Postcard from Jakarta

Upon arrival in Indonesia, and on my way to my first hotel in Jakarta, I found myself suffering from “Rebecca Moore Syndrome” – named after my friend Bex who lived for a while in Japan before then moving to China.  The difference was, for her (understandably), jarring.  Ditto for me coming to Jakarta from Singapore.  To be fair, most cities would suffer in comparison to Singapore, but as I immediately bleated on Facebook upon my arrival, I found Jakarta more than a bit…er….”raw.”

“Fun” fact I did not know before – Jakarta is the second largest metropolis in the world (after Tokyo) at around 28 million.  I am always surprised to hear that Indonesia is the 4^th most populous country in the world, though I don’t know why I am surprised.  I guess I always expect Russia to have more people, due to its size – but then Stalin helped “control” their population.  As I was helpfully reminded by a talkative gentleman who followed me around the National Monument Park at the end of my stay, Indonesia is also the 3^rd largest democracy in the world. 

The traffic is obscene.  And I mean absurdly obscene – the fact that the second largest metropolis in the world is not currently being served by a Metro system certainly contributes to this (I think they are in the process of either planning/constructing one now – but they should have started it ages ago), but it makes the city even that much less of a pleasant place to visit.  But, honestly, I didn’t think I could be any more appalled by traffic after spending time in Shanghai, Hanoi, and Bangkok, but Jakarta puts them all to shame.  And my 4^th country in a row where they drive on the left.  It has now become so “natural” to me, I know I’m going to freak out next time I’m in a country where they drive on the right.

I spent the first two weeks in the north of the city, in an area called Mangga Dua.  If I had been more aware of just how large/spread out Jakarta is, and the lack of mass transit, I would have tried to get the second place I stayed in for my whole time – as it was, since I was out on the edge of the city, I spent my time catching up on my pictures, hanging out in the hotel gym and pool, watching movies, and reading.  I did take a couple of walks around the area, but it was just masses of traffic, with no sidewalks, ungodly hot, and, of course, smelly.  Even though it didn’t seem as polluted as GZ, by the time I returned to my room I just felt filthy.

Mangga Dua Square was nearby – yet another disconcertingly large Asian mall to get lost in.  J  This one was more like an open air market, yet enclosed.  There was quite a mix of booths/little shops – including many selling pirated DVDs, video games, etc.  Luckily, there was also a Carrefour, so I was able to save money by stocking up on groceries and cooking in the studio I was renting in the Mangga Dua Best Western I found on airbnb.

Although I wandered around/through Mangga Dua Square 3-4 times, I still ended up getting lost or turned around every single time.  It doesn’t help that there are THREE A&W’s in the mall, so that when I thought I’d gotten my bearings, I realized, no, I was in another section of the mall, on another floor, etc.  For whatever reason, there are tons of A&Ws in Jakarta.  Way more than McD’s or BK – come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing a single McD’s, but I did see a few BKs.  But, as I said, tons of A&Ws.  And of course KFCs.  I think KFC rivals McDs for the largest presence in Asia.  And, like A&W at Mangga Dua, you will often find multiple KFCs in a single mall throughout Asia.  Although, again, to be fair, the malls here are fucking huge!

When I ate at A&W, I ordered a bacon cheeseburger/curly fries combo, but noticed the bacon was more like a thin slice of spam, and wasn’t really too flavorful.  It wasn’t until a week later when I was debating on eating at BK when I saw their “Beefacon” Burger Combo and then the light came on – Duh! I’m in a Muslim country!  They don’t eat filthy pigs!  “Beefacon” is a perfect word, though, due to the “fake” sound in it!  Some places (e.g., Hard Rock), DID still serve bacon, however, to show that while Indonesia IS technically a Muslim country, they are certainly not “fundamentalist Middle East” about it.

Ramadan was in full swing while I was there, and the one down side to the second place I stayed (a large, nice apt. complex) was that it was adjacent to a Mosque that “helpfully” blared their prayers through VERY loud loudspeakers helpfully (again) perched well up the spires.  Up on the 18^th floor, I could hear the SEVERAL times a day caterwauling (sorry, I know I should be more “culturally sensitive” but I swear to god that’s what it sounded like) and I thought I was going to go insane, when on the night to mark the end of Ramadan, said caterwauling literally went on for over SIX HOURS STRAIGHT (until almost 2am) – punctuated by incessant firecrackers/lite fireworks from my neighbors and the neighboring mini-slum tucked in between the Mosque and the surrounding nice skyscraper apt. buildings.

And even though Indonesia is not necessarily “hard core” Muslim, they did have helpful “how to” videos in the elevator of how to arrange one’s hijab (head scarf).  And, like Singapore and Malaysia, said elevators had no 4^th, 13^th, or 14^th floors.  Ah, the challenges of a multi-culturally superstitious society! 

Speaking of slums, one day on my way back to my apt. after some wandering, I took a slightly wrong turn and faced the prospect of cutting through a large slum to get back, or backtracking a fair amount to wind my way around/through their byzantine street structure for the “right” way.  I went ahead and went for the “experience.” And my god was it one. First of all, it was good size, and definitely a slum. I was never worried, as my experience has taught me that, in general, poor people are nicer/more honest & trustworthy than rich people, but it was certainly sobering to see the poverty, the packed in living quarters, etc.  But, to be fair, while it was definitely “squalid” it wasn’t really dirty, per se, so much as just run down, old, etc.  I was too leery to take gawping pictures, as I thought that would be disrespectful/lame, but I did find a couple pics online that looked just like the place I had wandered through so folks could get a feel.

This second area I was in (after Mangga Dua) was the Surdiman area, in central Jakarta, and which borders the neighborhood (the name of which I have since forgotten) where Obama lived as a child, so of course, I scored the requisite pics of his second house and second school (where he went for 4^th grade). 

Central Jakarta is certainly much nicer, with more to do – although, at the end of the day, I didn’t really find a lot to do in Jakarta and would not highly recommend it.  At least until they get a Metro system.  There are some nice malls (again, huge), and I was able to get my latest Hard Rock Hurricane glass AND even eat at a Chili’s!  The first one I’ve ever seen outside the states.  They have THE best boneless buffalo chicken wings!  Also in one of the malls I even found a good Mexican restaurant, so on the whole I ended my time in Jakarta much more pleasantly than I began it—although all my outings had to be in the morning to beat the afternoon monsoons. Boy, did I see some rain!  Nothing like spending time in a sub-tropical area during rainy season!  It’s a trip!