Hello and welcome to my first blog. In a sudden unplanned trip, I was going a bit further from Jakarta. Afterward, I went back to new places I had to discover myself. Enjoy this messy blog 😊.

09:10

Packing my things

I packed my things first. Usually, I bring my lappy as if I want to do my work outside hopefully hehe. This time, I am not doing that since I want to go a bit further from my province.

I brought nothing special with me. Just a phone, some bucks in case I cannot pay digitally, a tumbler with water, an umbrella, and my notebook in case I want to draw something.

09:11 - 09:30

Juanda Train Station

My initial plan was for me to step foot on Universitas Indonesia and Margo City. They are situated in Depok. I never went to another university other than my university (take a guess hehe).

To go there, I have to go to Juanda Station and take a train to Pondok Cina Station. Before that, I have to transport myself to Juanda Station. You only have to take a Transjakarta, an integrated busway system in Jakarta. It is super affordable (3500 IDR) and you can go from East to West with the same price tag. No strings attached.

I took a direct route using the 8th corridor from my place to Juanda bus station. After that, I directly went to the Juanda Train Station.

It is super easy to get in. You can use your prepaid cards (Fla** for example). For Juanda to Pondok Cina, I cannot remember the price, but somewhere between 3K to 5K IDR.

This board is helpful even for me. Pay attention to them

10:15.

Pondok Cina, Danau Kenanga, Universitas Indonesia

At last, Pondok Cina 🎉!

The first step was to go inside Universitas Indonesia. I was interested with the famous lake, Danau Kenanga. The trip was 3 minutes long since the station exit is a step away from UI's entrance.

I want to say that this area is so large that they even have a busway system called Bikun (Bis Kuning, Yellow Bus). I don't take one so I can see things that might interest me, but for curious non-students there, this bus, as far as I know, is open to the public and it is FREE. Look, they even have a bus for transportation

Here is a quote from Ki Hajar Dewantara, our national hero in education and the first Indonesian Minister of Education. Neuron is here for a motivational quote. Everywhere is your school and everyone is your teacher. Everywhere is your school and everyone is your teacher

A bit of a trip from the entrance, and I was here 😎. Look at that majestic transparent water. It is a part of a conservation effort. No fishing and no swimming there, but why would you swim freely inside a campus area lol. Kenanga Lake 1 Kenanga Lake 2 Kenanga Lake 3

I was walking around the campus and I saw a Batagor hawker. It is crowded with buyers so I was curious about their batagor. They also sell parai (bitter squash) and others. I only bought their batagor for a small portion. 5K to be exact and I was regretting my decision.

It is yummy as I was trying it. They have a thin yet crispy coating. The fish is also a real fish as I can taste fish well. It is chewy in a good way. They also put a generous amount of peanut sauce. I admit that the sauce is a bit too salty, yet it is tolerable, so I digress. Alt text

10:50

Brunch

UI Library What is that? It is gorgeous Next, I headed to their library. Once again, it is open to the public and I was roaming inside and ended on their canteen. I hadn't had my breakfast, so I order a meal as my brunch because it was almost 11:00.

I ordered a plate of kebuli rice (sorta like pilaf) with grilled chicken. I can say that it's a bargain and it is worth my 22K IDR.

A plate of kebuli rice with grilled chicken The rice is tasty. I can taste their herbs and the hardness of the rice grain is in a goldilock spot from my compass. I only smell the fragrance if I get a bit closer, nevertheless, the appearance is just enough to wake up my appetite.

Grilled chicken Chicken is also aromatic and tasty although might be too stiff for a plate of kebuli since the chicken is supposed to be more tender than your plate of normal grilled chicken. It is tolerable and I enjoyed it.

The chili sauce is... ok I guess? I cannot taste the spiciness at all. I am not a spicy addict and I cannot handle too much spiciness.

