Thank you Jakarta!

Almost in a flash my three months has come to an end! And it's a day of mixed feelings as I make my preparations to head back to the UK; yes I can't wait to see Donna and spend Christmas with my family, but I am also very sad to be leaving my new friends in Jakarta.

My final day is marked with a leaving lunch (a joint celebration with the beautiful Liwi's birthday) and the office Christmas party in the evening. Right from when I stepped off the plane in September people have been unbelievably welcoming and warm towards me. I feel almost overwhelmed by people's generosity and the attention I receive on my leaving day. Indonesia will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope to be able to return soon.

Thank you Jakarta!

Makan Apa? - Top Five!

Here it is the long awaited Pete's Top Five places to eat in Jakarta:

5. Abuba Steakhouse
After more meals of chili and rice that you can count, a steak can be hugely welcome. Abuba keeps if simple essentially just offering a choice of meats (I’ve plumped for NZ sirloin both times) which are served with vegetables and chips. The steak’s are grilled perfectly the whole meal comes in for under a fiver (remarkably you can even upgrade to a wagyu steak for an extra £3). Would be perfect to accompany with a cold beer but the only downside, Abuba is alcohol free.

4. Kuo Tie Dumplings, China Town
It’s a bit of a trek to Glodok, the site of China Town in North Jakarta, but worth the trip for the excellent grilled pork dumplings. A one dish meal in a market side café, the dumplings with pork and chives are grilled on an open fire and tossed on the table with some chopsticks and a bowl of chili. Few marks for service or general cleanliness, but somehow the food was still great.

3. Coca Suki
Site of my first lunch in Indonesia, Coca Suki offers a hearty Steamboat with your choice of a gamut of goodies such as kobi beef, seafood dumplings, Chinese mushrooms and a range of healthy greens. Served with rice and chili sauce (notice a theme?) and once the goodies have gone there’s a delicious soup remaining to wash it down. You can also get a great steamboat for an even better price at the Hai Tien Restaurant located near Tjen's house in North Jakarta.

2. Ikan Bakar, Canteen "BW"
This Manadonese food stall near my office offers a selection of fish that can arrive fried in a spicy sauce, or my favorite, grilled on the barbeque and served with a tomato and chili salsa. Stock up on the greens of the day, rice and a delicious sambal (fresh chili sauce usually with tomato and a little garlic – an Indonesian staple), this makes a perfect and healthy lunch. If you’re feeling extra hungry, they also do an excellent corn fritter. Expect to pay about £1 for the full meal. Yum.

1. Mie Laker
Situated in the Grand Indonesia Mall, this fast food chain attracted long queues at its opening last year, and still remains a popular favorite. In a city where dried noodles are the norm, Mie Laker’s unique selling point is freshly made noodles. In fact they are so fresh you actually get to watch them be made right in front of your eyes, as an extraordinarily skilled chef works a sausage shape of dough into a long string of noodles through a sophisticated skipping-rope type procedure. Served in a soup (or fried) with chicken, beef or seafood, Mie Laker is definitely the finest noodle bar in town.

Golf

On my last weekend in Jakarta, I finally took the chance to play one of the amazing local courses. We had perfect sunny weather (one of the sunniest since my arrival) and it must have been over 35 degrees (very hot!!). Abley guided round by my caddy Ade, although eratic I hit some good shots and won our mini competition. Here are a few shots...

Makan Apa?

You don't have to spend much time in Jakarta to realise Indonesians are crazy about food. Instead of asking how you are, it is far more common to be asked "have you eaten" or "what did you eat". With this shared passion I have happily munched my way round town and put together a chart of my top ten favourites. Today numbers 10 to 6. Watch this space for the top five...

10. Bakmi Alok
This Palembangnese open fronted restaurant, offers a simple but tasty noodle. The menu gives four choices: noodle with chicken, noodle with beef, noodle with mushroom, or noodle with chives. Clearly not a place to go if you don’t like noodle, it is actually more common to have a selection of the above; I chose chicken, mushroom and chive. The specialty is a sour mini orange that is squeezed over the noodles to give extra pizzazz. Served with customary chili and a small soup, this was a great post-badminton snack.

