Hello Jakarta!
January 29, 2008
I recently came back from Jakarta over the weekend and having a cold made it very uncomfortable throughout my stay there. I have a bad case of cough and sniffles after being healthy for a couple of years but due to my freezing arse in Hanoi (which is at 9° C right now) and then the drastic change of weather in Jakarta, that was my tipping point. Nevertheless, Indonesia was quite an experience and it’s good to see a country similar to the Philippines. It made me feel at home but not close enough as I still continue to miss the wife, our baby and everything else surrounding them. Some interesting stories about Indonesia from a new traveller’s POV:
1. It reminds me of the Philippines (Weather, Traffic, Ethnicity) but multiply it three times. People here seem to have more purchasing power as the luxurious brands are evident in most of the shopping centers. The roads are wide, buildings sprung up everywhere and the city is alive with a mix of high end cars and motorbikes. The taxi we usually rode was the new Toyota Vios which was quite interesting enough. Lesley (my colleague from 
Saigon) and I were supposed to ride a Mercedes Benz taxi from the airport but they ran out and we had to settle for a Toyota Crown (sosyal ito dati ah *LOL*).
2. Language is quite similar to us due to the Malay influence (correct me if I’m mistaken). It’s going to be easier to learn Bahasa rather than Vietnamese as many pinoys here mentioned that it’s just like learning a new dialect in the Philippines province. Some words that I quickly picked up:
- Thank you – “Terima Kasih”
- Welcome – “Selamat Detang”
- Right – “Kanan”
- Left – “Kiri”
- Taxi – “Taksi”
- Be careful – “Hati-Hati”
- Free – “Gratis”
- Police – “Polisi”
- Cheap – “Murah”
- Choose – “Pilih”
- Toilet – “Toilet”
3. Right hand driving.
This is the second country (first one being India) I’ve visited with a different driving orientation. Make sure to look right when crossing the street! The results though are far U-turns that adds to your travel time and and taxi fare! 
4. Hot, Curry, Spicy. Description of Indonesian dishes and that’s the way they like it! Although we were able to enjoy a very traditional and highly consumed Filipino food that wasn’t available in Vietnam —McDonalds! Yahoo!
5. Malls and Entertainment are everywhere. Ah.. breathing mall air! This is the shopping capital of Indonesia and shops here are huge and usually nearby each other. A great concept is the Auto Mall where the latest cars from Beamers to Ferraris are displayed. Even the motorbikes are nasty hot! From Repsol, Harley to Ducatis! Let the pictures speak for themselves!
They also have a theme park here ala Enchanted Kingdom which they call Dufan (Fantasy World). The long lines are worth it especially the Tornado ride where you get hanged in the air and spun four times.. Fantastic! Here are some before and after shots from this ride:
Before:
During:
6. There’s a lot of Chinese here too! Like our Fil-Chi back home, I met some Indo-Chi and we all have that chinky-eyed trademark 
Some of them are unable to speak Mandarin anymore but most have a good grasp of the Fookien dialect. Yes, I heard the word “Lantyaw” being told to somebody as a joke and if you need to find out what that means, ask your Chinese friend! This is a wholesome blog site 
7. Telecoms are cheap! Would you believe international SMS costs only around 2-3 pesos per message? There are more than 8 mobile providers here sharing the telecom market for around 200million people! Consumer spending is up!
It was a short but fulfilling trip here in Jakarta and the business conference was quite rewarding as well. It’s nice to know that Vietnam is not alone in the outsourcing field outside of Phililppines and India. We were able to learn more about the Indonesian culture and how they made it successful despite being a recent player in the Call Center industry. The best part about the trip is hanging out with the other pinoys and just having a great time. For your hospitality guys.. Terima Kasih.
