What Jakarta lacks in sights, it makes up with surprises . The thing that struck me about Jakarta (beyond the obvious factors like heat, grime, crowd) was the friendliness of its people.
For a city of 17 (or is it 9 … depends on who you speak to) million people, I find that people have a lot of time to answer your questions, help with directions etc … ranging from hotel staff, taxi drivers, shopkeepers and the general people you stop on the street. Some Asians would consider Indonesians to be their poor cousins but in this respect I think Indonesians (or at least Jakartans) are far richer than many others. Here’s a salute to you Jakartans!
There was something that I found a bit hard to swallow … people generally address others (of reasonable age) as Bapak / Pak (which means father in Malay; for men) and Ibu / Bu (mother in Malay; for women). Can you imagine me being called Bapak / Pak left, right and centre? Daddy, what would you like for breakfast? Daddy, will you be checking-out from our hotel today? Cringe, cringe, cringe. I later realise that the words Bapak/Pak/Ibu/Bu in Indonesian aren’t as literal as in Malay but can mean Mr, Sir, Mrs, Ma’am.
Strangely for the world’s largest Muslim country, there were lots of women wearing short skirts and had their heads uncovered … more so than in Malaysia. And they have their local edition of Playboy … Not even secular Singapore have that!!!