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Published: June 16th 2009
After two weekends in the city doing what Jakartans do (go to the malls, walk around, and browse pirated DVDs), this past weekend I finally was able to get out of the city to do a little sightseeing in West Java. Luckily, some of the members of the LEAD team organized a day trip up to Taman Safari, about 2 hours driving (early in the morning without the traffic) outside of Jakarta, nestled in the mountains surrounding the city. The trip up was pretty incredible... as you leave Jakarta, is seems the "city" immediately disappears. New styles of housing, more along the lives of the middle class villages, start to appear roadside, and in the distance through the haze the volcanic mountains start to appear. On the way up we stopped in Puncak Pass, among tea gardens for some breakfast... needless to say, on this one I broke ranks and went for the "American breakfast" instead of more local dishes. It was nice to have a little taste/spin on a taste from home.
The day at Taman was alot of fun. The park has a safari drive through, a zoo park, live shows (the tiger show and the Wild Wild West spectacular were our pics of the day), and amusement rides. But most importantly, it has some spectacular opportunities to interact with some of the young animals they have in return for a donation for the park. Getting to sit with some of Sumatera's finest (a tiger and an orangutan) was something special.
The next day I arranged to have a 7 hour city tour ($35 all in, with English speaking guide and driver) and got to see some of the historic sights of Jakarta. Indonesia is full of cultural fusion; on top of having over 18,000 islands in the country (and the relevant cultures that developed on their own throughout the archipelago), the islands have historically been a meeting place for Portuguese, Dutch, English, Indian, and Asian traders (the original spice islands are acutually the Maluccas here), all leaving some of their own cultural imprints on Indonesian tradition. The Dutch were the colonial powers in the country up until the Second World War, when the Japanese kicked them out (and later attempts to reassert control were met by a war for independence). But during Dutch rule, a large amount of Chinese were captured at sea and forced into labour here in Jakarta. After awhile, the Dutch kicked all the Chinese out of the original Dutch city of Batavia here, at which time the Chinese set themselves up in the original China Town outside the city wall, which persists to this day. On the tour, this Chinese area of town, called Glodok, featured heavily. It was pretty incredible to be able to visit the traditional markets (complete with herbal medicine apothecaries, and turtle meat for sale!), and some of the Chinese Confusionist and Buddhist Temples that were all around. Sadly, the Chinese have historically been treated as scapegoats when crisis hits Indonesia. On top of the bustle in the Chinatown here are stark reminders of rioting in 1998 (after the fall of the Soeharto regime), when Chinese houses were burned. For memory, or due to the fact that true ownership is unknown, several burned out homes and apartments remain to this day.
Other stops on the tour included the old city of Batavia, the colonial capital, which still boast the old town hall and several old Dutch buildings that were raised by the Japanese looking for hidden treasures, and the old port of Sunda Kelapa, still used for traditional shipping around Asia and home to many migrants who came to Jakarta looking for work only to find poor fishing prospects. Life at Sunda Kelapa definitely provided a stark contrast to the Jakarta I've seen so far, which involves more Gucci than gladrags. It was actually in Sunda Kelapa that I went into my first mosque while here (which is saying something, as the mosques are everywhere here, and the calls to prayer go on all the time, often in competition with each other). The mosque was fantastic, and had a long history in the area; inside was buried one of the great leaders of Islam in the city. Overall the tour was great, the weekend was a lot of fun, and I finally got a start on ditching my winter tan under the Indonesian sun. And I think I made the weekend for a couple of classes of Indonesian high school students, who couldn't get enough of getting their picture taken with a buleh (foreigner). I have to hand it to them for their gutsiness in asking when they did, but at least now I have a new perspective on what it's like to be a celebrity without showing any discernible talent. Move over Paris.
Other than that, nothing too exciting to report from this past week, other than my smooth moves at the gym. I've been trying to find an inexpensive place to get a membership for a while now, seeing as how this city isn't built for runners or most outdoor activity other than a good sit. Only problem is, some gyms won't let you in because you don't live here, while others demand you buy a 6 month membership.
It's not all bad, I guess. I had a Glenn Horne moment last night, when I went to Celebrity Fitness to see if they would let me in. The girl who I was talking told me no, I couldn't have a membership because I wasn't from Jakarta, but I could go in for roughly $20 USD per visit. I asked if there was any way around this. Apparently there was, but it was lost in translation to me. She gave me a form to fill out, that asked for my name and number, with me thinking the gym would call. Well wouldn't you know it, I don't have my 12 digit cell number memorized, and so while I'm sitting there trying to figure it out, the girl suggests that I take her number. I think, sure - good idea! If I call, she'll be able to tell me what the number is. So I do, and I look at her, and she smiles... "Oh... my phone is in my locker." Wink and a nod. Smooth move. The other guys working the gym desk thought so at least.
Until next time....
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Courtney
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Beautiful to read Marc, you are a great writer! Keep it coming -- I thought you promised the second one would outline details from your job?! Looking forward to it!