9. Pork Bites, Cazbar / Eastern Promise
My favorite Jakarta bars Cazbar and Eastern Promise have come up with the ultimate bar snack. In a country where pork is hard to come by, these bite sized chunks of crispy pork are extra welcome. Served with mustard and / or apple sauce they’re the perfect accompaniment to a draft Heineken, and are a regular order on any night out.

8. Leko Restaurant
Hidden away in the City Walk Mall. Leko offers an excellent “Iga penyet” (Ribs with Chili). The beef ribs are tender and meaty, and were on an excellent sambal (fresh chili sauce usually with tomato and a little garlic – an Indonesian staple). Along with some greens and rice – yum.

7. Nasi Goreng Lempar Street Stall (just outside the office)
Nasi Goreng is an Indonesian national dish of fried rice with egg, vegatables, various spices and often chicken or shrimp. The street stall version is known as “nasi goreng lempar" based on how they cook by throwing (me-lempar) the rice into the air and catching it with the cooking wok. Probably best to order a meat free version as the “meat balls” it comes with don’t resemble any meat I’ve ever seen, but otherwise the end result is fresh and delicious. If you do need a meat fix, the stall next-door grills a great chicken satay.

6. Saung Grenville
It’s about an hour’s trek to Grenville in West Jakarta, but worth the journey for Saung Grenville’s famous Black Pepper Crab. Racks of live crabs (claws bound) greet you on the restaurant’s forecourt; you can choose male or female depending on whether you like the roe; flip the crab over and tickle its belly to find the one that’s most lively. The specialty is black pepper, but you can also enjoy Padang style in a strong chili sauce. Ten minutes from rack to plate, and a messy fingers job begins as everyone hacks away to reach the juicy crab meat. Various accompaniments such as squid, or the somewhat disturbing bamboo clams, complete one of the finest seafood meals you can have in Jakarta.

Beyond Bogor

Last weekend I took the chance to make a return to Bogor at the kind invitation of Andreas & Devi (see wedding below). Andreas spends most of his spare time backpacking around his home country, from the forests of Lombok to the depths of remote Aceh, and is essentially a walking talking Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia. And so with the prospect of such an excellent guide I put my Sunday morning weariness aside and clambered onto the 'Aircon Express' from Kota Station Jakarta.

The Bogor Botanical Gardens were built by the Dutch in the early 1800s, and are regarded as one of the finest gardens of their kind; the orchid house alone contains over 3,000 varieties of orchid! The gardens are situated alongside the Presidential Palace and have been used to host a number of APEC summits. A proudly displayed photo in the orchid house of former President Megawati alongside cult bad guy Kim Jong-il aptly demonstrated the venue’s international pedigree.

Regarded as the culinary capital of Indonesia, a trip to Bogor is also a great opportunity to feast, and one that we grasped with both hands. Lunch was fried & barbequed Gurame (lake fish) served with customary chili and rice, and dinner the somewhat bizarre grilled macaroni. More to follow on Indonesian food in an up coming post…

Back to Jakarta for the International Film Festival and middle row seats for the Indonesian Premier of the Australian blockbuster “Love the Beast”, which included a Q&A session with the producer afterwards (he may possibly have been the assistant producer). And Tuesday, another badminton lesson from the local experts.

P.S. Reassuring result from last week’s poll with only 18% mildly authoritarian respondents wanting to ban the film 2012 from our screens. Check out this week’s quiz for a surprising fact about North Korea’s Kim Jong-il unearthed while checking how to spell his name on wikipedia; the man is clearly not to be underestimated.

Beautiful Bogor

Kuala Lumpur

Long weekend in Kuala Lumpur, a few photos...

Idul Adha

Often the early morning brain can be a little fuzzy and so I didn’t immediately notice the makeshift shed and line of cows on the corner of my street as I traveled to work last Monday. Shortly after when a goat drove by, smiling at me from the back of a moped, I realised something a little unusual was going on.

Idul Adha is a national holiday in Indonesia (as in many other Islamic countries, known as Eid al-Adha) to recognise the time of the Hajj in Mecca and the trials of the Prophet Ibrahim. As well as a day off work, the festivities involve the sacrifice of an animal in remembrance of the sacrifice of Ibrahim with the meat donated to feed the local poor.

