Indonesia: Where The Adventure Begins

For some reasons, prior to our arrival (I was travelling with The Carebears- my batch mates and dear friends from Internal Medicine Residency at St. Luke’s Quezon City) - the image I had in my head of Jakarta was a distinctly rough one. I had heard that just like Manila, it was a rough, crowded, loud city. I heard about the horrendous traffic- the narrow roads, an abundance of vehicles, and a lack of a subway makes for a hot, congested mess. And for some reason, the image in my head was of a city of rubble. So that’s what I was preparing myself for. But what I found was a much different place.

Jakarta is similar to Manila, from the sudden emergence of its crowded, hectic sprawl amid seemingly uninhabited urban districts, to the cacaphony of buses and cars, construction cranes and screaming schoolchildren celebrating the day’s end, to the dizzying whirlpool of jungle green, steel grey, orchid-petal fuchsia and the orange that can mean nothing but a 7-11 sign.

Jakarta turned out to be splendid oasis in Indonesia. Yes, it’s crowded, loud, smelly, and dangerous. But it’s also refined, beautiful, peaceful, and depending on where you go- quite safe.

Inside the city, you can find many street markets where you will find original creations and traditional dishes that will reawaken your taste buds. Try delicacies such as satay, gado-gado (vegetables with a peanut dressing), sotobetawi (a local specialty best described as a beef coconut curry soup), crispy bebekgoreng (fried duck), nasigoreng (fried rice with spicy vegetables and fish) and of course, the famous beef rendang. This is also the place to try exotic fruits like the durian, and snake fruit among others.

Jakarta is also the birthplace of the exotic. The entrancing colors, textures and patterns of batik originate here. The eerie and ethereal sounds of the gamelan music originate here. Some of the world’s best coffee beans, so good that Java became a synonym for coffee, originate here. This is a city of ancient Portuguese and Dutch cultural influences mixed up in a stew with flavors of Chinese, Arabic, and Pacific island life. That pretty much defines exotic and Jakarta is the one place where you will find it all.

It’s no secret that Jakarta loves shopping malls – the city is freaking hot and malls blast the AC. Even if you loathe shopping malls (as I do,hahaha), you might as well take a stroll through one in Jakarta just for the experience. 

I fell in love with Jakarta for its energy and its color and its noise. I love it in spite of how dangerous it felt to walk along, through and, especially, across its streets – and the only thing more jarring than attempting to cross the street in Jakarta is the overpowering friendliness of every single local person I’ve met here thus far.  

With so much to do and life happening fast all around this place, it is easy to get caught up in the whirl of the city. My advice: try to hang back, observe, and ask questions. You will be rewarded with an insider’s view of one of the most complex and compelling cities on Earth.