Kartika Plaza Hotel Jakarta

... dari jalan yang benar,
karenya ia memohon ampunan kepada Allah SWT, Allah maha pengampun dan
tidak ada yang lebih kuasa selain_nya yang dapat mengampuni
dosa-dosanya. Dan
bersegeralah kamu kepada ampunan dari Tuhanmu dan kepada surga yang
luasnya seluas langit dan bumi yang disediakan untuk orang-orang yang
bertaqwa, (yaitu) orang-orang yang menafkahkan (hartanya), baik di
waktu lapang maupun sempit, dan orang-orang yang menahan ...

The flight into Jakarta was a grueling one at 14hrs from start to finish. I nodded off to the Goldberg's shortly after take-off and awoke to see my first glimpses of Indonesia just as we crossed the equator. After a little hassle at passport control (sodding bureaucracy) I finally got a cab into central Jakarta. That journey was nothing short of fascinating, in particular what I learnt of local driving habits. Lanes are apparently ...

... as well in the homes of my friends here. Tables and kitchen counters are slightly lower than standard to accommodate the height challenged here. In fact I often feel like a giant. It is one of the only times in my life where I can say that I have a good view in a crowded room. I can always see what's going on :) Anyway that isn't the case in our apartment. Our friends, Chris and Cynthia, have generously offered us a place to stay in their building. We have a studio with a ...

... was selling them at 18,000 Rp, I declined and returned back to share the bad news. Before I got back though, the local man noticed my empty hands and said "come with me." He went to the store, opened the closed garage door and spoke with the cashier and Indonesian. I am not sure what he said, but it must've been the right thing because I was able to go in and buy one last round. I thanked him many times and he said he had been watching us drink with our new ...

... way to leave Indonesia. Too many people and no where to go. The flight was a delirious bleary-eyed pain fest. If I ever propose sleeping on an airport floor again, please someone tell me that I am a big, big idiot. I landed in Bangkok in one piece (more on Bangkok next time!), but almost as soon as I checked into my hotel I got a super fun case of food poisioning (or something like it). Curse thee, Jakarta airport!!

... bussiin missa luki Pl.Ratu. Tarkistettiin viela muutamalta tyypilta onks bussi oikea ja silta se naytti... Seuraavassa entrissa miten meian seikkailun kavi. Norppa English: Ciao ciao, The shuttlebus to Bogor was a little more pleasant than usually. They had aircon and it was effective. Journey lasted four hrs approximately and we had company too. A woman called Landa (if I recall the name right) sat next to us and chatted with us, nice person really ...

We flew into Jakarta, with a stop over in Surabaya. BAd first impression. Lousy day. The flight was good, but once we landed in Jakarta, the air was so think and smelly of smog. We had a place lined up for that night already, just 2km from the airport, as to be close to the airport and have an easy stopover in Jakarta, before leaving to Malaysia the next day. IIIRRRKKKKK. The ...

... for about 3 hours despite most of it being in Indonesia!! Then today I spent most of the afternoon getting a massage rather than working! def better alternative! I went with Adhe to a meeting with the Asia Foundation, (another NGO) and went out for a 'working' lunch with someone from it and then Adhe has been having back ache so we went for a 90min chinese acupuncture style massage! It was v good.. and only cost the equivalent of about 3pounds ...

... confusing and surrounded by touts. The best bit was the free Gamelan concert which is indonesian traditional music made up of sets of gongs and glockenspiels. It's an aquired taste. So because we just couldn't get enough of this 'wonderful' sound we opted to go to the Ramayana Ballet that evening in an outdoor theatre by a temple. This is a really complicated Hindu story that even with a synopsis written in English we couldn't figure it out. But ...

... next boat (the Indonesian one) and the following bus were on time, although not half as posh as Singaporean transport. In all fairness, they are also about a quarter of the price. While on the bus one teenage kid tried to distract me by taking my book and "reading" it (he didn't speak English) while a couple of his buddies tried to sneak Laynni's little travel bag out from under our seat. Luckily, Laynni saw the bag seemingly moving of its own accord and found ...