Indonesia
Ayam goreng was the most popular dish of the morning at the Staff Canteen at Terminal 1; don't think it could be a regular breakfast for me (too much deep fried food), but it was cheap and tasty.
Then a quick flight on a shiny new Airbus A320neo via Scoot to Jakarta. Leg room on these ultra low cost carriers is almost non-existent and the 10kg total carry-on baggage limit is rough, but so long as you know what you're getting into, it's not too bad for a short sub-2-hour flight. Also what's with all these ULCC carriers refusing to order the larger overhead bins even on their latest A320neo and 737 MAX fleets??
Landing at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was uneventful, a reminder of some odd American brands persisting overseas (A&W anyone?), and a surprisingly quick ride from the airport to the hotel. Jakarta's traffic is legendary but in this case (tomorrow as well) had no traffic, so barely 30 or 35 minutes from the airport to the hotel. And a Hyundai Ioniq 5, while not the most luxurious, is actually quite a spacious ride. Although the driver dropped me off on the mall side and not the hotel main entrance, which was decidedly odd given the car was arranged through the hotel...
To be fair, I actually did want to wander the mall for a bit after being cooped up in airplanes and airports the past two days. Pacific Place Mall is pretty nice with a Lamborghini showroom and a Hermes, but the rest of the stores are not nearly as crazy-- although their multiple-story atriums with massive LED displays are impressive. By comparison, the mall-side entrance and the ground floor lobby of the attached Ritz-Carlton are much more modest than expected, although this is in large part because the majority of Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place operations are on the 21st floor club/check-in/library level.
The club has sweeping view of Jakarta, the check-in area behind it is not large (nor does it need to be as the hotel is only 62 rooms), and the rear library has its own vaulted ceiling going all the way up to the 25th floor, which is nifty. The vibe through the hotel is best described as dated luxury, but in an unusual move, every guest gets club access, and they serve five different meals a day in the club, which means you don't have to leave. Thanks to One Mile At A Time, that was actually why I decided to stay there-- why not try it out??
Short version is, the food is okay, the rooms are even more ridiculous than the Crowne Plaza from the night before, and it actually is kind of fun to just lounge around for once? In particular, afternoon tea is not my thing, so it was nice to be able to enjoy it without having to explicitly go out and pay for it (although you could absolutely say it's just baked in to the cost of the room...).