Traffic - revisited

I took Eamon to gym this afternoon at a nearby mall. According to Google, it's about 1.8km in a direct line from our house to the mall, or 4.8km and 12 minutes by road. It took us 26 minutes, 6 lane changes and 2 U-turns to get there - traffic wasn't too heavy. The way home was even better - about 20 minutes and a pretty straight run.

In contrast to our usual trips in Jakarta, I drove today. A bit over a week ago our driver of 18 months quit. No notice was given, nor were we offered a reason, he just texted Kieran, asked for his pay and left. In a country where good jobs are hard to find and poor jobs pay barely enough to survive, I am left to wonder at what long term planning would encourage leaving behind a 15 year career at the drop of a hat. I can only hope he had given a better offer - although it would have been nice to know. So now we are in that inconvenient phase of hunting for a new driver, of having to taxi for school drop-offs and pickups and restricting any excursions to places I am happy to drive.

What tickled my mind this afternoon, however, was that after 21 months in Jakarta, I am becoming accustomed to the driving style. So much so, that I actually feel fairly comfortable venturing out alone with the kids for the local mall run (I drove it twice today!). I no longer sit tensely at the steering wheel, squeezing my sides in as the motorbikes zip past on both sides of our car, or wait amidst the blaring horns until a gap appears before inching my way out of an intersection. Instead, I have mastered the art of pulling out  into a stream of busy traffic - the confidence in the act ensuring that others will stop to make room. I can find the third lane - the one between those marked on the road, and navigate it with aplomb, and when it disappears, I can nudge my nose into the non-existent gap between the cars beside me, forcing the driver alongside to back off and let me in. In short, I can survive, for short distances, on the roads around me, and while I may still not be brave enough to attempt the school run, with its 5.5 km and multitude of turns, I have hope that my new found confidence will stand me in good stead the next time I have to embrace the terrors of Sydney driving!

Exploring Jakarta - Sunda Kelapa

For those whose geography is as sadly lacking as mine, Jakarta is on the coast of Java. As such, it has a harbour, and was at one time, an important trading port. Although the city has grown well beyond it, the harbour still exists and is home to the world's last wooden trading fleet. We took a visit there one Saturday morning.

Sunda Kelapa is hot, dusty and industrial. The road along the dock is narrow and potholed, lined with trucks loading and unloading all manner of cargo - cement, plastic water tanks, bales of cloth, all headed for other parts of the archipelago aboard these beautiful wooden vessels.

Access to each ship is via gangplank, a bendy narrow board with rather dubious looking attachment to the ship and pier. We were invited aboard a couple of vessels, but decided to leave that for when the kids are older and less likely to injure themselves!

An excellent and somewhat different type of tourist attraction for Jakarta, but one that is well worth a visit.

Everyday Life - Spinning Plates and Dragons

This weekend was Chinese New Year, something I wouldn't normally pay much attention to, but Jakarta has a large Chinese population and red and gold decorations have been turning up everywhere of late. It's a good chance for the boys to experience snippets of another culture, so when we heard the beating drums at the local mall on Saturday we decided to go for a look.

 This isn't a great photo, but it shows the larger of the dragons that were wandering around. There were also smaller gold and white furry dragons cuddling up to shoppers! Eamon thought it was great, if a little noisy.

The same mall had a free show of 'Spinning Plate Acrobats' from Beijing which sound too good to miss. Eamon was a little disappointed that my description of people throwing plates into the air didn't actually eventuate but still did a good impression of a stunned mullet watching the ladies do various rather athletic feats while holding six sticks with spinning plates apiece. Personally I was especially impressed by the headstand on top of someone else's head trick (while continuing to hold aforementioned spinning plates!).

Not bad for an afternoon trip to the mall to buy sandpaper (and a small saw - $1.89 AUD for a small coping/mini hacksaw, can't really go wrong!).

Oh, and my excursion back to Tanah Abang in the morning also netted a chinese dragon wandering through the place.....must have been looking for some new threads...

Exploring Jakarta - Tanah Abang

Tanah Abang is one of the larger Indonesian-style markets in Jakarta and is home to the largest wholesale textile market in south-east Asia. As with many markets here the name refers to an area of the city rather than one specific place and the market covers several buildings. The main building, a relatively new rebuild after fires partially burnt the market in 2003, is a beautiful example of Islamic decoration with the exterior covered in geometric patterns and the building itself painted a distinctive green. A big improvement over similar markets, the main building contains such luxuries as air-conditioning, banking centres, food courts and even a 2000 person mosque! 

