Park Lane Jakarta

As we were now experienced travelers, the first thing we done in Jakarta was to go to the train station and book the train out of there. We were planning on leaving Sunday, maybe Monday, giving us 2/3 days there. Of course though, there were no trains available until Wednesday as its Indonesian school holidays (we seem to hit school holidays everywhere on this trip) so we were stuck. For the rest of that day we just got to know the area we were staying in. It ...

... Then we always go with friends to Cafe Batavia, a colonial restaurant / cafe in the Kota (it's in every guide book) and it is okay, reasonable food, not el cheapo, but worth going to get the feeling of old colonial times. A small square with all kinds of small museums etc. Further on is Kelapa Sunda, interesting boats. a nice little trip is to take a small boat around and go to the fish market (pasar ikan), The kampong is an interesting ...

... they come back two minutes later to explain that it is unavailable. We went to dinner at another popular Jalan Jaska restaurant: Memories. I tried to order Gado gado, but they didn't have it available so I ended up ordering a fried chicken rice dish that has become somewhat of a staple food for me lately. The Bingtang beers were actually more expensive for the Oct 1 to Oct 4th time frame at 25 Rp. We guessed that this extra charge may go to the poor employees ...

... The locals were beyond curious, i doubt they'd seen a westerner before. but they didnt "steal me" or "stab me". I had a few locals attempt to "have a word" as some might say but seen as those words werent anything i understand, it could of been anything from "oh really wow i love your skin what moisturiser do you use" to "give me your bloody money or im going to shank you". Needless to say im still here and everything is just gravy. Sumatra next.

... or, where applicable, which famous Hollywood film stars I resemble. On one occasion in Shanghai it was remarked that I looked like a film star but the provider of this compliment was unable to say which one - I made a quick get away in case he said Danny DeVito. In Bogor, however, my lookalikie capabilities took a disappointing turn when it was said that I resembled Mikhail Gorbachev - I mean for f*cks sake, he's like seventy or ...

... 82-85F, but really muggy. It's a little weird being in a tropical city, when I think of it, whenever I've been in a tropical place before I've been on a beach. Jakarta is a bustling metropolis, I took a video on the street last night from the little intersection out front of my hotel so you can see how crazy it is. Pretty cool. It's loud and filthy, but after some of the alleys I've walked down in NYC this is not shocking ...

... dat doe ik maar bij de airco..hahahha Mn appartement is wel ok, ik heb een eigen keuken, eettafel,bank,tv, eenpersoonskamer en een twee- persoonskamer en dan een douche met toilet! Het is allemaal best schoon, moet gewoon wat eigen dingen neer zetten en dan is het prima! De eerste avond kon ik totaal niet slapen en ging dus van slaapkamer naar slaapkamer. Het grappige is...ik dacht niet dat het echt zo was maar ind e 2 persoonskamer als je ...

The best of Sumatra's spirit dwells in her children. Nowhere in the world have I seen such a readiness to smile, wave and say hello. Partly it's because we're bules, I know. "Bule" (pronounced boo-lay) is the term for Westerner, but it is not to be taken as derogatory. If anything, we're like movie stars. When we fair-skinned women walk through the village or ride atop the bus, children of all ages and states of dress, from naked urchins splashing in ...

... Most of the population on Java is Muslim. Various religions, in fact, cohabitate seemingly peacefully on the Indonesian islands. Bali was largely Hindu: stone statues and decorative temples were sprinkled thoughout villages and alongside rice paddies, and delicate colourful offerings were placed on every doorstep. In Java, it is the coulourful mosques that stand out against every town's skyline. These few paragraphs, however, only give a partial picture of ...