In the week building up to the festival more and more animals started appearing in these hastily made shelters as Jakarta gradually turned from a smoggy traffic filled city into some kind of concrete mega farm. All the time people where popping into the stalls to buy a cow or a goat to take home ready for the Friday sacrifice; one taxi driver proudly informed me that his mother-in-law had five cows in her house (not sure if a pun was intended).

Sadly I headed to Malaysia on Thursday evening to take advantage of the long weekend and so I can’t quite tell you what happened next. Suffice to say, I’ve not seen a cow or goat since my return.

Other Excitement

On Friday night I joined the rush to see the new American blockbuster 2012. Somewhat bizarrely there has been much debate in Indonesia over a potential ban on the film after the Indonesian Ulema Council (Indonesia’s highest self-proclaimed Islamic authority) called for the film to be removed from cinemas. I’m remain slightly unclear as to the reasons for this proposed ban, but it appears to be an excellent marketing ploy as people queued all weekend to see the film before it gets pulled from the screens!

Leaving the cinema I was drawn towards loud music emanating from Jakarta’s Hard Rock Café and picked up a ticket to see local sensations “Kahitna” . Their collection of ballads and cheesy tunes could probably best be described as Asiapop, and was accompanied by some fantastic Night Fever style dancing. In any case it seemed to down a storm with the packed crowd, whose singing / screeching drowned out at least half the songs.

The next afternoon saw many years of hard work on the football pitch come good, as my delicate blend of skill and power finally caught the eye of a passing talent spotter. Emerging sweaty and victorious from Saturday’s five-a-side, I was approached by the well known Ella Agency for a starring role in an upcoming TV commercial, and after graciously agreeing to have my photo taken for their talent files headed to celebrate at the second best expat bar in town. Not so coincidentally, it happened to be Cazbar’s fourth anniversary which was being marked by the crazy concept of four hours of free beer. This built up nicely to the family derby (Sunderland v Arsenal) at 10pm but sadly the result made for a gloomy journey back to the apartment for a well earned sleep.

Strong views on 2012? Get involved with this week’s poll…

Sightseeing

With my first weekend in Jakarta for three weeks, I thought I’d take the time to be a tourist and see some of the sights that Jakarta has to offer. This involved a trip up to Kota - the sight of the original Dutch colonial city of Batavia. Rains at the end of the week had washed away some of the smog to reveal glimpses of a blue sky, and the sun was streaming through as I headed towards the busway.

Our first stop was the colonial museum which, in its own scattered kind of way, displayed some interesting colonial furniture and art. The ceilings were high and the furniture chunky heavy wood, giving the impression of a more austere living in contrast to the luxurious type structures seen in other former colonies. The building included a cramped gaol in the cellars complete with shackles and chains.

After a quick peek in the National Art Museum and the extravagant Café Batavia, we chugged towards Glodok and Chinatown in a cramped and bumpy bajaj (see photo). Indonesia is an extraordinary mix of cultures, religions and ethnic groups, and this is no better displayed than at the catholic church of St Maria de Fatima. Housed in a former buddist temple this church has an ornate red and gold entrance, and an altar and lectern decorated with Chinese characters and dragons.

Our final visit was to the DVD warehouse, where manufacturing, packaging and wholesale of pirate DVDs takes place on an extraordinary scale in cramped and maze like corridors. The special offer was twelve DVDs for £3.00; copyright law seems yet to arrive in Jakarta!

Finally, congratulations to the 44% of you who correctly named the Indonesian shadow puppet theatre as Wayang. The red herrings were: Dangdut - type of popular Indonesian music, Pencak silat - overall term for the martial arts of Indonesia, and Barry - a common English name. Best of luck in the next quiz!

Indonesian Contrasts

As I spend more time in Indonesia, it's interesting to notice some contrasts and differences from things back home. I thought I'd share a few with you...

1. Fifteen minute taxi to work costs less than a Starbucks coffee on the way in
2. Marks & Spencer is a luxury fashion brand
3. Locals often put more chili sauce on western food than they do on Indonesian food
4. It is normal for a twenty-five year old to live with their parents and for ten year old to ride a motorbike
5. There are traffic police everywhere but the roads are complete chaos
6. Avocado & chocolate is “delicious”, avocado & bacon is “weird”
7. One jar of imported pasta sauce costs more than lunch for three at local food hall

Halloween Pic

Thought I'd share this snap from the halloween party on Saturday at Jakarta's best bar - Eastern Promise in Kemang...

