This long overdue post..

My procrastinating for the past few days hasn't been helping! Currently spending a 18-day vacation in Indonesia. Our travels have been a blast. I am finally writing after such a long hiatus, woot!

I know I haven't shared my current pursuit to attend a physician assistant school. It's a 27-month program offered by school of medicine, where you spend the first half on didactics and the last half on clinical rotation. Physician associates/assistants diagnose and treat patients under the supervision of an MD (medical doctor). It's a very rigorous program, with only two universities in Oregon offering the program. I have been using the past 7 quarters taking prerequisites at a local community college -with the exception of Fall 2016. Yeah, I had to do one year of general chemistry, and at least one term of organic chemistry, which I just completed Fall 2017. I was quite surprised to find enjoyment in organic chemistry, and to score a 101% at the end of term, which led me to a rock solid A! I do believe that if you put your mind to something and work hard for it, you can achieve almost anything. I shall be finished with all the courses this Summer, and plan to apply to local PA schools before the deadline of September 1. I know this will be a very competitive, fair game for all applicants but I am excited with the possibility of being a PA student!

Ok, that's already a long enough ramble. lol.

We landed in Jakarta in the afternoon of March 22nd and spent one night, then took a train to Purwokerto (my college town) the next day. I was so lucky to get together with two friends that evening. We met up at this street food vendor 'Nasi Goreng Kambing Kebon Sirih', which sells its famous goat fried rice, and a few other delicacies. It was quite good, but we think the goat meat could have been more tender. The best part of that night in Jakarta was, obviously, getting together with my friends! Thank you Annisa and Anggita for coming to see us that night!

Restaurant entrance at the Yello Harmoni

What was interesting about this short transit in Jakarta was trying the new airport train for the first time. The ticket cost was 70,000 IDR per person (13,700 IDR equals 1 USD), and since our hotel was located close to Central Jakarta, close to Gambir, we got off at the last station, BNI City/Soedirman -the trip took about 55 minutes, which could have  easily taken twice as long by car/taxi. The ticket machines only took either debit or prepaid visa cards, something that travelers should keep in mind. We then grabbed a taxicab via Gojek App upon arriving at the BNI City Station and were driven to our hotel, Yello Harmoni, on Hayam Wuruk street. The ride took only about 15 minutes despite the heavy traffic that day. 

One of the traditional breakfast corners at Yello Harmoni

Jakarta city view from our room at Yello Harmoni

Yello Harmoni hotel is quite new and rather hip-vibed. It has funky interior designs in both room and lobby. The breakfast buffet had a lot of selections, both local and western foods -my fave was the local one! I wished we'd had more time, I would not have minded spending an extra night there. It was such a good deal for 555,000 IDR (roughly 41 USD/night). The room is on the small side, but since we only needed it for one night, it was more than adequate for us. 

Jakarta The Big Durian, it was short and sweet! You're not my most favorite city in the World -for its traffic and all that- but I must say I did enjoy our short transit this time.

Inside the airport train

Yello Harmoni