A View Decidedly Not From a Bird's Eye

Here is a decidedly not bird's eye view of the street level of Jakarta, a block away from the temporary apartment where Tim and I lived in for the first month.  

You can see from the rumbling buses and toxic mist in the air why we're happier now that we're no longer living near this particular corner.

This corner is right near both a massive road construction site and a bus terminal out of which tens of these stinky buses roll each time the light changes.

 

The green and white buses are the Kopaja buses and seem to be the worst offenders in the pollution department.  I like to keep an eye out for them both for my safety and because they tend to have really random words written in ornate script on their back windows.  I shall start a running list of said words tomorrow and report back soon.

 The red and blue buses are the Metro Minis, a second cousin of the Kopajas, chugging along, never coming to a full stop...

And finally the bajaj, the ever-present three-wheeler that I've described to you before.  Tim took one of these home from work tonight in a pinch and remarked that they seemed to know the neighborhood better than some of the cab drivers.  That's probably because they are regionally limited in where they can drive- it's painted on the side of each one the neighborhood in which they are licensed to drive.

Bird's Eye View

There's a pretty sweet view of Jakarta from the top of the BCA Building...

View to the south/southwest

Macet on Jalan Sudirman

View to the north, towards the port/ocean.

Last week I caught a protest of some sort, moving its way from the fountain north towards the government buildings on Jalan Thamrin... still not sure what the protest was for, but it certainly stopped traffic!!

Grocery Games: Something's Fishy

It strikes me as a little bit weird to see a fish I seek out when scuba diving squirming around in tank at the grocery store:

GoogleTranslate tells me "Belut Laut Hidup" = "Sea Eel Life"

Rainy Daze

Rainy season here is just what it sounds like:  rainy.  Every day.  It's not all day by any means, but when it rains, it pours.  More rain than I've ever seen in my life.

The rain is not the end of the world, but woe is the person who has to get somewhere during the deluge, as they will be soaked and/or stuck in traffic, or the person who has a roof that is anything but perfect, as the rain will find that roof's weakness and exploit it.  Rainy season doesn't mess around.

Grocery Games: The Froo-its of the De-veel

Jakarta's nickname is "The Big Durian," because it has a tendency to be pretty stinky and sticky around town, just like the fruit.  Spikey, stinky, sticky; durian is a favorite around here.  Its pungent stench wafts out of all of the grocery stores here, and yet I feel like maybe I am really turning into a true Jakartan now that that smell no longer phases me...

You can buy durian whole or prepared at the grocery store.  It's also used in a lot of local dishes, ranging from shakes and desserts to curries and soups.

Don't eat this stuff before going on a date, though.  The durian burps are awful and last about 5-6 hours after you eat it.

Mangosteen (manggis in Bahasa Indonesia) : god, I love these things.  They look like little eggplants- round and deep purple- but on the inside the fruit is bright white and both creamy and citrus-y at the same time.  So good.

Scaly and weird, these little fruits are called snake fruit (or salak).  The ones I tried were crisp like an apple on the inside and pretty sweet... apparently the best ones are from Bali, so much so that they sell them in the domestic terminal in the Denpasar airport.

Jakarta Car Free Day, Take 2

Tim and I headed out for Jakarta's Car Free Day again this past Sunday (well, we had tried to go the week before, but our plans were foiled by torrential rain and acute laziness).  There were far fewer people biking and walking this time, but it was fun, as usual.  It's just so nice to feel the breeze in your hair and do some people watching...

Car Free Day seems to bring out an array of biking types:

(Please excuse the blurry photos... turns out it's hard to take clear photos while riding a bike.)

Indonesian hipsters on brightly colored fixies and doubly long bikes:

Groups of kids on trick bikes: 

Low... ri..ders:

Vintage bike enthusiasts:

And an assortment of snack serving bikes:

Golf + Manual Labor

 I think I've mentioned how funny/interesting/disturbing I find the golf-ball-picker-upper guys at our local driving range... well, last night we decided to hit up said driving range to hit some balls, drink some beers and take a closer look.  We definitely got more catcalls than usual on our way there... four bules walking anywhere is strange enough, but four bules walking and two of them are carrying their own golf clubs?  Unheard of.  I think the ojek drivers on the corner found it particularly amusing.

Those poor guys have to brave the hazards of tens of golf balls being hit at them at once while running around barefoot in motorcycle helmets and giant padded jackets, raking together and then scooping up golfs balls.  I'm sure there are people who use them for target practice, too...  Sigh.  At least they have jobs?

I also think it's strange to have this driving range in the middle of the city, right in the shadow of towering office buildings.  It seems like the green space could be put to better use, like a park or something.