Our Jakarta relatives invited us to join them for New Year Eve’s countdown in Indonesia which we gladly accepted and look forward to welcome New Year at a new place. Flight from Singapore to Jakarta takes less than 2 hours but somehow we never thought of visiting until now. Bintan and Batam were the only places which I’ve been to.

WingShark's Note:
Flights from Singapore to Jakarta Now:hellowings.com/h/ZWGSu
Flights from Kuala Lumper to Jakarta Now:hellowings.com/h/CNehi

Now if you think Singapore’s traffic jam is bad, THINK again. The notorious traffic in Jakarta rank heads and shoulders above ours – time spent on the road was mind-blowing as traffic was super congested around the capital. A typical car journey was around 2-4 hours no matter where we are heading to. OMG!

We were told that this is common during festive period and peak hours. If accident occurs, travel time will add up substantially. I remembered saying I will stop complaining about Singapore traffic when I am back. And did that happen? Of course not…haha

Wandering in Jakarta

The Indonesian restaurant our uncles brought us to make up for travel time. The tasty and spicy food was really delicious and left me wanting for more! Sorry, no pictures as my hunger outgun my photo taking desire.

Before the dinner, we visited the big Mangga Dua Mall but were squeezed left right centre at this popular shopping mall. Many fake designers’ goods were on display and each floor is assigned to certain products like fashion, eyewear, electronics and others.

But the annoying thing was that smokers were puffing inside the mall making it unbearable for us so we left shortly after.

With the road and human traffic in mind, we were contended lazing at our relatives’ house the next day. Yeah, kind of boring but the traffic really took a toll on us.

Boom boom boom

Finally, we were on our way to Puncak on New Year’s Eve. Puncak literally means Peak and it is a popular getaway place for Indonesians.

Locals will either buy or rent the Villas for a stay over during holidays or weekends. Even Indonesian President has a Presidential Villa here as well. The winding uphill roads to Puncak remind me of Genting Highlands with similar cool and nice weather.

After enduring hours on the road due to traffic, we finally reached the Villa.

We were told there will be lots of fireworks going off after dinner. The younger cousins were all looking forward to set off the fireworks. We were also very excited because we never have a chance to do that in Singapore.

Fireworks went off while we were halfway through dinner. People at other villas were setting off fireworks and many others followed suit. Plenty of fireworks started booming and lit up the dark sky. I fired off a couple of fireworks in a row and the feeling was great!

This was definitely the highlight of our 4 days trip.

*All text, images, and links are from WanderLex.com
*All "WingShark's Note" are from HelloWings Journey, aims to provide readers more current information and tips assisting in WanderLex's travel itinerary.