Image Source: http://tanahabangreview.com/2010/09/03/sejarah-tanah-abang/

Being keen to check out just what fabric is available, I have visited Tanah Abang a couple of times. Given its size and the sheer number of shops, I decided early on a "little-by-little" approach, and have really only investigated a tiny part of this behemoth, restricting myself to the two basement levels of Blok A & Block B, and a single foray to the rather less salubrious Blok F. The basements of Bloks A & B contain the majority of the textile market (I think!) with the remaining 6 or so floors being mostly fashion stores, food courts and parking (although I going by reference here - I haven't been above ground level!). It's about a 30-40 minute drive from our place to Tanah Abang in the early(ish) morning, but up to an hour home, plus at least 20-30 minutes waiting for the car to pick you up as the traffic around the buildings gets absolutely insane by mid to late morning so my time inside is generally a bit limited.


The market itself is a huge space reminiscent of a storage facility where each roller door secured niche hosts a mini-, or in a few cases fairly large, fabric store. Rows of stores are intersected by narrow corridors, often filled with stacks of fabric, and dark corners pop up every now and then where corridors dead end unexpectedly. With my remarkably limited knowledge of textiles, I would broadly categorise the offerings as cottons, batik, fancy chiffony/shimmery/gauzy stuff, and everything else (which includes things like curtaining, suit fabrics etc.). Within these categories, there is a wild range of products, most available for between Rp 25,000 and Rp 80,000 (roughly $3 AUD and $8 AUD per metre - the latter being the price provided for 100% wool suit fabric, with very authentic looking European labels). Cotton prints, including business shirting and extra wide sheet/duvet cover fabric was at the low end of the range and I indulged in several pieces for Christmas shirts for the boys (which I've actually made) and business shirts for Kieran (which I'm still looking for a tailor to make!). I also picked up some great sheet fabric to make a lego playmat/bag for Eamon in a bid to tame the explosion of little lego pieces in his bedroom.

While Bloks A & B have a great selection of fabric, sewing accessories are rather scarce and it took some testing of my Bahasa to determine that these are more readily available in Blok F, behind the main buildings. Blok F quite clearly missed out in the refurbishment stakes, and is much more what you might expect of an Asian market experience. It is reached by crossing a stretch of mud optimistically posing as a street, although probably really more of a combined rubbish tip and sewer (I later discovered that you can also access it internally from a higher floor, but that would spoil the fun!) and picking one of the narrow, dark egress points to the interior. A few places on the ground floor sell zippers, thread etc., but most of the action is on Lantai 2 (Level 2) at the right-hand side (looking from Blok A). Here, along with the poor cousins left selling textiles outside the main arena, are a collection of stalls selling all sorts of sewing bits and bobs - scissors, thread, elastic, zippers, ribbons, beads and all manner of decorative geegaws. Strangely, there isn't much in the way of buttons - I'm guessing they must congregate in some other Blok somewhere, beyond the limits of my basic Indonesian. Being a wholesale market, don't expect to buy small amounts of anything - elastic comes by the roll, most other small items by the dozen, but the prices are cheap enough it's not a big deal. I grabbed 100 yards of 1/4" elastic for about $3 AUD and some really cute little stuffed felt strawberries, butterflies and cars for about $2/dozen. I'm not sure whether everything is harga pas (fixed price) or not, I figure being the only bule (white person) in sight puts me at an automatic disadvantage in bargaining so tend to just go with the stated price unless it seems ridiculous, but our nanny seems to think most of the material side at least is fixed price.

I'm looking forward to heading back to Tanah Abang - aside from the obvious "what's that white person doing here" looks, the people are friendly and ready to try out their English (and more importantly accommodate my abysmal attempts in their language), the selection is great, just wandering around is fun and visually engaging, and the place is so big I'm going to need a pile of trips to explore it all!

In progress - Eamon's Lego Bag/Mat

and the finished product!

Christmas, Jakarta Style

Almost a month since my last post - oops! I could claim it's because we haven't done anything much interesting, but that would be untrue. Instead I'll blame the lead up to Christmas and all the associated chaos!

As our first Christmas in Indonesia approached, I realised I had a mental list of things I wanted in order for things to feel like Christmas - a Christmas tree, Santa photos of the boys, something resembling a proper Christmas dinner and a visit from the man in red for Eamon (being pretty sure Rory didn't really care!)

Apparently you can get real Christmas trees (or at least a tree resembling something pine-like) in Jakarta, but figuring out where and how was beyond us. In addition, having just experienced one infestation of termites, we were not keen to introduce another source of bugs and other critters to the house. So, having seen a permanent source of artificial trees at my favourite market, Pasar Pagi Lama (or Pasar Asemka), Kieran went on an acquisition run and returned with a lovely 7ft specimen, completed with snow-tipped branches! Item one completed!

