Old Batavia

What's that they say about the best intentions paving the way to hell? Well that's how today started out.

We rolled out of bed early and took a 30 minute taxi ride to North Jakarta Ancol Marina. After a little difficulty finding the right pier, we were confident we were in the right place for our 8:30 departure to Pulau Ayer - one of Jakarta's Thousand Islands. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances (either the two boats were broken, or there weren't enough people, or we had to stay overnight), our boat was not leaving the marina. Despite having paid over 1.6 million rupiah (about $140) to pre-book this trip. We had plenty of offers to charter a trip out anyway, but it could cost another chunk of change above what we had already paid. No thank you. So we negotiated, got a refund (except the "service fees") and left. Sigh.

So then we ventured to Kota station, which is in "Old Batavia" - the former name of Jakarta. We ventured across the main courtyard, perusing shops, tasting some street food, and practicing English with roving groups of students who had scripts (called "Meeting Foreigner"), camera phones to record our conversations, and fits of giggles as we spoke to them. One group of girls even gave us necklaces to say thanks!

We ate lunch and had cocktails (hey, we deserved it!) at Cafe Batavia - the second oldest building in Jakarta. After relaxing for a few hours, we made our way, slowly due to an extreme machuk - or traffic jam, to Shangri La Hotel for a mini spa day! I got a facial that was glorious, and the other ladies went for massages.

We certainly turned our lemons into lemonade, and ended up having a great day, but man, I'm really hoping to get my toes in the sand soon!