Merry Christmas from Jakarta Airport

I was supposed to fly with Poul to Singapore on Christmas Eve, but because of the haze in Dubai, a lot of flights got cancelled or delayed. To make sure that I would make it to Singapore while Poul was still there, I therefore decided to go via Jakarta, which only had a one-hour delay and lots of seats available. The only drawback was that I would be spending Christmas Eve in Jakarta Airport alone, but hey, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

My flight from Jakarta to Singapore was at 6am, and I couldn’t enter the departure terminal until 3 hours before the flight, so I spent 3 hours in a café outside the terminal. My Christmas dinner? A tuna puff and a cheese croissant with hot sauce, and for dessert, I had a very good coconut iced coffee (Indonesian coffee is ah-mazing!). Behind the counter was the nicest young guy, who wanted to practice his English. He told me that he was dreaming about visiting Dubai someday, and I told him that he should.

My friends and family in Scandinavia did their best to send some Christmas spirit to Jakarta. Rikke called me on WhatsApp, and AC sent me lots of photos from Oslo including one of her dog, dressed like a reindeer. My sister sent me videos on Facebook with Bølle (my parents’ dog) opening his Christmas presents, and photos of my mom’s famous roast goose. Now this was the only point that evening, that I was feeling a bit sad about being in Jakarta and not in Denmark because nobody makes roast goose like my mom and it’s been years since the last time I celebrated Christmas with my parents. So one thing is sure: Next year, I’ll be celebrating Christmas in Denmark.