On March 5, 1999, Hong Kong SAR passport holders were officially granted visa-free visits to Indonesia for 30 days. After passing a probationary period at the British company where I worked in early 2000, I asked for 7 days off and bought a ticket to go to Jakarta and meet my friends. Then I told one of my friends in Jakarta named William, and he immediately offered to pick me up and stay at his house.

The process of getting to know a friend in Jakarta named William

In previous articles, I have told you that after I learned how to use email in 1995, I got to know an Indonesian friend through a friendship site specifically for Indonesians who had email at that time. The new friend told me that he had plans to visit Hong Kong with his family as well as the family of his father's friends. I felt happy at that time because I would meet new friends from Indonesia.

My friend visited Hong Kong at the end of 1996 and was staying in the Causeway Bay area at the time. Then I took my friend, her younger sister, and their friend William around Hong Kong after work and on holidays. We are almost the same age, so we spent a good time.

When they returned to Indonesia, we felt sad because we didn't know when we would see each other again. Nevertheless, we still communicate frequently via email and Freetel software that I have told you about in a previous article.

Together with William and two other friends from Indonesia visited the Tsim Sha Tsui area in 1996.

William returned to visit Hong Kong with his father

A year later, William visited Hong Kong again because he accompanied his father, who had business dealings in Hong Kong. I was very happy at that time if there were Indonesian friends who came to visit. I took them on a walk around Hong Kong and tasted the local food. Eventually, his father also became familiar with me. At that time, they came to Hong Kong 1 or 2 times a year, and other members of William's family also became familiar with me.

Photograph of William, his father and my family during their visit to Hong Kong in 2005.

I visited Indonesia again in 2000

This is the first time I have visited Indonesia again after 7 years of leaving Indonesia in 1993. When I headed to Hong Kong airport, I felt very happy and tense, because I had not visited Indonesia for 7 years. After the plane landed and I went through the immigration process, I saw William and some of his friends waiting for me and invited me to eat and then took me to his house. Until now, I have always stayed at William's house when visiting Indonesia.

The places I want to visit the most are my junior high school, Don Bosco Pondok Indah. Unfortunately, the old school land has been bought by Pondok Indah Hospital, and what I visited at that time was a new school building in a different location. The principal of the school, Mr. Wayong, has also passed away. However, I felt satisfied to be able to meet the teachers who have taught me.

Then I also passed by my old house. The building has not changed, but the empty field in front of the house has become a kindergarten. In addition, I also met some of my old school friends and some friends I knew via email who are mostly still friends to this day.

A visit to Jakarta in 2000. From my right, my friends Firman and William.

Often visited Indonesia before the Covid-19 pandemic

After I visited Indonesia in 2000, I would visit Jakarta every few years to meet my teachers, friends, and cousins from aunt number 2 there. In 2018, I started a photography business, which made me meet a lot of new friends from Indonesia from various different cities. Since then, I have also tried to visit other cities in Indonesia.

In the next article, I will tell you how I met my grandmother in Hong Kong by accident around 2001.