I woke up and looked at my phone. It was about 6 AM. I also checked where I was. The train was still pretty far from my destination. Some passengers were already getting ready to get off at the next station. I tried to get some more sleep, but I couldn’t, so I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, which is the first thing I do every morning.
I think I arrived at the station at about 7 AM. I was planning to join the judo practice at JJJC (Jakarta Japan Judo Club), which I had trained at before, at 10 AM. I walked around for a bit and entered a random coffee shop after finding that the first one I wanted to go to was closed.
There were two customers relaxing in the coffee shop, but aside from them, it was empty. Two young staff members were working there. I ordered an iced coffee and sat down in one of the seats in front of a big screen that was showing the World Cup. As I was writing my personal journal, the two staff members gathered around the screen and started watching it. There was a soccer match on. I asked them if it was live, and it turned out that it was. The match was between Argentina and Switzerland. I heard that it was a quarterfinal. I didn’t know that Switzerland was such a strong soccer team.
As I became distracted by the game, I finished my journal and kept watching the match with them afterward. I haven’t really followed the World Cup, but it was fun to watch.
I left the coffee shop at about 8:30 AM and headed to the nearest MRT station, Bundaran HI Bank Jakarta. On my way to both the coffee shop and the station, I had been wondering why so many people were walking and running. I later found out that every Sunday morning is Car-Free Day. The streets are closed to cars and packed with people walking, jogging, cycling, and simply enjoying the atmosphere.
When I got to the station, I took the MRT to the dojo. I arrived about 30 minutes before practice started. Some Japanese judo practitioners, including the head coach, were already there. As I had seen during my previous visit, they were cleaning the dojo with brooms. I joined them.
It felt like there were fewer people than the last time, but I still enjoyed practicing with them, knowing that it would be my last judo practice in Indonesia. At the end of training, after we bowed, I was introduced to everyone.
After practice, six other Japanese judo sensei, whose average age was around 50, and I went to a Japanese restaurant in Blok M, an area known for its many Japanese restaurants. We had motsunabe, a hot pot made with vegetables—mainly Chinese chives and cabbage—and pork intestines, a specialty that originated in Fukuoka in northern Kyushu, Japan.
Even though it was Sunday lunchtime, usually one of the busiest times for restaurants, there was nobody else in the restaurant. The restaurant used to serve only yakiniku, grilled meat cooked on a tabletop grill, but it had recently started serving this unusual hot pot as well, perhaps to attract non-Japanese customers.
I absolutely enjoyed the meal. Normally, I find Japanese food too expensive to justify eating while traveling abroad. Even if it costs about the same as it does in Japan, I’m still reluctant to pay for it. At that point, I was going to return to Japan in just a few weeks, so I kept thinking, What’s the point of paying Japanese prices for Japanese food when I’ll be back in Japan soon? More importantly, Indonesian food is so delicious that I didn’t have much of a craving for Japanese food in the first place.
I couldn’t really participate in the conversation because of the generation gap. Most of what they talked about was from a different era and unfamiliar to me. Still, I enjoyed watching them happily reminisce about nostalgic memories. Instead of trying to join the conversation, I focused on enjoying the Japanese food that I probably wouldn’t eat again for a while.
At the end of the meal, they told me I didn’t have to pay, which I really appreciated.
After leaving the restaurant and saying goodbye, I headed to the hostel, Cove Casanino Co-living & Hotel Cipete, where I had stayed twice before. After checking in, I wondered which room I would be assigned. It turned out to be Room B, the largest dormitory with 18 beds. Just like last time, the room smelled terrible.
After checking in, I updated this blog entry even though I was tired. Then I took a shower and went to bed at 8 PM.
