RocketJim's

Jakarta Bagus I

Another lazy, rainy day here in Jakarta. I ain't proud of it but I haven't done much today.........or any other day for that matter. Keke. Friends are curious about my life here and so am I. What do I do!? So I wake up about 10.30am everyday. Then it's a bucketful of random activities -Surfing the internet about ANYTHING; Facebook spamming; window online shopping; leveling up my Samurai Warriors hero; random searching on wikipaedia, reading my stack of books from the Jurong library (I love you, National Library) and think about what to cook for dinner. I'm just lucky I don't have kids yet so my time is MY time. Loverboy don't even expect me to wake up and cook breakfast for him. Tadaaaa~ bliss.

Jakarta is a charming city. I shall promise you to bring my camera along more often to capture the snippets of my life here. It's not the most 'happening' of places (but that's cuz I am basically...boring) but it does feel a world away from Singapore. Contrary to popular thought, Jakarta is NICE and not as dangerous as the news say. That said, Jakartans are such friendly people and they have a ready smile for every and anyone. I didn't realised how unfriendly Singaporeans are until I came here (Japanese are polite too but many times I feel they are faking it anyway HAHA).

Jakarta makes me nicer. The pace of life is slower and I saw poverty I haven't seen in Singapore or Japan before. Sometimes I feel as the less fortunate here go about Life shrugging it off. I won't say they are resigned to their lot in Life but I feel that they aren't working harder to make it better. Of course, do take these subjective musings with a pinch of salt. Sometimes when you are down and out, everything's against you... So to return to my original thread, Jakartans are nice because they are laidback. And it makes me laidback...even in a massive traffic jam! The traffic jams are horrid here. After 4pm, you should stay home or shop until 9pm because you would be then, stuck on the road. For a VERY LONG TIME. However road rage is non-existent here. Traffic jams buy you time to take a nap, grab a snack from the street vendors (lima-kaki or '5 legs') or sit back and enjoy the radio. Yup, no fighting even if the guy infront of you cuts your lane. Charming.

Jakartans are pretty entreprenial too and you can easily witness these when you are stuck in traffic. By 5pm, you start seeing many street vendors with tiny pushcarts selling fried tofu or small snacks, ice drinks and keropok along the road dividers. It's very dangerous but I guess the drivers here have learnt to lookout for such people. There are also children and teenagers who go from car to car (in between traffic!) to sell newspapers or sweets or play songs on their guitars. Bapak Ahmad (our very petite chaffeur who calls himself orang kecil) fasten the car locks when he sees them coming. Also, to curb the massive jams in Jakarta, the authorities here set up a system where all cars need to sit at least 3 people - a form of car-pooling after 5pm. If not, they fine you. I still don't understand this very well because I don't see enough traffic police and nobody gives a damn. How and who do you pick to give a fine?? I think the main problem is the LACK of traffic lights here because they really are, very rare. People who wants to make a quick buck stands at the side of the road and and raise 1 finger - this means he/she would gladly get into your car and sorta hitchhike in case the authorities do check for car-pooling. You have to pay the 'hitchhiker' 10000rupiah (SGD$1.30) as a fee. Dirt cheap huh? You could drop them off anyway before you reach home and then they catch a bus back.

Mindboggling.

1. What if I live really far away? Isn't it troublesome?
2. How cheap is a bus fare if they can profit from $1.30??

At the other end of the scale are the rich Indonesians. Oh my, when the ladies come out, they COME OUT. When I think about it, I've never seen a proper tai-tai in Singapore, young or old. I see many girls in Orchard Road carrying their $2000 bags but wearing cheapo $15 dresses bought from blogshops. Also mindboggling. In Jakarta, I've seen ladies decked out in brands head to toe. Chanel suits, Christian Louboutins shoes, Hermes' crocodile Birkins (SGD$45000) and limited editions Bulgari watches that snake around the wrists. Amazing! Wonder what their husbands do to afford them such a lavish lifestyle.

Me? I stand and gawk. I love to see beautiful brandname goods like most girls but luckily for my Loverboy, I have near-zero desires to own....MOST of them haha. *ahem* My desire for bags is almost non-existent considering how dumb it is to pay so much for a leather goods (1-2 bags a year is fine. Every other month is considered shallow). I don't have a thing for shoes......yet. Maybe I would after I get my first CarShoe or Louboutins. Anyway wow. These people are so rich it is almost vulgar. I am not sure if getting a new bag every month would make a very happy woman although I know having a cat or a baby would!

Things don't run smoothly or work well here but because it is Jakarta, most foreigners shrug it off and just chuckle to each other and say, "It's Indonesia!". I almost fell off my chair in hunger once because it took forever for my food to come. Loverboy brought me to a very nice Japanese restaurant that serves yakitori (skewered meat on sticks) and I do believe all the time went into killing a live chicken and rushing it back from the village. Loverboy couldn't stop laughing because I was so so hungry and spacing out. In Jakarta, everything is slow. The service here is patient and friendly but I wish they can work a little faster... haha.

Ok I shall end here for now. I have to start preparing dinner; steak and corn on the cob tonight! *contented sigh* It feels wonderful being domesticated~

Heh, I just totally made tons of feminists flip in their graves!