Jakarta’s Shocks and Surprises

 

            I have visited Jakarta, a metropolis with a population of more than nine million people, two times, each time lasting half a day to one day. For my third return visit, I decided to stay there two nights to get a first-hand experience of living in this exciting capital of Indonesia, which has more than ten domestic airlines.

            The exciting aspect of Indonesian lifestyle begins in the air. On the day of departure, I boarded Adam Air’s bright and sunny aircraft Boeing B737-500, a change from the usual Adam Air B737-400 that served the Jakarta-Singapore-Jakarta route. According to Adam Air’s Singapore branch manager Susan, the B737-500 was used because it has a wider legroom while the B737-400 was deployed to serve on the route from Jakarta to Batam.

            Onboard B737-500, we were delighted with the sunny cabin and its crew who greeted us with selawan, the Indonesian style of “wai” cheerfully. The cabin roof was festooned with colourful paper dumplings that are associated with Hari Raya Puasa, or as Indonesian Muslims call the season Ramadan. The seats that have only slightly wider legroom than Boeing B737-300 are in bright brownish-red and gold. The cabin design  makes a gloomy passenger positive about his onward journey to Jakarta, a great city that has been harassed by warnings of terrorist attacks and reports of bird flu’s human deaths.

            Onboard, Adam Air’s hostesses served us each an unbelievable set of free MacDonald’s beef burger and an in-house cake. The set cover is an advertisement of Adam Air’s contact addresses in Singapore, Penang and Indonesia. Drinks are kept simple, coffee, tea or mineral water like what you can expect on an Executive or First-Class coach to Kuala Lumpur. The beef burger is prepared without any charge to the passenger by MacDonald’s Indonesia. This is the first time that I have noted a profitable fastfood chain serving free burgers through an airline so that the airline can keep fares at budget prices without turning its in-flight service into one with an onboard cost.

Then, I realize what fantastic service to budget passengers should mean. Fantastic service should be delivered from one’s sincere heart with devotion and commitment to the person served, taking into account that one should not be forced to pay in an economy flight. Thus, fantastic service should be well appraised like a passenger being presented with a bouquet of flowers because the passenger trusts the airline for fantastic service and boards its aircraft. This is the motto of Adam Air, “the bouquet airlines”, which looks upon safety, reliability, comfortability, excellent service and sincerity to its passengers as key factors of Adam Air’s daily flight success.

 The aircraft took 1 hour 30 minutes to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. After arrival, I went to look out for a Damri Airport Bus to Gambir but I dropped the idea because the waiting time thirty minutes was long to bear and I was in a hurry before office workers went home early for Lebaran, a time set for Muslim prayers at home or at a mosque.

The taxi competitors in the airport were doing serious business. I almost chose the Blue Bird taxi ride whose one-way fare that includes tol fees and highway fare now costs Rp 130,000 (about S$24). The Blue Bird officer could not process my debit card payment.  Thus, I withdrew and looked for an ATM. Half way to the nearest ATM, I was stopped by an English-speaking Silver Bird taxi driver. He quoted me a wow Rp 230,000 (S$42.50) due to fuel price surges (it will rise again in January 2006) and said that traveling with Silver Bird is faster than Blue Bird although both colour taxis belong to the Blue Bird Group, the most prestigious taxi company of Jakarta for their honesty in fare charges on meters. So, I decided to board his taxi. Along the way, he shared with me the sorrows of the poor Indonesians towards the fuel hikes imposed by the Indonesian Government.

In 35 minutes, I arrived at my first destination Merpati to collect my long-awaited inflight magazine, and began to conduct my first market survey with an airline in Indonesia. Different surveys at different airlines brought me different encounters.

At Suryopranoto district near Harmoni Plaza, the AWAIR staff treated me like a king. Not only did they listen to my advertisement on suggesting to AWAIR to open a low-cost flight route to Colombo seriously, the office’s part-time staff Candra from Pekanbaru stunned me with his questions over whether I had eaten my lunch. I said “No” but I would like to know where I could have s simple lunch as stalls along the way could not be found.

