#816 - Nine Things From Jakarta

ENGLISH

Last weekend, I went to Jakarta accompanying my parents as they went there after getting super cheap tickets from one well-known private airline in Asia :-) Well, I had several experiences during my trip to the capital city of Indonesia.

1. When we are in Bandung, avoid allocating "just" 40 minutes before your travel (van-share) departure, especially on Saturday, because the traffic jam in Pasteur (where some of the departing points located) is severe. I almost missed my trip to Jakarta last Saturday, as I arrived just 2 minutes before the departure time. It turned out that because of the traffic jam, the van was also late, hahaha...


2. I actually wanted to give some tip to the security who helped me get a cab in Jakarta. However, there was this huge sign everywhere telling customers not to give tip away. Well, I gotta play by the rules. So, it's not my fault that I was being stingy, Mr. security :-)


3. Riding a busway (Transjakarta) is still fun. However, some busway bus-stops still need to be overhauled. Sometimes the bus stops pretty far away from the bus-stops and the passengers had to literally hop from the platform to the bus. It's kinda dangerous... . Anyway, I always like the concept of a metropolis having a comfortable public mass transport :-)


4. Innovation is always cool!! So, I caught this one cab and it was equipped with personal TV for the back-seaters. Well, what set it apart from the other was that the TV aired some cable channels!! Wow!!


5. This is quite funny :
   
   


• So, my parents and I had dinner at this restaurant not so far away from Glodok, and this was the menu book we got!! You can see that there was NO writings in Latin, ONLY in simplified/traditional Chinese. How was I supposed to understand?? All I understood was the price, hahaha... . Well, we could guess several menus based on their pictures, but we mis-guessed a lot as some menus looked so similar with others :-D


• Look at one menu that I circled above. You know I guessed several menus based on their pictures, and my best guess for that circled menu was: turtle!! I was not sure with that and I asked the waitress, and she confirmed it!! Well, I just never thought that a turtle will be eaten still in a shape of a turtle!! hahaha....


6. Jakarta is crazy. Usually, when we go to a mall and want to find a place to eat with affordable price, our aim should be the food court. However, in a high-class mall (in Jakarta), a food court is still "expensive", at least for me, hahaha. So, I wanted to eat this steak as it looked so delicious, but when I checked the price, it was about Rp 75,000.-!! WTF!! I crossed that stand from my possible-to-have-meal-at list and moved somewhere else. Finally I got this Singaporean Roasted Duck rice (picture below) at Rp 30,000.-, a pretty sensible price :-) Yeah, I am a bit stingy at times.


7. Being a (successful with a world-wide reputation) doctor will make you rich. On Monday evening, I accompanied my dad to go to his cardiac doctor. Because my dad registered "late" (one month before the date), he got number 28 on the queue that day. When I checked the list of patients that day (just for a fad), I found out that my dad was on page 2, out of 5!! The doctor started his practice at around 8 PM and finished at around 2 AM the next day. In the morning of course he had several medical actions to do. How much money does he get in one day?? Hmmm.... . But it's really tiring though, having to work about 18-20 hours a day. That is one reason (of some) why I was never interested to be a doctor :-) People have to be really dedicated to be one.


8. I will never feel sorry for someone who breaks some rules (probably for me or my behalf but without my permission) and gets caught. So, I caught this cab on the way back to our hotel. The drivers just went through some red lights and made a u-turn in a forbidden place. Okay, he might want to "help" us so that our taxi fee would have been lower and that we would arrive at our destination some seconds faster, or probably he just wanted to get his job done ASAP, thus, for his own behalf. In the end, he got pulled over. Well, I never asked him to break those rules, even I was about to warn him not to break any more rules as I am willing to pay a bit more but he follows the rules, that was just before some policemen pulled him over. Should I thank him? or feel sorry for him? Somehow I just don't feel obliged to do so ...


9. It is kinda ironic that a traffic jam occur in a high way. During my trip back to Bandung last Tuesday, there was a severe traffic jam, which eventually caused me to arrive late at Bandung, and eventually gotta miss The Amazing Race 16's finale this week.

::: One spot of the city of Jakarta.

::: A very tasty "Two Flavor Kaylan" I had at Duck King last Saturday. The vegies were so crunchy, which is really unique!!

::: A Rp 30,000.- Singaporean Roasted Duck Rice.

::: Even though it had not been raining heavily recently, Jakarta still had some drainage problems.

::: Some beef and pork. I do not really enjoy this kind of menu actually.

::: A picture of a flyover I took while I was bored being trapped in the traffic jam during my trip back to Bandung.

::: A cheese burger I had while we were resting at the Rest Area.


BAHASA INDONESIA

Akhir minggu lalu, aku pergi ke Jakarta menemani orangtuaku karena mereka kan dapat tiket super murah dari salah satu maskapai swasta terkenal di Asia :-) Yah, aku memiliki beberapa pengalaman dari perjalananku ke ibukota Indonesia ini.

1. Ketika kita di Bandung, kita harus menghindari "hanya" mengalokasikan waktu 40 menit sebelum jam berangkat travel, terutama di hari Sabtu, karena kemacetan di Pasteur (beberapa titik keberangkatan kan disana tuh) parah banget. Aku nyaris ketinggalan travel-ku lho, karena baru tiba 2 menit sebelum jadwal keberangkatan. Eh ternyata kemacetan parah itu juga menyebabkan travel-nya telat, hahaha...


