A Room With a Viewpoint

My own little paradise, and a new shade of brown

Hi Folks,
This week is holiday season in Indonesia and Jakarta is empty. Even drinking water supply has gone low! So in anticipation for this, I went to Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) last weekend. There are plenty of islands scattered just outside Jakarta, but my chosen spot was Pulau Sepa (Sepa Island).

The trip began at 8 in the morning. The powerful 4 outboard motor boat left the Ancol Marina on time. I was afraid of being seasick so I made a pre-emptive strike with Antimo tablets. The trip seemed to be too long but we eventually got there after 2 hours!

It was a wonderfully small island, with crystal clear water and amazing white sandy beaches. The room, however, was the most expensive available (> Rp. 2 million for 2 ppl) but still was adequate at best.

We jumped into the water straight away, with the rented snorkelling set and fins, and I tried snorkelling for the very first time. It was great! After lunch we rented a boat, and the boatman took us to a nearby ex-island called Tengelam which was now submerged. It had awesome corals and colourful fish all along its sides.

Next day, after a disastrous try at water-skiing where I managed to stand in the water for a total of about 20 seconds, we approached the boatman Jerry yet again, who took us to another island (Pulau Perak) where there was absolutely no one else! The corals there were much closer and also spread over a wider area.

After lunch, it was time to head back home to Jakarta. Overall, the 28 - odd hours spent in Pulau Seribu are unlikely to be forgotten. Ever. Anyone with any doubts about snorkelling should end them right away. When you are right in the midst of the corals, and the fish are swimming all around you snatching bits of bread from your hand, you are in a different world than the one you are accustomed to. And that is what we look for in a vacation, right?

Next Step: Scuba Diving!

Taxi blues

I lost my freaking cellphone... Again.
This time I left it in a Taxi! Now, the rule of thumb in Jakarta is to always take a Bluebird Taxi. It has the best and the most reliable service in Jakarta.

But sometimes you forget/ignore the rules when you're in a hurry. I have left stuff in bluebird taxis before, and have always got it back. This time, however, it was a Putra taxi and of course, no means of retrieving it . :(

AWOL

Yeah, yeah I know... I went AWOL and so I lost most of my regular readers. Understandable. And actually I cherish it. My freedom of speech on this blog is already curtailed due to the presence of family. (YOU SUCK! YES YOU. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! GET OFF MY BLOG. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE)

Anyway, here's a quick update on what has kept me busy the past few months:
1. Gym
2. Orkut
3. GMAT
4. Travelling
5. Work

In that order. I will write in detail about all of them in the coming posts, but right now, I'm depressed 'cause I lost my bloody cellphone and I'm fucking depressed.

Depress, Depressing, Depressed

I MISS THE SEASONS.
And I was beginning to miss blogging, so I'm like back or something. Whatever you call it. I wrote the below in a scrap to someone so thought about blogging it.

But I really miss the seasons. Out here it's the same weather day in and day out. I'm living in a perpetual sense of Deja Vu. Like playing the same day on DVD again and again and again...

I'm sick of not sneezing as soon as I step outside. I sick of no shivering while brushing my teeth in the morning. And most of all, I'm sick of not being able to wear jackets and sweaters.

There is a promised "Rainy Season" at the end of the horizon but I have no idea when it will arrive.

Aaaaarrggghhhhhhh.

Ahhhhhhhh

I'm back, my beloved blog!!!
Sorry for the hiatus, but was very busy at work and busy seeking leisure as well. Have travelled a bit around West Java and lemme tell you it is a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l place. The next few posts will be about these travels, the most interesting one of which was when I went alone.

Anyway, that will come later... But something else first... I recently heard a song called "Terajana" - an Indonesian song of the dreadful but popular "Dangdut" genre.

Now I've heard songs praising drugs and I've heard songs about almost everything under the sun. But never before have I heard a song in praise of another song. The lyrics of the chorus go like this -
"Terajana
Terajana
Itu lagunya dari India"

Which means "Terajana - That's the song from India!!!"
Funny!

24

Well, that is NOT the answer to the biggest question of life, universe and everything, that's just my new age... The birthday came and went a while ago, but it slipped my mind to write about it.

Anyway, it's now updated, but the blog won't be for a while, as I am freakishly busy, in pursuit of a paper that would certify that I am capable of doing the job that I have been doing fairly well for almost two years now. Silly, right?

Meanwhile, remember I was talking a while ago about the smoking ban and all that? Well, the head of Indonesia's national intelligence agency was caught smoking by some reporters in a "Cigarette free zone" (Daerah bebas rokok). They asked him how could he so blatantly violate a recent law... Does he think he is above the law? And all that crap. His response? Absolutely Classic.
Since I am smoking a cigar, I am not really violating the concept of "cigarette free zone!"

Well I for one would definitely pardon him the offence as a reward for being witty (not to mention giving me another thing to blog about!!!)

Pelabuhan Ratu Pics - And the Jakarta Rental Story.

Ello folks,
All interested may point their mouses (or should it be mice?) to the following line and click. I have some amazing pics to share with you guys.
inamesh.blogspot.com

Now that dealt with, lets move on to a more boring issue. Jakarta is probably the only place in the world where apartments are much more expensive than houses! And it is also an owner's market. Being a tenant is a pain. You have to pay a year's rent upfront and you have to pay it in USD!!! And since the bank here (HSBC) charge an extra 5% over the prevailing market rate, we chose to convert our Rupiah into USD using an outside money changer. So we withdrew the equivalent in Rupiah, and returned the next day to deposit the USD, so we could transfer to the house owner.

