Escape from Jakarta (part 2)

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier World Tour 2011 poster

The British heavy metal legend IRON MAIDEN first concert tour of Indonesia kicked off Thursday night (February 17) at Pantai Karnaval, Ancol, West Jakarta.
 
The original venue as printed in the poster (left) - STADION UTAMA GELORA BUNG KARNO SENAYAN, Jakarta Pusat has changed. Another show will showcase in Bali at Garuda Wisnu Kencana on Sunday, February 20.


This poster was also alike the billboard display that greeted us when we landed in Jakarta on 13 February 2011. Any visitor to Jakarta would not have missed it as the posters and billboards can obviously be seen along the road leading into the city.

Roadside stall, a common sight in Jakarta

Despite the hype on TV and on the internet, we however did not notice any excitement amongst the locals here.


When I pointed out to the large billboard to my wife, the taxi driver did not give any hint that the locals were excited about it although all along we were talking about Jakarta, the transport system and how to move around in the city.


In the news we also read that the Majlis Ulema of Indonesia (MUI) had condemned Valentine's Day by saying it is haram (forbidden for Muslims).


However, different chapters of the MUI are divided on the edict or the type of prohibition on the V-Day celebration. MUI branches in North Sumatra, West Java and West Nusa issued the haram edict while the branch in Yogyakarta said it was not haram (as per the printed version of Jakarta Post).

A Valentine Day gift service advertisement in Jakarta

On 10 February the Dumai chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Riau also agreed that the celebration of Valentine’s Day is haram but the news report on 12 February has the MUI backtracked on its earlier decision:

MUI backs down on Valentine’s Day ‘haram’ call

MUI's edict department chairman Ma'ruf Amin (pic below) said that Valentine's Day, which falls Monday this year, should be received as an "ordinary get-together", or silaturahmi.

Ma'aruf Amin

And it so happens that the second day we were in Jakarta, Monday 14 February was when the locals celebrated Valentine's Day.


No, this was not the reason why we were in Jakarta. We were here just for our holidays which coincided with our anniversary (or the other way around).

The Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel, Jakarta

And it was a really busy day for most of the locals. In central Jakarta where we stayed (Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel) it was 'macet' on all nearby roads leading to everywhere. "Macet' is the colloquial term for traffic jam.


In Denpasar, Bali on the same day, it was reported that thousands of youth in the city flooded souvenir and flower shops to buy Valentine’s Day gifts, causing traffic congestion on main thoroughfares all over the capital city.

The Jakarta Post report: Valentine’s Day fever hits Denpasar youth

Me, in front of the tour bus we boarded to Kota Wisata

It rained cats and dogs in the morning when we set upon our journey to Kota Wisata Cibubur on a tour bus. Kota Wisata Cibubur is a suburb of Jakarta, a new residential area and a tourist destination located south of the city, near Bogor. 


The bus driver told us there are many Malaysians (and Singaporeans) owning bungalows, villas and investing in real estates in Kota Wisata.


For context read a local blogger's concern about foreigners owning strategic assets in Indonesia: Kapan ya Indonesia Punya Perusahaan Negara Sekuat Temasek dan Khazanah?


It took us an hour to travel to the place. The co-driver kept pestering us to have our meal at his friend's stall and even stop us in front of 'Pak Amir's', convincing us that the stall is halal. 

Breakfast at Ali's nearby Kg China in Kota Wisata Cibubur

We had our breakfast there and my wife did some shopping or 'belanja' for about an hour at Kampung China. As it was raining quite heavily we also shop for umbrellas.



On the way back, the traffic was again at its usual 'macet' situation. The journey back to Jakarta took us almost 2 and a half hours and all the roads leading to the city were flooded heavily. 


We wanted to stop by WTC Mangga Dua to do some more shopping or just browse around, but the bus went straight to where we boarded it earlier in front of ITC Mangga Dua. We tried asking a Bajai driver if he could take us to WTC but he refused and said the road leading to the place is flooded.

My favorite Nasi and Sup Buntut

Feeling a bit disappointed we settled for lunch at the food court in ITC Mangga Dua, located on the 7th floor. I had my favorite nasi and sup buntut and my wife had her usual lontong. The sup buntut was okay, but she complained that the lontong was not as tasty as the ones we usually had in Malaysia or Singapore. 