Indonesian Cultures

Morning all. I am fresh in the office after a Halloween weekend of activity and a harrowing ride to work. Ojeks are guys with motorbikes who wait all round Jakarta giving lifts to people looking for a quicker way through the constant traffic jams. One enthusiastic driver has waved at me outside my apartment every morning for the last month and so I finally decided to give him a try for an agreed 90p fare. Standard (or indeed any kind of) traffic regulations seemed not to apply and we wizzed to the office in a speedy ten minutes, slightly sweaty but grateful to still be alive.

Saturday saw my debut for Buglis FC, one of the most prestigious footballing sides in the Jakarta expat league, playing in a crucial local derby. My arrival coincided with a lastminute goalkeeping crisis which I somewhat foolishly offer to fill, and spent much of the game throwing and banging myself against the hard tropical pitch. A decidedly mixed performance by me, but the team attacked well and we emerged with dignity intact after a late equalizer made it 3-3.

After a good sleep I took the opportunity to soak up some Sunday culture at the National Museum, which is full of artifacts from the numerous cultures that make up Indonesia. One of the most fascinating regions is Indonesian Papua (the west side of the New Guinea island), that comprises a mass of different ethnic groups between them speaking over 269 indigenous languages. Papua was annexed from the Dutch in 1969 and was originally known as West Irian, the name Irian apparently standing for Ikut Republik Indonesia, Anti Nederland (join the Republic of Indonesia, rejecting the Netherlands).

See if you can answer this week's more challenging quiz on Indonesian Culture!

Quiz Result - President Sukarno

Congratulations to the 70% of you who correctly identified Sukarno as the first President of Indonesia, in the most responded to quiz yet! He was in office from 1949 to 1965, and both Jakarta airport and the national stadium are named after him.

Less impressive the two readers who answered SBY. My cheif suspects either work with me or are related to me; neither of which is especially reassuring!

New quiz to follow soon.

Angkot, Bogor and Karaoke

Having received an official invitation, with my name written on it and from a person I actually know, I was especially keen to attend the wedding of Andreas and Devi in nearby Bogor. A swift train journey from Kota Station on Saturday morning brought us to the small but busy city of Bogor, famous for its botanical gardens, near daily rainfall and good food.

Almost before I could take in my surroundings my companions leapt though the miniature door of a passing vehicle and so began my first confrontation with the Angkot, the small bus-like form of public transportation that is pretty much the only way to get round Bogor. Your average Angkot is a fraction larger than a Volvo estate and waits at set points round the city. Once filled to bursting point it will hurtle off in a presumably designated direction dropping people off on request for a 13p fare. I squished my way through an opening about a third the size of my body and joined the fourteen other people sharing the tiny space.

Fortunately the journey was short, and after a quick meal of pork related dishes we reached the church for a mixed catholic / protestant ceremony. Having survived the thirty minute sermon, which judging by the reaction of the congregation was not a great deal more interesting if you could speak Indonesian, I was a little disappointed by the post vows kiss: once on the forehead and once on each cheek. Indonesian’s are famously reserved with public affection between couples; but from the look on the bride’s face, he definitely left her wanting more.

The reception involved a feast of different dishes and numerous photos. Then back to Jakarta to unwind English style watching Birmingham v Sunderland with a beer.

Sunday was relaxed and a suitably Indonesian day of badminton and karaoke.

Visit from Home

In case you hadn’t already heard, last weekend I was lucky enough get my first visit from the lovely Donna (especially lucky seeing she traveled such a long way for a relatively short time). We made a return to my new favorite place: Gili Trawangan, a beautiful and relaxed island just of the coast of Lombok. Two great days were spent snorkeling, diving, strolling the beaches, and eating delicious fresh fish (and a sneaky pizza).

Sadly it was all over too quickly. But Donna did have time to return to Jakarta for a day and to meet the team from work. Attached is a picture from our lunch together.

