Northwest typhoon hits Jakarta

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This summer I have been able to go and see a lot. I have explored more of Korea and found that although Seoul can be a “soulless” place (pun intended) at times, there is quite a lot of beauty and friendliness outside its borders. Korea is a very mountainous country and most of the countryside resembles a lot of what I appreciate back home. I still haven’t seen all that I want to here, but there is always time, and opportunity.

Recently though I have taken some opportunities to go outside the country and explore a much different world than most of us are used too. Borneo was an amazing place, and scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. That being that S.E. Asia is far more interesting that I previously thought.

I had wanted to travel to Borneo for a long time, and I told you about that in the last blog, but I had a feeling leaving that I had not seen enough of this wild bizarre place we dub SE Asia. Truth be told, I don’t think a few months in the region would even due it justice, but couldn’t you say that really about anywhere. To truly get a sense of the culture and the people, you need to live there and put your life in the shoes of the everyday local who wakes up and does his or her thing on an ordinary Wednesday. Well that is what Justin and I have done here in Korea, and that is what my good friend Ben is doing in Jakarta.

I recently had five days off for Korea’s national holiday Chuseok, or the Korean Thanksgiving. I seemed to still have the itch, and Korea was and would be a nightmare to travel in during this time. In fact all trains were booked up a month in advance to this holiday. It is the time when all family members get together and gorge themselves on food and drink. Traveling in Korea was not going to be an option, and staying at home for the five days was not going to be an option for me either.

It didn’t take much convincing on Ben’s part to get me to come to Jakarta. “Spend five days in the tropics, where food and beverage is cheap, and the place is shaking (sometimes quite literally, get to that later).” With a week before my vacation started I booked a ticket, a last ditched effort put together by my co-worker KC and I after school.

So fast forwarding to my arrival in Jakarta, where I was met by a some what punctual Ben Polly, he was on Indonesian time, and in Indonesian traffic, my trip began. It was great to see him and it was some what surreal. Here we were too home grown kids from the Pacific Northwest sitting down at a dingy bar in Southern Jakarta enjoying a few cold beers and telling stories of past events. We made a good start to the trip by getting good and sauced and dancing the night away to an Indonesian cover band in local bar. Still caring my bags, we lugged it back to his place and called it a night, for the weekend was about to descend on us and we were sure to need spare energy to keep both of us rocking and rolling.

The next day I woke up well after Ben had left to go to work and read the paper that was on the table. I had heard there was an earthquake, but wasn’t sure when it exactly happened. I was in the airport actually when I found out. A man was on the free computers in Singapore’s airport and scrolling through the breaking news of the recent earthquake. It had happened the day before I left. It had struck Padang which is in West Sumatra the neighboring island to Java, where Jakarta is, but was far enough away that Jakarta was not affected. This area is prone to earthquakes, and had seen a fair amount recently. The one in early September had rocked Jakarta, and now this one in Padang. Buildings were destroyed and casualties rose. It was more personal being here, and meeting people who’s families lived in Padang, and who were constantly calling to make sure they were alright. This happened to Ben’s neighbor Imelda, who had family in Padang, but thankfully were not hurt. She was also to be my “guide” that afternoon while Ben was off collecting the bacon.

It was national Betick day, or other wise funky Hawaiian shirt day. Our task was to go out and get the coolest beticks money could buy, or at least little money could buy. After a while of shopping we found just the ones we were looking for and headed back towards Ben’s.

This is where I need to devote a section to the Metro Mini. It is the public transportation for Jakarta and runs at around $.20. They are glorified small buses that you used to see around school, and are in pristine 3rd world state. The driver doesn’t necessarily stop for you, but he will slow down so you can jump on and grab a rail before you are whisked off to your next destination. The driver is usually smoking a cigarette and looking as calm as a moody blues concert.

Having survived the Metro Mini one more time, we arrived at Ben's and grabbed a baji, or an Indonesian Tuk Tuk and headed out for a huge traditional dinner with the local Couch Surfing crew. If you don't know couch surfing, google it, and read about it there....the site will do it far more justice than I could. The dinner was awesome, we had our fill and posed for close to a thousand pictures.

After dinner we hoped into another baji, and skirted off to Ben's friend's house. Now I use the word house, but it is more like a mansion. It was in a up scale neighborhood, and had a big gate out front. The place was amazing, and more amazingly, 3 teachers lived there, and they didn't pay for it either. They all worked at the international school in Jakarta, where Ben interprets, and have the life of kings. The house had a full kitchen, outdoor in-ground pool, brand new pool table, somewhat used ping pong table, full bar and about 4 to 5 bedrooms. They also had their own maid who does all the cleaning and drivers for their cars that are parked in the garage. This is for sure a hidden gem in the international teaching world.

We had some drinks there and played some pool and ping pong before heading out to get rowdy. Which didn't take long. The night it self was go go go, and we didn't want it any other way and didn't ended until around 4 or 5 in the morning....not quite sure. The next day was the eye of the storm. We had our rest and slept in a bit, then went out to wander around the streets and get some delicious sushi with a few more Couch surfing friends. That night was a little more of the same, but started off pretty swanky. We met up with two more of Ben's friends and had some drinks on a roof top bar looking over Jakarta. It was really cool being able to hang out with the local crowd, the people that grew up there and who were excited to show you their home town. After the swanky bar we managed to hit the local expat and backpack area, where we were constantly asked by lady boys if we desired a good time. We declined our last offer of the night, downed our beers, and headed back to less "seediness" to finish the night dancing to some crazy rap...(i think).

It had been a hard two days and our bodies were feeling it. What were ached for was a big American breakfast, which we found near Ben's house. It was an American style dinner, where we engulfed our stomachs with coffee, omlettes, hashbrowns, bacon, and milkshakes. We were so stuffed and tired, that moving seemed more of a chore than it was worth, and decided to play a little pool and just relax for a while, before our next adventure....the food tour.

That afternoon we met up with Anna and her sister Lea, who are locals to the area and wanted to take us on a traditional food tour of Jakarta. This was awesome. The girls were really fun to hang out with and showed us how good Indonesian food is.

We made a stop by a bird market and decided that freeing at least one if not four of these helpless creatures would put some good karma on us, so we bought four little parakeets and set them free outside the local mosque. It was pouring down rain, but our spirits were high. We had done good, and all that was left to do was continue on our food experience.

I can't tell you all the food that I ate, because frankly I can't remember the names. I think there was Padang, nasi gorang, chicken sate, something else sate ( grilled innerds), and goa goa. This is probably not right, but those are the names I remember. We ended the night playing some Korean drinking games that I tought them at Ben's house and called it an early night. It didn't take long for both of us to be snoring the tropical night away.

The next day was my last day, Imelda and I hit the local antique market and tourist market, so I could have one last go at spending what little I had. We made it back to Ben's later that afternoon and had one last meal together near the bus station before I took off.

It was definitely a short trip, and there is so much more to Indonesia than just Jakarta, but that was all the time I had and really the point of the trip was to reconnect with a good friend I hadn't seen in almost a year and half. It was just what both of us had in mind when I first said I am coming to Jakarta. It is a beautiful place and the people there are tremendously friendly. That was just the tip of the iceberg for my travels in the area. I hope to go back soon and discover more of what that country of 17,000 islands has in store. Hopefully I can do it with a few good fellows like Mr. Ben Polly.

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Photos

Ojek Drivers
Motorcycle taxi