Following 5 days exploring KL’s shopping precincts we made our way back to Indonesia, Jakarta. After spending 4 hours there way back in February (our first Asian destination), we expected our return to be just as interesting (in that crazy asian way the shocks the senses). But this time it wasn’t quite the same from the backseat of the car, we weren’t as shocked, awed and mystified by what we were seeing. In fact Jakarta seemed rather modern, clean (from litter not pollution) and well kept. The cars not as crazy, the motorbikes not as a plenty…and it felt safe. We spent the day driving around Jakarta, visiting sites and eating. The whole time we tried to find that initial craziness we had seen. It just didn’t come back. Visiting a few other cites had dulled the senses….from the scariness/seediness/dodginess of Manila, the pollution of Bangkok, the poverty of Laos, and the tragedy that was bestowed upon Cambodia and the rubbish of Vietnam - Jakarta had become a safe city, full of friendly people, cheap delicious food and plenty of Kucing. In fact once we landed at Dad’s place which he lent to us while he stayed at his sisters, it became quite apparent we were unlikely to leave.
The Jakata nightscape from the top of our apartment
The famous traffic of Jakarta
On the way to the public pool
A monkey in pants, with a dolls head from a mask performing on the side of the road
One of the many Baijah's of Jakarta
With a 2 malls, a swimming pool and home made cheap food around the corner we quickly became locals to the Ojek drivers (motorbike taxi‘s), the Warung ladies (home cooked food), and the Carrefour staff (a type of Safeway/Big W that sold food and anything else you might need including live Hamsters). The mall also dispensed high quality DVD’s a $86 each which was a recipe for 3 weeks of laziness, so lazy in fact we cancelled our trips to Jogja, Solo and Mount Bromo (we couldn’t get accommodation there anyway due to all the Europeans being on summer holidays and booking out all the guesthouses).
One of Sukarno's legacy monuments, gold and huge
In the Park surrounding the Monash monument
Dad, Amir and Dave
We did get off out bums to do a day trip to Bogor and walked through the botanical gardens, which is the home to many stray friendly Kucing and over 4000 different tropical plants. It was set up by the Dutch and still remains in good shape. One of the President’s weekend palaces lies on the cusp of the gardens, surrounded by lush grass and what seemed like a million Bambi deer. Needless to say they were super cute and from what we can tell have not been the subject to cull since the 60’s, when Dad could still remember them from.
The president's palace by Bogor Botanical gardens
His Bambi Deer
Paparazzi shots in the park
One of the many Kucing
On our last night we boarded a train at Gambir station, that ended up being 2 hours late and took 3 hours longer than scheduled (13 hours in total), to Surabaya - our final destination. Kindly Dad paid for our tickets in Eksekutif class, so it meant plenty of leg room, blankets, pillows, a/c and food - overall super comfy. We flew out the next day after a night in the hot industrial town with locals laughing at the tall while ‘Booleh’ - “Hello Mister..ha ha ha ha ha ha”, to our last leg in KL Malaysia.
