February 10

February 10

Arrival at the airport in Jakarta

Arrived at Sukarno-Hatta airport and I was immediately struck by the absence of security.
Maybe this is one of the security issues  that forbade Garuda to fly over Europe and just recently they (Garuda Indonesia) were allowed again to land at Schiphol International Airport .  At one point were were met by a youngish official who asked me for my declaration form which I had filled out in the plane. Menno, on the other hand was told that his declaration was not necessary and not to worry about it.....I suppose the man's hands were getting full of the forms he collected?

No one asked me for my passport even once.

Finding a ride to Bogor (Buitenzorg)

As soon as we were in the main hall, we were approached by guides and other men, who offered us help in getting around the airport and that would help us on our way, wherever we needed to go.... Menno who had been here several times before was wise to their system of steering you away from a better deal in favor of their own gigs. I have felt this type of "friendliness" in Morocco as well. 

We found a taxi that would drive us in air conditioned comfort to Bogor, for 25 euros, a 2 hour trip that would have cost us about  $150 in N.A.

The trip to Bogor eased me back into the "feeling" of Indonesia, with it's endless streams of people, betjaks, cars, motor cycles, all contributing to horrific traffic jams.
The traffic never eased up actually, and when we got to Bogor, it actually became a bit worse, because now the pedestrians were thrown into the mix.
Our taxi driver had a terrible time finding our little hotel which was located opposite the entrance of Bogor Grand Central Station. It took us longer to find the hotel (pension) than it took us to get to Bogor from Jakarta.....

Our B&B in Bogor....

courtyard of Abu Pensione

The guesthouse is called Abu Pensione. It is a small but comfortable little inn, with about 15 double rooms, I believe we we the first people here, and selected room #1 as our room for the next couple of days.
Menno and I took turns at the "mandi" (a "shower" using a pail or gajung...), and decided to go on an exploration tour of our immediate surroundings. It took only seconds and a couple of deep inhalations of very polluted air, to have memories of "tempo dulu" flood back.....the scents of the spices, the terasi, the fruit in season and the hundreds of food hawkers occupying seemingly, every centimeter of space on the sidewalks....

food stalls at night

The friendly smiles and kind greetings, the words I had not heard for 55 years...it did not take long for me to ask myself if I was ever really away from this country.....
We walked in the streets, immediately in the area of Abu Penisone, and we enjoyed so much looking at the foods, bites, and snacks that were for sale, everywhere, every 5 paces a different flavor, a different scent....pinch me, wake me up...or maybe better yet, leave me in this state of suspended bliss....

Street meat....

martabak vendor

We sampled the delicious martabak, a dish of very thin pastry, egg, fresh vegetables and some chicken meat.

One of the first things we did, was to find a sim card for the telephone that was given to me by Raymond, for use in Europe and other places where a Canadian cell phone would not work. It did not take long to find an Indonesian SIM card  and with the help of our hotel hostess, we indeed got the phone working. I bought the SIM chip and loads of extra time for 32000Rp (3.20E or $4,--) a deal that is incomprehensible in Canada.
So, now we are reachable by telephone.....I emailed all those concerned the phone number where we can be reached...just in case.
So why is it that every Indonesian can afford a cell phone, and not pay more than about $2 a month....why is it that in North America this would cost a minimum of $50?? 

                                                                                          

a typical "mandi", note the gajung

We went back to the room and enjoyed another mandi....something that is done here on average 3x or 4x a day, to prepare ourselves for an evening of djalan-djalan and food explorations.
We ended up in a cyber cafe where we ate some tempeh goreng with sambal and some Nasi-goreng.
The nasi goring was nice, but not great...the tempeh was also of reasonable quality and the beers.... "Bintang brand-made by Heineken" were cold....hence a great evening !!
We walked home and, after another mandi decided to go to sleep.


Indonesian terminology:
Mandi is bath (cold water, using a handled water pan)
Gajung is te water pan used to mandi and to wash with, after bathroom use.
Pensione is a small hotel
Djalan-djalan is walking around, taking in the sights, aka Mampir
Tempeh is a cake of dry fermented soya beans, typical Indonesian, this may be fried or served in other dishes. The flavor is mild and and it is good with chili paste and ketchap manis as a dip.
Ketjap manis is a dark, sweet Indonesian soya sauce.
Tempo dulu means the times before (earlier times)