On one fateful day, I received an sms. “Jason, you might need to leave earlier, as early tomorrow”. And that night, I started packing and as early as 6.20am I leave for Singapore on the following day. 18th Oct should be the day, now that it’s one week earlier.

8.00am, landing at Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport. Checking in immediately for the next international flight to Singapore. Out of boredom, I decided to stroll around the airport before going in the waiting room. Pointing my Nikon D60 here and there for inspiration. Got this wonderful shot. A group of cadet officers…

The Early March

Too bad it’s a bit blur.. because I took this photo without their notice. This is my 6th time here in the airport, I’m always in a rush for the 5 times. Now that, I have some free time. I want to get more out of it.. Soekarno-Hatta airport is definitely different compared to Changi Airport.. Soekarno-Hatta Airport.. is more dim in terms of light… simple and more towards traditional interior design. Design that represents Indonesia.

Interior Design of Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Gate F2 for Departure

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Going through the souvenirs shop, I saw this. This is called Hanoman/White Monkey. According to the Ramayana story, he was the Rama’s protector and fought hard to defend Shinta, Sri Rama’s wife from the kidnapper’s hand (Rahwana). A symbol of a faithful guardian. Well, I’m not quite sure about the wooden carved lady… but it is actually part of the wood monument I’ve realised in the airport.

Hanoman

Wood monument

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Flying sky high

10:30am, sitting by the window exactly beside the emergency exit door. Well, I never have fear boarding a plane until lately after watching National Geographic channel program named “Airplane Crash Investigation”… This is a documentary based on the worst plane crash in the history of Aviation. I remembered this phrase by the host “Passengers rely on the pilot, the pilot rely on the computer.. but if the computer got hiccup, who will be relying on who?”

11.45am, the air stewardess announced that we’ll be landing in Changi in a few minutes. The flight started to get bumpy although it was a beautiful weather.. all flashback of the documentary started to hunt my mind. Holding tightly on the handle with my sweating palm, I was praying hardly… suddenly, the plane lost a bit of its balance.. causing the right wing going down and the left one up all of a sudden.. I can feel my heart pumping hard. All of a sudden, the noisy atmosphere in the plane break into silence..  the plane gained its balance in a few seconds… but it was still bumpy… after a few minutes, we are at lower altitude preparing to land… the bumpy situation just never went off. I was wondering if there are some problem with the plane or it was the strong wind.. That few minutes was like hours to me.

12.00pm, we landed… I can see the uncle beside me saying thanks to his God, Jesus I’m sure.. he crossed his fingers and then pressed against his forehead and both his shoulders. Thanks to god, we landed safely… thanks for blessing everyone on board, I said to myself. Phew, I can’t believe I have to go through this to be home.

Gate D46 on arrival

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Finally, Changi… writing the above paragraph really makes my mood swing to negative. What a nightmare… anyway, my photography drive didn’t deplete after that. Still taking some shots in Changi. The airport is brightly lit up compared to Indonesia which is more power saving.. lots of dim areas, and depending more on the sun light. Ok, compare the above photo “Gate D46 on arrival with the photo “Gate F2 for departure” taken in Jakarta. Now you see the difference.. that’s why travelling from Indonesia to Singapore.. makes me feel like going from 80s to 21st century… from dim to bright.. I’m not saying Indonesia is backward, i’m saying it’s a total different world between these two countries. both have their own pro and cons.

Changi Travellator.. way to the future

I was walking on the travellator.. it was as if walking towards a new world. Finally the immigration counter..

Immigration on arrival

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and here I come, the City of Possibilities. 26days of leave.. I’ll not waste a single second. A New Journey awaits me.. A NEW JOURNEY BEGINS!

A New Journey Begins