Avatar for $2 - blog format is buggered

That's right, Jacs (Jacqui) and I saw Avatar in a cinema that's actually a lot better than Hobart's cinemas, for $2! And it was awesome! Avatar is wonderous and beautiful! Great movie. Also, is it wrong that I think the dude was hotter blue than human...? *awkward silence*

Prettyness: *****

Cliche love storyness: ***

So awesome they pulled-it-off-ness: ******

Before that, Hannah, Jacs and I went to the NAtional Museum which has a fantastic collection of... lots of things; statues from ooolllld temples (including a few Ganesh statues), ceramisc from China etc (dating back to way before the Qing Dynasty, various statues, clothes, swords and so on from other Indonesia islands. Heaps of info! Translated to English.

We then went for a walk and found an Indian place for some chow (I noted that they also do deliveries, bwahaha).

Lycheeeeeees =)

Agains... =)

Jakarta by Rickshaw: Photos

On December 29th, yesterday, Hannah and I caught a rickshaw from a crowded market area to Sofi Residence. It was spluttering and loud and the fumes were strong and I was worried that it was going to explode, or fall over going around a corner (rickshaws have two wheels at the back and one at the front).

Above is our rickshaw driver. The rickshaw sounded pretty sick and Hannah, who's been in them beofre, said it was the worst sounding one she's been in. Although, the poor thing was having to lug me through the streets of Jakarta!

Above: just one of the many street vendors walking the streets.

Some sort of official checkpoint thingy. We had to so through a security search point before we could enter the very expensive 'Sayan City Mall'. And some of the girls said their taxi was searched for explosiced on the way to meeting us at the mall.

I've come to the conclusion that I want to ride Ojecks to uni and work while I'm here, definitely not rickshaws!

Down Town in Jakarta

I woke up at 5am this morning, again.

So I waited in my room until 7am to get breakfast - jam bagel and bagel with cream cheese - then walked down the street and bought credit (over here, you give them your number and hand over the credit and magically it appears on your mobile! Woo!) which took a lot of miming befoore she understood.

I called my lovely man Rex briefly which was a nice surprise for him and was definitely the highlight of my day (followed by ojeck rides).

I then caught my personal Ojeck (the driver is called "Boy" and is very friendly and helpful) to Hannah's place which turns out to be a few blocks from mine! We then ojecked to Senayan City and met Lauren, Ally, Crystal and Taisuke (who I just realised I have been calling Taitsuke and I am very sorry!) We had some lunch then caught Blue bird taxis to a huge indoor market, many floors high. I decided to go for a look around and lost track of the place we entered from and thus was lost and found myself surrounded by about thirdy laughing Indonesians and only one was thoughtful enough to ask me if I was okay and he gave me directions to the entrance where I regrouped with everyone.

We then went our own ways and Hannah came back to Sofi Residence, where I'm staying, to have some food and have a look at my room. We then ojecked with "Boy" and his friend to Hannah's and I stocked-up on drinks behore we went for a walk to suss out eateries.
On our return Hannah bought us Lychees (YUM!!).

Hannah lives right near a grocery store so I think I'll buy my drinks there from now on because they're cheaper than buying them here.

I can hear the muslim prayers that are broadcast via speakers from the mosques. It's quite loud and they're a fair distance away.

Anyway, I am so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open.

Also, took many photos but can't upload.

Poor Timing

Last night I text'd the ACICIS people who've arrived in Jakarta so far to see if any of them wanted to go shopping this arvo and just when we were getting to the planning stage... my credit ran out! And it was too late at night to go get some more. Ah well.

So it appears that there will be shopping done today =) Possibly in the torrential downpour that is going on outside!

Apart from that, I guess Jakarta is finally awake because I just heard my first beeping horn for the day. I woke-up at 5am because my silly body thinks I've had a sleep-in to 9am...

...but then I decided it's a good idea to keep this up because I will have to get up early every morning from here on in anyway, so I'm going to keep busy today and tire myself out. Thus the plan was made.

I'm really just waiting for the cafe to open because I skipped dinner lastnight *weep*.

I will also take many photos today so watch this space --------> =)

Nasi Goreng and Heavy Rain

Nasi Goreng and Heavy Rain

I was sitting on the bed trying not to fall asleep (it’s only 3:42pm here but you’re all getting ready for bed in Australia) and I heard a sudden loud roaring noise. I popped my head outside the room and geez, it’s pissing-down outside! I decided that it was time for tea (I had brecky at around 9am and my internal clock is so out, I skipped lunch without realising and I can bet you I’ll be asleep before tea time).

Back to the story: So I went down stairs and the friendly girl (who I think is running things while the English man who owns the place is on holiday in Australia) was there so I asked if the café was open and (we can’t speak the other’s language too well) after some difficulties working out what each other was saying, she explained that I had over-payed them at breakfast and again when I shouted Ecko and Toto (they’re involved with the ACICIS program) drinks earlier. I smiled and explained that the extra money was tips (obviously, when she showed me the figures, I’d tipped several meals worth without realising because I keep thinking the 100,000Rp notes are 10,000 Rp…) and she seemed happy although surprised when I said, “The extra money, it is tips, money for you!”.

