Yesterday marked my arrival at the 18th Asian Games 2018 when the Air Asia flight QZ203 touched down at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport.
The arrival was at the brand new Terminal 3 which should give all the participants at the games a good impression of the host as everything was in good condition.
Mind you that it is a long walk from your arrival gate to the exit. However they provide you with a buggy service so you can get there faster. As usual my preference was to walk.
After the long walk, I arrived at the Asian Games accreditation site which was manned by volunteers who were ready to assist you through the process.
However, I was surprised when they said it was for officials and athletes only and not for the others, such as us the media people. It was rectified a short while later and I was given the necessary stickers and lanyard for my accreditation card.
The organiser provided an express lane for Asian Games delegates going through the immigration process but once again to my dismay that someone said it was for athletes and officials only.
However, I was still ushered to the express lane anyway by a volunteer and the immigration process took less than five minutes which was good, perhaps due to the fact there were not many of the delegates arriving at that time.
Once I got outside the process, there were many volunteers outside waiting to assist the delegates to go to their next destination, in my case the old Terminal 2 where I was meeting the rest of Asiana members who would be arriving later.
The three terminals and the Soekarno Hatta Train Station were connected by a train facility called the Skytrain. It is free and passengers have to go their respective stations and wait for the trains which were scheduled to arrive between 7 to 10 minutes intervals.
I was ushered all the way to Terminal 2 by the volunteers which was good. Upon arrival there I saw a location stating Asian Games Transportation though upon checking once again was told by volunteers they were for officials and athletes only.
It was different from my experience at Incheon, Korea covering the previous Asian Games. There anybody with an Asian Games accreditation card was entitled to board any bus to the city which in my case to go to the Main Press Centre (MPC).
Of course one should take it as another opportunity to explore another mode of transportation from the Soekarno Hatta Airport to the city, which was the new train service similar to the one in Malaysia, The KLIA Transit.
It was likened to the Transit as the train made a few stops along the way, which in this case Duri and Batu Ceper. It cost IDR70,000 and it is a cashless transaction which in my case using my Visa debit card at the ticketing machine.
The train itself was brand new and they have USB charging ports in between the seats in case you feel like replenishing your gadget’s battery.
The view was something else as the train go through its route with the sight of paddy fields and kids enjoying playing in the villages which was quite soothing to the eyes.
Then as the train was nearing the city, those sights were replaced by the harsh reality of life in the metropolitan city of Jakarta as you could observe houses built very close to one another and the condition was quite bad.
The journey ended at the Sudirman Station but I could not get the necessary direction from the station staff on how to go to my next destination, the MPC at the Jakarta Convention Centre.
So, I took the next best option in Jakarta which was the Go-Jek, a Grab like ride hailing service on motorcycles. As I did not install the apps on my phone I chose to flag one after he had dropped off a passenger at the station.
The ride took me through Jakarta infamous traffic and I could feel the different when riding in Kuala Lumpur and in Jakarta which I feel one word could describe it: intense.
The rider took me right to the gate of the JCC and it cost me IDR30,000.
There I bumped into a few familiar faces from Malaysia before making my way to the MPC to collect my Asian Games vest. The rest of the Asiana colleagues who took the taxi from the airport had arrived earlier.
The first day ended with us checking in at an apartment in at Sudirman Park and after a hearty meal at Sederhana which was located nearby, it was time to call it a night.