Candra took me to a nearby wooden cart-like street stall with only small holes to take a look at the chicken dishes. As I feared bird flu, he offered to go nearby to buy me a meal. He allowed me to sit in his AWAIR office to partake in a pack of nasi tempeh, a luxurious delicacy that I could not find in Singapore now, which he bought with apology.

Candra related to me nasi tempeh is a poor Indonesian man’s food. I do not mind as long as there is food to nourish me because finding quality food in Harmoni during Ramadan is difficult. We became new friends and he went further to ride me to Batavia Air’s office to continue my surveys.

Along the way, I thank the Lord that on three visits to Jakarta, this is the first time I have talked to an Indonesian Chinese guy more than 20 years since I graduated from my primary school. His passionate service to customers will do him well in his future career in the IT field of Indonesia. I wish him success.

Jakarta is a city full of unexpected shocks and surprises.

I arrived at Paragon Hotel where I reserved for a twin-sharing room through trunk calls last week. I was puzzled that the receptionist did not make a reservation for me and I was ordered to pay a deposit of Rp 400,000 to this three-star hotel. As I did not bring enough money to stay in Paragon, I turned my attention to Jalan Jaksa where I stayed in Hotel Karya Bahana but the latter hotel presented me problems that I have never encountered before with any hotel overseas in my previous trips.

Hotel Karya Bahana is a two-star hotel although it is considered the ‘best’ hotel of Jalan Jaksa, a street for backpackers and budget travelers. Room 309’s shower room did not work well. There was no cold water. The hot water scarred my hand. I called for the hotel plumber’s help but he could not repair the tap repetitively ! I demanded for a change to a better room.

I checked in finally to Room 403 but again it had its own problems. Vision on its TV is blur and on the second night, a cockroach was scrambling under my bed ! In the morning, the waiter was very slow in serving us with breakfast, two slices of bread which are not enough to fill the guests’ hunger, although Irvan the hotel porter informed me it is standard breakfast fare of an Indonesian that is working rich ! I took such treatment with tolerance and understanding.

In one day, Hotel Karya Bahana became the microcosm of Jakarta’s infrastructure problems as I recall The Straits Times reported that Jakarta needs more investment in its infrastructure to catch up with other regional neighbours’ economy development, tourist facilities included.

On the second day, my market surveys brought me to Jakarta’s second domestic airport terminal Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, located in East Jakarta, all at a one-way taxi-motorcycle fare of Rp 25,000 (S$4.60).

Perdanakusuma is twice bigger than Senai Airport. Here, I was surprised to find the office of Riau Airlines, apart from Deraya Air and Top Air which I wanted to interview. The Halim staff of Riau Airlines and Deraya Air were helpful in helping me complete the survey and I am able to bring back positive results to my company. Top Air was closed.

Halim Perdanakusuma has interesting plane models. In front of the welcome gate is a military aircraft that has the comical face of a shark and at the grounds of Digantara Air Service, there is a huge model of STTD aircraft partially hidden from view. The fast food there is interesting too.

For example, KFC Indonesia is selling steamed rice, fried chicken and vegetable salad. Well, KFC Singapore does not sell steamed rice. And when it was time to return to Jalan Jaksa, enroute I paid Rp 3,000,000 and an airport tol Rp 300 for a trip to Blok M’s food court on the sixth level to enjoy my lunch, a plate of nasi ayam jamur and a glass of ice tea selling at S$2.30 in total.

Blok M presents the old and new fashion styles of Jakarta shopping.  The new Blok M where I have had my lunch in a shopping centre of Jakarta is called Blok M Plaza. It is widely known as the Chinatown Point of Jakarta with its circular winding walk paths and escalators leading up to the food court. The old Blok M known as Mal Blok M on the other side across the Khusus Busway overhead bridge is the hybrid of Bugis Street and Geylang Serai. Its underground boulevard is a pretty gallery of picturesque interior decoration that looks like a church. On each side along the walkway are small Indonesian-style lamp posts guiding the entrances/exits of small shops leading to the ticketing counter and machine of  Blok M’s Transjakarta Busway.

The Blok M premises are filled with festive customers and passers-by everyday.