I think this picture can summarize my overall impression. Kebuli Rice Summary

11:00 - 11:30

Another trip inside UI campus

After brunch, I had to burn some of the calories, so in a typical Neuron fashion, I traveled around the campus area with no real destination. Here is a montage of my random trip around. UI Library, outside Danau Kalibata, across the first spot Rectorate Building closeup So empty...

11:30

Outside

My trip was done here. My next stop was Margo City Mall. It is very close to UI with 15 minutes of walking. After crossing the rails, I was passing the narrow strip of road. Left and right was full of food stalls selling mostly foods and drinks (mostly sweet jasmine tea). Bustle

Then, I was on the highway. Pedestrian road

And I was here. Margo City, front Margo City, 2 degrees to the left

Here is a floor guide for you foodies. Floor guide

It is a small-to-medium-sized shopping mall. For no reason, I had no intention to document the inside of the mall, so I leave it to you guys to do that. What I can tell right now is that it doesn't have a landmark I can admire. Currently, the atrium is used for car showcase (not my niche).

But I had to get something inside this shopping mall. Luckily, I found Popeyes inside. Jakarta doesn't have too many Popeyes and I cannot recall an outlet close enough to go or even order online.

I ordered a set of buttermilk chicken strips, mashed potato, and an ice cream cone. I usually have less to say about fast food outlets since most of you are already familiar with that, so skim this breakdown.

And also a KOI sugar-free tea for my drink. Tea with no sugar

13:50

Bonus

Oh, there is another mall (more like a plaza) called Depok Town Square across Margo City Mall. I went inside a bit because of this supermarket. This supermarket was a hype back then when I was a child. As of now, I never seen any inside Jakarta and Bangka. What a great day it was when it competed with other supermarkets. Hypermart, my childhood

14:00 - 15:00

Lotte Mall Jakarta

Still too early to go home. I decided to go to add another destination to my itinerary. To start, I went back to Pondok Cina Station via a recently-opened apartment nearby.

I have to make sure that the train will stop at Tebet Train Station. Route to Tebet

It took 30 minutes or more to take this picture. Tebet station

Afterward, I walked to find a bus stop. You might need to ask someone for a guide since there are no signs, but I assure you it will not take your time too much (I should record the procedure later).

They will know instantly where to board if you tell them a bus with an ID of 6D. Once again, you need your prepaid cards and it should be no more than 5K IDR for this trip. Bus with an ID of 6D.

After boarding, pay attention to this. You start at Stasiun Tebet. You have to stop at Lotte Mall Kuningan 1. The bus will not wait if no passengers are going in or out. Route for 6D

On arriving, I saw this majestic statue. I know what you are thinking right now and I am waiting for the balls joke. A Statue

Also take a look. Lotte Mall Jakarta, outside

There is also nothing special inside besides the hands below which are supposed to be a handprint of famous South Korean K-Popers I guess? Handprint

The atrium was not worth my phone's memory, so I let it pass. Nothing too special inside. Yet another ordinary mall with a bit of South Korean gimmick. I spent a lot of time inside walking with no clear objective.

16:30 - 18:00

Aftermath

I boarded the same 6D bus to Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. After arriving there, I decided to walk from the bus stop to Senayan Park Mall. I visited that mall a long time ago at the opening. I wanted to see the differences as of today.

In a yet classic Neuron move, I took a walk from Gelora Bung Karno to Senayan Park Mall. A journey might be an understatement as I have to travel around the huge national stadium. Here is a screenshot of Google Maps as a quantitative measurement. Should be approximately 45 to 50 minutes since I walk faster and I take shortcuts

Nothing changed in Senayan Park as of now. At this point, I was feeling too tired to even document this trip. In a nutshell, I walked for no good reason and bought a cup of iced coffee listed below.

I closed my trip by taking a Gojek trip (another Grab-like service native to Indonesia) since my feet deserved a rest now.

Closing

Well, that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoy my blogging first attempt. Thank you and cya on my next trip 😃

Neuron needs some rest so he can write this blog.