M-whY

I was there early; My train wouldn't leave for another hour and a half. That's the way I prefer it. I always give myself plenty of time to get to the airport, train station, bus station, etc, for peace of mind.

I travelled in style, first class, since the tickets were so cheap. Only 145,000 rupiah (US$1 = 10,000 rupiah) for air conditioning, comfortable seats, and meal. If I had to do it all over again though, I'd probably take a bus. Nothing interesting happened the whole way. I couldn't even check out the Indonesian countryside. For a first class train, the windows were unbelievably dirty. (I did have something to look at though. One of the stewardesses was pretty hot!)

Eight hours later, I arrived in Jakarta. Immediately, I wished I was back in Yogya. The city felt dirty. Just walking a few steps, I felt like I was caked in pollution.

Jakarta has several train stations. Through no planning of my own, the train stopped at Gambir station, the one closest to Jl Jaksa. Jl Jaksa has a wide selection of cheap to mid range accomodation, and is where most travellers stay. The room I stayed in was really nasty, but the price couldn't be beat, and like I've always said, it's just a place to sleep.

I had about 110,000 rupiah when I stepped off the train. 70,000 went towards my room (two nights at 35,000 rupiah per). 10-20,000 was set aside for internet access later in the evening. Too late to go looking for an ATM, that left me with about 20,000 for dinner.

In Yogya and Jakarta, I often saw these small food stands. Plenty of locals ate at them, but you'd almost never see a foreigner there. Probably for couple reasons. Sanitation was a concern, and you'd have to possess some knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian to communicate what you want. Tonight though, finances made it necessary to eat there, and besides, I was kind of curious.

Foreign languages are a mystery to me. If there's one thing I picked up in my ten days here though, it's how to order food. 'Nasi Putih' meant white rice. 'Nasi Goreng' meant fried rice. 'Ayam Goreng,' fried chicken. 'Soto Ayam,' chicken soup. 'Mie Goreng', fried noodles. Drinks weren't that hard either. 'Es teh,' tea. 'Es Jeruk,' orange juice. 'Es Manggo,' mango juice. 'Es Ayam,'... just kidding, there's no such thing!

I ordered some fried chicken (ayam goreng) which was prepared in a wok of oil on top of a camping style stove. While I ate, three 15-17 year old kids, also eating fried chicken, struck up a conversation with me. "Where are you from?" "Where in Indonesia have you been?" "How do you like Indonesia?" They were friendly and polite... New Zealanders are known for their hospitality, but in my experiences in Indonesia, the people here are just as nice. When it came time to pay the bill, the kids even translated for me, as the proprietor of the stand didn't speak english.

Only 6000 rupiah for dinner!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!