Trip To Jakarta, Indonesia (Part 2)

Trip to Jakarta, Indonesia: Part 1.

So, we boarded the same flight as the Indonesian maids who were returning home from Dubai. Do Indonesians have their panic button switched on all the time? Because there is chaos the moment they stepped on the plane, off the plane, and on the roads. But in all the madness, I have yet to see an accident occur on the road in Indonesia. Strange but true! You need to have lots of guts and extreme driving skills to drive in Jakarta!


The first day that my family and I were there, we rented a car with a driver to drive us to Bandung. It's a 2 hours drive if you go by the Expressway! But the dumb driver drove us into the villages; so it took us 4 hours instead!! Which is sort of annoying considering clean toilets are hard to come by in a village area.

My mother took comfort in the fact that we get to see the kampungs and enjoy the scenery and see kids travelling back home from school in unconventional transportation. For example, we saw 5 teenage kids with 1 rider on a motorcycle! The road is actually uneven and we're practically driving up and down the mountain! So imagine 6 adults on a motorcycle riding up and down on such terrain! His balancing skills must have been something!

My mother then suddenly burst into tears seeing kids packed in a crowded van (called the Angkot) with some standing precariously at the edge of the doors. But soon she realized this is their way of life. For some strange reason, they enjoy being a stunt man.

So while at Bandung, we made our way to Tangkuban Perahu. It is my second time visiting that place. And during both times, it rained. :( So all we had to see were craters full of rainwater.


Since we reached the peak soon after the rain subside, there were not many visitors around. So since there's no one else, all the peddlers would soon bug us to buy the silliest of things the moment we stepped out of the car; from key chains to premature strawberries that is probably soaked in sulphur, and pens that you don't even know if there is still ink. Some would put on a pitiful face in the hope you would cave in and buy. While others would give up and call us stingy Malaysians. I find it funny. Because to them as long as you are a malay tourist, you are Malaysians.




They also have horse rides you can take at the mountain. I initially wanted to ride one. But I pity the horses so much. The horses in Indonesia are seriously thin and fragile. And they look so sad. Some are so freaking old already! And I think all they were fed with is carrots. I feel so sad for them.



Bandung is also famous for its many Factory Outlets! There's seriously a lot! One of them is the Heritage.

Food
Straight up, Bandung's food sucks. My mother was sure they added coconut to their asam pedas. Which explains the weird plastic taste. But the waiter who served our table is really handsome though. Hehehe....

The nicest restaurant I've ever been to in Jakarta so far is still Pondok Laguna Restaurant! Their gulai kepala ikan (fish head curry) is da bomb!! But it is very thick in coconut juice! I also love their cumi bakar (grilled cuttlefish), lumpia udang (prawn rolls) and ikan gurame!




Yum Yum!!

I think the funniest thing I've ever experienced in a fast food outlet in Indonesia is the free rice that comes with the meal. I can never imagine Mcdonalds serving rice. EVER! Free is known as gratis in Indonesian. Percuma on the other hand, as I was told, means sia-sia or to no end.

Ironically, I have yet to come across any shop selling nasi ayam penyet while I was in Jakarta! It is the craze here in Singapore. But not in Indonesia. Weird. The #1 food in Indonesia is Bakso. Which is not surprising considering bakso is the cheapest meal you can find in Indonesia.

So... what else can I share of my experiences in Jakarta?

Oh yeah!! Everywhere I go in Jakarta, I am always greeted with advertisements for cigarettes! There is even a cafe and a museum dedicated to a particular cigarette: House of Sampoerna. Sometimes I find it weird. People assume Indonesia has some of the poorest people in Asia. And yet these people can afford to sustain their addiction to tobacco.