Presidents

Yesterday Jakarta saw the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (affectionately known as SBY). The presidents of both Australia and Malaysia were both in town to see SBY start his second term on the back of a big mandate following a sweeping election victory. Indonesia is one of the most democratic countries in Asia, and SBY is now the 6th Indonesian president following liberation from colonialisation.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a not entirely unrelated dinner on the same evening and there was much discussion about the future of Indonesia, its gifts and its failings. The most optimistic dinner guest carefully explained to me that Indonesia is in fact heaven; blessed with 15,000 beautiful islands (17,000 at low tide), warm weather, friendly people and every possible natural resource - all spread across a distance the equivalent of London to Moscow. Hard to argue. But it would be nice if the phones worked too.

P.S. Well done to 50% of you who identified Java as the island home of Jakarta. Keep trying the quizzes!

Jakarta Farter

After almost a month in Jakarta of eating nearly everything you can imagine, my stomach finally met its match on Friday. The suspected aggressor? A Wendy's Cheeseburger...

Sadly this meant that I missed my planned trip to Karakatau. This volcano is famous for one of the most violent eruptions the world has ever seen (in 1883). Not entirely missing the irony, I opted for a weekend of recuperation and took the opportunity to make some long awaited improvements to my apartment.

In fact the last week has seen a number of small victories on the domestic front:

1. Hot Water: I now have a heater installed. This plucky number can reach heat setting "2" before fusing the electrics, and contributes to a noticeable reduction in water chill.
2. Bedside Table: Snapped up for a mere 85,000 at the local hypermart, it offers shelves on three levels and boasts a pleasant pastel blue colouring.
3. Letterbox Key: A month down the line I can now open my letterbox. It was empty.

Everyday is a small step. But thankfully I am now healthy, rested and cheerful.

The Wedding

On Sunday night I was kindly 'invited' to an Indonesian wedding reception. I'm not sure whether the bride and groom were aware of my invitation but it was great to be there to experience a traditional Ache ceremony. Ache is found in the north of Sumarta, and the reception was lavishly decked out in gold and velvet, with traditional costumes and dancing.

My understanding is that Indonesian weddings usually take up the whole day from around 5am (or sometimes many days), and the reception in the evening is the chance for all friends and family friends to come and give their best wishes. The bride and groom were led into the room by the Ache dancers, and took their place on two thrones on the stage. After some short announcements guests were welcomed up in an almost orderly fashion to great the happy couple and their parents. Then followed the main event, a buffet feast with numerous different foods on offer to try and devour.

Oh, and there was time for many photos. This one is the brides ex work collegaues ... and me.

Monsoon Football

Yesterday saw my first experience of eleven-a-side football in Jakarta, from the safety of my starting spot on the bench. About five minutes into the game we felt a few drops and then - boom - the sky opened. I have never seen rain like it; streams poured off the roof like a waterfall, and the players on the other side of the pitch disappeared into a haze of pounding puddles and mist. The pitch was waterlogged in minutes with the ball vanishing in a puddle soon after. Match abandoned!

Such was my baptism into Indonesian football. And so it was an early start for one of the team members birthday celebrations at a well known expat bar!

This evening I am invited to a local wedding. More to follow...

Indonesia is a big place

Morning all. Am about to dash off to the immigration office but wanted to reassure you that I am safe from the recent earthquake. The centre was in Sumatra and we didn't even feel anything in Jakarta.

A not so impressive 50% of you identified Indonesia as a former Dutch colony – and so I felt some further education was needed:

Indonesia was formerly a Dutch colony known as the Dutch East Indies. Following occupation by the Japanese during WWII, Indonesia declared independence under the leadership of Sukarno. The Dutch tried to re-establish their rule and an armed struggle followed ending in December 1949, when the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.

Settling in step by step

Every day sees an improvement as I gradually settle in to life in Indonesia; be it my first successful laundry collection on Saturday, a new DVD player, or moving the bed to the back room (I can now sleep much better). I think by the time I leave I will having everything sorted perfectly.

One improvement for this week is that everyone should now be able to write comments on the blog. If you've tried previously please give it another go!

The "Bus Way" is one of the few public transport systems in Jakarta that seems to function efficiently and comfortably, and is my preferred choice of transport to work. It operates much like a tram with it's own lane, nicely separated from the other eight lanes of hellish traffic, and runs me smoothly to the stop outside my office for 25p.

