Fred went a wandering.

Bits of Jakarta have car free mornings. The police block the road for a few hours.



I didn't see the police fine anyone but they did offer advice to several motorists who tried to get through.



That left the road clear for walkers and cyclists

I almost forgot.
It was raining so the top quality, high tech waterproofs were in use.

Hah!  Fred!  I can see that great shot you took of the boulevard (nama?) with virtually no cars being used on a travel brochure for Jakarta…”Traffic?...What Traffic?” 

Merry Christmas ole boy, and have a great day.  Our 43 kilo babi guling which was roasting all night long arrives in 30 minutes.

The road is the way to one of my favourite plazas, Ratu plaza, a world of electronic fun toys and the best burgers for miles.
I also popped into Guntur to see a mate called, Imam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMMk2e3F2Hkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EWLQw9TiCM

PS - I'll pass on the pig idea.

I don't mean, "pass", just not bother with it.
I don't want to ruin the flavour for you.

The binmen of Guntur are still using Serco shirts.
To Serco, this was nothing but to people who can't but new shirts because they have no money, it's a lovely gift.

They came from this BBC programme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxl2hIKgLmI

Most of Jakarta's rivers are filthy, full of rubbish and raw sewage.
Kids still play in them.

they play in the dirty river Because to recreation areas, they have to pay to swim.

Food stalls are everywhere, including in shopping malls.





I was informed it was killer spicy but, whilst it was hot, it wasn't that hot.
It did taste lovely and I can recommend it to all.
It's in Pasar Festival, Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said, near the big Immigration office.
There's also an Indian food stall in there I fully intend to try next time around.

They're street kids, short of anywhere to live so that's the only place they can swim.
Most of the time, they collect cash from passing motorists.
I've spent a lot of time checking out real life in Indonesia so I've seen a lot of stuff most bule (and most Indonesians) never do.

Indonesian people say it by the name of "Ayam goreng penyet+kremes"

looks really good n tasty,when i see pics like that makes me hungry.I look forward to having some next month.and also im freezing my ass off over here.

I can assure posters, it was delicious.

Just around the corner from the binmen, you can wander into a top end mall with top end everything for sale.





Not that a Lamborghini is any use out here.
Potholes, illegal road humps and traffic jams make them a waste of time.

I'm often asked why I like Indonesia so much so I thought I'd try to explain.
This morning, a veggie seller walked down the road and, as we needed a few things, my wife asked her to come into the drive.
A few women from the street saw her as well so they all congregated and chatted as they bought the veggie.

This country is so friendly, it's hard to imagine unless you visit.

There are many micro businesses out here, selling little bits and making almost no profit.



Towards new year, they expand their business.



As new year gets closer, half the country seems to follow suit.



This line is a common sight on busy roads.

There was a serious accident out here a couple of weeks ago. A train hit a petrol tanker that had tried to beat the train over a level crossing; the tanker lost in a big way.
There was a crackdown, including more security at crossing and closing illegal crossing.
The sign says (paraphrased), don't make a level crossing here and mentions a massive fine or a year in the nick.



But there's an illegal crossing anyway.



It doesn't take long before you see someone cross. Several went over in the ten minutes I was there.

Disability and poverty are common partners.



A lot of people thing we don't bother with Christmas here; they may be wrong.

Warung is a small shop
Net just means internet.

A warnet is an internet cafe and, as much of Indonesia isn't well served and is too expensive for many to have at home, these places are popular.



As there are few land lines in villages; connection is by radio.



Village life is commonly simple.



as are the drains. You'll notice the washing soap is coming out of the drain, directly into the river, as is commonly the case for the toilet waste.

English is a popular language but many don't actually know what their T shirts say.

Indonesian level crossings can be fun.

youtube.com/watch?v=6oe2cPcNB0I&feature=youtu.be

You see traffic jams a lot in Indonesia. Way too many cars, no driver training  and crap roads will do that.





You know when a stretch of road is always jammed because you see people selling food and drinks in the jams.

A road improvement scheme....but they forgot to sort out the electricity poles.
I think this one has been sipping vodka.



This one isn't quite at the side of the road.