As you can imagine, Christmas isn't a huge deal in a country 87-some percent Muslim, but when you figure out how large even a few percent of 240 million people is, there are still a fair few celebrating, and hey, what self-respecting retailer wouldn't try to cash in on the hype anyway? Hence, at least some of the malls made an effort to supply a dose of the Christmas spirit with decorations, trees, carollers and even a couple of jolly old men in big red suits! We visited one of the larger malls, Taman Anggrek, a few days before Christmas, primarily to investigate Jakarta's sole indoor ice-rink (and no, they don't have any outdoor ones!), something Kieran had been keen on since we arrived. Taman Anggrek was clearly making an effort - their central atrium hosted a Christmas tree probably 3 stories high, along with a delightful little Christmas village, carousel, animated figures and Santa grotto. Ok, the village houses were really small shopfronts, the carousel wasn't for riding on and the animated figures were rather minimalist, but still, the atmosphere was definitely Christmassy. Even better, the queue for Santa photos was non-existant and we actually managed a rather successful shot of the whole family after Rory decided that being handed over to some big dude with too much facial hair wasn't really his thing!   So, tick, another thing off the list.

My idea of Christmas always includes lots of baking and overall yummy food generation. I blame this on my mum. The lead-up to Christmas at home was always a frenzy of cooking and baking, and the big day one for eating the largesse. Besides, it's fun making food you know your family enjoy and only get once a year! Kieran's list of Christmas fav's includes turkey, fruit mince pies, truffles (or rum balls) and Christmas pudding. Mine is ham and some vague sense of biscuits I don't usually make. Sounds simple.
A trip to the supermarket dispelled that idea - the ingredients we take for granted in Australia are simply not available here. No mixed fruit, mixed spice, or candy canes at any of the expat-friendly supermarkets, although you could buy single serve Christmas puddings for $15! Time to innovate. Christmas pud with dried pineapple and other tropical fruits and lots of raisins (sultanas are quite expensive!), fruit mince pies, homemade pineapple sorbet and fruit salad sound doable. I tried brandy snaps, but they failed dismally (maybe too humid? or the butter is different?) so went for merringues instead - tricky in a gas oven that doesn't do low or high temperatures well and is about as stable as a toddler on a balance beam. For the main course, a small chunk of surprisingly tasty ham and a frozen turkey which Kieran brined and cooked beautifully (although getting sufficient quantities of ice made from drinking water was another challenge). Veges, salad and rolls and the meal was complete - a great spread shared with two lovely families who hadn't made the exodus home this year. The boys each had a friend to play with and with the usual overabundance of presents and new toys had a great day.

So, although we plan to be away next year, I'm glad we spent Christmas in Jakarta.

Snakes alive!

One of the advantages of living in a gated community is that the management company performs various services alongside general maintenance. For example, we have just had a visit from the community "snake charmer", whose job is to check the yards of the neighbourhood for snakes. Wandering outside to watch, I see a man in rubber boots, jeans and a cowboy hat with a gently writhing sack at his feet - apparently today's haul. He gallantly offers a look inside, something our pembantu is quick to accept. Nochalantly unknotting the sack and rolling down the sides we can see a mass of squirming snakes, most about as thick as your finger, but a couple more than an inch in diameter. I mention cobras, and get a "yes, two cobras today". Noting a trail of blood on his hand, I say "aren't they poisonous?" and in the best traditions of Indiana Jones, receive the response "yes, very dangerous". Our security guard then returns from the backyard with 3 other men, presumably they've been beating about in the bushes. He states "kosong" - no snakes today in our yard. I reply "bagus (good), please come again...often" as they pick up the sack and wander on down the street to check the next house.

In the house - finally!

We're finally in our permanent (well, 3-yrs anyway) home!! After four months in the hotel, we have moved into a ridiculously large house in a lovely neighbourhood in South Jakarta. The boys are loving the space - Rory is having a great time crawling everywhere - and having a dedicated playroom for all the toys. Will be a shock moving back to Oz eventually, but for now, it's great.

While our initial intention of apartment life didn't pan out (after missing out on 4 apartments in a row we switched to looking at houses), we have managed to get most of the advantages of the apartment with the added bonus of plenty of space - across the street is a park, there are a mass of other kids in the area roughly the same ages for the boys to play with, and we still have access to a pool and tennis courts. The disadvantages of the house are the hassle of managing extra staff (now have gardener, pool guy, security guards), more local wildlife and the lovely aroma of the canal at the back!

Renting in Jakarta is a little different to Australia. Most landlords require rent in advance, usually for the  entire period of tenancy! I'm not sure if this is just for expats, or for everyone, but handing over three years worth of rent up front is a bit daunting! It also provides little incentive for landlords to fix anything once you're in, so it's important to get everything done beforehand. They also seem quite content to renovate pretty much anything for you initially - we've had internal doors added, pool fence installed, exterior walls retrofitted and a number of minor things and I've heard of double glazing, even minor walls knocked out! Of course the standard of work can be a little haphazard - our pool fence was great except for one section (now remedied) that for some reason was a few inches further off the ground than the rest (just big enough for Rory to squirm under!), the exterior lights had no switch, you had to turn them off at the switchboard, and then none of the power points outside (or lights in a cupboard inside) would work either, and our bathroom lights still only come on when they feel like it! I also decided to hang pictures myself after the handymen did the first few by simply banging nails into the concrete - completely unconcerned by the big chips they were knocking off!

