Almost like clockwork, every single weekend I am bound for Jakarta.

These days, my weekends have a pattern; Bus seats, connecting trains and plans that keep shifting outside the window. Almost every single weekend, it is like clockwork; I am bound for Jakarta. Getting to Jakarta is a whole affair itself because my journey started with several connections and sometimes I am left wondering, why do I have to do all this. For a while, it kind of was stressing me out. But now, I have reframed the way I think about it, it’s basically a free ticket to explore cities that otherwise I’d never stop or check out.

Typically, to travel to Jakarta, I would pick the train that connects only a few train stops. This train saves about 3-4 hours and we arrive at Jakarta stress-free. But this time, I had to do the stopover route from the branch office to the main office. At first, all these seemed like a hassle but when it started framing it differently, it kinda became fun.

Stopping at Solo and finally exploring its cafe scene.

Take a city called Solo for example, I pass through it so often because that is my first stopover before actually getting to Jakarta. I never really have the time to sit down and duck into one of its cafes. But on my way back from Jakarta (not before), I had the time to finally try again some of its cafes and sat properly.

Since I was looking for something that is nearby, I browsed on google and found this cafe called Natahati which had a high rating on google and the review sounded pretty honest. In Indonesia, you can’t trust it completely but it’s just the baseline of something. Since it was rated 4.6 I went there half hoping to get some work done as I need to prep materials for my students.

When I eventually arrived, the place looked like a rather fancy eatery bistro. It has this sleek architecture and something that was popular back in 2024. It boasts as a place that’s co-working friendly but when I was there, the seat was more for business meetings and where the deals get done. It is filled with people that smell of financial freedom and without a care in the world. I was like a misplaced customer there, looking like I just woke up from a long slumber, messy bun and all that.

But you know what? I didn’t care.

I made sure I had enough to just get a breakfast and coffee there because in this place, the price is even more expensive than regular cafes and Starbucks. It was not necessarily cheap to get a coffee and breakfast, so I expected a good service and a good meal.

Then came the coffee incident.

I ordered a dirty latte and I left for the toilet a bit to freshen up. But after returning, I looked down at my cup and found an uninvited guest floating in it. A fly. Just vibing there.

The old me would have just drank it but I am older now and I can make an issue out of it. So, rather than making a scene right there, I went to the counter and showed them a fly that’s chilling inside my coffee.

Though after that, I got a trust issue.

The staff handled the case without any fuss. They sent me a fresh cup and a complimentary ice cream on the side. It will never bump my rating to any point considering the fly incident and the cost of the coffee and meal there. Even when they sent me another cup of coffee, I still had a trust issue and was afraid a fly would just freedive in my cup.

I also ordered a sunny breakfast that for the price was quite okay. I won’t complain much because my mood was slightly ruined. Still, I was grateful I could eat these and had a proper breakfast before catching a few more train rides.

Once I finished my breakfast, I slowly settled into an unhurried Solo place and discussed some business ideas with a friend of mine through a phone call. I stayed there until my next train trying to forget the coffee crisis and whatever happened in Jakarta, which was pretty stressful.

That little adventure somehow made it feel like it was worth it. Though my weekends can feel a bit of a grind and constant networking, I am starting to see them less like a commute and more like an adventure to the unknown.

	𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴.