Hi All,
I am back in Beirut after having an amazing week exploring Jakarta, Indonesia and its surrounding areas with my friends.
Upon arrival to Jakarta I followed through on the advice given to me by
my friend...if my checked baggage contained chalk marks (classic sign
for an impending search of the bag to find some way to charge additional
import duty), I was instructed to wash the mark off (unnoticed) and
proceed through the "nothing to declare" lane. After getting the nice
washroom attendant to help me clean off the marks, I had a few tense
moments as I waited to cross the customs desk. Once through, I was able
to breathe again and slow down my racing heartbeat.
The organized chaos of the Jakarta streets reminded me so much of Beirut
and was drastically different to the organized discipline I left behind
in Singapore.
Our first day was spent exploring the central downtown area and visiting
the Tugu Monas, the national monument that features a gold flame on the
top of the structure. The open area surrounding the monument was filled
with families relaxing in the afternoon sun, flying kites, and cooling
down with some sweet treats or drinks. A number of local vendors were
set up outside the gates, supplying all the goodies. We stopped to buy
some water and when the vendor replied back in an Indonesian dialect
from Java, my friend Titin was able to switch to the Java dialect since
it was her mother's native language. The vendor, an older woman, was
taken back that someone who could speak her dialect was with a bule
(foreigner).
Our next adventure took us to Bogor, a city about 45 minutes away from
Jakarta; featuring a botanical garden and a number of universities. We
spent the entire day exploring the gardens; amazed at the sheer size of
some of the flowers and trees. The area is known for receiving heavy
rain fall, but it must be rich in minerals and nutrients for everything
to look so well fed and nourished. The landscape was the perfect
backdrop for our impromptu glam photo shoot.
Our next outing was to Kota, also known as old Jakarta, to explore the
historical sights from the Dutch colonial period. Despite the national
holiday for the mayoral elections, we found a tour guide who granted us
access to the Jakarta historical museum. We got to explore the old
prison cells and he even posed us in front of the Hermes statue for good
luck. We ended our time in old city by visiting Cafe Batavia, a very
dignified restaurant and bar that has maintained the Dutch colonial
feel.
We took a 2 hr foot and back massage to revive us from all the walking.
Granted, when it was immediately over, I was ready for bed...but a quick
shower later and we hit the town for a fun night out. Wednesday evening
is typically ladies night in Jakarta. Unfortunately the first club we
went to seemed to be "working ladies night out". 2 drinks later, we had
had enough laughs watching the young local girls trying to pick up their
next expatriate daddy, and we moved on to dragon fly (much more our
speed). We meet an interesting cast of characters over the course of the
night. Halfway through the night, we assumed the aliases thought up by
Titin. While being a bridge architect is cool....being uranium and
plutonium dealers is WAY cooler. Plus, it gets more drinks bought for
you :)
Over the past week I learned that I LOVE Indonesian food; however, with
my local friends doing all the ordering, I certainly can't recall one
name of any of the dishes that I had. So it looks like the next time I
am craving Indonesian food, I will have to book a trip to visit the
Palma's again :)
I have 2 more weeks left of my Arabic classes, after which I will spend a
few days in Germany with family before returning to Lebanon to close
out the summer.
I will send another update soon.
Love, Nadia
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