one more trip to the bathroom. Then I started walking toward the hostel I had booked. While I was walking, I listened to a French podcast. I took the MRT since I had already gotten a transportation card. While I was struggling to top up the card, a young female staff member helped me. She also told me that the fare was only 1 IDR that day and the day before because of the Jakarta Festival. I was not exactly sure what the festival was about, but I was happy to take advantage of the cheap fare.

I arrived at my station, and the hostel was only a five-minute walk away. The front door was locked, so I rang the bell. Nobody answered, so I rang it again. Still nothing. I gave up and checked the garage in the basement. I found two staff members relaxing there, and as soon as they noticed me, one of them said something in Indonesian. I told him that I wanted to check in. He came out of the garage and helped me with the check-in process.

At this point, I have no expectations for the service when I stay at a cheap hostel. This one only cost $5.70 per night. He handed me a key card and guided me to my room. It was a 16-bed dormitory. The room was messy with guests’ luggage, belongings, and clothes scattered everywhere. It also smelled pretty bad. Fortunately, my bed was on the bottom bunk, which I prefer. The only things I liked about the hostel were the free drinking water and the fact that the bed itself was quite clean.

I noticed dishes in the kitchen, as well as fabric softener, shampoo, and toothpaste in the bathroom, which made me think that many of the guests stayed there for an extended period. The cleanliness of the common areas was probably around 3 out of 10. There was no toilet paper either, which the staff did not seem to care about. Having no expectations definitely helps in situations like this.

After putting my backpack by my bed, I left the hostel. According to the internet, there were supposed to be some events at Ancol Beach, so I decided to take public transportation there since it only cost 1 IDR. It was more than an hour away, and after transferring to another train, I decided to stop at a coffee shop instead so I could edit some YouTube videos and work on my blog.

I found a nice-looking coffee shop, ordered the cheapest coffee on the menu, and sat down. Two girls were sitting on my right, speaking English with accents that made me wonder where they were from. I stayed there until about 6 PM. Although I managed to publish two YouTube videos, I still had six more waiting to be edited and uploaded.

After leaving the café, I headed back to the station to continue my trip to the beach. However, I quickly realized that the trains were unbelievably crowded. Not everyone waiting on the platform could even get on. It made sense since almost everyone was trying to use public transportation because the fare was practically free. I did not have enough motivation to force myself onto a packed train just to visit the beach, so I gave up and left the station.

I went into a random restaurant and ordered bakmi. Although it was not particularly cheap, it was the perfect portion for my stomach in its current condition. After dinner, I returned to the same coffee shop and continued editing my blog before finally heading back to the hostel.

I took a shower in the dirty bathroom and tried to get some sleep. However, I was not sleepy at all, probably because I had hardly been active throughout the day and had not used much energy. I ended up staying awake until midnight. Then I suddenly started having sharp stomach pains again. Usually, when that happens, I need to rush to the bathroom, but this time nothing came out—it was just pain. Although I took some medicine, it did not seem to help.

Eventually, around 4 AM, I felt just well enough to fall asleep. Until then, I kept going back and forth between my bed and the bathroom. Surprisingly, there were still a few guests awake at that hour.

The Buffet

Dinner (Bakmi, Indonesian noodle bowl)