I was awoken at around 4.30am for the Subuh prayer blasted on the PA system. While there was a slight buffer thanks to my cabin door, somehow it felt really loud as compared to the ones in the day time.
After the prayer, I couldn’t get back to sleep since I slept for quite a while already, so I just freshened up after tossing and turning for a while and prepared to be called to breakfast.
Read the first day’s journey here.
Breakfast was white rice with bee hoon and omelette.
I just took the bee hoon an omelette though everyone else treated the bee hoon as the side dish to the white rice.
The usual crowd at the restaurant.
While walking around the ship after breakfast, I saw some PELNI TV routers. Unfortunately, the signal isn’t really strong for a stable connection. Anyway, the internet for my Telkomsel SIM card was working well near land so it was fine.
If you’re interested in getting a phone connection on the ship, note that Telkomsel is the only one that has a connection whether it’s 1G, 2G, 3G or 4G throughout the journey. Yes, at most part of the second day of my journey, even 2G wasn’t available but the calling line was there throughout.
After returning to my cabin and realising that there’s nothing to do till lunch, I went for another ship tour.
The Alfamart is pretty well-stocked on board the KM Kelud. There’s everything you need and more. Prices are around double or triple of the Alfamarts on land though.
I got a Pop Mie Goreng and a Kopi Bali for my post-breakfast pre-lunch meal. The noodles were prepared by the awesome Alfamart guy who wouldn’t let you serve yourself in the self-service convenience store and made the entire meal for me, including draining the water and adding the ingredients in. Not forgetting the additional cardboard sleeve and stirrer for the coffee.
I ate my morning tea outside with the friendly locals whom I met the previous day. Most of them were coming from Belawan (Medan), which might explain the lack of passengers boarding from Batam.
Three of the significant people I met on this cruise ferry were a Swiss guy who came from home overland, similar to my journey, to Jakarta to work for a few months as National Service, a friendly Indonesian who spent 20 years in France (and spoke to the Swiss guy in French, but the Swiss guy was from the German-speaking part of Switzerland), and another Indonesian who spent 30 years in Singapore working for the maritime industry and “watched the port grow from Pasir Panjang to Tuas”.
No modern entertainment, but lots of friendly locals around. If you spent the entire journey from Belawan to Jakarta, you might even be friends with the entire deck of passengers.
The view from the roof.
As I was heading down, it was time to wash down the deck, so I had to thread back to the inside part of the ship carefully since I was wearing slippers and the risk was higher if I had slipped and fell overboard instead.
The Musholla available on board, named the Musholla Al-Azhar.
The crew taking their job really seriously with high-pressure water hoses and lots of soapy water in pails.
I decided to explore the Economy Class section when I realised that the entire Deck 3 and 2 of the ship was empty. So much for overcrowding on the ship. But then again, I did plan my journey so that it doesn’t clash with any peak periods.
Some smart vandalism on Deck 4 by a disgruntled passenger.
Back at Deck 4 where the bulk of Economy Class passengers have beds on. Even on this deck, you can still see some empty bunks especially on the upper tier.
The PELNI Mart on Deck 4. The offerings here are similar to the one on Deck 6 where the First Class cabins are.
The original Economy Class on Deck 5 with a single-level access rather than the newer double-deck bunks. Each bed has an individual power socket.
A certicifate certifying that the KM Kelud is the best ship in the fleet in 2010.
A common sign around the ship.
The inauguration of the KM Kelud on 7 December 1998.
The plan of the ship was too wide for a photo in the narrow corridor, but I managed to get the portion of the capacity of the ship.
Based on this, I can deduce the following:
Class 1A: 64 persons (32 outside cabins)
Class 1B: 80 persons (20 inside cabins)
Class 2A: 252 persons (42 outside cabins)
Class 2B: 112 persons (14 inside cabins)
Economy Class: 1398 passengers
Total: 1906 passengers
I also found the place where they keep the mattresses which aren’t in use for the empty Deck 2. This actually looks rather fun to be in, too bad there’s no aircon here.
Lunch on Day 2.
The live band is back, entertaining what is of the passengers in First and Second Class. They were also at the restaurant for the previous day’s dinner.
This seems rather sad actually. I wonder how this place was like in the ship’s heyday.
I walked around the restaurant after lunch. Seems like they may have had a disco at night last time.
There were also some stuff for a Christian service in the restaurant.
Among other Indonesian hymns printed in the book, there’s this gem.
There’s a canteen with real prepared food outside the Economy Class on Deck 5.
Here’s some items on the menu. Individual dishes with rice are also available to choose from on the counter.
I got a packet of Nasi Goreng as when I asked the stewards during lunch if dinner will be served, they were still unsure and if there will be, they will knock on my door again. So I got this meal as a standby.
My fourth meal today.
Approaching Jakarta.
Dinner was indeed served, though I was a little late to it.
My last meal on the KM Kelud.
Meal No. 5 today. This is indeed turning into a cruise instead.
The last sunset before arriving in Jakarta.
Next post: Day 2: Disembarking from the KM Kelud at the Port of Tanjung Priok
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