I am still in search of someone to polish a shoe and also somewhere where I can get a shave (a new found hobby of mine). In attempting to explain what a barbers I used the words "like a salon for men". Apparently this is something entirely different.

Jakarta Food

Over a relaxed holiday I seem to be on a bliz to try as many new foods as posible, and am feeling a little bit delicate as a result. Wednesday was chicken feet (a less appealing looking snack you are unlikely to find), Thursday fermented sweet potato, Friday durian ice cream. Indonesians seem to share my love of eating, so in that respect I am very at home!

Tomorrow is the weekend and I hope to pick up a few badminton tips from the local experts.

P.S. Well done to the 71% of you who correctly said that Indonesia has it's own language. In fact it has about 100 different dialects, but the official language is Bahasa Indonesia.

Gilies

Thumbling through the seat pocket in front of me I stumbled upon two pamphlets: the customary 'safety onboard' and more novel 'prayer sheet'. Six prayers from six different religions, all in two languages. Lion Air is banned from flying in Europe due to its safety record. I said two.

Idul Fitri is the festival that marks the end of Ramadan, and is marked by a four day holiday weekend, fireworks, celebrations, and loud prayers broadcast from every mosque at all times day and night. I wanted to make the most of some rare free time, And so began my trip to Gili Trawangan, a remote island / travellers paradise off the coast of Lombok.

Gili Trawangan is only reachable by boat, and the only transport on the island is bicycle or horse & cart. It is filled with a mix of happy couples, aging hippies and young travellers; and has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Gili also has excellent diving, and I managed to fit in four dives (keeping me busy during the days). I hope to be able to post some pictures soon as on one dive we were lucky enough to spend ten minutes swimming at 24m with three reef sharks!

After three days relaxation, and a crazy power boat ride back to Lombok. I have returned to a near empty Jakarta ready for the week ahead!

Special Offers

I’m quickly discovering that Indonesian’s are mad for a bargain, highlighted by the opening of a new branch of the well known mini chain “Kantin Wisata”. Throughout September, set seafood lunch, pay what you like. I think a similar offer was run recently somewhere in London and they discovered that customers actually paid more than the listed price; this short anecdote provided great amusement to my team, and after much heated discussion it was agreed that we should pay 10% of full price. A total of $3 was handed over for seven people. The waitress asked if we wanted change.

On the menu: delicious freshwater fish of unknown name cooked in two ways (one fried, two grilled), chili crab, calamari, chilied greens, rice and various sauces. All heartily attacked, eaten with hands and washed down with a vanilla bun.

Welcome to Jakarta!

Wow, I'm here and I have finally made it to an internet cafe! Access is blocked in the office, and I successfully blew two fuses and power to my whole apartment in a dramatic failed attempt to plug in my laptop.

After a smooth flight in a very smart but nonetheless cramped double decker Airbus I successfully made it through immigration on Monday morning, and was welcomed with a delicious Indonesian lunch; this invloved the novel concept of placing the entire menu on the table and only charging for what you ate. Later that evening I was struck with the relisation that I was on my own many many miles from home, and felt sad and homesick.

Jakarta is a lot different from London, humid, smoggy, moving quickly between shacks and stalls to mable halled malls. Having been warned off walking the streets at night (Wayne would no doubt be put off a visit), taxis seem to be the recommended way to get around. Luckily they seem to cost less than a London tube ride home so...

Having received a great and warm welcome from people in my new office I am now feeling better and less on my own. Tonight I am invited to my first bar. Updates to follow.

P.S. Well done to 75% of you who are up to speed on your Indonesian geography and correctly identified it as home to 243 million people. Good luck on the next quiz.

Thamrin Residence

Many of you have expressed concern about my accomodation while I am away and so I thought I would post a few pictures to reassure you.

http://www.thamrinresidences.com/

Flights / visa all sorted to fly out on Sunday!

Making Preparations

Plenty to do before I leave on Sunday - not least collecting my long awaited visa and booking a flight! Have a 52 page document on taxation in Indonesia kindly provided by Graham which will no doubt keep me entertained for the majority of the 18 hour trip.

I'll be posting updates here on my progress in the world's fourth largest country, so those of you keen to know can keep an eye on me.

Very excited but will miss everyone!