Been to Jakarta last week. My second time. I must say, besides the horrendous traffic conditions, actually a nice place. The budget terminal is rather nice and clean. A great welcome. You can walk in the middle of a street in downtown and people will just skirt around you. No honking, no near-misses. At the end of the week, everyone in the street would holler "Salamat Pagi!" when I lumbered down the street to grab my breakfast.
People are very friendly and helpful. Ok, they may not hold masters in English, but one gets by. Here we see the "phone shop people" loading some credit onto my phone. What joy. Although I did not have a chance to ride one, I thought the grasshopper looking thingies were fun vehicles. 3-wheeled tuk-tuks. Berentengtengs.... Lots of noise and 2-stroke smoke. But apparently very cheap and given the size likely to go through the thickest traffic.
To top things, there were demonstrations. The government planned a 60% price hike for petrol. That did not sit well with the people and they took to the streets. Result: an empty exhibition hall were I was supposed to launch a new brand.
Maybe it is time to go back to Jakarta and have another look, make it a family trip.
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