I Should Have Just Flown to Jakarta

Singapore to Jakarta by sea — because apparently taking a two-hour flight would have been too easy.

I started at the new Singapore Cruise Centre, took a ferry to Batam, then boarded PELNI’s KM Kelud for a roughly 32-hour journey across the Java Sea to Jakarta.

I booked Class 1A, the highest passenger class, which meant a private two-person cabin, my own bathroom, brown shower water, questionable meals, a hidden cinema, economy-class sleeping areas, a lot of cigarette smoke, a 4AM wake-up call, and eventually enough seasickness to make me genuinely emotional about seeing land again.

Route: Singapore → Batam → Jakarta
Singapore → Batam ferry: S$49
KM Kelud Class 1A: ~S$100
Total sea transport: ~S$149
Journey time: ~32 hours

Was it worth taking the ship instead of flying?

Probably not.

Exploring life. Overthinking everything.