I haven't taken any photos yet, but we have 4 bedrooms, 4 toilets, 3 bathrooms, a huge playroom, large office, and massive open plan dining, lounge and family room areas! There is also a lovely pool, yard for the kids to play (although they found the first snake there yesterday - ~70cm long, about as thick as your thumb and no doubt quite deadly, I think cobras are common). For the staff there is an outside kitchen, bathroom and three bedrooms (we're using one for storage). The security guards have also appropriated the cupboard in the garage and lined it with moving paper and bubble wrap - I think so they can grab a nap every now and again! We supply the basics - tea, coffee, sugar, milk powder and rice for our staff (and any roaming security personnel who happen to drop by!) Apparently they like their drinks sweet, as the four of them go through about 500g of sugar a week! It is common for drivers and guards to congregate outside the gates to chat, smoke, play chess or generally hang out waiting for someone to come or go. They thriftily construct seats out of tree stumps, old packing boxes and other bits of rubbish and all know everyone in the street, so the kids are welcomed by name wherever they go.

It's all very different to what we're used to, but (snakes aside) isn't a bad experience so far!

Jakarta driving - rules of the road

I think I have posted previously on driving in Jakarta, but thought I'd add a few comments from recent experiences. I had quite an enlightening discussion with my Bahasa Indonesia teacher the other day on driving, licences and traffic rules in general. We were discussing the word for traffic sign (rambu-rambu) and I asked what the word for a specific sign, e.g. a stop sign, was. Apparently there isn't one, because most drivers only recognise stop signs so other signs are meaningless! The reason for this ignorance? Well, there are two ways of getting a driver's licence in Indonesia - with or without the test. My tutor informed me that a driver's licence or SIM costs Rp50,000 (about $5) and requires both theory and practical test. Or, for Rp300,000 you can get your SIM "tanpa test" (without test) and join the roughly 80% of drivers who have a licence but no verifiable driving skills! My tutor sat the test, failed and subsequently obtained her licence through the "tanpa test" route. One wonders what the incentive for testing officers is in passing prospective licence holders since the alternative is significantly more lucrative.

Moving on from rambu-rambu, I encountered possibly my most difficult Indonesian word yet - pernyebarangan (pedestrian crossing) and once I untwisted my tongue, mentioned that these seemed rather irrelevant since traffic generally neglected to stop for people crossing anyway. This was met with the Indonesian equivalent of "derr!" and the (rather obvious) comment - "80% of drivers have licence tanpa test. What did you expect!?". Silly me!

Refreshments while waiting in the inevitable traffic

I was also informed about the privileges of diplomatic plates (we don't have these) including apparent indemnity from basic traffic rules such as no driving in busway lanes and free parking throughout the city! I'm not sure how much is an official privilege - I suspect not much! On the flip side, my tutor also expressed horror at the difficulty of obtaining a licence in Australia, the cost of fines, and the idea of speed limits less than 150 km/hr!

There are a huge number of police on the roads in Jakarta. Most seem to stand at intersections idly waving cars on, but occasionally they also enforce some of the road rules. As with obtaining a licence, there are two methods of resolution when pulled over by police. The issue can be settled immediately for a small fee, or you can follow the officer to the local station and be issued a ticket. The former is definitely preferred by most of the constabulary! With a number of roads one way only at certain times, local knowledge seems a prerequisite for avoiding this sort of encounter. Apparently the police presence is also highly dependent on the weather - when the rain comes, the roads become complete chaos and police are rarely seen, preferring to be available during relatively normal traffic conditions instead.

While Kieran now has his licence and seems quite happen to play driver when required, I think I will stick to being driven and hope that practical experience and common sense will ensure that all those around me with what might be called "weetbix packet licences" manage to get where they are going safely, so that I can too!

More traffic jam vendors - they sell food, drinks, toy aeroplanes, motobikes, magazines, you name it!

Exploring Jakarta - Pasar Pagi Lama

Feeling like I hadn't experienced much of "local" Jakarta, I decided to try exploring one of the traditional markets - Pasar Pagi Lama (the old morning market), also known as Pasar Asemka.

