Wanderlust Chronicles 6: Jakarta, Indonesia May 2009
Posted at 11:41 PM in Life as I Know It
Wanderlust Chronicles 6: Jakarta, Indonesia May 2009
If the Philippines boasts 7107 Islands, that's nothing compared to the 13,000 islands that Indonesia has under its belt. These islands stretch from Malaysia to islands that border Australia. I went to discover another bustling South East Asian Capital - Jakarta, in the heart of the Indonesian nation, Java!
1. To the Airport! My flight to Jakarta was scheduled for 4 pm - so naturally I had to be in the airport by 2. On leave si boss nung day na yun 
, so 12 pa lang, umalis na ako ng office and decided to- for the first time ever- ride the MRT to the airport. I had 3 hours to burn, so I decided to ride the MRT from Novena to Changi Airport. I thought it would take an hour and half, but it took just 35 minutes! Sobrang bilis I swear! And I ended up saving mga $15 just by taking the MRT! Nice!
2. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport - And after an hour and half, I was in Jakarta. Yes, there was a difference in time zones - but I celebrated one more achievement that day - I finally crossed the Equator! Oh yes, I've now been to the bottom part of the world! Amazing di ba!? The airport itself had a NAIA-feel to it, except that it was spread out across a vast amount of space - felt na felt talaga ang abundance of land, from the airport pa lang! Weird nga lang kasi when the immigration girl saw my Malaysian passport, she started talking to me in Malay. Siyempre, explain na naman ako that I barely speak Malay, with a courteous smile. Ayun naniwala naman si Ate at pinapasok naman ako ng Indonesia. haha
3. Meet up with Jigjig - Well, one of the biggest reasons why I was really looking forward to going to Jakarta was the fact that I had a friend there - oh yes, my high school friend and DWTL kapatid, Jigjig! The last time I saw him was way back in college pa, and sosyal na the next time we saw each other, sa Jakarta na! Oh yes, he teaches Biology in this International School in Jakarta, poisoning este enriching the minds of Indonesia's future. At take note, may driver pa ang lola mo! Habang ako'y nagbubus at MRT sa Singapore, meron siyang sariling driver. And it doesn't stop there, meron din siyang maid! Oh yes, bitterness. Bitterness to the next level! Pero ayun, I was so glad na meron akong friend sa Jakarta. Happy din yung wallet ko kasi that meant that I didn't have to stay in a hotel. *snaps for Jigjig's hospitality!*
4. Bahasa Indonesia - One thing to note about Jakarta is that not a lot of people know how to speak English. At because of that, nag-adapt naman si Jigjig, he now speaks fluent Bahasa! In fairness talaga! Well, di ko sure kung fluent, pero enough to get around and do normal day to day stuff. O di ba, ako yung Malaysian, pero he's the one who knows how to speak the language! In fairness, medjo okay din yun kasi he's learning something new from his experience overseas. Sa Singapore kasi, di na kailangan matuto ng Mandarin kasi most people can speak English. Sa Indonesia, dead ka kung di ka marunong magBahasa. This actually reminds me that I soo need to learn a new language. Yes, I really need to.
5. Converting to Rupiah - Well, the Rupiah wasn't as bad as the Vietnamese Dong, 100 SGD was not enough to make me a millionaire - it was off by around 200,000. haha! Shopping was also quite difficult. Imagine shopping by the millions! Grabe, up till now, hindi pa rin ako maka-adjust. The thing is, its actually easier to convert to peso vs. converting to SGD. Kasi all you have to do is divide the amount by 200, so slash two zeroes, and then divide by two. I'm proud to say na kinaya ng mental arithmetic powers ko yun. haha Pero once you get over the hyper inflated cost of living, you'd realize na it really is cheap, possibly even cheaper than Manila. Well, coming from SG, any other South East Asian country is cheaper, but mafefeel mo talaga na affordable yung stuff sa Jakarta.
6. Transjakarta - the best! Actually, dito ako na impress. As in to the next level. So, kung ang PH, SG, MY at TH meron sari-sariling MRT system, Indonesia has TransJakarta! But its not a train system, but its actually a bus rapid transit system. Oh yes, you've read that right, its made up of buses! So MRT siya, pero buses yung gamit. (I can't reiterate that enough. haha) kasi ba naman, sa laki ng Jakarta, it doesn't make sense to invest in a ginormous MRT system. These buses have their own private lanes and ticket prices are a flat 3000 Rupiah regardless of where you go. They have 8 "corridors" spanning across Jakarta.
