Better than Epcot

Spent a wonderful day at Taman Mini Indonesia. It's a lot like Epcot in that it has these architectural replications of buildings or temples from all the different islands of Indonesia. You can wander around in them and see examples of traditional clothing or handicrafts of those islands. I was really surprised at how different each island was, some were almost Native American like and others were very Polynesian. Now I want to go off and see the actual islands! Around all this they have a museums with different themes like transportation, science, animals, etc. We saw an albino turtle at the Aquarium and at a reptile house Derek got to hold a big python. Apparently holding enormous snakes is a pretty common experience. Ask Derek about his alligator bite!
Joel is out of town for 4 days as he went to Balikpapan, a nearby island where Chevron has offices. We will be here in Jakarta, missing him but busy with school, swimming, soccer and rugby. Derek started playing basketball this week on a team with another guy his age that we have met. He also premieres and possibly starts as the Komodo Dragons take on the Singapore Bucks on Saturday. We also leave for Singapore the next day for three days and then the rest of the week in Manila, unless of course there is a coup, cross your fingers for no coup, at least not this week.

Someone said we made the news

We are hearing from our sources that Jakarta was in the news this week back home. Apparently a "demo" outside the Embassy here got rowdy and broke some windows on a guard shack. We are here to report that it was no big deal.

Demonstrating in Jakarta is an organized profession. Most demonstrations in Jakarta less about democratic expression than political theatre. One of the by-products of a cheap labor force is that an angry rabble can be procured for a very reasonable sum. Hired demonstrators can be had for $3 a head. At Kalipasir in Central Jakarta, 100 demonstrators can usually be rounded up at a moment's notice.

Judging by the estimates of the crowd size from the Jakarta Post (around 400) the organization which staged the demo can't be taken too seriously.

According to the Jakarta Post the US Ambassador called the violence "premeditated thuggery". I have to agree with the premeditated part, although thuggery seems a bit harsh. After all, no one was hurt. My theory is that the demo was staged at the US Embassy to maximize press coverage. They were, after all, protesting the Danish cartoons - why weren't they at the Danish Embassy? Perhaps because we have more TV's, and because the American press does righteous indignation so much better than the Danes. The violence was a result of the pathetic turnout - how else were they going to get attention with only 400 protesters in a city of 12 million Muslims?

Anyway, we only heard about the incident when we read about it in the Jakarta Post the next day. By the most important measure in this city, the demonstration was a complete failure - traffic flow (such as it is) was not affected, and I got back to the apartment on time. None of the English language satellite stations in SE Asia carried the story. Interesting, since we get Asian editions of Fox News, CNBC, and BBC World News. Hmmm. Maybe yellow journalism doesn't sell so well outside the good ol' US of A.

Road Trip

Monday I make my first foray from Jakarta out to the "sites". The project team is going to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan to solicit feedback on the software from Project Engineers and cost accountants (yes, accounting can be an adventure!) working the drilling rigs on the island of Borneo.

Let me quote to you from the Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia: "Balikpapan (population 440,000) is an air-con, oil boomtown with little to recommend it to the average traveller. Accommodation is expensive, and there is not much to do around town...Balikpapan has an air of easy, yet oddly artifical, affluence that you won't find elsewhere in Kalimantan...Balikpapan is an R&R center for oil workers and other ex-pats working in mining and logging camps upriver. Consequently, there's a large number of bars and discos in town."

Sounds like California, circa 1849.

Jakarta Street Scenes

These roadside stands are common all over town. They sell everything imaginable. 

My Turn

Since some of your are beginning to notice my silence, I thought I would take advantage of a quiet Sunday evening to share some observations about life in Jakarta.
- NOTHING can prepare you for traffic in Jakarta. We were going from our Apartment to the Embassy Club Friday afternoon. We gave ourselves an hour and a half to cover a distance of approximately 1 mile. After getting halfway there, we began to wonder whether we gave ourselves enough time. Walking might be the quickest way from place to place, but absolutely nobody walks in Jakarta. Maybe it's the heat. Or the pollution. Or the vendor carts blocking the sidewalks. Or the inevitable rain.
- Motorbikes are very popular (see picture).
- Every kilometer or so, there is a mall complex that can put Water Tower Place in Chicago to shame. Between those malls is an endless string of vendor carts and roadside stands.

