Post #153 23 October 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our stay in Jakarta, 23 - 28 August 2017.

After two days in Jepara we drove back to Semarang and the next day caught a train from Semarang to Jakarta (5 hours).

Jakarta, aka The Big Durian, is the capital of Indonesia.  With a population of more than 10 million (Greater Jakarta, including Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Tangerang, is estimated at 30 million!), it is the political, commercial and financial center of Indonesia, and by far the biggest city. Jakarta rules!.

My first overseas posting was to the Australian Embassy Jakarta in 1972 - 3.  It was completely different to anything I had ever experienced - so exotic, an assault on all the senses - smells, sights, sounds, tastes, everything was different, and I fell in love.

Vera & I married in Jakarta in October 1973.  From Jakarta we had a short term posting to Bangkok  (9 months, to fill in for a sick Trade Commissioner) followed by other postings in Canada (Vancouver), Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) and China (Beijing).

1988 - 91 we were in Jakarta again for a second time.

You can see why Jakarta is so special for us - many, many fond memories.

It is still a crazy, fascinating city: crowded with unbelievably bad traffic, polluted (visibility was less than 5 km when we were there), hot, smelly, noisy.  But it is pulsating and full of energy which, like a magnet, draws people from across the Indonesian archipelago.

I could never really understand how it all works, but somehow it does.

We had 5 days there, which was enough to catch up with some old friends, and visit old haunts.

Here are some photos of our visit, starting with our train journey from Semarang.

The Semarang train station.

Inside our carriage on the train to Jakarta.  Quite comfortable.

Food & drinks service on board the train.

We stayed in a small two-bedroom apartment in the Thamrin Residences (a complex of 4 big towers behind the Hotel Indonesia).  The skyline of Jakarta sure has changed in the last 30 years - many more high-rise buildings now, office and residential.

The Thamrin Residences had a walking track and two large pools on the ground floor.

The walking track at Thamrin Residences.  We had a walk and swim every morning before venturing out. All the expats we knew had either passed away or moved away, so our visit was mainly to re-visit old haunts and we met up with a couple of Vera's old friends.  Actually we had heard that the number of expats in Jakarta has been declining as well-educated Indonesians fill the jobs; we certainly didn't see many expats but then we didn't spend much time in Kebayoran Baru or Kemang where most live.

Looking north-west from our small balcony.  You can see one of the towers of the Thamrin City complex.

Looking due west from our balcony, towards the airport. The airconditioning had trouble coping with hot sun in the late afternoon. Jakarta still has many low-rise buildings as you can see.

Looking south-east from our balcony, towards the Shangri La Hotel and some of the tall office buildings along Jalan Sudirman.

The good old Hotel Indonesia, the facade is still the same but it has been renovated and extended and is now run by Kempinsky.  I stayed here for a week when I first arrived in Jakarta in February 1972.  The Kartika Plaza Hotel was up the road, the Asoka Hotel was across the street and the President Hotel was on the other side of the Bundaran (round-about). Several embassies were close by: UK, Germany, Japan and Australia.  This was where it was all happening at that time.

Posing in front of the Hotel Indonesia, the first place I stayed in Jakarta back in 1972.

Looking across Jalan Thamrin from in front of the original site of the Aussie Embassy where I worked in 1972-3.  Later, when I came back for my second posting in 1988 the Austrade Office was in the building in this photo (with the Pertamina Lubricants sign), across from the Embassy. When I returned for a short-term assignment in 1994 the Embassy had relocated to Jalan Rasuna Said in Kuningan. Now a new Embassy has been built, also in Kuningan.  The construction you can see in the middle of Jalan Thamrin is for the Jakarta Metro which will open in a couple of years.

Of course we visited the Grand Hyatt Hotel which opened to big fanfare in mid-1991, and the neighbouring Plaza Indonesia Mall.

In the foyer of the Grand Hyatt - still impressive.

The traffic in Jakarta lived up to its reputation - dreadful! So we sometimes took the Bus Way which was inexpensive ($0.35 a ticket) and faster because of the special lanes.

Waiting to board the bus. 

Strangely, the buses were not very crowded, perhaps because the stops were about one km apart - not very convenient. Some buses have 'women only' areas.  I made the mistake of sitting in such an area and was quickly told to move to the Men's area (standing only).  Most Indonesian women now wear a scarf (hijab), especially in smaller cities.  Jakarta is a bit different - so international - you still see quite a few (younger) women not wearing a scarf.  We met a woman in Malang who was Christian; all her colleagues at work wore scarfs so in the end she just decided it was easier to join them rather than have to always explain that she wasn't Moslem.   

One day we took the bus down Jalan Sudirman to Blok M and had lunch in the food hall. It's been done up - a very good range of food on offer, and at very reasonable prices.  We used to often shop in this area 25 years ago, many expats around then but few now.

Of course we checked out the Jaya Pub which was one of our favorite music venues in the old days.  Twenty years ago, when Felix-the-singer was still around, this place would really rock.  It's still OK, but not the same.  We left at 10pm, the waitress said it would pick up around midnight, but that's too late for us nowadays.

Old friends, Joe and Lucy Kamdani, invited us to their home for dinner.  I met Joe in 1972, when he was just starting his office supplies business.  He is an extraordinary person; through hard work and determination he prospered - a veritable 'rags to riches' story.  Joe and Lucy are still the nicest people you could ever meet. It was a delight seeing them again and hearing all about their kids and grandkids. 

Some of the dishes at the Kamdani's dinner - delicious!

Joe has installed a full gym in his house.  He is 80 years old, but still fit and well.

From left: Shana (Jeanne), Lani, Vera, and Annie (Shana's older sister).  We visited Shana at her restaurant in Blok A.  Vera, Shana and Lani were in the same class at Sanata Dharma University in Jogja 50 years ago.  Later Shana dropped us off at Cafe Batavia in Taman Fatahillah (the Square in front of the old Dutch-era Town Hall).  Spent a couple of hours looking around, and then took the Bus Way back to Jalan Thamrin and home.

This wooden statue at the door of Shana's restaurant caught my eye - cute, ugh?

We got a taxi to drive past the new Australian Embassy.  It is like a fortress - little wonder after the old one was bombed a few years ago.  It was a Sunday, so we couldn't enter, but apparently many staff now live in the compound. Next we drove past the Ambassador's residence on Jalan Teuku Umar, Menteng, where we got married in 1973.  We walked along Jalan Sabang and Jalan Agus Salim.  So many business hotels in this area now.  Barack Obama's mother married an Indonesian (2nd marriage) and Barack attended a primary school in Menteng (1967-71). His mother then sent him back to her parents in Honolulu where he went to High School.

We had lunch with Renville and her husband Lubis.  Vera was friends with Renville back in the early 1970s, when Vera worked for Singapore Airlines and Renville was with Qantas (Renville later joined Vera at Singapore Airlines).

Indonesia is a smoker's paradise; so many different cigarettes and quite inexpensive (A$1 = Rp10,000, so these cigarettes are around $2 a pack).  Most men seem to smoke, including Vera's brother Andre who has resisted all attempts to make him stop.  There were cigarette advertisements everywhere, including huge billboards. One, especially caught my eye: there was a photo of  mountain climbers with the slogan "Never Quit".  In Australia the government runs an active Quit campaign (Quit smoking)! 

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We've been so lucky with the weather - very little rain - when it rains Jakarta gets even messier than usual!

Our next stop was Bandung, to see Vera's brothers and sisters.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Monday, 23 October 2017