Jakarta 8 & 9: Schmoozing, losing (the plot) and DVDoozing

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of blog last night - I went out schmoozing and came home too late to post. (At MIDNIGHT, oh what a rebel! This damn heat has aged me like 40 years - anything past 10pm is a late night now).

SO! Yesterday I managed to get up at my latest time yet, having been woken up at 6:30am AGAIN - stupid broken A/C. I crossed the Beggar Bridge and this time handed out a pack of baby biscuits to a toddler and an apple to a skinny, slightly deformed boy, who always crouches against the railings of the bridge holding a hat out - it's pretty heart breaking. What is super sad, however, is that I'm starting to get really tired of caring and tired of always stopping to give people things, because it obviously isn't helping that much. I know I should just keep in mind that if they're not eating, it would be nice to get some food every day but it's a hard thing to do every day. Begging fatigue, who would've thought!

I made it to language class and was saved once again by the mid-morning coffee - my caffeine addiction is obviously getting worse. Also in the getting progressively worse category is my English, having sent a text today that included the phrase 'not working good'. Ay me! Then it was lunch at the canteen at school, which was really cheap at 10,000 rupiah (and you can get even cheaper if you choose only one or two dishes...unlike me, who chose about 5). One was DELICIOUS - shredded coconut with lime juice, beans and chilli, yummm.

In the afternoon (after a refreshing Choccochino - MUST STOP BUYING SNACKS) we had an informal panel-type discussion with two journos working in Jakarta, just about protocol and the life here - apparently either you love it or you hate it. Working life sounds a bit different for journos than copy editors - the copy editors here have set hours but journalists tend to come in about 10am and then work however long it takes to get the story done, which apparently often means extra hours. LOTS of extra hours. Another interesting tip was that texting people in Indonesia, even high ranking officials, was a good idea before calling them, as people don't answer their phones to numbers they don't know.

After that, Helena and I stopped off at the supermarket (cursed mall!) for beer and I bought some bananas to hand out on the bridge, one to a legless, mostly fingerless performer (but he still had two, to peel the banana, otherwise that would've been pretty cruel) and one to a toddler. Then it was home to relax for a while and drink our massive bottles of Bintang on the balcony with the Australians, who were off to pick up the bicycles they'd bought a few days earlier. It was nice to be home early last night and have a look out over the city - it was a big huddled, churning mess of people, houses, shacks and skyrises. Our street seems to be a market, restaurant and brokers all in one as it's always packed with people, and last night was no exception. The sunset was also amazing, probably because of the pollution, depressingly enough, but the whole sky turned lurid pink (the kind of colour that prompt the old joke about sunsets so pretty it's tacky).

After an hour or two of Bintang consumption, we dressed up nicely (skirt, heels and my awesome scarf) and headed to the journo schmooze bar, Face. Unfortunately, we headed in the wrong direction and due to the size and rambling nature of Jakarta, ended up walking in a circle for an HOUR, asking several passersby if they knew where to go. LE SIGH. It was fairly liberating to walk in a singlet in public for the first time in a while, but I was glad of the big scarf when the catcalls got a bit annoying.

Eventually we ended up, hot, sweaty and tired, at Face bar, where the other journos had been for an hour or so, and where happy hour was JUST finishing. I ordered a long island ice tea, which was AWFUL, probably due to the fact that Indonesians don't drink (so maybe the bartender didn't know how to make it properly?) The bar was pretty amazing - it was an Indian restaurant and bar all in one, and had low lighting, wood everywhere, plush rounded chairs to relax in and smoke hashish if you wished, little raised islands piled with cushions to sit on and draped with silks - very Arabian nights, really. We had dinner there too, which was quite expensive but lovely, and generally caught up with everyone from class who was relaxing. There was also an opportunity to schmooze, which I didn't take advantage of, even though my internship boss was there, because it all felt a little forced, but I'm sure that'll pass!

Two cocktails later, we caught a taxi home and DIDN'T get lost (thank goodness) and then I headed straight to bed, but was woken several times by the heat and the fact that I was getting BITTEN TO ETERNITY. By golly that mosquito better hide itself tonight because I am on a mozzie rampage! And so it's back into the net (SIGH) and inhaling repellant in large amounts (fairly sure I will have Agent Orange-like symptoms once I'm back home). On the up side, my A/C is fixed, so yay!

As for TODAY (Jakarta 9), I woke up really late which was heavenly, chatted with the Ozzies, who sounded like they had an amazing Friday night picking up their custom-made bikes, riding in bike gangs around Jakarta on the main high ways and hanging out with the local bikers. Helena and I then headed to the mall to meet Sarah, and I handed out an apple and the last of the baby formula, which the woman (a different one) put in her bag - hopefully for the baby for later? Sarah is not well at the mo, poor girl, so we decided to take it a bit easy and check out the pirated DVDs at Ambasadur Mall, and get a cream bath. About HALF AN HOUR later, due to traffic, our taxi arrived, and we mucked around looking at the thousands of DVDs on offer, picking up a few old favourites and one or two new releases. I'm hoping and praying the blasted things work on this old machine of mine.

Since Sarah is sick, I'm slightly under the weather and Helena is shattered from the week, we decided we wouldn't go to the Art Festival that's on tonight, since we had no idea where it was anyway, but would get up early tomorrow morning to go to a Kiwi-owned cafe, called the Antipodes (so, not much of a surprise then) and then head to get a massage/cream bath, and then check out the festival. Hopefully the bands will still be playing tomorrow and I can get a taste of Indonesian music - all I've heard so far is Katy Perry on repeat, and I've had to make up new lyrics to stop myself going insane: "I didn't get a pre-ee-nup, and Russell Brand's a man-nn-whore, I'm gonna get done oh-oh-ver, when he inevitably cheats-on-meee" (Sung to the tune of 'Firework', remix out in June). Not that I don't think Russell Brand is all types of hot, but come on now. Leopards don't change their shorts.

So tonight I have stocked up on junk food and plan to watch my DVDs and then hit the hay to HOPEFULLY clear up this blasted ulcer, which is actually an inflamed tonsil. I have started coughing so it must be on the way out, and it is less sore than it was yesterday, so huzzah!

Catch y'all laters!

LESSONS LEARNT 8 & 9:

- Happy hour is a godsend - must take advantage next time

- Google maps suck mosquito innards

- Ants in Jakarta are about 1/8 the size of NZ ants (they have invaded the kitchen)

- Sweet bread and cheese tastes GROSS (but is strangely fitting, since we discovered cheese Tim Tams in the supermarket. CHEESE.)

- Journos in Jakarta must have a pretty exciting time but the social circle seems small

- I would consider working here for a year or two at some point

- NZ will seem very small and boring when I get back, but at least I will be able to drink wine and have pizza without dying.