Jakarta Tales Vol 1 (contd)

HOME SWEET HOME?

After an hour and a half during which I didn't manage to find out where the "Transit Terminal Mall" ended, I headed for my Singapore Airlines flight to Jakarta. As usual, I was late (even though the flight itself was delayed...haha) and the last one to board the plane. The flight was great. It was short and with it, the hostesses got prettier. An hour and fifteen minutes later, the in-flight announcement informed me that we were about to land at Jakarta. My heart started pounding. I was finally getting there - the place I had decided to call home for the next year.

My first glimpses of Jakarta from the plane were impressive as well as disappointing. I could see several ships, cruises and speedboats below us heading out into the vast sea leaving a trail of white surf behind them. In the distance, I could see tall high-rises and further ahead, even taller mountains. And as we drew nearer, I could see slums as well.

Soekarno Hatta International is massive as well but nothing compared to Changi (the pilot took 10 minutes to find the right gate :) . One word of caution - henceforth, whatever positives I mention about Jakarta are to be multiplied 5 times to be compared to Singapore and twice to be compared to Kuala Lumpur. The only exception to this is when I talk about the people in which case you should reverse the equation.

Now let's get back to what I was saying. Inside, the airport is hi-tech and unlike Singapore, has a character of its own. While Singapore is too futuristic, the Soekarno Hatta International building is made like a "pagoda" in traditional Indonesian style contributing to the ambience of a country resort. I completed my formalities and headed out for the exit gate. The AIESEC Jakarta team was supposed to be there to pick me up and they came. 30 minutes late. I took this opportunity to go to a "warung" and call my family to inform them that I had reached safe and sound.

While I waited outside the McDonald's outlet near the exit gate, taxi drivers and car operators swarmed towards me like bees and I asked myself, "It happens only in India?"

The AIESECers came and off we were in a slick Toyota sedan. I must say, I was overwhelmed by their hospitality. They continuously apologized to me for being late and talked to me at length about my flight, my background and India. I felt like I was representing Brand India at a forum.

Along the way, I saw Mumbai. Yes, I am serious. I sawMumbai. Broad and smooth roads, expressways and slums. Carrefours, Giants, K Marts, Ikeas and slums. Skyscrapers, beautiful buildings and slums. Glitzy restaurants and roadside vendors. Limos and hand-pulled carts. My first reaction was "Oh shit, this is what I hadn't hoped for! What happened to the internationalism of Jakarta I had heard of?"

On enquiry, the three AIESECers responded in unison and confirmed what I had read about briefly in Lonely Planet in the run-up to my trip. From 1990 to 1997, the ASEAN capitals - Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta - were running neck-to-neck in terms of progress and development. But the 1998 Asian financial crisis plummeted the Rupiah and the Indonesian economy into a coma from which it is still recovering. While Singapore and Malaysia took the crash in their stride, Indonesia (due to its corrupt government and "rich vs poor" economy could not sustain it. The bubble had burst. The illusion that everyone was rich was gone. As if that wasn't enough, the Bali and Mariott bombings and the tsunami played their roles to add to the demise. For facts, the Rupiah fell from 1300 to a dollar to 12,000 in 1998. It has stabilized somewhat at 9,000 today.

An hour later, I was amused to know that we were still far away from my boarding house. There was little traffic since it was Sunday, we had been traveling at about 100 miles an hour so what was the problem? The distance. Jakarta is huge. Nah, its too huge. The airport is 80km from South Jakarta - the closest to the airport - and the city is divided into five parts:North, South, East, West and Central. It takes three hours by car to get from North to South or East to West with traffic and an hour without traffic. "An hour without traffic" is a distant reality the locals have been praying for the way they did for Moses to part the Red Sea. They hope, someday, it will happen.

