Shell became a demon negotiator today! There was probably only one item, aside from our coffees, that we paid full price for!
Shell was in her element at one stall that was selling fantastic faceted glass mirrors. They were truly beautiful and Shell had wanted one for years. Enquiring about the price for one we particularly liked, the response was 1.5 million (IDR). 1.25m Shell says. 1.4m was the reluctant response. 1.35 she says....a blank look. The he picks up a calculater and knocks off 5%. Tuts, and essentially says can't do less than 10%, which he types in and reads... 1.35...oh..doh!! Chalk up another win for the bules!
At another stall, we're buying the wooden art piece and again Shell's trying to haggle. After some to and fro without any budging, one of the guys comes back with 'it's not expensive for you!'. "Oh, is that right?"
Turns out they knocked off 3% anyway when we went to pay - I guess the laughs we all had over the cheeky comment softened them up!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Inacraft 2012
Today we are wandering around a craft fair, the 14th Jakarta Handicrafts Trade Fair
It's huge! We've seem some beautiful pieces and compared to Australia the prices are very low...it's difficult not to go totally crazy with the spending!
There were a couple of pieces we just couldn't resist..
This should look great in the lounge once we get our furniture. It's essentially a cross-section of teak:
And how beautiful is this sideboard, also in teak? A steal at the equivalent of AUD280!
It's huge! We've seem some beautiful pieces and compared to Australia the prices are very low...it's difficult not to go totally crazy with the spending!
There were a couple of pieces we just couldn't resist..
This should look great in the lounge once we get our furniture. It's essentially a cross-section of teak:
And how beautiful is this sideboard, also in teak? A steal at the equivalent of AUD280!
Public Safety #1
Today's example (for I'm sure there'll be others) comes from a craft fair. We are sitting at a cafe table enjoying an ice coffee. Behind my chair, totally unguarded we see this:
I dread to imagine the effect of prying little fingers. The leads are clearly live since they ultimately run to the coffee machine, fridge, blender, till etc.
A moist hand and ..ZAP!
I dread to imagine the effect of prying little fingers. The leads are clearly live since they ultimately run to the coffee machine, fridge, blender, till etc.
A moist hand and ..ZAP!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Moped and sidecar
I now wish I had taken a few photos rather than just this solitary one, but I thought this was fantastic:
I've never seen a sidecar attached to a moped before, at least not in Jakarta....and it particularly stands out because of the paint job. It is neither left to disrepair, nor plastered in stickers or other garish paraphernalia...just a plain old spray job. Awesome :)
I've never seen a sidecar attached to a moped before, at least not in Jakarta....and it particularly stands out because of the paint job. It is neither left to disrepair, nor plastered in stickers or other garish paraphernalia...just a plain old spray job. Awesome :)Thursday, April 26, 2012
Language lesson #1
So I'm having a conversation about data backups and we steer towards the subject of tape retention periods. Having already heard that legislation requires tapes to be kept for 10 years, I made an innocent mistake...
"With your current system, do you keep the tapes for 10 years or forever?" I ask, hoping to determine whether there was a systematic process in place to identify which tapes had become obsolete and taking care of the destruction or recycling.
'Yes' came the response.
"Which? 10 years or forever?"
'Yes'
"I'm sorry, I don't understand, it is either 10 years or forever"
'Yes, we keep them forever for 10 years'
Right....now that we got that clear....
"So, after the 10 years, do you have them destroyed?"
'Oh no, we don't destroy them, we keep them...forever'
Ouch, my head hurts....maybe I'll try this again next week..
"With your current system, do you keep the tapes for 10 years or forever?" I ask, hoping to determine whether there was a systematic process in place to identify which tapes had become obsolete and taking care of the destruction or recycling.
'Yes' came the response.
"Which? 10 years or forever?"
'Yes'
"I'm sorry, I don't understand, it is either 10 years or forever"
'Yes, we keep them forever for 10 years'
Right....now that we got that clear....
"So, after the 10 years, do you have them destroyed?"
'Oh no, we don't destroy them, we keep them...forever'
Ouch, my head hurts....maybe I'll try this again next week..
The accident
Having spent nearly six months here, on and off, over the past year, the traffic still fascinates me.
For every car, there must be 1000 motorcycles....or approximately 2 for every grain of sand on the Earth. Chaos rules...mostly. Sometimes even chaos gives up. The only road 'rules' that seem to be adhered to...occassionally....are the traffic lights.
For the most part, progress is slow, or worse. The painted lines separating lanes are treated as a monorail between the lanes it demarcates, and bikes constantly swarm around filling any space larger than your hand.
Whilst 99% of the bikers are very clearly suicidal, I had never seen an accident..until this morning....
I'm not sure what precipitated the event, but it occurred in the bus lane. The bus lane is curbed to deter traffic from using it. It's not clear whether bikes are officially allowed to use the lane, but most mornings they can be seen riding 6 or 7 abreast behind the bus.
This morning it would appear that one of these bikes via'd to the left without warning. Nothing particularly unusual about that, but his time something went wrong. Maybe his passenger overbalanced him or maybe the rider to his left was looking the other way at the time, who knows. But the end result was a bike hitting the deck being struck by a second bike which also toppled over.
