Entry Point 1

 

The amount of advertisements this place has is off the charts, you can't go anywhere without seeing a "Samsung or a High End clothing brand" strung up somewhere. KFC, McDonald s and maybe 1 or 2 more US fast food joints are slowly making there way over here. T.G.I. Fridays is soon to make the transition as well ( albeit smaller portions of course ;). Apparently the mark of US Food Establishments in Asia and other Far Eastern places is the sign of economic growth. Who knew!

Side Shops (like the one above), street vendors (pictures forthcoming) are everywhere! Although its been highly recommended to NOT eat from them, as they contain spices from god knows where and its no guarantee how your body will take to it.. It IS tempting though haha. .

 

 Its hard to convey by just pictures, but the traffic here is pretty wild. Joking with a friend of mine who is in Bali at the moment; that we "Americans" get so riled up over a little heat and by being stuck in traffic for what seems like a "minor" amount of time. In Jakarta people experience this everyday with little to no fuss. A honk of ones horn doesn't mean "F-U", but a simple protest of please move your butt sir. Totally different over here.

All over Central Jakarta this is a common sight. New High Rise buildings of future business employment or hotels/apartments. Again, further signs of economic growth.

Malls, Malls and Malls. If its one thing there's aplenty of in Indo it would be this. The two pictures above are of a local mall called "Pondok Indah Mall". Its more or less two Pentagon City Malls Connected by a skyline walking strip in the middle. This 'model' even sports a movie theater to b00t. Not too shabby - if I do say so myself.

Then. Theres this guy (Hypermart) ^. This one is in a league of its own, not in quality but in bartering. And here I thought people who came to Macy's were frugal - not quite. . If you don't know your Rupiah amount you WILL get taken for.. And of course this was the first mall I went too (2nd day in), alone.. I was supposed to go with the daughter of someone I knew, but plans change ya know and I really needed some work cloths.


Long story short, the first shirt I bought was something local people would wear as if going out somewhere with friends. Nice, lightweight and very breathable. Annnnnnnnnnnd I probably overspent about $5-7 (USD) dollars on it.You know you've been had when they speak Bahasa to their local friends and laughing with the item in question. I could of swore a lady in the next both over said "c'mon guys" haha; too be honest theres no point in being mad, life is all about lessons. And I just learned one. 

I found out later that instead of the 150,000 RP "suggested retail price"(?) I actually paid about 130,000RP for it - that was too much.. Towards the end of the evening I saw someone selling it for about 80,000RP. That was defiantly my schmuck moment of the day for sure.. By the end of the end of the day I was bartering like nobody's business, and actually made them REALLY think about the price. I got stuff about 20,000RP - 45,000+RP less. Its all about body language and by converting the price - it seemed right.

Its kind of funny but Gecko lizards (or whatever the hell you want to classify the above guy as) over in Indo is basically their equivalent to cock roach's'. I found this little critter at a local Starbucks (yes the coffee tastes the same btw..); too fast to catch sadly.

This guy sportin the 'to cool for school' pose is Pak (Mr.) Tonto, my driver. Hes actually a pretty cool guy once you get to know him and his English is the best I've heard yet. I practice my Bahasa on him and he laughs at me while he teaches me the right way to say it.

  I call this tree, "The Tree Of Life" it rests right in the MIDDLE of the house I am staying at. Throught the day it drops these pink petals which graciously float to the ground to be either picked up and shoved to the side. These pictures don't do it justice, maybe I'll take a video of it instead. Its pretty cool.

Of course I unknowingly started my trip before Ramadan began, and  it will follow it in its entirety . Its kind of a unique experience too be here while this going on. Working hours are shorter, the mosques go off in full blast and in a more frequent manner (even as I am writing this haha), Food can be cheaper in certain places, People all together have a different mentality than what was witnessed a couple weeks prior (its just nice to see people give MORE versus the opposite :). 

The only con I can think of at the moment is that the traffic is even worse. People going to and from Mosques etc. You just have to time your day according to when it'll be least hectic. For example I sometimes leave for my internship around 4pm or if I want to go in early maybe 12pm noon time. Its all about timing anyways right - hence my brash start in Narita ehh ; }.   

The tagging scene is pretty rampant over here surprisingly, I'll have to take more pictures too show off what they can do. They're not bad at it. Not bad at all.























Till Next Time......