Have Perut Will Travel...: CGK Day 5 │ Thamrin to City One • MH710!

Going Home: A Journey Wrapped in Memories

All good things must come to an end—and so did our Indonesian adventure. After a restful night, the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. We showered, packed, and did one last sweep of Sigit’s unit to make sure nothing was left behind. At 6:45 a.m., we were ready to go.

The Ride to Soekarno-Hatta

My knee was better but still not perfect, so we skipped the train and hailed a Bluebird taxi for a fixed fare of IDR198,500 (about MYR50/USD12/EUR10). It was a relief not to wrestle with our “yellow submarines” on train platforms. By 7:20 a.m., we arrived at Terminal 3, Gate 3.

We headed to Counter C12 for check-in, but since MH710 was scheduled to depart at 11:10 a.m., we had to wait until 8:10 a.m. With time to spare, we settled opposite the counter and indulged in our favorite pastime—people-watching.

When check-in opened, we were pleasantly surprised: our luggage weighed only 37 kg, well within the 50 kg allowance. All those perfumes and clothes? Just 10 kg! Boarding passes in hand, we moved toward the Departure Hall.

Breakfast and Last-Minute Treats

Immigration was a breeze. We looked for breakfast but nothing among the fast-food options appealed. Then came a notification: our gate had changed from 3 to 5. On the way, we stopped at Plaza Bali Duty Free and picked up two Indonesian layer cakes (prune and original) for IDR390,000 (MYR99/USD23/EUR20).

At Gate 5, we finally had breakfast at Espresso Bar:

Caesar Wrap
Roast Beef Sandwich
French Fries
Spanish Latte
Iced Tea Mango Passion

Total damage: IDR381,788 (MYR97/USD23/EUR19). Worth every bite.

Boarding and Flight

Gate 5 opened at 10:35 a.m., and as Group 5, we boarded 15 minutes later. MH710 pushed back at 11:20 a.m. and took off at 11:50 a.m. Lunch was served shortly after—Chicken Curry with Rice for me, Fried Rice Vermicelli for Cat. Apart from a little turbulence, the flight was smooth. Kudos to Captain Hafiz Salleh and Chief Stewardess Chan for an excellent journey.

We landed at 2:40 p.m. local time, breezed through Immigration with MyBorderPass, and collected our bags from Carousel H. By 3:40 p.m., we were on the ERL train to KL Sentral, arriving half an hour later.

Brendan and Puteh were waiting, and by 4:30 p.m., we were home. Door-to-door, the trip from Thamrin Executive Residence to City One Condo took about 10 hours—not bad at all.

Indonesia, we miss you already!