Joel

A night of rugby

  

A good weekend

The Sandbergs in Indonesia
We all had a great weekend as Claire began playing with the Jakarta Girls Soccer Club and she is starting to hang out with other girls at the American Club.
Derek has somehow been made offical (dispite the fact that he is underage) for the Komodo Dragons and they are grooming him for a game against Singapore playing "post" what ever that means. The team plays their away games in other countries, Joel and Derek may be traveling to a few.
I have to descibe what it is like watching rugby. The team plays at about 5pm so the locals around the club are starting open fires for their dinners, a smokey haze kind of hangs over the rugby pitch after awhile. As the sun sets, the sky literally turns purple and orange against the out lines of palm trees that line the field. At about 6:30 the evening call for prayer goes out so a mystical wailing plays in the backgound of this scene as the players crash into each other in the weird dance of rugby that I have yet to understand. Every time we are there I feel this same other worldly-ness about the whole scene.

Yeah, that is a real snake

  

A day at the zoo

The Sandbergs in Indonesia

Claire and I just got back from the most amazing day at the Ragunan Zoo. We stopped by a snake house where the man who ran the place spoke very good English. He showed us an enormous boa constrictor and then got out a smaller (but still big) one and offered to put it around us for a picture! Had to take that opportunity! They even had a cobra in a bag that they took out and just had slithering around on the floor a few feet from us. The same man offered to take us around the rest of the zoo and it was wonderful. He knew all the animal names and would call to them and they would come over. He showed us how to feed the elephants straight from our hands, did you know that the trunk sucks up just like a vacuum? We hand fed giraffes too. We went into the primate area and got all the monkeys howling and screeching, it was hilarious! Then he showed us where some of the monkeys are kept and we feed a huge orangutan and Claire got to hold a baby orangutan. It was unbelievable! The zoo was practically empty so we almost had the place to ourselves with our very knowledgeable guide. Watch for pictures to come!
Today begins 2 weeks of having our own driver, Hasyim. He is very sweet. Some friends are gone for 2 weeks so they loaned him to us. We thought we would be getting one too but it turns out the "driver" for us was the shuttle Joel is offered to get to work each day. I have a feeling I may get used to this.

Your questions answered!

The Sandbergs in Indonesia
We have all been asked a lot of questions about life over here. Obviously we are not experts but the differences are ones you may find interesting. Traffic is a major issue in Jakarta, going anywhere takes an hour if not more. The lines on the road are only suggestions as cars, motorcycles and vans honk and jockey for space. I have learned just to look out the window and watch the world go by or take a nap. It's rainy season here, the temps. generally are in the mid 80's and it rains hard at least once a day. Sewers are open an can be smelly, in our neighborhood they are hidden by lovely landscaping but in other areas they are very obvious and kind of gross. Food is very unusual, not really Thai which I like, it is kind of a cross between Thai and Japanese, with some rather jelly like textures I struggle with and can be VERY spicey. We all like the mee goreng or fried noodles. There are a zillion American places to eat though so we survive. The odd part of eating out is that they don't bring your food all together, two or three of your group may get served and then 5- 10 minutes later the others get served. We have learned to just eat or your food gets cold. There are a billion sales people in every store. I swear they have a sales person for each aisle. Then you have to have that person bring it up to the cashier where that person rings it up and the other one packages it up. At least there is lots of work. There is tons of security every where. Guards and even soliders. People still talk about the Bali bombing. Six of the Komodo Dragons rugby players (the team Derek has been playing with) were killed there. I think the whole country was spooked by that and are very cautious now, to the extreme. It makes me feel safe but it also makes me wonder how unrealistic we may be on our own country, having seen much heavier security in other countries as well. As Americans I think we feel we are invinceable, in other countries I think maybe they know they are not. Indonesians are very kind and very polite. I am never sure if I am being a total bozo or not as they would never say. Many people have gone out of their way for us and it has very sweet.
I can't get used to all the zeros dealing with the Indonesain rupiah is about 10,000 to 1 US dollar. I take out a million all the time. Derek can't believe how dumb I am trying to figure out what bills to use, the coins are actually aluminum so obviously just token, and value wise about the same.
The grocery store we go to most has a beautiful area for displaying wine, but lots of time they hardly have any and choose to put Pringle cans in the wine racks. We feel they look very classey that way. Well enough of my ramblings, hope this answers a few questions. I want to try and get out and take more authentic photos this week, our neighborhood, although lovely and like many others, seems more American to me then Indonesian.