The cashier was immediately suspicious.
Cashier: Sweet smile. "Sir, since this is such a large amount, I need to ask you about the source of funds."
Moi: "All right."
Cashier: Sweet smile. "Sir?"
Moi: Silly Grin. "I said all right, ask me!"
Cashier: Sweet smile. "Sir, please tell me the source of this cash."
Moi: Dead Serious. "Well, I just sold all my cocaine"
Cashier: No Sweet Smile. Hand on the buzzer, eye on the security. But after a brief pause, and after she gave me the look of the kind that I had last seen on the face of my school principal, and after I gave her the kind of sheepish grin that Clavin so frequently makes - "That is NOT funny sir"
Moi: "I just withdrew it yesterday! You can check the transactions if you want!"
Cashier: Sweet Smile is back. "Ok"

The beauty, the queen, the legend, the ghost

A wonderful wonderful weekend break after a long long time.
Actually, this has been the first trip out of Jakarta since we landed here. This weekend we formed a group consisting of six nationalities, and travelled to a place called Pelabuhan Ratu (Queen's harbour) about 4 hours from Jakarta. We stayed at a cottage bang next to the beach (which was lovely, by the way) and had tons of fun. In fact I'm still reeling from it. Had barbecued fish with rice in the evening, drank bintang into the wee hours of the morning, which was was punctuated by one of the guys' amazing guitar playing to which we all sang intermittently. Next day we went to a hot spring as well.

This is the legend of Ratu Kidul - The Goddess of the south sea:
Nyai Loro Kidul was the daughter of the West Javanese King Prabu Silwangi and his beautiful young Sundanese wife Princess Kadita. Legend has it that she was "taken" by the sea, but her spirit remains. Her favourite colour was green, and so it is recommended NOT to wear anything green else you might be "taken" by her! There are numerous stories of unsuspecting tourists taken in by the Ratu. There is a temple to the queen, and room 308 in the Samudra hotel in Pelabuhan Ratu is "reserved" for the queen.

So this was one of the alluring things about the place, and I travelled there in a green T-shirt and green trousers. Of course, since I'm typing this means that I'm still alive. :) Anyway, the paintings of the queen, even though they might be exaggerated, show that she was exquisitely beautiful. It's a pity she turned evil, eh?

Rules! Rules! Rules!

Damn! The mayor of Jakarta is trying to turn the place into the freaking Middle East! A few months ago, a law was passed that all clubs and discos should close by 1 PM!!! But this was revoked later due to obvious reasons... The Govt was losing lots of revenue.
And then a few weeks ago the sale of alcohol in supermarkets was banned. This is still in effect. We get beer in most places but for anything more potent we need to find shady places or rush to the Duty free shops scattered around. And first week of Feb, Smoking in public places was banned. Even in the open areas along Jl Sudirman and Thamrin!

But now I think the jackass is crossing his limits.
1. Absolutely no sale of alcohol! (Except in 3-5 star hotels and select bars/restaurants for drinking on the spot)
2. No prostitution (This one is in good taste but frankly, overambitious)
3. No physical intimacy, hugging/kissing in public places or places visible to the public (whatever that means)

The penalty? Three months in prison or Rp 15 million fine (Approx. USD 1650)
You know what? This guy kinda reminds me of Pramod Navalkar of Mumbai. The idiot to end all idiots.

But I really feel all this legislation is really difficult to enforce. Especially the one regarding prostitution which, as I mentioned in my last post is more widespread than common cold, and many times more difficult to cure.

Damn ho!

This is a topic that deserves a book in itself but I'll have to consolidate in one post... It's about prostitution in Jakarta.

This is something that is so widespread here that you can't escape it even if you tried. You go to a bar (even some of the most expensive bars in town), talk to someone who seems interesting, and later you find yourself stammering a shocked "no thanks" to the question - "So how much you pay me sleep same you?" It's really scary because intitially it is very difficult to tell the difference. The way they dress, the drinks they order, the way they talk... it is almost impossible to tell.

Digression Begins
And I really used to wonder why such pretty girls with such amazing personalities/conversational skills etc have to go down that road. They can get any damn job they want! Especially sales/front desk jobs etc. I read somehwere that sometimes they do it for fun and sometimes for the extra money, because most of these jobs are really low paying and cannot finance the clubbing/good clothing desires. But once I actually chatted up with one to find the answers, and she told me that she was financing her education with the money. Wow!
Digression Ends

But now I'm a seasoned veteran. :) If one of the first questions is : "Where do you live?"You can be assured that she's a ho. So I'm like "I stay in a kampung nearby, I'm helping the poor. Now if you'll excuse me...". Or if you ask her what she does for a living and she says "Beautician", "Massage" or worse "Nothing"... run like hell. And inspite of all that things still reached the "How much" stage once. Only this time she quoted the amount upfront "I go home same you if you pay me 800,000". "No Thanks". "Why? Too Expensive?". "No, I just don't believe in paying for it".

So after that I completely stopped going to Tiga Puluh, and go to CJ's only if there is a woman in the group. Oh women can tell at a glance. I don't know how but they have this ability.