In North Jakarta, near the old town, Pasar Pagi Lama is a collection of buildings and stalls built under a  flyover. For directions I had the name and a text message "from where you'll get dropped off, walk a couple of hundred meters and there's heaps of stores in the centre - I go through those and to the stores on the other side of the street", rather vague fare, but with trusty driver at the wheel, we were soon in the thick of a maze of stalls and small shops selling a mass of bags, lunch boxes, stickers, pens, soft toys and anything else you might think to stick an angry birds or Ben 10 logo on. The eclectic mix also includes vendors selling balloons, decorations, fake Christmas trees, buckles and clips, light bulbs, cheap kids toys, stationary, wall decor, badminton rackets and other sporting goods (they string the rackets while waiting for customers) and fireworks.

A colourful, crowded and chaotic place, the market is best arrived at early, sans kids, as it gets hot quickly and becomes somewhat un-navigable by car by midday. We arrived around 9:30am and delved straight into the mix, coming up for air a couple of hours later when the crowds started to really slow progress. Surprisingly it was less intimidating than I expected, even as the only white person in sight, although I did keep one hand on my wallet, just in case. Suited to the impulse buyer, something I am, regrettably, not, I relished the sights more than the shopping, enjoying the craziness of being able to buy a disney backpack, umbrella, Christmas decorations and new tennis racket all within 10m and for probably less than $20! It is definitely a good place for buying more than you ever needed of stuff you'll likely never use. Being a wholesale market, purchases are best made in bulk - the price per unit for six or a dozen items often being significantly cheaper than for a single, in some cases ridiculously so, as in my purchase of some wall decor stickers - 1 sheet for Rp 10,000 (roughly AUD $1) or 6 sheets for Rp 18,000 (AUD $1.80)*. I'm still sure there's something seriously wrong with that sort of maths!
*Note: I saw the same stickers today in the Mall across from the hotel for Rp 34,000, still cheap by Australian standards!

Although it took longer to get there and back than we spent actually in the market, and I came home feeling in need of a shower and a cold drink to wash away the dirt, Pasar Pagi Lama is definitely a place I'll return to soon, if only for the fun of wandering around knowing you could buy more than you can carry with the $30 in your pocket!

Everyday life - 3 months in the land of not quite right

My posts have been a bit sporadic lately as we have been experiencing that wonderful thing that accompanies moves to different places, new bugs and viruses! Now granted, kids get sick everywhere, it's just the environment that makes for potentially more exciting times over here! We also been pretty busy sorting out preschool for Eamon and continuing our saga to find a permanent (well, for the next 3 years at least) home.

Our first three months in Jakarta has been, as anywhere, up and down. Encouragingly I think there are more ups on the whole. Some of the downs have been dealing with injury and illness - we've had several bouts of upset stomachs (except for Kieran who is pretty much constantly suffering due to being provided lunch each day at university), the usual run of colds as well as a ruptured tendon in Kieran's middle finger (tucking Eamon into bed at 5am - go figure!) and a couple of episodes of croup - scary in Australia, this is something I'd be happy not to experience again, particularly in a hotel in Lombok, several hours away from anywhere useful. Note to self - research nearest (semi-)decent hospitals before travelling outside Jakarta. Luckily when we're in Jakarta we have access to an Australian doctor and a fairly well-stocked clinic for useful things like prednisone.

Eamon ready for preschool

The biggest bane of our first three months has been finding a place to live. After losing 4 for 4 of the apartments we'd initially wanted to higher bidders, we decided to go for a house instead and quickly found a great place (plenty of room for visitors!). Unfortunately it needed a few repairs and modifications before we could move in and so the tedious process of negotiation, gaining approval, waiting for tenders and finally waiting for the actual work to be done began. Add in 2 weeks of general shutdown over Lebaran and our move-in date is looking to be our 4-month anniversary in Jakarta! Good thing we brought 12 suitcases with us!

The hotel we've been staying in has had a few interesting features. For the first six weeks, the washing machine had a disturbing tendency to produce electric shocks when taking the wet clothes out. I mentioned this to one expat:

ME: Our washing machine gives us small electric shocks when we take the wet clothes out
HER: Small electric shocks? Oh, that's fairly normal here
ME: So it's not dangerous then?
HER: Oh no, it's definitely dangerous

Rory - has grown two new teeth,
 learnt to crawl, pull-up and
cruise while in the hotel

When our pembantu finally got maintenance in, they quickly found the cause - the barrel was live. Since there is no ground on Indonesian plugs I guess this isn't that surprising, but it was certainly disturbing. We've also recently had a run of leaks from the ceiling in the kitchen, ensuite and bathroom. Luckily, maintenance have a remedy for this - they come in with a wet vacuum and dry the ceiling. Since no effort is made to actually fix the cause, the leak generally reappears the next day. We can be reassured that our leak is reasonably minor though as a large chunk of the hotel foyer was streaming water yesterday!

