Back home in cozy Yogyakarta.

It's been a year since I last went to Jakarta, and boy, does that city remind me why I love Yogyakarta so much. It just happened that there was a meeting that I had to attend in Jakarta a few weeks ago. And because I've been to the place of meeting so many times before, I'm confident enough that I know my way around there. Riiiiiiiiight... Well, guess what? In Jakarta, you can never be sure... At least, not in my case.

So there I was, in Jakarta. Borrowed my cousin's car, got on my way at 8 o'clock, stopped by at my uncle's office, and left the office to the place of meeting (which took place at 10 o'clock) at 8:45. And surely, at 9:30 I was already near the place of meeting. Sort of... Got the right exit from the highway, turned the car around in the right direction, and remembering the road to go (after exiting the highway, turn around, go straight at the first intersection, take the turn in front of the mall, and I'm there).

And then came the first intersection where I should go straight. Only, I can't go straight. I can only go up, or left. WTF? Going up would, I presume, get me back on the highway. I don't want to do that, I'm almost there. So I turned left, and then made a U turn, and then... WTF? Where am I? OK, stay calm. I know where North is, I know where I need to go (NE), so since I can't go North, I should go East first, and then find a road that goes North. All's well, right? Riiiiight... Welcome to Jakarta. Since my best bet is to go back to the place where I started, I turned back South, and turned left at the first intersection. WTF? Taking the leftmost lane didn't get me eastwards, it got me on a flyover ramp that turns back south. @#$%^&!!!

Needless to say, I spent the next 40 minutes cruising the roads less than 3 kilometres away from my destination, without actually getting to it. I finally called my aunt who lives nearby to ask for directions.

It's good to be back in Yogyakarta, where you can't get lost (as long as you know where North is). There's no place like home...