Earlier in January  this year, I was fortunate enough to visit some of my team in Jakarta. I currently work at a startup where business travel is a rare occurrence given how responsible you have to be with budgets, but if you plan ahead (and make sure to spend the company’s money as if it’s your own), it’s definitely achievable.

Not only would this be my first trip to Jakarta, it would be the first time I was meeting my extended team in person. Needless to say, being able to see firsthand how things are run locally, seeing the team face to face, being able to have work (and non-work) conversations around the desks and spending time together outside of the office over a delicious meal was an invaluable experience.

Outside of office hours, though - the team had commitments which meant most of my nights would be free, so instead of being cooped up in my hotel room all night, I thought I'd give some of the local Padel clubs a try. So I packed my Padel gear and with the help of some friendly folks over WhatsApp, I arranged to play at 2 clubs Jakarta.

Racquet Padel Club

One of the things I enjoy most about the culture in Padel, is people's willingness to help arrange matches, host visitors and showcase their clubs. One such person, who would be my partner for the evening, was Annebel who booked a court for us and found 2 other players. All I had to do was show up and play.

When I arrived (a little over an hour on a grab scooter from from hotel), the other players were 2 of her friends, both women. Now, I've not been playing Padel for that long, but in my experience - this set up isn't that common (3 women and 1 man). I've seen the reverse quite often as my wife is typically the only women playing with 3 men, and of course I've seen many mixed couples matches, but this was my first time in this set up.

The club has 3 doubles courts (2 of which are covered) and a single court. We were lucky with the weather since we were only able to book the outside court. The added benefit is that we were treated to an amazing sunset! The match itself was pretty balanced throughout, with Annebel and I managing to finish on top in the end. It was a really fun night and I was just so grateful for having met these incredible women - and finding out about them during out cool down after the game. It's worth noting that since I played there, the club has opened a pool which I will definitely be trying out the next time I play there!

Home Ground Padel

The next night, I ventured out to Home Ground which was quite far from my hotel so I left slightly earlier than what Google maps suggested to make sure I arrived on time, and good thing I did! After some slight confusion of where the club was, my grab scooter driver and I managed to find the club just in time for me to do a few stretches and warm-up before being thrown into the mix of a 16 person Silver Mexicano. The club has 4 doubles courts, 3 of which are covered and the idea was that you mix partners and move up or down a court depending on your previous result. The level of the players was really competitive so I felt proud that I spent most of my time between the top 2 Courts and after the 3 hours of play (!), I finished in 4th place (I think). Regardless of the result, the club really felt like a family. All the players are friends, seem to play regularly and have funny stories of one another which really added to the enjoyment of the whole night.  

A BIG thanks to Albert, Irfan and everyone that played that night and made me feel welcome! Keep up the great work, the culture you've built is really special!

My final night was spent out for dinner with my team which was the perfect way to end my trip. I learnt a lot about Jakarta, got to try the local delicacies and really felt like I got to connect with the team more than I ever could over video calls. Besides leaving Jakarta with a sore butt from the ~3 hours spent on scooters getting to and from places, I also left with a full heart (and stomach), plus some fun memories of having met some really awesome people!

Have you played Padel in Jakarta yet, and if so, any other clubs you would recommend for my next visit? Let me know in the comments below!