Everyone stopped... Those in the cars watched on. A few bikers dismounted to help the fallen to their feet and help pick up the bikes. All were help to the side of road. In the aftermarth, only one person seemed to be in pain - the rider who had via'd left. He seemed winded and had evidently hurt his leg somehow. His suit trousers weren't obviously torn so perhaps he'd just fallen awkwardly.
Whilst the injured rider catches his breath and rocks back and forth in pain, normal chaos resumes. The helpers remount and speed off into the distance, evidently relishing having a clear road for a few hundred metres.
For every car, there must be 1000 motorcycles....or approximately 2 for every grain of sand on the Earth. Chaos rules...mostly. Sometimes even chaos gives up. The only road 'rules' that seem to be adhered to...occassionally....are the traffic lights.
For the most part, progress is slow, or worse. The painted lines separating lanes are treated as a monorail between the lanes it demarcates, and bikes constantly swarm around filling any space larger than your hand.
Whilst 99% of the bikers are very clearly suicidal, I had never seen an accident..until this morning....
I'm not sure what precipitated the event, but it occurred in the bus lane. The bus lane is curbed to deter traffic from using it. It's not clear whether bikes are officially allowed to use the lane, but most mornings they can be seen riding 6 or 7 abreast behind the bus.
This morning it would appear that one of these bikes via'd to the left without warning. Nothing particularly unusual about that, but his time something went wrong. Maybe his passenger overbalanced him or maybe the rider to his left was looking the other way at the time, who knows. But the end result was a bike hitting the deck being struck by a second bike which also toppled over.
Everyone stopped... Those in the cars watched on. A few bikers dismounted to help the fallen to their feet and help pick up the bikes. All were help to the side of road. In the aftermarth, only one person seemed to be in pain - the rider who had via'd left. He seemed winded and had evidently hurt his leg somehow. His suit trousers weren't obviously torn so perhaps he'd just fallen awkwardly.
Whilst the injured rider catches his breath and rocks back and forth in pain, normal chaos resumes. The helpers remount and speed off into the distance, evidently relishing having a clear road for a few hundred metres.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
A special kind of clientele
We went out for a walk around Kemang to try and get some kind of orientation happening.
We saw many restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes, etc etc, but this one particularly stood out as something special because of the sign near the door... weapons, drugs, alcohol, what the?
Okey dokey then, what the hell kind of area have we moved into?
We might have gone in, but Shell was, after all, carrying her handbag! LOL!
We saw many restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes, etc etc, but this one particularly stood out as something special because of the sign near the door... weapons, drugs, alcohol, what the?
Okey dokey then, what the hell kind of area have we moved into?
We might have gone in, but Shell was, after all, carrying her handbag! LOL!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Shopping #1
It's our anniversary in a few days and I'm not convinced the card I ordered on-line will make it on time....actually I'm not sure it'll make it here at all at the moment - I've never knowingly seen a postie, so whilst I assume they exist I have no actual evidence of such.
I visit Grand Indonesia's Gramedia store upon the suggestion of a colleague. After 20 minutes I figure out that the 'wife' oriented anniversary cards are, naturally, filed under categories such as birthdays or new baby celebrations. hmmm.
Oh the sweet relief when I finally find something half decent! Now I just need to pay...
The girl who's been crawling around the floor near me is clearly focused on her task of wrapping presents, so I figure I'd head straight to the till, as one would normally do.
I arrive at the till and I'm greeted by a lady who who speaks as much English as I do Indonesian (ie as good as none), and I'm not understanding the gesticulations.
So she gently takes the card from my hand and runs off back to card section...hmmm.
A few minutes later (by the way, Indonesians also do that funny little 'running mime whilst actually walking') she's back.....with a hand written receipt...which she proceeds to read from and enter the details off it into the cash register. She then asks for my money and prints another receipt from the till which is handed to me. So we're finally done and I can leave.
I couldn't help but be bemused by the convoluted process. When I asked a colleague about it, the explanation was based around a completely different set of principles to what I'm used to. She suggested that in Australia customers are presumed to be honest, whereas shopkeepers in Indonesia take the view that customers are inherently out to steal from them.
It would appear that the girl crawling around the floor, or someone nearby, should have taken the card from me and given me the hand written receipt. I should then take the receipt to the till to pay, and either return for my card or the person holding the card would have come to the till with me and handed me the card upon proof of payment.
Evidently the process broke down somewhere that day. What I still don't understand is the need to implement this process for greetings cards that sell for the equivalent $1 - $3. Books and CD's worth ten times that, ok, but even if the wages are around $1 per hour it seems that the process introduced to prevent profit loss though stealing is, itself, eliminating the profit.
I visit Grand Indonesia's Gramedia store upon the suggestion of a colleague. After 20 minutes I figure out that the 'wife' oriented anniversary cards are, naturally, filed under categories such as birthdays or new baby celebrations. hmmm.
Oh the sweet relief when I finally find something half decent! Now I just need to pay...
