Kakak perempuan saya transit di bandara lain semalam, lalu mendarat di Jakarta pagi ini.

In Indonesian, kakak means older sibling. It does not by itself say whether the sibling is male or female.

• kakak perempuan = older sister
• kakak laki-laki = older brother

So Kakak perempuan saya means my older sister.

A native English speaker often expects one word for sister, but Indonesian often builds meanings this way.

In Indonesian, possession often works like this:

• kakak perempuan saya = my older sister
• literally: older sister + my

So the possessed thing usually comes first, and the possessor comes after it.

Other examples:

• rumah saya = my house
• teman saya = my friend
• ibu saya = my mother

This is very normal word order in Indonesian.

Yes, but it means something a bit different in feel.

• kakak perempuan saya specifically means my older sister
• saudara perempuan saya means my female sibling / my sister, but it sounds more formal or less natural in many everyday situations

Also, saudara can be broader and more formal, while kakak clearly tells you the sibling is older.

If the speaker wanted to say younger sister, they would say:

• adik perempuan saya

Yes, transit is a loanword used in Indonesian, especially in travel contexts. In this sentence, it functions as a verb meaning:

• to be in transit
• to stop over
• to have a layover

So:

• transit di bandara lain = had a layover at another airport / was in transit at another airport

This kind of borrowing is common in Indonesian, especially for transportation, technology, business, and modern daily life.

Because di marks a location, while ke marks movement toward a destination.

• di bandara lain = at another airport
• ke bandara lain = to another airport

With transit, the focus is on where she was during the stop, not the movement toward it. So di is the natural choice.

Compare:

• Dia transit di Singapura. = She had a layover in Singapore.
• Dia pergi ke Singapura. = She went to Singapore.

Lain means other / another / different.

So:

• bandara lain = another airport / a different airport

It comes after the noun it describes, which is normal in Indonesian.

Compare:

• orang lain = another person / other people
• tempat lain = another place
• cara lain = another way

Semalam usually means last night.

So in this sentence:

• transit di bandara lain semalam = had a layover at another airport last night

A learner may notice that se- can sometimes relate to one, but here semalam is a fixed time expression meaning last night.

Related expressions:

• tadi malam = last night / earlier last night
• malam ini = tonight
• kemarin malam = last night (also possible, depending on style and context)

In everyday usage, semalam is very natural.

Lalu here means then, after that, or and then.

It connects the two events in sequence:

1. she had a layover last night
2. then she landed in Jakarta this morning

So the sentence structure is:

• [first event], lalu [next event]

Other possible connectors in similar sentences are:

• kemudian = then / afterwards
• terus = then / and then (more conversational)
• setelah itu = after that

Because mendarat is usually followed by di to show the place where the landing happens.

• mendarat di Jakarta = land in Jakarta
• mendarat di bandara Soekarno-Hatta = land at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

In English we often say land in a city or land at an airport. Indonesian commonly uses di for both kinds of location.

Using ke after mendarat is generally not the normal choice here, because ke suggests movement toward a destination rather than the location of the completed landing.

Indonesian often omits repeated information when it is already clear from context.

So in:

• Kakak perempuan saya transit di bandara lain semalam, lalu mendarat di Jakarta pagi ini.

the subject kakak perempuan saya applies to both verbs:

• transit
• mendarat

English can do this too:

• My older sister had a layover at another airport last night, then landed in Jakarta this morning.

Repeating the subject in Indonesian would still be understandable, but it would sound less natural if not needed.

Pagi ini means this morning.

• pagi = morning
• ini = this

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini often come after the noun:

• pagi ini = this morning
• hari ini = today
• minggu ini = this week

So the phrase literally looks like morning this, but it means this morning.

Yes, that is very natural. Indonesian time expressions are quite flexible, but putting them near the end is extremely common.

So:

• mendarat di Jakarta pagi ini = landed in Jakarta this morning

You could also say:

• pagi ini, kakak perempuan saya mendarat di Jakarta
• kakak perempuan saya pagi ini mendarat di Jakarta

But the original sentence sounds smooth and normal, especially in narrative style.

It is mostly neutral everyday Indonesian.

Some notes:

• saya is polite/neutral for I / my
• transit is common in travel contexts
• lalu sounds natural and a bit more neutral than very casual terus
• the whole sentence would fit normal spoken or written Indonesian

If you wanted a more casual version, someone might say something like:

• Kakak saya semalam transit di bandara lain, terus pagi ini mendarat di Jakarta.

That said, the original sentence is perfectly natural and clear.