Jakarta, Indonesia (2)
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It is 30th January, 2011 morning and we are off to Jakarta to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my son and his family. Our last trip here was in February, 2010 when my daughter joined us and we stayed in Jakarta for a week. This time my wife and myself decided to stay for 2 weeks so that we can see more of Jakarta.
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We had our reunion dinner at home. Since we came a few days before Chinese new year we had time to get things ready for our steamboat dinner. At the market the chinese population here can be seen also preparing for their Chinese new year reuniondinner. To add excitement to the occasion the "lion "came dancing to entertain the crowd and to collect "red packet" from the market stall operators.
steamboat - waiting for the soup to boil
The different condition between the city center and the outskirts/villages is so great that I cannot describe in words. During our numerous trips to town/supermarket I remarked that we were like traveling in small backlanes/alley - very narrow and full of potholes. According to my son these "narrow backlanes" are their network of roads. Hats off to the Indonesian drivers who have to use these narrow-pot-holed-two-way-traffic-congested lanes every day.
Jakarta city
These are the scenes out of the city. The poor are very hardworking just to earn their daily bread. Selling petrol in bottles? Most probably for motor cycles - many on the road. Push carts selling all types of food and drinks are everywhere.
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The school that the American president attended when he was a boy is now some sort of tourist attraction. There is a plaque on the entrance pillar with his picture. My wife, daughter-in-law and granddaughter could not resist posing at the pillar. As for myself, I decided to stand next to the statue of little Obama. It is a small school but well maintained and clean.
We went on a public holiday and there were others taking photos around.
We went on a public holiday and there were others taking photos around.
Nearby to the school, which is in the Menteng area, there is a stretch of road called Jalan Surabaya or Surabaya street market. This is a must visit place and it is not a wet market. Here you can find all sorts of old items or antique, genuine and not so genuine. I understand that this place is 30 to 40 years old and started with just a few stalls. Now a whole stretch of stalls line the street.
It would seem that this place is not crowded anymore and one can spend time going through the interesting items for sale. They also buy old items not wanted anymore. With time at hand this is a good place to hunt for a good bargain.
It would seem that this place is not crowded anymore and one can spend time going through the interesting items for sale. They also buy old items not wanted anymore. With time at hand this is a good place to hunt for a good bargain.
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 carving an elephant tusk |
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Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia and located at the northwest coast of Java. The estimated population here in Jakarta is 10 million people. What a huge crowd. Traffic jams are all over, in the city and outskirts, day in and day out. Some days we do not want to go out when we think of the traffic and the time wasted. So more time is needed if we or other visitors really want to see this place.