Anyway, I had picked my intended meal from the menu I have in my room and proceeded to ask for Mi Goreng. She didn’t understand and I repeated it slowly incase I was saying it too fast, “Miii Gooorrreeennnng.” So she took me over to the café orders window and showed me a *drum roll* packet of Mi Goreng that’s pretty much the same as the 60c packets we buy in Tassie. She was confused and I’m pretty sure those packets are only what she and the other staff have for tea and I also thought being charged $4 for one sounded harsh until she showed me the menu and I realised I meant to order Nasi Goreng. She gave me an odd look and I payed her for it (with a tip, which she grinned at – gosh I hope they don’t get used to this because I’ll be broke within a week if I keep this up!).

So I was sitting inside at a table waiting for my meal and she walked past with an arm full of Lychees* and offered me some and I think the biggest smile since I left home broke-out on my face. I almost cried, just because I was sitting there all alone, with no English-speaking people around and then she came up to me with lychees and a smile.

So now I’m sitting on my bed, full of yummy Nasi Goreng, winding down for sleepy times.

Tata for now. ~Av~

*Lychees are my all time favourite fruit! Yussss!

Welcome to Jakarta

It's day two of my two-month stint in Jakarta, Indonesia. I'm finally settling-in but the last twenty-four hours were something. I'm not going to fill this blog with moping entries about missing Rex, but you can be sure that I really do miss him, a lot more than I'm letting on, and I am so thankful; to him for being cool with me going on this adventure. The first thing that hits you once you reach the airport in Jakarta is the number of men offering you taxi rides. I arrived once it was dark and was meant to be picked-up at the airport by a shuttle bus from my hotel. I looked everywhere for the person but couldn't see them and, having no contact number for the hotel, I decided a taxi was a good plan (I was dead tired because I woke-up at 3.10am to get to the Hobart airport in time). I knew I only wanted to catch either a Blue Bird taxi or a Silver Bird taxi, and I made that point clear to the guy who approached me repeating, "Taxi! Taxi!" He showed me an official looking badge and said he'd take me to his taxi. I told him thank you and I definitely only plan to catch a real Bluebird taxi and he'd better no be lying. Once I'd lugged my bags to the car park, he pointed-out the plain car that was apparently his and two young men appeared from behind it and proceeded to grab my suitcase to put it in the car's boot. At this point, I was in no mood for manners or digging out my phrase book so I Snatched my suitcase back from them and repeated, "Tidak!" (No.) I told him he lied and I wasn't impressed and he tried to bargain for a 'cheap' ride into Jakarta with him. I told him I wasn't settling for a non-blue/silver bird taxi and I lugged my bags all the way back to the airport terminal repeating, "Tidak! Terima kasih, but TIDAK!!" as he pursued me trying to negotiate a cheaper fare. This happened a second time because an official looking dude did the same thing which really pissed me off so I didn't even really bother with Terima Kasih (Thank you). I just repeated "Tidak" as he followed me around. I found a wartel (telephone booth centre) and tried to call the Jakartan contacts I had written down, but nobody answered. The wartel worker was stoked to receive 50, 000 Rp for a 4,000 Rp call because he had no change and I had nothing smaller. I finally found the Silver bird taxi bay and nabbed one (the porter grabbed my bag and I said no because I didn't want to tip him 5o,000, but he insisted so I have him my spare Australian coins instead. So I made it to my accommodation after a 300,000Rp ride because the driver got lost. I gave him some toys for his 3 kids (yes, I used my wonderful phrase book to make some convo as he said he felt bad he couldn't speak English well). This morning as I was having breakfast, a huge rat walked leisurely along the other side of the road. But I don't mind because rats are cute anyway and he was bigger than the numerous kittens I've seen wandering around. I went for a walk while my room was being cleaned (I didn't know if it would offend the guy if I asked him to stop) and the culture shock really set in. The footpaths didn’t look like they'd hold an adult, especially a big Western one, so everybody walks along the roads. There are warungs (roadside stalls selling food) regularly spaced. Everybody is friendly, although I’ve noticed the Muslim Indonesians opt for a small smile rather than a loud, "Hello Mista!".I said, "Salamet Pagi" so many times on my walk that I am pretty sure I will dream of saying it lots tonight. Mr. Ecko stopped by to check that I was settling in and his visit resulted in me jumping on the back of him motor bike and heading off to a bank so I could get my notes changed for smaller ones. I went with a few 1000,000Rp notes and they were changed into a LOT of smaller ones, meaning I needed a paper bag to carry them in. I found the motorbike ride exhilarating, in fact, I really want to go on another one but I suspect he may have been taking it easy on me being a Westerner girl he was meant to be looking after =) He was so friendly and answered a million of my questions. He suggested I live on delivered KFC and McDs so I don't get sick =) I said I'm looking forward to trying the local food and I have medicine for if I get sick =) I really want to immerse myself in the culture! While I went to my room to get changed into pants for me to wear on the motorbike, Ecko found me an Ojeck rider named 'Boy'. Apparently I can call him any time and he'll take me anywhere around Jakarta =) He was very friendly and I can't wait to try out an Ojeck, especially if it's as awesome as the motorcycle =) I've taken a few photos from the window of this hotel, but blogger won't let me upload them =( I will try putting them on facebook.

Cheerio =)