Flyover

My driver wanted to try out one of the new flyovers that just opened recently. We got on from Jalan Antasari near the SOS clinic in Cipete. It spits out on Jalan Iskandarsyah just before Pasa Raya and Blok M. At least when we were on it, there was no traffic. Now trying to get on was a pain. Antasari is necked down to one lane because of ongoing construction so we crawled at a snailspace until we could finally get on. Not sure it is worth being stuck in traffic to get on the flyway. Maybe it will be better once the construction in the area is done.

Flooding in Jakarta

We have felt like the rainy season in Jakarta has not been that bad until this year.  It seems like it has rained pretty much every day.  The last several days it has rained almost non-stop day and night.  Now many areas of the city are flooded.  I read an article today that said that 40% of Jakarta is below sea level.  It is no wonder that sustained heavy rains have caused extensive flooding.  So far it is not as bad as in 2007 where 350,000 people were displaced from their homes.  Even the business district which does not usually flood was inundated with water.

I should have stayed home today, but I mistakenly thought that it was just another rainy day. I’m not very good about keeping up with the news.  I had no idea that there was flooding in so many areas around the city.

While I was out, I got an sms from the school my children attend saying that bus riders were dismissed from school early.  I thought it would take me hours to get home in the rain and that traffic would be at a standstill.  Instead, I found that the roads we were on were relatively empty.  I made it home in record time.



This was my view of Jalan Sudirman just past the flying pizza man roundabout. It is normally packed with cars and almost impassable on a rainy day. It was totally empty. This picture was taken around 12:30pm.


I think I will stay home tomorrow.  We count ourselves blessed that we live in an area that has not flooded.  We got word from one of my daughter’s classmates that their house was flooded.  We feel badly for those that have been affected by the heavy rains.  It has stopped raining for the time being.  It was forecasted to continue to rain throughout the evening and through the next few days. We will see what happens in the days to come.

Our driver's house

During the rainy season, our driver often calls in to tell us that he needs to stay home to repair leaks in the roof of his house. Naturally, this always falls on days when we were counting on him to work, so after this occurred again this week, we decided to consider our options. We could replace him with someone else, but we really like how he is a very honest, punctual, and courteous driver how knows exactly where we want to go. Plus firing him would leave him with a leaky house and no job to feed his family. I wasn’t excited about having to find someone else to be our driver as many people go through drivers every couple months.  So we decided that we would spend some money to upgrade his house and benefit everyone involved. It should provide a great teaching opportunity for the kids and is a way to meet a real need where there are so many people are in need. The next step was to go to see his house and evaluate what needs to be done and discuss how to get started. Here are some pics from our visit to his house today.



The house is 150 sq meters (1600+ sq feet) and about 15 years old.  For what I gather, six people live here.



The tin roof leaks badly in big rains especially in the master bedroom.  We are planning to replace the patchwork tin roof with orange ceramic tiles that are very commonly used here.



There is an unfinished kitchen the back.  If possible, we may finish this area as well (plaster the walls, install a ceiling, and install tile on the floor (which he already has).



Chicken coop in the front yard.



His family was so warm and friendly to us.  They insisted that we take one of the chickens they processed recently and some fish from the local market.  Such nice people and the chicken was delicious.
Next is so get some quotes about the work to be done.  Hope it all works out well.

Senayan Golf Driving Range

Monday night we took the kids to the the Senayan Golf Driving Range to hit a few balls.  We got a bucket of 100 balls for IDR 90,000.  We also rented clubs for IDR 20,000 each.  Our two older kids have taken golf classes before.  The kids had a good time and did quite well.  I was a little nervous because we were on the top tier.  There is no railing or anything.  Next time we will opt to hit the balls from the ground level.  Even though it was a week night and raining, the place was packed. The driving range is located in the Bung Karno Stadium Sports Complex just off of Jalan Sudirman.  Hitting the balls was a fun activity for the kids.  My youngest who is 4 even took a couple of swings. I'm sure we will take the kids again sometime.

Taxi vs. motorbike

I decided to go hometeaching this afternoon.  I called for a Blue Bird taxi since the Toyota Kijang was having issues today (engine not getting fuel, I think).  I was not in the taxi for more than one minute before we T-boned a motorbike with an older couple onboard.  The taxi driver didn't even see the motorbike as it was coming down the sidewalk against the flow of traffic.  I yelled "Berhenti!" ("Stop!"), but it was too late.  The older couple were knocked off the bike and the taxi rolled on top of the bike.  The old man got up and tried to pull his motorbike out from under the Toyota Yaris sedan; but of course, this was fruitless.  So the taxi driver put it in reverse and proceeded to rip off the front of his car!  I was just trying to lay low in the back seat... 

Luckily, another Blue Bird taxi was waiting nearby so I hopped in it and went on my way.  The two drivers started arguing as I left, each feeling the other was at fault.  Of course, if this was America, the motorbike would obviously be at fault, but here the general rule of thumb is that motorbikes can do no wrong.  I don't know who won the dispute, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out!  I just am grateful that noone was seriously hurt and I wasn't driving.

Jakarta at Sunset

Today we went to the uppermost floor of our apartment complex to watch the sunset.  I had never been up that far before.  It was nice to have a different view of the city.  The rains this afternoon pushed out much of the haze that hangs over the city so the visibility was actually quite good. 

Looking out towards FX mall and Senayan City Mall


I just love the mosque that is tucked away in the trees beneath the tall buildings.

Spicy Dish

I had my part-time helper make black pepper beef tonight.  We love spicy food, but tonight's dish was super spicy!  The other day I saw jalapenos at Lotte Mart and bought a pack thinking that I might make bacon-wrapped jalapeno and cream cheese stuffed shrimp.  Apparently my helper thought they were mini bell peppers and chopped them up and threw them into the black pepper beef along with some red chilli peppers.  The dish ended up having black pepper, red chilli peppers, and jalapenos.  It was hot even by my standards.  The kids were running back and forth to the water dispenser. It was funny.  There were no problems with portion control tonight...ha ha! 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I can't believe it is now 2013!  The last year flew by so quickly.  I wasn't going to, but I ended up staying up til midnight.  There were fireworks going off everywhere. From our apartment we could see fireworks on the other side of the Bung Karno Stadium and around the Hotel Mulia.  On the other side, we could see that the lights in Plaza Semanggi were turned off and there were fireworks all around the buildings. 

Jalan Sudirman was also shut down from 8pm until 2 am so that people could walk and bike and enjoy the fireworks.  It was interesting to see fireworks all around the city.  In the U.S., fireworks are often restricted within city limits.  Here in Jakarta they were going on in every direction that I looked. 



Fireworks right next to our balcony...a little close!

 

 

 

Fireworks on the other side of the Bung Karno Stadium

 

 

 

View of people walking and biking along Jalan Sudirman

 

 

 

2012 was a great year for our family.  Hopefully this next year will be a good one too.  We are not sure how much longer we will be staying in Jakarta as we are waiting for news of a possible transfer, but we are enjoying the time that we have here.