A spontaneous Saturday turns into lakeside walks, IKEA temptations, and Swedish meatballs.
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 trap, merging onto the toll road like victorious marathon finishers. On the way, I couldn’t resist filming the legendary Saturday Puncak jam: a three-minute video at 80 km/h just to pass the queue. Imagine that. Yep, endless lines of cars still bravely crawling toward the cool mountain breeze, unaware that freedom (and traffic) awaits them on the way back.
Once we passed Sentul around 8:39, the tension melted. The plan was to brunch at Richie Lake House, but then we spotted this serene lake with people strolling around. The sun was gentle, fountains were sparkling, and the whole place whispered, “Come take a walk first.” So we did.
And it was lovely.
We circled the lake, soaking up the morning calm that somehow felt familiar; like the view from our apartment balcony, only smaller, and definitely more crowded. Halfway through, we stopped for traditional jamu: beras kencur for energy, kunyit asem for balance. Instant refreshment. It felt like the universe rewarding us for surviving the Puncak escape challenge.
After that, brunch plans shifted again. The family suddenly craved bread. Not my thing, but okay. We ditched Richie and landed at Soi Bakehouse instead. The kids went full bread mode, my husband grabbed a pizza bread and coffee, and I? I found joy in tahu gejrot and kue tete from a nearby stall. Who needs sourdough when you’ve got street food perfection by the lake?
I almost went for a cup of coffee from Anthology Coffee & Tea next door but decided to save it for “next time.” (Let’s be real, saying next time is how we justify our caffeine self-control.)
Then, just as we were about to head home, someone shouted the most dangerous family suggestion ever: “Let’s stop by IKEA!”
You know how that goes.
We didn’t even have anything to buy. Not a single item in mind. Just “looking around,” which in IKEA language means: prepare to lose track of time, reality, and possibly your willpower.
We killed time before opening hours by driving around Sentul a bit, pretending we were exploring when really we were just circling the same blocks. At exactly 10:10, the big blue-and-yellow gates of Swedish temptation welcomed us in.
And let me tell you, we did look around. A lot.
From cozy bedrooms to pastel nurseries, from living rooms that look straight out of Pinterest to that adorable tiny balcony setup that made me whisper, “I could totally do this at home.” The whole floor of inspiration and daydreams later, I realized something miraculous: we hadn’t bought a single thing. Not one plate, pillow, or plant.
Just 1.5 hours of pure “interior design fantasy walking.” And that’s with taking the shortcut route. Had we gone the full IKEA maze, we might still be in there now, debating throw pillow colors.
But the real trap awaited us at the food court.
Because how could we resist those shining signs screaming Meatball Combo Rp30.000! and Dynamic Duo Combo Rp75.000!? Especially when the Sunday IKEA Family promo basically fed us all for the price of one fancy latte. We went for two Dynamic Duo sets: each came with 8 Swedish meatballs, ice cream, and free-refill drinks.
That’s 37,500 per person for meatballs, dessert, and drinks! Inflation, meet IKEA.
And maybe it was the hunger, or maybe they’ve upgraded their recipe, but those meatballs tasted different. In a very good way. So good, in fact, that we decided to take some home: frozen, with the creamy gravy and strawberry jam combo, of course.
Total damage: Rp210,000 for a big frozen package, plus Rp50,000 for mashed potatoes. Enough to recreate a full Swedish dinner at home for four (and maybe a leftover plate or two). Totally worth it.
We finally left IKEA around 12:45, bellies happy and hands mercifully empty of furniture boxes. The drive home was smooth, and the second we got back to the apartment, I took what might have been the most satisfying shower of my life.
You’d think I’d collapse after that, right?
Nope.
Apparently, post-IKEA adrenaline is real, because I immediately started cleaning the kitchen and tending to my balcony plants. They looked so thirsty. Poor things, left alone for a day under the blazing eastern sun. So I repotted, watered, and fertilized them like a plant mom on a mission.
Afterward, I finally flopped onto the couch to write my blog. The perfect kind of tired, the kind that comes from doing nothing planned but everything nice.
Dinner was lazy but comforting: fried dumplings, soft-boned milkfish, tempe, and salted eggs, all crisped up in my mini retro air fryer oven (my MVP). No veggies tonight, fruit as fiber substitute counts, right? Later, we snacked on fried cheese sticks while Netflix kept us company.
And that’s how our so-called “quick trip home” turned into an unplanned adventure of lakeside walks, IKEA strolls, and Swedish comfort food. Honestly, it was one of those days that reminded me: the best memories are made in between the plans you almost didn’t stick to.
Comments