On the up side, we are getting more settled, even minus our own abode. Eamon is attending preschool four mornings a week and we now have help so Rory doesn't have to spend hours in the car each day. We've managed to buy a car and hire a driver, and Kieran is becoming increasingly competent at getting us around on Sundays. Both boys have swimming lessons once a week and there are several playgroups to attend. Even better, I'm starting to explore some of the more interesting markets and sights around the place.

Exploring Indonesia - Lombok

Jakarta basically shuts down for the week of Idul Fitri (and often for the following week too!). This included Eamon's preschool and the university Kieran is at, so we decided it was a good chance to take a break from hotel and city life and head somewhere more relaxed, and hopefully, more Indonesian!

The problem with travelling at Idul Fitri is that everyone does it, so roads become clogged, flights are fully booked and stories of hours long traffic jams abound. Last year, Yanti, our pembantu, went home to Surabaya - a 12hr bus trip that took 16hrs (this year, it took 24hrs!!) due to traffic, and stories of 5hr trips to the airport are not uncommon. It seemed prudent to take precautions and leave early. Kieran managed to find flights to Lombok, an island to the east of Java, and close to Bali for the Saturday night before Idul Fitri. We decided to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport and left the hotel at 4pm for a 7pm flight. Unexpectedly, instead of hitting traffic, we had a clear run to the airport, arriving by 4:30pm to find minimum crowds and that our flight was actually 8pm!  Oh well!

The Jakarta domestic airport has little to recommend it. There are the basic facilities and a few shops, but not much else. Several "lounges" are available to those willing to pay for a place to sit, free softdrinks and small buffet of questionable food. We coughed up, enjoyed the seating and a couple of Sprites and stuck to our pre-packed sandwiches! The flight out was full, late, and low on air conditioning, but otherwise fine. Rory complained vigourously about being constrained (as is his wont) and Eamon happily drew pictures or played with the iPad for the 2hrs.

On arrival at the Lombok airport, conveniently situated in the middle of nowhere, we found our pre-arranged pickup was conspicuously absent (although the hotel did offer to send him immediately if we were willing to wait the hour for him to get there) and so we piled into an outrageously priced taxi and headed for Sengigi Beach. The roads in Lombok were surprisingly good, making for reasonably fast driving, however the celebrations for Idul Fitri (announced while we were in the airport in Jakarta as being the next day) led to many revellers and impromptu celebrations. The worst of which were a group of (probably drunk) young men in the middle of the road who proceeded to hit our taxi as we slowed for them. As some also picked up large rocks, Kieran politely suggested to the driver that maybe he could check for damage later and get the hell out of there! Luckily the boys were both asleep and oblivious to our less than encouraging welcome to Lombok!

Sengigi Beach was lovely. Our hotel was a few kilometres out of town meaning we were a little isolated from restaurants or supplies, but the lovely view over waving coconut palms, black sand beach and volcanic cones on Bali made up for it. Although older and slightly run down, the Bintang Sengigi was clean, peaceful and a great place to unwind and enjoy unpolluted air. The kids pool was a hit with Eamon who loved "practising his swimming" and the beach proved irresistible to Rory who thought sliding straight down the steepish beach into the water the best thing ever!

Getting into Sengigi for a look around was very easy using the bemo (small converted vans with wooden benches in the back and usually minimal dashboard or panels). A slower option is the cidomo, horse driven carts which are also popular, although sadly, not so much around our hotel. Once in town, there were plenty of restaurants, and we enjoyed some quite exceptional food, including local specialties of ayam taliwang (spicy chicken - very good!!) and some very fresh seafood (in contrast, we also had Australian steaks and NZ lamb chops one night for roughly $9!)



Although chilling out by the pool and playing at the beach were the main reasons for going, we were keen to do a little exploring, so hired a car for a day and headed north along the coast and then inland to check out the Monkey Forest which did, indeed, have monkeys hanging out by the side of the road, happily taking food from the hands of less wary travellers than us! (the realisation that rabies, if contracted, is 100% fatal without prompt treatment, even for those vaccinated has been enough for me to declare all animals untouchable, no matter how seemingly cute - which, in fact the monkeys were, except for the baring of extremely sharp-looking teeth!). Continuing on, we found a likely looking lunch spot in a  restaurant above the road with lovely views back to the coast and the Gili Islands. Unfortunately the food was rather less promising than advertised (call me a wuss, but I'm deeply suspicious of chicken satay that arrives cold, in a place with no electricity) so we fed the kids up on biscuits and carried on.

