Jakarta

Flew to Jakarta, Indonesia this morning.  Is my first trip to both Jakarta as well as Indonesia.  I have to admit that my only real exposure to Jakarta up until now has been from the news and typically after some sort of terrorist attack.  I can now say it is nothing what I thought it would be.  I had imagined it would be more desolate and maybe even dirty.  It certainly isn't as clean as Singpaore or Korea but it is a very modern city.  Good roads, a lot of new buildings, and horrible traffic...could be NYC or Paris or LA or Singapore...

The people in the office were very friendly and my the training went well this morning.  I was sitting in the office this afternoon and kept hearing people speaking over a loud speaker.  I wasn't sure if it was traffic police or maybe something political then somebody in the office politely told me that they were prayers being spoken.  This part of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim so I was hearing the prayers from a nearby Mosque.  In our office we even have a conference room that is dedicated as the prayer room so that the team doesn't have to leave the office.

This evening a few of the local team took me out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant.  It was sort of a buffet.  You went up to this very long row of foods and you inform them what you want.  They will then heat it up and put it on serving dishes and bring it to your table.  Indonesian food is quite spicy so I really enjoyed it.  I tried a whole squid, some salted fish, some not so great green vegetables, and some really good coconut rice.  There was a couple from Argentina that were with us as well.  They are here for a few months for work and were really reluctant to try anything new.  I, of course, just took at least one bite of everything that my host offered to me.  Most of it was great but some was not...the point is that I tried it and decided by taste and not by fear.  I haven't always been this way but am glad that I am now (thanks in large part to Alan and his mom).

After dinner we went to what I thought was going to be a night market but it ended up being a department store that had two floors of locally made items.  One entire floor was filled with beautiful batik fabric items.  I didn't buy any but the next time I come I think I will.  The other floor was filled with beautiful wood, jewelry, and other knickknacks.  I bought a gift for Alan here that I'll bring back to the US.

Was a good day at the office and a nice evening out.  Am pleased to have been able to change my misconception about Jakarta.