Terima Kasih: A Crash Course in Jakarta

Sleeping on deck, I was woken up at 1 by strong winds.  Satyavan, Carol and I prepared the ship for imminent squall.  Sleeping inside my bunk covered head to toe (socks, pants, long sleeves, a hat, a scarf around neck and face, and a blanket), it was the second night I woke up not drenched in sweat.  I also managed to deter the mosquitoes, but now my hands were swollen from all the fresh bites!  First thing in the morning, I hoisted Laser up the mast to fix the starboard shroud.  Now time to relax!

Dhany’s driver brought us to his house on the opposite side of Jakarta.  He lives in South Jakarta, in an expat neighborhood.  His cook had prepared an amazing traditional Indonesian spread for lunch; young jackfruit soup, cabbage fritters, spicy chicken, and rice.  We took a tour of the house, the main entry is an art gallery, beautiful local paintings!  We lounged in the daybeds by the pool and enjoyed a nap and a swim.  Adrien came home, she is 22 and will be joining us on the next leg of our voyage.  We talked with her for a while, getting to know her and prepare her for life aboard Mir.  We also had a chance to talk with Nina, Dhany’s wife.  The whole family is very social, friendly, and immensely generous.  Dhany threw some ribs on the Barby, Australian style cooking, and we talked and laughed into the night.  It was refreshing to not have anything to worry about, our minds were at ease!  When Nina arrived back from Mir, we watched a video of Gaie and others who were releasing two dolphins from Flipper, Roxy and another.  Finally retired to a real bed, and a private room, both of which I shared with Satyavan.

I woke up at 6:15 with the sun in my face and sweaty as usual, but a bit more comfortable (I was not restricted by the hull at my feet).  Out on a day bed, I enjoyed the morning sounds of land, much different than the ocean!  I woke up from a nap to Casey licking my hand, Adrien drinking tea on another day bed, and Satyavan meditating in the garden.  Their cook prepared crepes with fresh bananas and maple syrup for breakfast, then we all headed to the Indonesian Park; we learned about the different cultures of the many islands by viewing traditional homes and watching an IMAX movie (the narration was in Indonesian so we didn’t get many details, but the imagery was spectacular).  Adrien took us to one of her hangouts for lunch, a very artsy tea house.  The food was quite cheap and delicious.  The menu was in Indonesian, but I could understand ‘burger’, ‘chicken wings’, and ‘french fries’; I let Dhany order for me.  We finished our meal with bread pudding and fried bananas with ice cream.

We met Adril, Nina’s son, when he got home from school.  He is 17, very funny kid.  His interests remind me a lot of my brother (plays the guitar in a band, loves video games, designs websites, interested in computer programming); I guess its their generation’s thing!  Tuti (their cook) prepared another amazing meal for us.  A lot of the same elements, but different preparation; I ate a chicken neck by accident.  Dhany and Nina wanted to take us out so we could have some fun and enjoy Jakarta.  We ended up at a very posh mall.  There was security checking each car before it was allowed to enter the perimeter (the trunk and mirrors to check the under carriage), we pulled into valet and discovered that there was a new store launch.  There were models dressed in high fashion outside of the mall and an exclusive party inside the mall.  People were dressed up very nicely and all carrying drinks.  The mall itself was huge, 7 stories tall, full of all the high-end shops from around the world.  We wandered through the broad walkways until we found ourselves in front of a karaoke bar.  Karaoke works a little differently in Jakarta.  We entered a very futuristic lounge with a bar, then were led through a maze of dark corridors.  The halls contained many doors, mirrors, and a low glow of blue light.  They finally stopped at a door and inside we found a private lounge with a  couch, table with snacks, and a large screen with speakers and karaoke machine; we had a great time singing and dancing.  Back at home we tried Jakarta’s signature J CO donuts and Satyavan and I slept with the AC on; the best night of sleep I’ve had in 4 weeks!!

In the morning, Adrien was the only one home, and she was still asleep, so we asked the gardener for directions to the large Monument in the center of the city.  He spoke no English, but was very helpful.  We began walking down the narrow streets, not much room for foot traffic, and were able to jump on a Trans Mini 77 to Block M.  The people were very friendly and eager to give directions even though nobody really understood each other.  We spent hours walking around Block M (many clothes stores with loud music coming from each one), we ate lunch at an underground vendor, and met lots of friendly people.  Some people just watched us trying to order and laughed, but those who spoke English immediately became our best friends (Eddie from Jakarta wanted to get me whatever I wanted and recommended I try almost everything because it is all so good).  We bought tickets for the TransJakarta and headed to Ancol Marina (which we later learned was the wrong place).  On the bus, we met some guys who had been educated in Zimbabwe, the older brother had spent 8 years and the younger 10 years; they spoke very good English and they took a picture with us.  The bus took us to a Ancol, which is a huge theme park area, many types of water parks (Atlantis and Sea World) and other entertainment.  People kept trying to send us to the Ancol Marina, apparently they don’t know where Batavia is!  I finally pulled out my camera and showed them a picture of the crest…as soon as they saw Batavia Sudan Kelapa Marina, they tried to take us to Sunda Kelapa.  We opted to walk because they were asking for too much money, $4 a person.  After finally getting out of Ancol, the polisi pointed us in the right direction and told us what bus to take.  While we were walking, Jasmina was able to wave down a blue bus, who gave us a lift to Batavia (20 cents each).  We walked back to the marina and decided to take the final opportunity to relax before rejoining the crew.  We all showered and enjoyed a beer and some wafers sitting on the marina patio in the cool breeze.

We had an amazing journey from South Jakarta to North Jakarta, through an expat area, private wealth, parts of the city, an expansive/cheap mall, street food, tourist areas, and the very poor harbor area.  We saw the great contrast of Jakarta, tried out all kinds of public transportation, discovered that English is very rare, and experienced difficulty communicating with the locals.  Jakartans are not always the most helpful (mainly due to miscommunication), but they are very very friendly!