Our next destination was a Buddhist temple with "holy eels" - sounds interesting and attractive to small boys! The temple is at a small place called Suranadi which basically consists of the temple, a rather run-down hotel with extremely cold pools and a few warungs or small shops. The temple was very popular, despite no longer having eels in residence (apparently you used to feed them boiled eggs, but this is no longer allowed so the eels have gone elsewhere) and was quite lovely with spring-fed pools and channels. The real bonus to Suranadi was a paved path through rice padis which allowed Eamon a good view of rice being planted, growing and being harvested. Our day out ended with a stop for some oleh-oleh (gifts) for Kieran to take to university (and some yummy carrot stick chip things) before heading back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, both kids came down sick that night so we decided to cut our losses and head home a day early. Despite only seeing a very small part of Lombok, we were very happy to enjoy some time in rural Indonesia away from the bustle and pollution of Jakarta. Hopefully we can come back again in the next few years!

Ramadan & Idul Fitri

Last week marked the end of Ramadan and the start of Lebaran, or the Idul Fitri celebrations. For those whose ignorance of Muslim culture equals mine, Ramadan is the month of fasting, where devout muslims fast while the sun is up - or as we explained it to Eamon, when some people don't eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset. In Indonesia, where 90% of the population is Muslim, this is "a big deal". Lebaran, or Idul Fitri, is the party at the end of the month of fasting, sort of like Christmas and New Years rolled into one.

Being such an important event in the calendar (albeit one that moves around every year, since it's not based on our calendar but rather on sightings of the moon) I was curious to see what happens. Surprisingly, the answer was mostly "not much". Outwardly, life remained pretty much the same as normal, at least for an expat! The most obvious sign of change was the disappearance of street food stalls and the appearance of curtains or screens over the windows in food outlets and/or restaurants. The first day of Ramadan, the streets felt very empty, as the wooden carts, stalls and random purveyors of all manner of mysterious fried or boiled goodies had vanished. In fact, I'm sure the traffic flowed that much smoother as each street had an extra lane's space to drive on! Apparently these carts don't actually close shop for the month, but congregate in special areas that are then invaded by the masses each night at sunset (or buka puasa - literally "break fast"). Given there are plenty of Chinese, Hindu, Balinese and Christian folk in Jakarta, food is still easily obtainable during the day although I did notice that the price of evening meals in restaurants had increased. At the end of each day, streams of workers would head outside the shopping malls carrying little bags of goodies with which to break their fast. These are usually some small, sweet treat - apparently having too much to start with isn't such a good idea, as all the bending over during prayers makes for an uncomfortable stomach!

As the month progressed, I was warned that tempers would grow short and people would become tired and irritable (fairly reasonably I guess as they spend a good chunk of each night eating or preparing food). However, I have to say I didn't really notice this either. My concerns about the boys eating in the car, spreading delicious aromas around a poor, fasting driver were dashed when he made it known that while Muslim, he didn't really bother fasting (every religion has more and less devout members I guess!) and since our pembantu (helper) is Christian, that didn't seem to be an issue either.

Lebaran, or Idul Fitri provided a few changes. This is traditionally the time when everyone returns home to their village or kampung. Since the majority of people living in Jakarta are from somewhere else, this results in a mass exodus from the city. Apparently trying to go anywhere at this time is next to impossible, with trips to the airport reportedly taking anywhere up to 5 hours! Certainly almost all the flights out of Jakarta were solidly booked. Our pembantu, Yanti, was heading home to Surabaya and expecting the 12hr bus trip to take upwards of 16hrs - not something I'd want to be doing in an un-airconditioned bus full of people! The up-side of everyone leaving, is that during the week of Lebaran, Jakarta is practically empty, the roads traffic-free, the remaining cars generally driven by foreigners enjoying the novelty of re-connecting with their vehicle's front seat. The down-side is that everything pretty much stops. Government offices, many shops and most service-related businesses are closed. Getting anything done in the week of, and quite often the week after, Lebaran is generally considered futile. Again, like the week between Christmas and New Year.

As with Christmas in Australia, Ramadan also seemed to provide a good excuse for shopping, with plenty of sales and special deals available. Gift giving is very traditional at this time, and children usually receive new clothes and shoes at Idul Fitri. Staff also receive a Lebaran bonus of a month's salary which is often used for travel home. Personally I'm waiting to see if the post-Christmas sales have an equal over here!

Making a living

I really wish sometimes that I was quicker with a camera or had the opportunity to stop and take photos whenever I see something cool, strange or just plain interesting! Unfortunately I rarely have that chance, so will try to describe some of them instead.

Something I hadn't expected about Jakarta is the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the city. I guess it makes sense that, in a place where the official average income is about the same as a couple of coffees per day back home, people will find any way they can to make a living. The jobs I've seen people do range from the novel, funny or bizarre to the truly awful.

