Better late than never....Jakarta
Trip Start
Jun 06, 2008
1
4
23
Trip End
Aug 06, 2008
Jakarta,
Indonesia
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Anyway, let's start where we left off.
Our last nigth in Bali was a summary of our nights in Bali all in one. Got some great food for somethign around the lines of 10,000 rupiah (about 1 dollar and 10 cents). Then we dragged Dominique and her "damaged" foot around to some bar to watch a Euro soccer game and spend too much money on beers. Thay cost more than a meal!!! Following that we went to M Bar Go bar where Shady's Kanye West glasses were the hit. Every single person would point and start talking about them as if they were the first ones to notice them, little did they know at least 20 ppl stopped her about the glasses. Following that we went to Bounty (the main Bali club) where I saw the weirdest mix of people I have ever seen. We saw a 80 year old grandma with braids, 2 local kids shirtless who must have been no more than 13, a guy sleeping next to the stage next to the blasting speakers, an older guy at least 70 shirtless talking to girls in their 20s, and I'm sure I am forgetting some.
Anyway, following that, we got a full 4 hours of sleep and then off to the airport for a truly delirious day.
First the plane was 1 hour late which is guess it's normal in asia with low cost airlines.
Once in Jakarta we looked for a bus (not to get scammed by taxi drivers) and 3 mins later we made it to the central bus station. On the bus while staring at my bag in the front to make sure no1 would steal it, I started talking to Richard, some random guy who works in Singapore now from Florida. Richard gave me some tips on Asia and we staretd talking about Marocco...random, I know.
Of course hilw on the bus it started pouring so we had to geta cab form the statio to the hotel and we managed to get a 25,000 ($3) cab when the guy started at 45,000 ($5). We probably got screwed non the less but it was less painful.
Finally we make to the hotel (not the one with worms coming out of the sink) but still something you leave scarred from. First thing I did when we got there was to turn on the faucet...no worms! Everything else tho was falling apart, I mean, the bathroom smelled like a dirty porter-potty in NYC ona hot day. And we paid 11 bucks a night per person, imagine if we payed less!
Shortly after arriving at the hotel we went out in the area to check some local food stalls and we went to teh one that ahd the most locals sitting at it. If they like ti it must be the real thing. I proceeded to order fried rice with chicken heart. No dia why but it ended up being not that bad. Following night I just fried rice with normal chicken...hehe.
The next day we took a bus to Kota, the old Dutch area where the Dutch traders settled a long long time ago. Here everythign is run-down...kind fo like all of Jakarta except for very few areas. We saw a museum which basically only had antique tables and beds. Then we went to get something at this really high class bar/restaurant. An espresso cost me 4 dollars when a more fulfilling dinner the night before only cost me 2.
On the way back we stopped at Block M which was a reallu cool and huge mall like area full of little stores that resembled hole-in-the-wall places in Chinatown, NYC. Kind fo like the market/bazaar in Marrakesh but indoors. After 3 hours there looking for bargains, finding Kanye West glasses so now all 3 of us can wear them out at night, and playing some local Indonesian at winning eleven in a random hole-in-the-wall, we decided we had enough, so we took in the in the atmosphere and everything around us and went home exhausted.
The following it must have been one of the hottest days of our trip so far. We walked around for 4 hours sightseeing and going in South-East Asia's biggest Mosque, before hopping on a bus to get on a plane and it really took a toll on us...especially Dom's foot. Once at the airport we wait forever and finally an hour late ou flight leaves and arrives at 1AM in Kuala Lumpur but although this, we are exstatic to have left Jakarta and it's broken down street, frogger style crossing of streets, busted sidewalks, bargaining for everything mentality.
That is all for Jakarta, now I am writing from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, but that's an entry of its own so...till then, be happy you liver in a place where cabs have meters and bargaining won't become ur worst nightmare.
Ciao
Mambo