After lunch, we gave another try to get a Bajai and on the third attempt the driver agreed. After some swifts, turns and emergency braking ordeal, we arrived there in one piece about an hour later. 


I told my wife we could have reached there 30 minutes earlier on foot (for context read my earlier posting) but the water level would not make it easy for us to walk with our shoes on as we were not wearing slippers or sandals. 

Bajai driver in action

Before reaching WTC we alighted and paid the Bajai driver 15,000rp as requested. On a normal day, the ride could only cost us 5,000rp the most.



But WTC Mangga Dua was also a disappointment as the products traded there were about the same as Mangga Dua Square. Even ITC Mangga Dua was better, my wife said. 


We were at Mangga Dua Square the night before and we found that the place to shop for quality materials here was only at its Factory Outlet store where my wife bought some shirts for the kids. We wanted to see and buy some branded products like Adidas, Nike, Sketchers, Gucci, LV, Coach and the like. But we were later told that the nearest place these 'barang asli' or original products can be found at Plaza Indonesia or Grand Indonesia Shopping Town.

The shopping queen from Penang

So we tried to flag a taxi to go there, but to no avail. The traffic was moving at snail pace and it was unlikely we could get a taxi to stop as they were all occupied. 


Feeling tired and restless, we opted to walk to Mangga Dua Square opposite WTC. Here my wife had another lunch at the lower level food court beside Carrefour as she said she did not finish the lontong she had at ITC earlier (...duh!).



Feeling unsatisfied with what Mangga Dua Square has to offer, we again tried to flag a taxi from there. One taxi driver stop at its parking bay, but when we wanted to board it, he pulled the windscreen and muttered 'capek' and told us to wait for the next one. 

No 'Coaches' in Jakarta

Another one stopped and we got into it. However, the driver persuaded us not to use the ARGO meter as he said it could take 3 to 4 hours to reach to our destination as the roads are 'macet'. He spoke in a very dialectic way and it was not easy to comprehend. But we understood that he was persuading us to pay more than the usual charge. The reason -- the roads are 'macet'



We did finally pay him more than the usual charge of 10,000rp (as we had paid for the night before for the same distance). But we gave up as we were also 'capek' and instructed him to instead send us back to our hotel. 



I gave him 20,000rp but he asked for more. I added another 4,000rp and he thanked us. To tell you the truth, I do not like it when after I have given or paid a person more than the usual intended price of a service or product, he/she asked for more.  

The reason I relented was because I was traveling with my wife and she is somehow the 'kesian' type who would give in to people who she thinks is genuinely poor. I consider it good to feel 'sorry' for other people's misery, but I feel really bad if I think the person has used his/her persuasion to make us feel sorry for their sometimes deliberated or overacted desolation.


On the next day, which I will tell present to you in the next episode (part 3), I had concluded that most Indonesians I see toiling their sweat on the overcrowded streets of Jakarta, Cisuara and Bogor are really hard pressed for money, making them what I call desperados, whether they try to show it in their faces or not. 

But being desperados doesn't mean they are bad. They are just hard pressed for jobs and money to pay for a better living, which they can hardly find in their own country. Willfully, many Indonesians took the trouble to find enough money needed to come to Malaysia to find jobs in the intention to endow themselves and their family a better living in this world.  

All this to satisfy this hard-pressed desire to be better off than they already are. 

But to satisfy this desperation (as being desperados), we can choose to do it the noble way or by hook and crook (persuasion, begging, cheating, robbing or manipulating)....

But when we come to a psychological point of desire like a need for a philosophical belief to satisfy our conscience, we will then search aimlessly...(now I'm rambling) like a lonely soldier fighting in a bloody hopeless war...for reasons we ourselves do not know why...like the lyrics from one of Iron Maiden's song, "Mother of Mercy".


....I'm just a lonely soldier fighting in a bloody hopeless war

Don't know what I'm fighting, who it is, or what I'm fighting for

Thought it was for money, make my fortune, now I'm not so sure

Seem to just have lost my way...