This one looks fine



or maybe not



Still, they've sorted it out and made it safe.

Most people in Indonesia seem to buy a driving licence, if they have one at all, and the police hardly ever enforce road law.

Another rubbish motorbike. Again, used on the roads.

Look closely, no, closer.






































Yes, he's carrying a tree on his motorbike.

mas fred

Love your pics....

House prices are on the up in Indonesia.
They seem to be rising at about 30%/year in Jakarta and the surrounding areas, making it profitable to build like mad.
Mini estates are everywhere and bigger builders are buying any crap land and reclaiming as much for building as they can.
This field was lower before the builders got to it and always flooded, so they built it up and added walls to the river banks.

I don't think anyone realised exactly how bad the flooding was because it's flooded and, if there's more rain tonight, the lot will be under.
problem is, they can't build it up further as that will flood the three year old estate on the other side and, here's the killer, that may flood anyway because the flood plain has gone and the water has no where to go.
It gets worse.
A lot of building in Indonesia is funded by customers buying before the build starts, commonly using bank loans. The banks have killed that off now but this was before the new rules so I'm guessing a few people will be less than happy this evening.

The wall running along the centre is the flood defence.



There's only one river, the rest is flood water.







I think I'll skip buying a house there and, if they'd only asked the locals about the flooding, no one would buy one.
I had this conversation with people in the village at the other end of this estate only last month. We'd all seen it badly flooded and we all knew this was about to happen.

stumpy wrote:

mas fred


Love your pics....

Thank you.

Markets are fun places. The modern markets are clean and tidy.



Here's looking at you, babe.
(Sorry about misquoting Casablanca so I can get in a reference to a sheep farming porker.)

This bridge is close to falling into the river.
Note the long crack and the angle of fall to the left.



But that doesn't stop cars from using it.

As someone who has constructed a number of bridges over the years I would not be driving over that one. 

The longitudinal cracking and the slumping indicates foundation failure.

stumpy wrote:

As someone who has constructed a number of bridges over the years I would not be driving over that one. 

The longitudinal cracking and the slumping indicates foundation failure.

I've never built a bridge but I can see that one a mile away.
To build the flooded housing estate above, they built up the flood plain and added high walls.
That took away the release for the water so it tries to head downstream.
That bridge is the choke point where the river narrows, building up pressure on the bridge and, well, you see the results.
Next up, another road user on the bridge - that one will make structural engineers cringe.

The bridge.

At least he's empty.



But.....


Yep, a full load of sand.

I've been in Indonesia for quite a while now and I'm pretty much used to everything the place can toss my way.
I have, over the years, been accosted by prostitutes, mostly extremely ugly ones, offered such services by men and, in one especially puke inspiring moment,  a really filthy street women offered me oral sex for Rp1,000.
At Rp20,000 to a quid; that's as cheap as she was disgusting.

Today brought me another low in the darker side of Indonesia.
I'll post photos tomorrow.
No, not of the very dirty woman, of what I saw this afternoon.

First - that bridge.
Anyone care to wager as to how long before it falls?



I've seen cocks fighting before but the owners usually pull them apart and chase one away.
This was a cock fight and, although I didn't see any money changing hands, they were shouting far to much to be doing this just for sadistic fun
I didn't hang around until the end.
One man shouted, "watch out, camera", but no one much seemed to care.

A man looks up a tree.



It's rambutan seaon again. Rambutan is a sweet, haity fruit that's as popular as it is common.



I hope to be going into Jakarta tomorrow so, if all works out well, I'll have some interesting snaps to post.

I must say that I feel delighted reading your thread, Fred. Even as an Indonesian I feel enlightened. Thank you for sharing

riveLrino wrote:

I must say that I feel delighted reading your thread, Fred. Even as an Indonesian I feel enlightened. Thank you for sharing

You're welcome.

I have a few more to post when I get a moment.

An overused Indonesia phrase is "Tidak apa apa".
It literally means, No what what, but actually means, It doesn't matter, it's OK or, It'll be fine.
No one thinks anything will happen to them so anything goes, regardless of how ruddy obvious the problem is.

Sometimes.....oops.......