Many legitimate jobs seem to consist mostly of people spending a lot of time doing not much - our driver gets paid to sit and chat to other drivers for at least 80% of his days. Most shops seem to employ at least two staff members per aisle of products, to prevent theft or assist shoppers I'm not sure. I think there are two so they don't get too bored when customers are scarce. Similarly, at petrol stations there is one attendant per pump, something I'm sure my mum would completely approve of! Even the police find ways to supplement their income (I've been told that the police are only publicly funded 60%, the rest needs to be found from external sources - sounds familiar!). Many provide security at hotels or shopping complexes, others find more inventive ways of generating revenue, such as providing police escort to those who want a fast trip home (approx. $50/day gets you two motorcycle outriders), or even closing the main road for a few hours to allow a resident to enjoy the full performance of his lamborghini!

There are other jobs that fulfil cliches - I have seen gardeners cutting grass around the edges of paths with small pairs of scissors, a particularly pointless exercise although I am sure the results look good. There are also the guys who perform security checks on your car as you enter hotels or malls - the ones with the mirror on the pole to look under the car, a job they often do while smiling at you the whole way around (wouldn't be much point actually looking at the mirror right?). Or those that you couldn't find in any Australian (or other western) city, but are frankly kinda cool, like the chap riding his bike with a helium tank on the back selling balloons and other party decorations, the guy walking around with baskets of baby chicks dyed bright orange, green or blue (why, I have no idea!) or the man with a handcart full of ladies underwear. In fact, you can buy most things from carts or pushbikes - fruit and veg, buckets, mops or brooms, goldfish, beach balls...whatever you fancy!

Then there are those who make their living in slightly more ad-hoc fashion, like jockeys, who for a small fee, will ride with you to ensure you have the 3 people required to use the high occupancy vehicle roads (if you're driving yourself, you can get one with a baby to make up the numbers!). Or the traffic directors who assist drivers onto roads or through intersections by standing in the road to force a gap in the traffic (for a small gratuity). There are bus buskers who will sing for you at your seat until you get off or pay them to stop! At the less savoury end of the spectrum there are the jobs no one would want by choice - people who wade through the canals sorting the waste and rubbish for anything that might have further use.

Probably the most amazing thing I've noticed is that no matter what their means of survival, the people here seem to be happy with their lot. They're almost invariably ready to greet you with a cheery hello and a smile.

Entertaining Eamon - Part 1, Inside Fun

Six weeks in a hotel is a long time for an active 3yr old, especially when the hotel is right in the middle of a city of 20-some million people. Out the front gate are shopping malls, garbage canals and busy roads with no parks in sight. Suffice to say we've had to innovate in order to avoid insanity - or the worst of it anyway.

Since we are by no means the only parents bemoaning dearth of green space and outdoor play space the malls, in true capitalist fashion, have stepped into the void with a multitude of indoor playgrounds and activity centres of varying quality and entertainment value. Our current favourite is Lollipops at Gandaria City in South Jakarta where for between $8-12 (depending on the day) Eamon can run himself ragged in the five levels of netted play space, slide down huge inflatable slides and challenge himself on a high ropes course (complete with helmet, harness and flying fox). If that tires him out, he can then enjoy the quieter side with rides on those things we always tried to avoid paying for in Canberra shopping centres, a turn at air hockey or even fishing for goldfish to take home (something we've thankfully avoided so far!). There's also a toddler play area for the smaller folk that I'm sure Rory will love to explore now he's mobile.

 
Eamon on the high ropes course at Gandaria City - he handled the balance beams incredibly well despite being 3-4m up, and even paused to yell "Cheese" down at me!

We've also spent a fair bit of time at the carnival-style entertainment district in Grand Indonesia - primarily because it is the nearest place to escape to from the hotel. Unfortunately it's less of a place to run and play and more focussed on rides, but Eamon hasn't complained! We've been rather surprised to see him quite confidently tackling not just the high ropes course above, but also the rides below with no fear at all, and a great deal of enthusiasm. A different side of our usually fairly cautious little boy!

Eamon checking out the rides at Grand Indonesia. He happily rode the apple and bouncy camel by himself but took dad along for the flying butterfly bicycle thing to help with the pedalling (the more you pedal, the higher you go).

During the recent school holidays, many of the malls had special exhibits or events on to assist harried parents in entertaining their children. One even added a zoo to its fifth floor along with petting area, butterfly house and fishing! Another had marvellous displays and wonderful trees made of thousands of (artificial) butterflies, the purpose not entirely apparent, but the result quite spectacular. We even found a small squadron of full size sailing boats alongside one set of restaurants/cafes, complete with blue sky and clouds painted on the ceiling.

While I would never have considered myself a shopping mall kinda gal, I have begun to value these monstrosities, not for the shops, but for the desperately needed distraction they provide, for the air conditioning, and for the space to walk Rory in the stroller. The novelty is beginning to pall, even for Eamon, but with 73 shopping malls on my tourist map of Jakarta, I am hopeful that I can find new amusements to occupy us all until we can get a place of our own.

PS. for those thinking we have given up on outside time altogether, part 2 of this is about outside areas we've found to play.