Blogs from Jakarta, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 3

We were packed up in good time, so we took the opportunity to print out Ed's new school forms, fill them in, photograph and email them to the school. Around 9.45 we took a taxi to a cafe called Yellow Deli for brunch. We'd renamed Hagrid's House given the quirky interior. Our train to Sydney was smooth and easy and we were at the airport by 2ish. We had $27 left in small notes and change and that was enough to get lunch for Cas, Ed and Hat, plus a bottle of red for the first few nights in Jakarta. It was a seven hour flight, of which about five hours were spent flying across Australia; it is an unbelievably large island. We were all tured when we got off the plane and queued up for ... read more

The time has arrived as I undertake a half year overseas work placement in Indonesia. I will be posted to a factory in Cikarang, near Jakarta where I'll finally get my hands dirty on the shopfloor as a production engineer! As the departure date approached, I was filled with mixed feelings of slight apprehensiveness and inexorable excitement. Anxiety, as the near future is full of question marks: how is the environment like working in a foreign land; how will I be coping with a different lifestyle; how will I be managing relationships back home; how will things eventually pan out, etc. But more so, I look forward with much anticipation of the unknown: opportunities to develop personally, both in and out of work; chance to finally be on the ground, working in the factory which is ... read more

Met plannen voor Myanmar, Cambodja, Vietnam en Ecuador hebben we onze keuze dit jaar eigenlijk onverwacht laten vallen op Indonesië. We hopen hier wat veel verscheidenheid aan natuur en cultuur aan te treffen. Donderdagmiddag 10 september zijn we vertrokken, op weg naar Schiphol komt de A380 ons tegemoet gevlogen en na de check-in staat de reus op ons te wachten. Aangezien we achterin zitten mogen we als eerste groep aan boord gaan. We worden begroet door erg vriendelijke stewards en stewardessen en nemen plaats op onze stoelen. Alles aan de A380 is ruim, de cabine, de stoelen en de beenruimte. De stoelen staan niet direct tegen de wand, waardoor je ook naast je stoel nog wat spullen kwijt kunt. Tot ons genoegen komt er niemand naast ons zitten en hebben we dus wat extra ruimte. Al ... read more

I had heard from some other travellers that to spend one or two days in Jakarta was plenty, so this being my one and only day I headed out to try and find my way round. Walking to the end of the quiet street and turning left onto a very busy road - similar to a dual carriageway there was a market up the side of the pavement. Selling the usual phone accessories and fake tat I was more having to watch my step - the pavements are so dirty with a layer of wet mud across them, rubbish strewn everywhere and people sleeping among large rats running between the sewers ( which are open and producing a terrible smell.) Spotting a shopping mall I headed in for some fresh air and some breakfast. Soon after ... read more

After being dropped off at PDX at a time no one should be awake (thank you so much Jeremy); two layovers in San Francisco and Narita, Japan; five quality airplane meals; one crazy, unmetered taxi ride (we know, that could have been a mistake but it was actually like riding in a race car, and that's never bad) - we have finally made it to our hotel. Today we plan on exploring Jakarta and figuring out what Indonesian food entails. We will be here for the next three days trying to get our eyes used to the sunshine, the time change, and this somewhat refreshing humidity. Since not much has happened, the purpose of this entry to once again acquaint ourselves with how to use this site and to ensure the notifications work. If they don't ... read more