To Jakarta & Back In 36 Hours

Sometimes, I can only shake my head in disbelief at my schedule.

Here’s how the past 36 hours was like:-

Thursday, 20th Nov:
11.25 am. Checked availability of KLM flight to Jakarta. KUL-CGK okay, but no seats on CGK-KUL flight on Friday. Not really keen on taking AirAsia’s last flight. And MH ticket is too expensive. To go or not to go? Tons of stuff to do in Jakarta but I’d rather spend the weekend with the kids…
11.31 am. Still have not made up mind whether to go to Jakarta or not, but packed clothes anyway.
11.48 am. Kissed and hugged all 5 kids. Left the house with DH.
12.32 pm. Reached office. Finally decided on going.
1.11 pm. Bought KUL-CGK-KUL ticket from KLM’s website. Checked in online.
2.38 pm. Left for KLIA with DH. Quick stop at Esso to buy lunch: sambal ikan bilis bun and mineral water.
3.18 pm. Dropped off luggage at KLM counter. Flight delayed by 15 minutes, so DH decided to go into Premier Lounge for a while, where I had seconds of the glass noodle salad and mutton kurma.
4.35 pm. Rushed off to KLM gate for boarding.
5.01 pm. Plane took off. DH spent most of the flight chatting with the guy seated next to him, who’s almost always flying back and forth KL and Jakarta, as well.
6.37 pm (Jakarta time +7 GMT). Landed in Cengkareng airport.
7.23 pm. Meeting in Tanggerang. *groan*

Friday, 21st Nov:
9.01 am (still Jakarta time). Checked email.
9.18 am. Yet another meeting.
12.35 pm. Quick lunch. Said goodbye to DH, who had to leave for another meeting in Jakarta. (He’s coming back to KL only on Sunday.)
2.41 pm. Made some phone calls. Sent some emails.
3.01 pm. Discussions, checking of documents, more discussions. Should I try to standby or not?
3.35 pm. Updated Facebook status to: “Languishing in Jakarta. Nak balik ke tak malam ni…? (Should I go back or not tonight?)”
4.15 pm. Mad dash to airport. Because of the traffic, it was more like a nail-biting crawl.
4.42 pm. Sent text message to my Indonesian friend: “Sorry. Might not be able to see you tomorrow. Going to try to go back today.”
5.27 pm. 2nd person on standby. KLM staff warned: “chances not good”. DH said: “just give it a shot”. Told colleagues to wait for me, just in case I don’t get a seat.
6.11 pm. Got a seat! Paid USD28 change fee and Rp100,000 airport tax. Called waiting colleagues and told them I got the seat. Sms’d DH: “how come when YOU go on standby, you never get a seat?” to which he promptly replied: “you’re better”. Whatever did that mean hmm?
6.28 pm. Informed Lola I’m coming home. Lola informed me kids decided to sleep in her house. MyEldest argued that, by the time I get home, they’ll be asleep anyway, so it wouldn’t make a difference whether they sleep in our house or in their Lola’s house. How to argue with that logic?!
6.31 pm. Last passenger to go into flight. Sent one last text message to DH before switching off phone.
7.32 pm. Plane took off. Spent most of the flight reading the only available newspaper, which happened to be completely in French. Interesting how the French can talk about the economic crisis in the front page then celebrate the start of the truffle season in the Lifestyle section. Browsed the classified ads out of curiousity: cat supplies, social escorts, appartement à louer.
10.05 pm (KL time +8 GMT). Landed at KLIA. Got a call from our maid the moment I switched on my phone: the twins wanted to tag along with the driver to KL Sentral, so she had to go with them, as well.
10.31 pm. Got on KLIA Ekspres, the 28-minute direct train service from KLIA to KL Sentral.
10.59 pm. Train arrived KL Sentral. Had to jostle my way through a sea of humanity. Where did all these people come from?
11.07 pm. Kissed and hugged twins.
11.25 pm. Twin1 fell asleep straddling my right thigh, his arms wrapped around me, his face buried in my neck. Twin2 was lying down on the backseat, his head using my left thigh as a pillow, his right hand holding his feeding bottle (which reminds me, I need to start working on weaning them…), the fingers of his left hand entwined with mine. I took a deep whiff of the scent of Twin1’s hair and smiled. Yup, I made the right decision about coming home one day early…