Today is the day I meet Fachrul! He was an engineer working for a client of my previous company, and we became friends back then after deciding we should exchange contacts. Now that I'm finally going to Indonesia, we're meeting in Jakarta!
I'm nervous because it's our first meeting. First meetings are always exciting, right? How should I talk to him, what kind of person is he? I feel a lot of that nervous excitement.
From hell to heaven
First, I decided to move accommodations. The place I stayed at first was awful. Even though it was a single room, the strong smell from the drain filled the whole room, more than ten insects were on the walls, and the smell was so strong that even wearing a mask at night I couldn't sleep or fall asleep easily.
It was because of the smell. That made me realize how important smell is for maintaining health. Humans are adaptable creatures, so if you live in a bad smell for a long time you'll of course get used to it.
Even so, it was really tough on the first night. So I woke up at 4 AM and immediately opened Booking.com to book a different place.
I learned this time that when choosing a hotel in Indonesia you should definitely check whether the drain smells. In the Philippines, most places don't have hot water, in Vietnam the water often smells — what you need to look for differs by country. That's interesting in its own way.
Today I decided to check in there first. The hotel was in the heart of Block M, super convenient with a great location. When I went in it smelled nice, so I hoped there wouldn't be any bad drain smell.
Check-in completed and I went into the hotel room. It was fine. There was no bad smell. I felt like I'd gone from hell to heaven. I'm really sensitive to smells, so I was genuinely happy. It truly felt like a blessing that it wasn't stinky anymore.
First meeting with Fachrul
I unpacked and relaxed. I was meeting Fachrul after 3 PM, so I took it easy until then and then rode the metro — more like a monorail — all the way to the end station.
I was reading an e-book by Taro Okamoto at the time. I was on a chapter about love. Every word he wrote felt weighty, meaningful, and beautiful.
After arriving at the terminal station, I walked to a shopping mall. It was a mall selling a lot of Indonesian goods. He had already arrived, so I felt a little nervous as I walked.
When I arrived I looked around the first floor. They were selling the batik I wanted so I checked the price and it was about 100,000 yen. They apparently make it to order from the fabric, but it was shockingly expensive.
After looking around, I spotted someone who looked like Fachrul, so I immediately recognized him, waved and met up. We shook hands and hugged. I kept smiling the whole time.
If you keep smiling for a long time you can get tired and your face might cramp up, but my emotions were in control. He had a constant smile and I thought he was very considerate. I quickly realized he was the kind of person who would entertain me and boost our energy.
I immediately understood that he was a genuinely good person. I wouldn't have known from just seeing him over a computer screen.
Pisang goreng and Balinese satay
We decided to go to a cafe. I was like 'I'm so happy to finally meet you!!' But the cafe we were going to was closed, so we went to another Indonesian restaurant.
It was a rather upscale place and a bit pricey. I had lychee tea; Fachrul ordered some drink, and we decided to have pisang goreng and Balinese satay together. Maybe because he works for a Japanese company, he's really good at putting others first. I was walking behind him but he said 'after you' and guided me to the inner seat. I thought he was very gentlemanly.
While we were waiting he told me about Jakarta and his hometown Semarang. He said his younger brother has a graduation ceremony tonight so he's going back to Semarang. He said that if it weren't for that he'd have taken me for a ride around Jakarta on his motorbike.
I thought he was such a kind person, and I really felt his desire to make others happy. The pisang goreng was insanely delicious.
Looking at my face he said, 'Kota, you're tired right now,' which was exactly true; I was very tired. Continuous travel with no breaks and always thinking about something — work, travel, hotel bookings, plans... and about myself and life.
Maybe because my brain is constantly running with so many thoughts, I'm really exhausted. Travel isn't easy. But more than anything I thought it was incredible that he could tell. I guessed he's probably an ENFP.
He paid for everything
We talked about the company he works for and his colleagues. I felt nostalgic about a year ago. I was employed from January to December 2024. The friends I met then — it's crazy how fast a year has gone by.
We talked for about two hours. Then he asked if I wanted to go to a recommended duck place in Jakarta that night.
I wondered how the bill would be handled, but he ended up paying for everything. It was about 4,000 yen, which was higher than I expected.
I heard that monthly salaries in Indonesia are around 50,000 to 70,000 yen, so I thought it must be tough, but because he works for a Japanese company his salary is apparently similar to a Japanese person's. That lets him live in Jakarta comfortably and feel financially relaxed.
He recently got married and keeps posting lovey-dovey stuff with his wife every day (lol). He seemed very happy. I felt he's good at finding happiness in small daily things. I liked his energy.
A duck stall where you eat with your hands
The duck place was a stall. When we arrived, I was immediately surprised to see people eating with their hands. In Indonesia, like in the Philippines, eating with your hands is normal. They even do it at home sometimes. I thought that was amazing.
Fachrul ordered two of them. It was like black fried duck and rice. The taste was average. It was just really spicy. Normally you eat it with a green sauce (which is super spicy), but I ordered mine without it — yet the duck itself was still spicy.
And because you eat it with your hands, maybe because it was freshly fried, it was scalding hot. I was impressed that everyone ate it without complaint.
Indonesia is easy to live in
While feeling the atmosphere and air of Indonesia, I shared a meal with him. Indonesians are really friendly and straightforward, so they're very easy to interact with. They also maintain close physical proximity.
In Japan, if someone stands a bit too close they might say 'Could you move a little?' In other words, people are more conscious of others.
In Indonesia, even if someone is close, it feels like 'we're not staring at you all the time,' or that people are just doing their best to live their own lives. I wondered if it's a difference between living focused on yourself versus living worried about others' eyes.
I thought Indonesia is indeed easy to live in. But it's dirty, which is a problem, and it's not always peaceful. We talked about recent protests, and because Indonesia has a very large population, people united to protest the government and as a result the proposal was withdrawn. I thought that was amazing.
I think because they have patriotism, they have a strong desire to improve their country.
But at the same time there's the reality that many people don't even get time to acquire skills. Because I haven't experienced that, I really feel lucky to have been born Japanese, and it makes me think life is a game determined by where you're born.
Because I was born Japanese, I feel I should live my life to the fullest.
Like attracts like
Our pleasant dinner was winding down. After paying a bit, we decided to walk together. He said he'd show me a famous hotel in Jakarta. As we walked together, there was no need to worry about etiquette anymore.
It felt comfortable just walking with him. I thought again that positive, thoughtful, considerate people are great. In his case, his consideration didn't suppress himself, so he could show his humane, authentic personality, which made it even better.
By connecting with new people like this, it gives an opportunity to discover what kind of people I enjoy being with. That's truly wonderful, and I'm full of gratitude towards him.
We said we'd meet again someday, in Japan or in Indonesia, and said goodbye. In a kind gesture he rode the metro with me and saw me to my nearest station. I was lucky to meet someone so kind and warm-hearted.
But I still think there's that mysterious power where similar people attract each other. People with the same vibe — or even the opposite vibe — attract one another. We're all collections of atoms, after all. It's a bit spiritual though.
