6 DAYS IN JAKARTA

As PR 535 penetrated Indonesian airspace, the PeduliLindungi opened up to admit Passenger 42H to South Jakarta where hints of mami and arroz caldo from a delectable bowl of soto ayam campur nasi permeated a security briefing in Jalan Warung Jati Barat where the nasi goreng kampung at Baronk actually originated. 

Yes, the empanada from Jalan SMA 14, the rice pastry of the Philantrophy Building and a lunch of paket nasi ayam bakar tasted familiar but the piled plates of gulai (beef tendon, cow brain, chicken) from 42H's first ever hidang dinner in a padang restaurant were as new and interesting like going through an electronic custom declaration.  

And there was a delectable bowl of soto komplit that inspired the hijacking of La Boutique Gourmand for a virtual conclave before the Sri Kandi Room conversations where the Deputy Minister compensated a cup of overpriced coffee with elevated local snacks and a buffet dinner at La Brassiere Restaurant.   

The lady merchant from Jalan Kali Pasir with mysterious shaded eyes was never umasked, not even with another hidang style lunch in Menteng where three variations of sambal fired up plates of sate padang, ayam pop and dendeng to precede the delegation from Jalan Gunung Sahari, also concealed like those who debriefed and dined at the Clovia Restaurant.    

And Penny Lane is not a lady from Liverpool but a house of beer, a fusion of the militant with the conventional like melding pucung gabus with mac and tacos through the faulty projector of Bromo 3.1. 

One Bintang, three Bali Hais and a beer tower later, the defenders convened at Gedung SOPO MSA for a haram feast of babi panggang, saksang and babi goreng that were in fact the side dishes of a carp head arsik from Northern Sumatra who before being cooked was fattened with sayur daun singkong tumbuk and a bottle of Singaraja from Bali.

Later that night, PR 736 summoned Passenger 32H with a One Health Pass that whisked him through the express lane where he recovered lost sleep and tried to thaw a frozen shoulder...