2. Aku sebenarnya ingin memberi tip ke satpam yang sudah membantuku mencari taksi di Jakarta. Cuma saja ada plang gede banget dimana-mana yang memberi tahu pengunjung untuk tidak memberi tip ke petugas. Ya sudah deh, aku harus mengikuti peraturan kan. Jadi, bukan salahku loh kalau aku pelit, Pak satpam :-)


3. Naik busway (Transjakarta) masih mengasyikkan juga. Namun, beberapa haltenya tetap harus diperbaiki tuh. Masa kadang bisnya berhenti agak jauh dari halte sehingga penumpang harus benar-benar melompat untuk naik ke bis, kan bahaya... . Ngomong2, aku selalu suka konsep kota metropolis dengan transportasi publik yang nyaman :-)


4. Inovasi itu selalu keren yah!! Jadi, kan aku naik suatu taksi nih dan ternyata taksinya dilengkapi dengan personal TV untuk penumpang di belakang loh. Yang menjadi spesial adalah TV-nya menayangkan channel di TV kabel!! Wow!!


5. Ini lucu nih :
   
   


• Kan ceritanya aku dan orangtuaku makan malam di restoran ini yang tidak jauh dari Glodok, dan ini adalah buku menu yang kami dapat!! Bisa dilihat bahwa TIDAK ADA tulisan dengan aksara Latin, CUMA dalam tulisan Cina tradisional/tersederhanakan. Gimana aku bisa mengerti nih?? Yang aku ngerti cuma harganya aja, hahaha... . Hmm, kami bisa sih menebak beberapa menu hanya dari gambarnya, tapi ya banyak juga tebakan salah karena beberapa menu kan kelihatan mirip satu sama lain :-D


• Lihat deh di menu yang aku lingkari di atas. Tahu lah aku menebak beberapa menu berdasarkan gambarnya, dan tebakan terbaikku untuk menu yang aku lingkari itu adalah: kura-kura!! Aku nggak yakin dengan itu dan nanya ke pelayannya, dan dia membenarkannya!! Hmm, aku nggak pernah menyangka aja kalau ada kura-kura dimakan dengan masih berbentuk kura-kura!! hahaha....


6. Jakarta itu gila ya. Biasanya, kalo kita pergi ke mall dan nyari tempat makan dengan harga terjangkau, food court selalu jadi bahan pertimbangan kan. Nah, di mall kelas atas (di Jakarta), food court pun masih "mahal", paling nggak untuk aku, hahaha. Jadi, aku kan ingin makan steak di suatu stand nih karena kelihatan enak, tapi ketika lihat harganya, Rp 75.000,-!! WTF!! Aku langsung nyoret stand itu dari daftar kemungkinan-tempat-untuk-beli-makanan dan pindah ke stand lain. Akhirnya aku mendapat nasi bebek panggang ala Singapura (gambar di atas) seharga Rp 30.000,-, masih masuk akal nih harganya :-) Ya, kadang-kadang aku memang pelit.


7. Menjadi seorang dokter (yang sukses dan memiliki reputasi mendunia) bisa bikin orang jadi kaya yah. Senin malam, aku menemani papaku pergi ke dokter jantungnya. Karena papaku "terlambat" mendaftar (sebulan sebelumnya), dia mendapat nomor urut 28 di daftar antrian hari itu. Ketika aku iseng mengecek daftar antriannya, papaku ada di halaman 2, dari 5 halaman!! Dokternya memulai praktek sekitar jam 8 malam dan baru beres sekitar jam 2-an pagi. Padahal paginya dia juga tentu ada beberapa tindakan medis yang dilakukan kan. Bayangkan, berapa tuh uang yang dia dapat dalam sehari?? Hmmm... . Tapi memang melelahkan sekali sih, harus kerja 18-20 jam sehari. Makanya itu adalah satu alasan (dari beberapa) mengapa aku tidak ingin menjadi dokter :-) Seseorang harus bener-bener berdedikasi tinggi sama tanggung-jawab itu tuh soalnya.


8. Aku nggak akan pernah ya merasa kasihan sama seseorang yang melanggar peraturan (mungkin demi aku atau kepentinganku tetapi tanpa persetujuanku) dan akhirnya tertangkap. Jadi, kan aku naik taksi nih untuk kembali ke hotel. Namun, sopir taksinya menyetir dengan melanggar aturan seperti menerobos lampu merah dan berputar balik tidak di tempat yang seharusnya. Oke, memang mungkin dia ingin "menolong" kami sehingga biaya taksinya jadi sedikit lebih murah atau agar kami tiba di tempat tujuan beberapa detik lebih cepat, cuma bisa saja kan dia sekedar ingin pekerjaannya cepat selesai, yaitu, demi kepentingannya sendiri. Akhirnya, dia ditilang polisi deh. Yah, aku kan nggak pernah memintanya melakukan itu, bahkan aku hendak mengingatkan dia untuk nggak melanggar aturan karena aku bersedia koq membayar sedikit lebih mahal tetapi dia patuh pada peraturan, cuma dia uda keburu ditilang polisi aja. Perlukah aku berterima kasih padanya? atau merasa kasihan? Koq aku tidak merasa harus melakukan itu ya ...


9. Ironis juga kemacetan terjadi di jalan tol, jalan bebas hambatan. Di perjalanku balik ke Bandung hari Selasa lalu, ada kemacetan sangat parah yang menyebabkanku tiba terlambat di Bandung dan akhirnya harus melewatkan episode final The Amazing Race 16 minggu ini deh.