It was way past midnight when I stepped outside the Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. The brick hallways were understandably deserted at this hour, save for a few families waiting for their loved ones, the airport security and a handful of taxi touts as well.
Many of the latter approached me and I could only wish that I shared these cab driver's eagerness and determination. Despite the long and delayed flight from Manila, I still managed to smile and politely refuse each overpriced offer.
"I'll take the bus to Gambir. It is cheaper." I said to one who stuck by me as I sat on an empty staircase."But there's no more bus," he replied. He could speak only a few English words but I understood when he told me that his final offer is 130,000 IDR and the toll is also on him. He sounded sincere and looked like he just wanted to pick any passenger as he makes his way back to the city.I begged off since his final offer was still way beyond my budget."Where are you from?" he asked."I am from the Philippines," I answered back."Oh, Philippines!" he beamed.I then asked him if he could teach me how to count in their language. He probably had nothing else to do that morning that's why he agreed to translate a few numbers for me. Although it's not enough to start a smart conversation with a local but his handy translation would really help me pay the right amount of rupiahs in the next few days.As I looked at his list, it struck me that Bahasa Indonesia, or the counting part at least, has similarities with Filipino, the official language back home.We had to cut short our Indonesian 101 after I saw 2 other Pinoy travelers walking towards the Damri bus stop. I caught up with them and learned that they are also bound for the Gambir Central Station like me. They added that they are headed for a tea plantation somewhere in Bandung. I honestly wished I could join them but I said that I'm already set for Yogyakarta.After we shared our itineraries and future travel plans, we realized that it's probably best that we take a cab in getting out of the airport. It's almost 5 AM too and the first bus bound for Gambir would arrive at the train station in an hour or so. We might run out of train tickets by then.Since I could now share the ride with 2 more people this time, I looked for my new friend/language instructor/cab driver. Unfortunately, he's nowhere in sight.We flagged the first metered Bluebird taxi that came our way and later split the 150,000 IDR total fare.
