Jakarta

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Jakarta needs more people? Jakarta?

Glodok area of Jakarta

Tonight I attended a presentation by a couple of researchers from the World Bank. One of them made the “counterintuitive” assertion that Jakarta’s public transportation required greater density. He then mentioned, among other places, Curitiba, Brazil – the home of Bus Rapid Transit – as a model. When I spoke with him afterward, he again contended that 1) greater density, by itself, would lead to improved public transit in Jakarta and 2) Curitiba was denser.

So what’s wrong here? Continue reading →

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Southeast Asian toilet signs, Nos. 3a-3d

All four(!) of these signs were in the same stall. No need to take a magazine! The middle sign indicates the location: the Cikini branch of KFC in Jakarta.

The translation on the top sign is a little loose. More literally, it reads: “Honored customer, please do not throw toilet tissue or pads into the toilet because it can cause the toilet to be clogged. Thank you.”

The bottom sign says, “Honored customer, please do not urinate on the floor. Thank you.”

Actually, in referring to urination this sign uses the phrase, “throw little water.” And what everyone translates as “thank you” is literally the command, “receive love/affection.” While we’re at it, I’ve translated “customer yang terhormat” quite literally as “honored customer”; most people render it as “dear customer,” which is a bit of an alteration but certainly more colloquial.

I had to take this photo quickly because someone else entered the bathroom right then. (Just in case taking pictures in a bathroom somehow doesn’t look right to Indonesians.) The sign was above the toilet-paper dispenser. It says: “From each sheet of toilet tissue that you use, a tree has been felled. So using it effectively and efficiently saves our world.” I don’t know why it says ‘from,’ but probably you get the idea.

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You’re not qualified to work at Dunkin’ Donuts.

Help-wanted sign at Dunkin' Donuts. Click for larger image.

Here are the qualifications for working at Dunkin’ Donuts in Jakarta, as posted on the window of an outlet at a gas station. If you’re a relatively tall, thin, young, and attractive high school graduate who doesn’t wear glasses, a job is waiting for you!

  • Male or female, maximum age 22, not yet married.
    • Once you reach 23 or get married, you get to help make the popular Soylent Green doughnut.
  • Minimum height: for males, 165 cm (5′ 5″); for females, 157 cm (5′ 1.8″).
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All cats, no monkeys

Street catBefore coming to Jakarta, I imagined that I would hear birds sing and squawk, see squirrels scamper and lizards wriggle, battle giant bugs, and perhaps occasionally glimpse wild monkeys in a park. My actual experience has been almost completely different. Here, it’s lots of skinny cats and giant rats and not much else. Both are amazingly easy to find – often in close proximity to each other because the rats are much too big for the tiny cats to kill. Continue reading →

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KFC, Jakarta-style

KFC

Hand-washing station at KFC

Looking out from the balcony of my apartment this morning, I espied, tantalizingly close, the neighborhood KFC. Perhaps, now that I had been here a week, it was time to sample its culinary delights. So I did, and it was interesting.

First, its menu had some  differences from those in the US. For example, I almost ordered the bento, but instead chose another Japanese-named dish (which I can’t remember). It came with a salad, white rice, and a soda.

Some of the customers received their meals on ceramic plates; others, like me, got them on plastic trays. No spork! In either case, busboys cleared them away. Seating included sofas. The bathrooms didn’t have sinks; instead, a hand-washing station lined one of the walls of the dining room. (That’s the photo.)

The oddest touch was that the KFC housed a separate restaurant, more in the local tradition, within its confines. It had its own menu, employees, and so forth, but it existed within the KFC’s dining room.

In sum, dinner and a show for less than $3.

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Photos with fabulous foreigners

Monumen Nasional

Monumen Nasional, Jakarta

On our first weekend in Jakarta, the wife and I decided to visit the Monas, or National Monument. It’s a giant spire surrounded by a lot of cement, which is surrounded by a large park, which is bounded on some sides by large parking lots. Tourists come from other countries and, mostly, from within Indonesia to see the tower and, for a fee, to ride to the top and look out.

As we approached the Monas, walking among Indonesians, a man called, “Miss … miss…” in English. We saw that he was indicating that he had a camera and that he was accompanied by his wife, who was holding a baby. We thought that he wanted one of us to take their picture. But he corrected us: he wanted to get a picture of us, with his wife and child and the Monas. After a quick snapshot and an exchange of thanks, we went our way and they went theirs.

We wondered why they would want us in their photo. Continue reading →