Thursday, September 22, 2005
Travelogue: Jakarta
Accommodation: Shangri-La Jakarta
Cash on Hand: Half a million++ (rupiah lah)
Touching down on a landing strip where there isn't a single high rise building in sight even from the sky above, I said to myself, this CAN'T be Jakarta, right!!? I was correct indeed, they landed in an air force base in Bandung - a town which is 2 hours drive away from Jakarta. The plane stopped for about 20mins before departing to Jakarta again.
Okay, I'm going to cut the 5 days into bullet points and some photos instead of telling you stories, I guess there isn't that much to tell either, afterall it's ViperVR's LAZY BLOG what!!
- Sin items are cheap over there, perhaps they're consider as saint items (cigarettes and alcohol beverages) to me. 2 packs of 20's Malboro cost less than 1 pack of the same size here in Malaysia bolehland; Alcohol beverages are more or less like the duty-free price over here.
- Security checkpoints are everywhere: hotels, business centres, commercial towers, shopping centres, you name it. Everywhere you go, you'll see security guards probing vehicles, checking trunk and undercarriage; Metal detectors are being use by security guards at premises' entrance and lobby to deter suicide bombers, kinda SCARY!
- Traffic is crazy over there, one way streets become two way; Emergency lanes are designed to be abused where two lanes highway with emergency lane can become 4 lanes expressway and if you think KL drivers are bad enough on Federal Highway they're still long way to learn from those Indonesian drivers, especially taxi drivers; cab drivers can stop the car halfway driving the car and shift into reverse gear and make the turn that they've just missed, simply AMAZING!
- Forget about free WiFi at Starbucks in Jakarta, cause there isn't any, everywhere is fee-based (pre-paid cards)
- People over there like to protest over issues (perhaps they got nothing better to do); witnessed two protest events in the city over the 5 days vacation.
- People there might be worshiping their handphones, maybe it's the most valuable thing in their life? I don't know but a six stories shopping centre (as big as Low Yat Plaza in KL) where 90% of the outlets are selling cellular phones, you tell me... It's a little crazy and very competitive business. (ITC Roxy Mas Shopping Centre)
Enough with text, now some photos that I snapped over there:
The most beautiful high rise building in Jakarta
It looks like a shark with its mouth glowing with blue neon light during night time
Hey, we haven't seen anything like this over here
Err... I forgot what they called this statue
Blue Bird Group taxi, trust me this is the only cab you want to board whatever car it may be (Toyota Soluna, Toyota Vios, Toyota Crown and etc just make sure they're Blue Bird Group)
How come we don't have this in Bolehland??? I tell you man, they taste REAL GOOD!
This is how they make good use of the Plasma TVs in Plaza Indonesia a.k.a Plaza EX. There are a few more units on the floor near the entrance too.
Yea, stack them... Stack them high!
Well, I guess that's about it, feel free to comment.
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