Blogs from Jakarta, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 4

V Jakartě jsem se moc neohřál. Ne že by tady kousek pod rovníkem nebylo teplo, ale v podstatě jsem kromě dvou nocí v dokonale zařízeného hostelu (The Packer Lodge) měl jen jeden den času mezi příletem z Padangu a odletem zpátky na severní polokouli do Singapuru. Na druhou stranu, bloudit Jakartou o moc delší dobu by se mi stejně nechtělo. Jakarta je především obrovská. Táhne se do snad ještě do větších dálek než Istanbul nebo Kanton, když to mám srovnat s dalšími obřími aglomeracemi, které jsem navštívil, a to je co říct. Možná je to tím, že na rozdíl od nich nemá Jakarta žádné mezery, žádnou strukturu vnucenou kopci, řekou či jezerem, ba snad ani parky. Podle mapy sice leží na pobřeží Jávského moře, ale přístav je z centra tak strašně daleko - a vůbec všechno ... read more

We finally made it to Jakarta after a long journey. Vancouver-San Francisco-Tokyo-Jakarta. In total it was 20 hours in the air plus layovers which takes a toll on these aging bodies. ANA is pretty good though so it was as comfortable as it could have been. After customs we got out of the airport just after midnight local time. We booked a taxi inside the terminal so we were rushed past the waiting touts to our taxi outside. The trip was great and the city was still pretty busy at 1am. Our hostel in the Cikini area was already sorted out so we got checked in, had a quick shower and passed out petty quick. Our first day started slow as you'd expect. We ate breakfast and lounged around trying to figure out what to do ... read more

If you like this, please check out my other blog - http://indonesianliving.tumblr.com/ Riding Motorbikes in South East Asia; Vietnam and Indonesia. First of all, if you’re googling to see if doing this is a good idea or not, then I can tell you straight away; it isn’t. Having just come back from a trip to Vietnam, where I rode a bike around the city of Hanoi, I’ve started to reflect on just what it is like riding a bike in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. I’ve heard from many people during my travels, that they want to learn how to ride a motorbike in places such as Vietnam and Indonesia, because they don’t need a license (which is simply not true) and they can rent a bike for a whole day for nothing more than ... read more

Sunday, 16th February 2014 Since I was in Jakarta over the weekend, I decided to join in the morning walk along Jalan Thamrin towards the direction of Grand Indonesia Shopping Town. Between 6-11am every Sunday, the main boulevard would be closed to all traffic save the exception of Trans Jakarta Buses which I happily hopped into one after my walk to bring me to the National Museum. It was 7am in the morning when I started out from my hotel and I was greeted by a huge crowd of enthusiastic joggers and cyclists on their weekly workout. The mood was quite jubilant. This was unlike the rest of the days where the roads were clogged with heavy traffic. Because of the road closure, I had the opportunity to get as close as possible to the Welcome ... read more

Friday, 14th February 2014 For my trip to Jakarta, I took a 90 minutes flight from Singapore to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport located some 25km outside the CBD. Once at the airport, I decided to hail a Blue Bird Taxi outside the arrivals for my hour long commute to url=http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g294229-d299554-r194484035-Ibis_Jakarta_Arcadia-Jakarta_Jav.htmlHotel Ibis Arcadia in central Jakarta. The Blue Bird Group is by far regarded as one of the most reliable taxi companies in the city. I was pleasantly surprised to find my hotel located next to Bersih Sehat - a local massage chain providing good value treatment in a no-nonsense setting. As its Indonesian name suggests - "clean" and "sanitary". It's no wonder that Bersih Sehat is very popular among the local people. There was al... read more