Between a Hard Rock and a Birthday

Claire celebrated her 11th birthday this week! I was choked up by the sweet emails and on line cards her friends back home sent. We celebrated for days as we couldn't decide if her real birthday was the 9th in Indonesia or the 9th in Wisconsin. We covered both days just to be sure.
I feel like we are getting things together a bit with more organized activities for the kids. Derek has been practicing with the Komodo Dragons, the Indonesian semi professional rugby team. I just thought they were a bunch of guys but no...they are semi famous! Derek can only practice as you have to be 18 to be on the team, but they like him and he really has fun playing with them. Derek is also joining a basketball team at the International School.
Claire starts soccer this week and we found a swim team for her too. We have made friends with one of Joel's co-workers and they have shown us the ropes around here so to speak.
So what about me? Well I am making it a goal of mine to get a 2 hour massage each week as they are only $14. (I find this to be proof that there is a real God) and I vow to get more organized with Claire's schooling. If she gets bad grades I swear it will be all my fault as I feel like I don't know what I am doing sometimes. I keep telling myself that this is my chance to redo those math lessons I never really got back when I was in 5th grade. But the on line school will come in handy as we have heard that in the next month or so we will be heading off to Manila and Singepore. We are looking at some weekend trips to Borobordur and Bali, in fact I have to venture out and find a travel agent this week along with calling Mr. Freddy the driver. 

Jakarta: Amazing and wild!

We are settled into our apartment now and have internet secured. Yahoo! Our apartment is very nice and fairly roomy. The pool is wonderful and we spend at least an hour a day down there. This is the view of the pool from our patio. We live in a neighborhood called Senayan. Right across the street is a big mall with designer stores, Prada, Gucci, Jimmy Choo. (I confess, it is a bit rich for my taste. ) We also have 3 fairly good grocery stores close by too. Just found the best one today with a great bakery! OINK! We have been trying new fruits, you would not beleive the variety, fruits that you have never even heard of. We have enjoyed many of them but not the national fruit- durian. Durian is a large spiky fruit that stinks like rotting garbage. People love the soft creamy fruit inside. We tried it, we didn't agree. The smell of durian greets you as you enter every super market, THAT takes getting used to!
Obviously we live in a very comfortable part of Jakarta. It has many neighborhoods like this but in between you see a lot of poverty too. The cab takes us through crowed streets teaming with ojeks which are small motorcycles that are really the fastest way to travel through the city. We explored Blok M, a shopping district teaming with everything you could imagine. Little closet like stores where tailors sew and work.
Yesterday we went out to a club where Derek played rugby with guys from Australia, England, Scotland, Japan, etc. He held his own and looked pretty good doing it. Joel even joined in and tried his best. Claire and I played in the pool, ruggers we're not. It is a country club that sponsors a big rugby team/program. We have a month's free membership to decide if we will join.
So far we are pleased with Jakarta. Some of the things that people had warned us about have not proven to be true. We obviously have lots to more to learn and explore.
Salamat jalan (goodbye!)