Oh for the love of airports!

Jakarta International Airport. What can I say? One of the worst International Airports I've been to. Imagine our old Subang Airport. Remember, 20 years ago, the time when Subang Airport was still our International Airport? That's how Jakarta International Airport is like. Seriously, when I stepped out of the plane for the first time, I thought I was brought back in time to our Subang Airport.

We had our full Jakarta International Airport experience when we left for our weekend in Singapore. Check-in was no problem but we had a shock when we discovered that they charged a Rp150,000 airport service charge for International flights. That's pretty steep!

I'd bought a cheap Air Asia ticket back to KL the other day that only cost me RM34 all inclusive. That would mean that I'm paying more for the airport tax (RM50) than I am for my ticket. Now, that's just plain silly!

Anyway, we were early for our flight and decided to have a bite to eat. A walk down the short walkway to the boarding gate proved that they didn't have much to offer in that area. There was a Starbucks, a deserted foodcourt, a quaint little creperie and a curry puff place.

Left without many options, we decided to forgo the meal. We headed to the holding room where we thought we'd just sit and wait. After going through the security checks, we got kicked out because there was already some people there from the flight before us. We were told we should come back later.

Leaving the holding room, we found that Jakarta International Airport didn't believe in providing many seats for it's customers (even with the steep Airport Tax they're charging). Every 500m or so, there were a bunch of 4 chairs or 2 chairs. We decided that we'd probably be more comfortable in a restaurant, seeing as we had so much time on our hands.

Honesly, we didn't bring much Rupiahs with us, as we assumed we wouldn't need much, other than for the taxi fare back home when we got back. After the airport tax, we weren't left with much, if we wanted to make it home from the Airport. So, we decided to take the cheapest option, a curry puff.

The curry puff wasn't too bad, but the shop was steaming hot! Seriously, doesn't anyone believe in a/c's anymore? After gulping down our hot curry puff in the hot restaurant, we quickly proceeded to the sparse sitting area and hoped that there would be some seats.

We found 2 seats, sat down and read our newspaper until it was time to board the plane. Before going into the holding room, I decided to visit the toilet (my most favourite thing to do in Jakarta, seeing as how all the toilets are so clean and never leave any surprises). Went in to one toilet, there was only 1 stall. In an International Airport, only 1 STALL! There were two ladies in there waiting. One was standing, the other was washing her foot in the sink. YES!! Washing her foot in the SINK, ladies and gentleman.

After waiting for what seemed like forever for the lady in the stall to leave, I decided to go find another toilet. This one also had only 1 stall but it was available. Seriously dirty, with tissue paper strewn all over the floor and wet and smelly. Even by Malaysian standards (and we have really dirty toilets), this toilet was an abomination! Held my breath and did my deed and left there as soon as I could. Didn't even stay to wash my hands and resorted to wet wipes that I always keep in my bag.

So, if you're ever in Jakarta, maybe you want to use the toilet in the plane before it lands! Just my advice anyway.