In the north, bloody protests left three (confirmed) dead.
In the south, torrential rains and flooding.
The former, I chose to avoid. The later, I had no choice but to confront:
Sunda Kelapa
March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Jakarta’s 800-year-old port. Still a working cargo port, Sunda Kelapa only allows piring, traditional two-masted sailing ships.
Cargo is still loaded manually. Interestingly (though not terribly surprisingly) most of the workers in the port and on the ships are Bugis — the seafaring ethnic group that earned notoriety in the English language as “Bogeymen.”
I felt a bit bad actually. Sunda Kelapa is a big tourist attraction (by Jakarta standards, at least), but the people in the harbor have nothing to do with the tourist industry. They’re just putting in a very, very hard day’s work, and have to deal with dozens of cameras trained on them. Granted, this is not their biggest problem, by a long shot. But I still felt like I should hang back much more than I usually would, and it shows in the photos. I’m not too worried though — if I missed anything, I can always buy a post card.
How to extend a Visa in Jakarta (if you’re me)
July 29, 2009 By 3 Comments
Procrastinate. Everything is more fun at the last minute, right? Plus, you’ve got the election and the bomb and the odd spot of food poisoning to attend to.
Gather the requisite documents: a sponsorship letter, photocopies of your passport and visa. Proof you do actually plan to leave the country relatively soon can’t hurt either.
Attempt to locate a coherent set of instructions on the process. Fail.
Notice in passing something about needing to extend at least seven days before your visa expires. Wonder if you should be concerned you only have two days. Be concerned.
Finally locate the address of the immigration office closest to your house. Be vaguely irritated that the Department of Immigration’s webpage has not been translated into any foreign languages. (Including English.) Because, clearly, no-one looking for information about visas would have any use for such a thing.
***
After fitful sleep, drag yourself out as early as you can manage. (Not very, sad to say) Head through Jakarta’s hellish traffic to the immigration office closest to your place of residence and your visa sponsor’s address.
Upon arrival, be told you’re in the wrong office. And, consequently, your paperwork can’t be processed. Get directed to an office twice as far from home and work, that is technically in the right district.
A long, expensive taxi ride later, arrive at an office in a part of Jakarta you were previously unaware even existed. [Read more...]
Attracting a Crowd
July 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I had a chance to escape from the office for a few hours yesterday and accompany friends from Voice of Human Rights Media to Klender, a kampung in East Jakarta. They were shooting footage for a documentary about efforts to provide kampung youth with basic legal training to protect themselves and their neighbors against police abuses, especially in drug-related arrests. Bringing a video camera onto the street invariably attracts a little bit of attention:
and then a little more:
and then some more:
(But not, on the whole, as much attention as I attracted when I inadvertently stumbled into a nest of fire ants while trying to get a better angle on a shot. My feet are still stinging and covered in dozens of teeny little welts.)
Election Day in Jakarta
July 8, 2009 By 3 Comments
Despite warnings from police that Jakarta might face election riots, today’s vote seems to have gone quietly in the city, with all exit polls showing incumbent president SBY giving the competition a solid trouncing.
A man shows his inked finger — proof he voted in today’s presidential election — as he leaves a polling station in Jakarta.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Jakarta.
Day & Night in Jakarta
June 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Gado-Gado vendor in BenHil, Jakarta. On a heated stone, he mixes together peanut, citrus, sugar, chili, and your choice of vegetables, rice cakes, tofu and tempeh to make a delicious lunch.
Hallway of a Rumah Kost in Tebet, Jakarta.
Two New Stories
June 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In today’s Jakarta Post:
An interview with Argentinian artist Jorge Canale. The interview was conducted by email, and his answers were originally in Spanish. Working on a tight deadline to translate this kind of “art talk” from Argentinian Spanish to a form of English accessible to Indonesian readers was definitely a challenge.
A write-up of a lecture given as part of Italian Design week in Jakarta. I definitely miss hard news. But having to write these kinds of features has pushed me out of my comfort zone, stylisticly speaking, which I think is always a good thing.
Chit-chat at the Warung
May 31, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Conversation at a roadside food stall, while waiting for my tempeh to cook (imagine my half in very broken Indonesian):
Bapak: Where are you from? Australia?
Me: No, America.
Bapak: Oh…Obama is from here, you know.
Me: Yeah…
Bapak: He lived in Menteng.
Me: Menteng Dalam, right?
Bapak: Yes. Practically our neighbor.
Me: Do you know him?
Bapak: Hahahah. I know him. But he does not know me.
Settled in Jakarta
May 31, 2009 By 2 Comments
I’m settled into a room now, thanks to the kind and patient help of my friends here. It’s humbling how quickly traveling to an unfamiliar place renders me completely dependent on the goodwill of others.
It’s a bit like being a small child. My Indonesian is sufficient to convey basic information and hold simple conversations, but I’m almost completely incapable of expressing nuanced or abstract thoughts. I don’t know quite how things work — from table manners to activating a cellphone. I just have to smile a lot, make very descriptive hand gestures, and hope people think I’m cute rather than irritating.
So far, it’s been an effective strategy. Today was my first day really on my own, and I’ve racked up a few small victories — getting sandals fixed (This shoe is broken. Can you fix it?), getting pants tailored (These are too big, can you make them smaller?), ordering food (Gado-gado, please. Without egg or shrimp crackers), actually remembering the word for scissors (gunting).
It’s my day to run small errands, because I start at the Jakarta Post tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.
(p.s. I’ve been having trouble uploading photographs. But I’ll keep trying.)