The girl who's been crawling around the floor near me is clearly focused on her task of wrapping presents, so I figure I'd head straight to the till, as one would normally do.
I arrive at the till and I'm greeted by a lady who who speaks as much English as I do Indonesian (ie as good as none), and I'm not understanding the gesticulations.
So she gently takes the card from my hand and runs off back to card section...hmmm.
A few minutes later (by the way, Indonesians also do that funny little 'running mime whilst actually walking') she's back.....with a hand written receipt...which she proceeds to read from and enter the details off it into the cash register. She then asks for my money and prints another receipt from the till which is handed to me. So we're finally done and I can leave.
I couldn't help but be bemused by the convoluted process. When I asked a colleague about it, the explanation was based around a completely different set of principles to what I'm used to. She suggested that in Australia customers are presumed to be honest, whereas shopkeepers in Indonesia take the view that customers are inherently out to steal from them.
It would appear that the girl crawling around the floor, or someone nearby, should have taken the card from me and given me the hand written receipt. I should then take the receipt to the till to pay, and either return for my card or the person holding the card would have come to the till with me and handed me the card upon proof of payment.
Evidently the process broke down somewhere that day. What I still don't understand is the need to implement this process for greetings cards that sell for the equivalent $1 - $3. Books and CD's worth ten times that, ok, but even if the wages are around $1 per hour it seems that the process introduced to prevent profit loss though stealing is, itself, eliminating the profit.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Day 0 - Arrival
Arrival -Singapore
So where are staying when we get to Jakarta? A question that was still unanswered after eight hours in a plane. Stress? - err yes, you could say that.The best part, of course, is that I don't have a Blackberry anymore; per policy I had handed that back to Sydney head office a couple of days ago. So I'm now using gmai, and have no idea whether my messages have been received or blocked by spam filters.
The Australian SIM in my phone doesn't support international roaming because we didn't want to stump up the $120 deposit. Right about now I think we'd probably sacrifice $120 for some certainty!
The Indonesian SIM I'm carrying is an unknown quantity - does it roam? Does it have any credit left? Considering that pre-paying the equivalent of $10 onto it is considered quite generous, I'm very doubtful.
Fortunately though the answer to both questions is 'yes' - phew!
Unfortunately, however, the person 'in the know' is away today....wonderful. So let's just recap for a second...we've just packed up our entire house, jumped on a plane for eight hours and are now homeless in a foreign country and no-one is able to answer the question of whether or not we will have a place to stay when we arrive into Jakarta? Someone somewhere must be chuckling pretty uncontrollably!
Eventually, though, we get word that yes, a hotel has been booked for our arrival. Again, phew!
We're informed that we may stay at the hotel for two whole nights and then we must move into our unfurnished town house - evidently someone discovered we'd arranged a sofa and bed and decided that that would be sufficient for us to set up home! Yip, we couldn't believe it either. So we will have two days to buy plates and cutlery etc to try and make a temporary home. Nice.
Arrival - Jakarta
We step of the plane to the usual and familiar oppressive humidity. Somehow, Jakarta exhibits a unique smell that's instantly recognisable. It's not an offensive or particularly unpleasant smell, but there is a smell nonetheless and it slaps your nostrils with a friendly "remember me?"Welcome to Jakarta and the start of a new adventure!
The visa agent greets us off the plane and Michelle is ushered through the 'visa assistance' process, whilst I'm left to my own devices since I already have a multi-entry visa. No special treatment for me!
After the humourless immigration stares at me as if trying to determine the colour of my soul, he stamps my passport and I wander through to the baggage collection area. My wife and the agent, of course, are already there waiting. Immigration formalities for visa assistance is generally no more onerous than being waved through whilst the agent takes your passport to the immigration officer.
This is where we learn that Jakarta has been rioting and we should expect a long trip home. The cause of the riots is a proposed increase in petrol prices. Such is the knife-edge of existence that a small increase would see many families go hungry. We ask whether there was any violence involved and are assured 'no', nothing beyond some raised voices, but a number of roads of have been closed as a consequence of the gathering crowds.
The trip to the hotel indeed takes around two hours which is a little under twice what it would normally be, and we must have skirted the demonstration since we happened upon the police barricade and were forced into the alternative lanes.
Oh, and the following morning the paper informs us that sections of the demonstration did indeed turn nasty since a numbe of molatov cocktails were reportedly thrown....great.
Welcome to Jakarta!
About the authors
Through fortuitous happenstance, and some hard work :), my wife and I have been lucky enough to be offered the chance of a lifetime - to live as expats in Jakarta.
The overall experience promises to be a incredible mix of adventure, hard work and, I'm sure, heart wrenching sorrow. The goal of this blog is to capture as much of the experience as we can turn into words. The hope, for us, is that the blog will stand apart from the Facebook posts to family and friends, by offering a different perspective to our adventures. We hope too, that strangers stumbling across the blog may find some entertainment value from our ramblings.
Of course, we don't want to take ourselves too seriously. We know we are but short term visitors to an incredible country in the midst of an enormous acceleration of modernisation, countered by unfathomnable poverty amongst the general populace.
We hope you enjoy. Two Aussie Bule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bule
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)