Sometimes the best plans are the ones that happen accidentally, right after the alarm fails you. ~Nuniek Tirta ;) Remember yesterday I wrote , “ If you’re going to Puncak, leave early ”? Well, that’s the golden rule. And by early, I mean before the sun even considers showing up . Same rule applies when heading back: leave before dawn if you don’t want to spend your day admiring the same bumper in front of you for hours. But of course, plans are just that: plans. This Saturday morning, our grand strategy to leave Rivervilla at 6 a.m. turned into... let’s just say a relaxed 7:20 a.m. departure. The kind where everyone’s rushing but also somehow moving in slow motion. Because the rumor was, at 8 a.m., the Puncak route turns one-way uphill. Meaning, if you miss the window, you’re basically sentenced to a four-hour car meditation session waiting for your turn to go down toward Jakarta. We made it, though, barely! At 8:29 a.m., we triumphantly escaped the one-way t...
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax. — Mark Black At five in the morning, while most of the world was still asleep (and probably dreaming of not having to wake up early on a Friday), we were already in the car, heading to Puncak. Our youngest could join this time because her school was running an asynchronous week, meaning she could attend classes online from anywhere, even from the hills. The sky was still dim when we left, but slowly, soft streaks of gold began to spill across the horizon. That kind of sunrise, the one that looks like it’s whispering, “You made the right choice waking up early”, was our silent reward. People often complain about going to Puncak because of the infamous traffic jams. But we’ve learned the secret two years ago after months of renovation trips: leave at 5 AM, 6 AM the very latest, or don't bother going at all. With this little trick, we reached our villa complex in just two hours flat. No traffic, no stress, ju...