We reached my boarding house that turned out to be twice as expensive (120USD) than what had been communicated to me by the AIESECers before I arrived here. They said the cheaper place did not have any spare rooms at the time so they had to go for this one. They were right. I checked out the other place before agreeing to go with this one. Eventually, I took it. I've decided to stay here for the first month. In the meantime, the AIESECers, my office colleagues and I are gonna look for a cheaper place that meets three criteria: a) it's in the same area as my office or closer to it than where I am right now, b) it's cheaper and c) it's as international and culturally diverse as the place where I'm staying right now.

It's not that I hate my boarding house. I like it. It's a 3-storeyed building with 3 rooms, a furnished living room with a tv, a kitchen and refrigerator and a bathroom on each floor. It's not too far from my office. It's clean and spacious. The rent includes laundry and ironing and the electricity bill. My room is on the 2nd floor and has an air-con like all the others. I can come in and go out anytime and most importantly, I've got wonderful dorm mates. There's a Korean guy and a Dutch guy and an Indonesian girl onthe 1st floor, a Canadian writer and an Indonesian girl and myself on the 2nd, two Indonesian guys and a Danish girl on the 3rd. There's a German guy moving in within three weeks on the terrace.

But, all said and done, it's expensive.

My tours of Jakarta, so far, have been limited to South Jakarta because everything else is so far away. And that too, I've just seen ¼ of the South. They've been mostly to "warungs" and "warnets" for calls and checking my mails; to Carrefour, Matahari, Starbucks, Gloria Jeans and California Pizza Kitchen (a 3-storeyed pizza place where each floor serves a different style of pizza) for my groceries, more groceries, coffee, more coffee and pizza; the Pondok Indah Mall (double City Centre, divide it into two blocks and put an expressway through it, then connect the two blocks with a travellator on the 2nd floor), the National Monument (nothing so impressive) and to the Cilanda Town Square Shopping Mall (sprawling, sprawling and sprawling).

With regards to the food, I've tried beef fried rice, sushi (I never knew it tastes so good) and prawn chips. Apart from that, I got to try out a Padang meal at a balcony party thrown for me by the AIESECers yesterday. And that was the best cultural experience I've had here so far. Those who would have delighted themselves in the fact that I hate spicy food, rejoice! If you thought Indian food was spicy, try a Padang meal.

Vegetarians, get ready to puke! Actually, I almost did too. The meal is a very interesting concept. 15-20 dishes are first laid out on the table. Each eating member is served a glass of hot green/jasmine tea and given a small bowl of rice. You can choose what to eat. Whatever remains is thrown away instantly so that Satan doesn't pamper himself! But what shook me was the dishes that were laid out: cooked squid, cow brain, cow intestines, fried and sauted crab, spicy fish, the leaf of kasafa (sweet potato that ain't sweet but spicy), duck soup and the works. I just helped myself to some bar-b-cued chicken and corned beef and politely declined the rest not wanting to insult my hosts.

And believe you me, the Indonesians love rice. All they eat is that. And fish and beef. Chicken is considered lowly and is the cheapest. I've already made friends with all my neighbours, Thomas - an AIESEC "intern" from Germany working in Jakarta with Allianz and Adrian from Mexico who works with the AIESEC Indonesia National Committee. He's from Mexico and a really nice guy. He stays just down my lane in another "kost".

Enough of sounding like a host on "Travel and Living", now for the most important part and the reason why I'm here in Jakarta - my work. Well, I came to office for the first time today and am right here. Yesterday was a national holiday here and I landed on a Sunday. My office is small (add creative and servicing at Bates minus the studio and corporate) but very interestingly done up. The infrastructure is slick and almost everyone has a laptop including myself.

I met my colleagues (Andi, Rayendra, Kevin, Dewi, Lino, Yanti (all Indonesian) and some others and was taken for an office tour. My immediate boss is traveling for work and will be back on the 14th. But he's done his homework. Or actually, he's left a lot for me to do. I've gotta work on a presentation and get it ready by the time he comes.


Cheers
Yousuf