Today is the last day of my 2D1N to Jakarta with Kathy. To say it has been a blast would be an overstatement, but it's difficult for me to feel anything but excited at everything that happens. Taking an hour-long taxi into the city, greeting everyone we meet with a 'selamat pagi', having local ayam penyet (with yums glutinous rice, not the normal kind) with delicious tempeh and chilli sauce, learning basic bahasa vocab from passing billboard commercials ("Difoto ... dengan iPhone6") - it all kinda gives me a little thrill. Dad always regales us with stories of his work trips and unlike many professionals I've met, he claims to love making these because of the different foods and sights he gets to experience. So I've always anticipated my first work trip - the fact that I've never been to Jakarta before adds a big up to the whoop factor. Now I want to visit more of Indonesia! :)
Some of my baby observations of Indonesia:
- The men laugh really loudly. This was something I noticed right from the get-go, from the moment we were leaving the airport. They giggle (no other word for it) and laugh boisterously, slapping each other on backs. Kinda makes me want to be in on the joke too. (Note to self: learn more bahasa.) I guess its still largely considered improper for women to be as equally expressive in public, unfortunately.
- It's more hierarchical than Singapore. Or perhaps Singapore is less hierarchical than most Asian cultures. The lines of relationship between the business and its stakeholders (the government, its customers, site locals) are really thick and there are fascinating rules of decorum.
- Talk about no work-life balance - some folks spend hours in commute. In Singapore maximum maybe an hour and a half. They can spend hours!!!!!
- Pak is the term of deference for senior men.
- The ladies here are really gorgeous, most of them have petite and trim figures, and lots of eye makeup.
- The service is slow. It's not always the staff though, the system just isn't made for efficiency.
- Most things are inefficient, unless you tip or are a big shot. I aged 10 years in 30 minutes waiting for a taxi that the recep told me was "already downstairs waiting". Turns out the driver had parked his car when he didn't see me. I think he meant well, and figured he can look out for me from his lot - but somehow he didn't see me anyway, and in the meantime i couldn't find him. The thing is, everyone is nice and really means well, but the system just affords no accountability.
- The boy at the Krispy Kreme counter at the airport tried to "ketok" me 2,000Rupiah (~SGD$0.02), but the way he did it, I just couldn't take it personally. Firstly, you can't be angry at someone for overcharging you 2 cents (and he returned it anyway), and secondly its kind of a way of life in general i guess. Folks will always be trying to hoodwink tourists; Paris is the mother of all examples.
- The art is super beautiful. Gorgeous carvings and motifs and colours! And super intricate masks. It doesn't look it from the outside, but the interior of the airport is like a palace of art.
- I think I understand a little what people mean when they say Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia is different. An example: "Taksi" in Indo and "Teksi" in Msia. ^^ nah i kid. Of course there is more than that, but the above observation is true too, to my amusement.
