Hey there everyone… As some of you might already know, I’m currently in Indonesia on business purposes with my dearest father… Yes as for the agenda of the business I’m afraid that’s private and confidential ;)... As originally planned, we were supposed to be staying at The Acacia Hotel, Jakarta for only 3 nights and continue our business in Lampung for the remaining duration of the business trip which is until the 26th, but due to regrettable unforeseen circumstances, we extended our stay by two nights... Currently I’m in the airport lounge waiting for my flight which was yet again, DELAYED… They have internet services here but it is pretty poor so I am actually writing this entry through Microsoft Words first :S… Hahahaha ok back to the main topic, we arrived here in Jakarta at about 2 in the morning (which is about 3 a.m. Malaysia time) then we headed to the hotel… The very first thing I saw when I exited the airport was the early morning mist or was it smog, I wasn’t sure but yes it looked pretty gloomy.. While on the road I was pretty amazed with the infrastructure.. Jakarta beats KK’s ass 20 times with their fly overs and all... Hahaha and another intricate thing I found out about the Indonesian driving habit is they love to drive in the middle of the empty road! The road lanes were built wide but still they prefer to drive directly in the middle… Hahaha… Well when I woke up, we had a meeting scheduled in the morning so didn’t get much sleep there... =( Lucky for us, all the meetings were stationed and carried on in the hotel lobby.. So we avoided the hectic and chaotic traffic that we could clearly see directly in front of the hotel… That night, we went to a nearby Nasi Padang Restaurant (Almost like Nasi Campur) we had 2 meat dishes and 3 vegetable dishes and to my amazement it costs 94 thousand Rupees =S that’s pretty expensive for Nasi Campur I Should Say… The Conversion rate is about RM 1 = 2700 Rupees... The first 2 days were pretty dull, just with meetings and all… stayed in the hotel room mostly… and we ate mostly in the hotel too… was kinda lazy to go out.. Hahaha... I went swimming on the fourth day and the water was freezing! I made friends with someone who was a guest at the hotel too by the pool and when people say we Sabahan’s speak like Indonesians, THEY WERE DAMN WRONG! I didn’t understand much of what she said to me until I told her to slow down and talk slowly hahahahahaha… I just took the bits and pieces from what I understood from her sentence and string them together hahahaha… Yes well hahaha we agreed to meet again in the hotel lounge that night and my main intention was to watch Football on the big ass TV there actually... Hahahaha HONEST guys! So yeah she came with her friends and they had a drink and joined me while I was watching my football game hahahaha… We exchanged emails and such so yeah I’m glad I made a friend there and I’m glad the lady at the hotel drug store helped me out with my Bahasa Indon, if not I wouldn’t have understood much of what Karyn (the girl from the pool) said.. Hahahahaa Thanks Augustina ;) (The drug store lady) Hahahaha... So last night I went with my dad to a place he remembers from his previous trips to Jakarta, Tony Roma’s… And damn the BBQ pork ribs there was… WOW! Hahahaha we tried the most popular Indonesian beer called Bintang and I would have to say it’s not bad hahaha... It’s a Pilsner so the malt and hops smell was pretty strong… And yes during dinner my dad told me about how he met my mum and we talked about a lot of things… Its great! I mean I rarely talk to anyone, let alone my family about things like these hahahaha… So yeah my dad never told anyone his past stories and all too so I’m glad he told me… Hahahaha… One thing I would like to emphasize about the Indonesia driving culture is they are very very precise… SERIOUSLY…. Fking scary man the way they drive (Even more fkin scarier than Ritchie’s driving!!) but they are always careful and patient too… They rarely use the signal lights but they do use their honk a lot hahahahahaha… and they actually yield and give way to on coming traffic… every 2 seconds you can hear several honking but not those angry types of honks just simple taps to let people know you are cutting in and all… I swear I can’t ever drive there and the motorbikes there are scary! When the traffic light turns green, a whole swarm of them will zoom by… At least 40 bikes…. You feel enshrouded and scared the taxi driver will accidentally hit one of them but no hahaha it never happens and through all the days I have been on the road here, I have not seen even 1 accident occur! Though their number of total cars here I dare say is 80 times higher than in KK, but you never see an accident here whereas in KK, everyday you are bound to at least see one hahahahaha… So yes, compliments to their driving attitude and skills! On the sides of the road, there are at least 50 mobile stalls selling goods ranging from food, drinks, beer, toothpaste and toiletries, but 95% of the stalls sold cigarettes (known as kretek here) hahaha... Smoking is like integrated with their culture and lifestyle here... From my knowledge, Indonesian "Kreteks" are made signature by the special blend of tabaccos they use and the addition of clove spices. It makes it sweet and aromatic.. Hahaha so thumbs up to that innovative idea! The food here is mainly hot and somewhat similar to the Baba Nyonya cooking... But I am yet to try the food in Lampung! So here is my post for my stay in Jakarta, the first half of my business trip in Indonesia… =)

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