Ang funny nga lang is that usually sa Singapore and kahit sa Thailand, merong warning na "Please mind the platform gap" pero, its less than 5 cm, so no one really cares. Pero sa Jakarta, since buses siya and yung platform is in the middle of the road, if you don't mind the platform gap, talagang lulusot ka sa gap and you'll fall in the middle of the highway! haha And may conductor din that stops people from getting in if he feels na sobrang sikip na sa loob ng bus. Nice di ba? Para hindi canned-sardines ang travel experience. haha!
7. The True Cinema Experience - Sabi ko kay Jigjig, ang tagal ko nang hindi nakakapanood ng movie sa totoong cinema. Sa liit kasi ng cinemas sa Singapore, usually, parang private screening lang ang nangyayari. So ayun, we ended up watching Terminator: Salvation! Sobrang surreal, as in parang nasa The Block lang ako nung nanonood ng movie! Now, that's the right way to watch a movie! haha Tapos we also went around this posh mall - di ko na maalala yung name eh, tapos we waited for this really nice fountain display. Sobrang ganda, as in its amazing what people can do with fountains and colors.
8. Nightlife - Actually, I dragged Jigjig to this place na recommended ng Lonely Planet guidebook ko. It was a place called Stadium - supposedly, and I quote "Jakarta's - Asia's? most hardcore clubbing experience, with a capacity of 4000, which opens on a Thursday and doesn't close until Monday morning." Siyempre, naconvince naman kaming itry! pagdating namin dun, sobrang sleazy nung place! haha As in red light district to the next level. Anyway, hindi na natuloy. So instead, pumunta na lang kami dun sa isang hotel, nakinig ng live band na Pinoy (as always, Pinoy. Mabuhay!) na ala dream girls. Meron ding isang kanta na mala-Mariah Carey yung Pinay. Siyempre, natuwa si Jigjig. haha Infairness, natuwa din naman ako. haha
9. Morning Trip to Bogor - Well, Bogor is quite like their version of Tagaytay. So dapat gigising kaming maaga to go there - mga 7 am dapat, but ayun mga 9 na kami nakaalis ng condo. Mga 1 hour din ang travel time, tapos narealize namin, sobrang traffic papunta dun sa place. As in magdamagang-tatagal-ng-5000-years level ng traffic! Actually, never ko naexperience yun sa Manila! Sabi ni Jigjig, ganun daw talaga sa jakarta, mabagal ang buhay, patient ang mga tao kahit sobrang haba ng traffic. Well, after living in SG for a year, medjo impatient na din ako. So ayun, hindi umubra, so instead, we just went to this nature park. So ganito, instead of going to "Tagaytay", we just went to "Rizal park." ang ganda ng analogy. Haha! maganda naman - may mga deer and stuff. Tapos picture picture kami. Pag cam whores talaga, regardless of the venue, game pa din! haha Pero nawala ko yung cam ko sa Malacca, so puro camera lang ni Jigjig yung ginamit.
10. Sister City - Actually, throughout my three day visit there, never ako nahomesick. haha Simply because it felt like I was in Manila. And I'm not kidding, it felt soooo like Manila. When Jigjig was touring me around sobrang ang daming counterparts nung places na pinuntahan namin. We went to a place quite like Rizal Park, merong isang place na parang Greenhills, meron ding place na parang Makati/Greenbelt etc. Grabe, just exchange the bahasa texts into English and you'd really be in Manila! Sabi ni Jigjig, ganon daw yun kasi close daw si Marcos at si Soeharto kaya magkamukha yung dalawang cities. Ewan ko kung kasinungalingan yun. haha! Pero, I really felt at home, parang nasa Manila lang talaga!
All in all, my Trip to Jakarta was really fun! But to be honest, I don't think my experience would have been that fun if wala akong friend who lives there. it's not that tourist friendly, but it has so much to offer as long as you're willing to scratch the surface. No regrets, it was definitely worth the trip and I'm definitely going back! Anyway, thank you very much Jigjig! (ako naman ang bahala sa iyo, pagbisita mo dito sa SG!)