Transjakarta Busway is the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) of Asia’s bus system and it is the best in ASEAN because cars are prohibited from moving along the busway by a road barricade. Onboard the bus is a screen panel informing the commuter the landmark of each bus stop and the auto-record announcement system dutifully informs the commuter about the present and next stations. Seats are designed to be ergonomic and more comfortable than sitting in the public buses of Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. There are no fare cheats among Busway passengers as everyone pays a flat-rated fee of Rp 3,500 (S$1) for a ticket card deductible after punching it in the ticketing machine before heading for the bus.

I enjoy riding Transjakarta Busway that I travel with it from Blok M to Sarinah, from Sarinah to Sawah Besar and from Sarinah to Glodok a few times to reduce my expenditure on taxi rides.

I visited Glodok, Jakarta’s Chinatown, on Hari Raya Puasa. If no one had told me Glodok is Chinatown, I would not have known it is Chinatown. Hari Raya Puasa’s Glodok is a dead district in terms of commerce and trade. The Indonesian Chinese did not open their shophouses for business because Indonesia mandates that its citizens must rest on public holidays because their public holidays are their annual leave days. Besides, there were Jakarta police guarding Glodok to prevent unexpected riots from happening.

Pasar Glodok is the market of Jakarta’s Chinatown. Six storeys high, it looks more like a central train station but it is one of two relocation places for roadside vendors to prevent them from trading at illegal places and disrupting the flow of road traffic. Here, not only one can find groceries and sundry goods, you can find lots of second-hand goods like VCDs and CD-roms. Opposite Pasar Glodok is Jayakarta train station whose exterior makes it look like a town musical hall.

Kota is the end of Jakarta’s old city area where nearby one can visit Sunda Kelapa Old Harbour, which today is still a bustling hub offering interisland trade with Kalimantan and the Celebes, along the mouth of Ciliwung River, the main river of Jakarta. Here, it is the hub of the nutmeg trade with Singapore, Malacca and as far as to Mauritius and Zanzibar, Tanzania. The Maritime Museum known as Museum Bahari is in Dutch architecture and it features old ships of ancient maritime trade of the archipelago. There are many historical museums in Jakarta such as Museum Sejarah Jakarta and Museum Wayang.

Entertainment-wise, Jakarta has its own outdoor theme park known as Dunia Fantasi where you can challenge yourself to thrilling roller coaster, flume and bumper car rides as well as explore the cultures of Indonesia and many other countries. For Indonesia culture and heritage alone, visit Taman Mini Indonesia Indah near Halim Perdanakusuma Airport. Without flying to Surabaya and Semarang, one can sample Indonesia’s more than 250 cultures by paying for vehicle rides to explore the huge cultural theme park at Rp 7,000 per ride in one day !

More surprises await the Jakarta visitor.

Comtemporary Indonesian youths love donuts very much. A few 500 metres from a location in Jakarta’s city centre and at Soekarno-Hatta, the Dunkin Donuts advertisement board is visible. Indonesia thus has become the donuts lover’s last haven outside the Malaya Peninsula. There are no Dunkin Donuts outlets in Singapore and Malaysia anymore.

Indonesia’s Carrefour branches (there are four Carrefour branches) does not have cashiers on every floor. For example, one has to pay for fruits taken from the first floor at the second floor. The exit is on the first floor but the entrance is on the second floor ! Besides, Carrefour does not sell Southeast Asian fruits like Singapore does. One has to buy Southeast Asian fruits like salak-salak (snakefruits) and durians from Jakarta Fruit Market, an air-conditioned fruit market near Sawah Besar Busway station, and Pasar Glodok.

Even more unusual is the large variety of fish that Indonesians eat. At Jalan Jaksa, one restaurant popular with backpackers and budget travelers sells strange river fish such as gold fish and Banteng fish. I was hesitant to take an order for fried gold fish when the restaurant said other fish were not available because in Singapore, gold fish is ornamental fish. So, I went to the Bistro restaurant next door to order my plate of vegetable curry selling at S$6. Indonesians rarely eat a lot of green vegetables.

And on Hari Raya Puasa and the eve of Hari Raya Puasa, Jakarta is noisy because the Muslims came out in the open and beat bedok-bedok at mosques and fast food restaurants to announce the time of Lebaran, just like the way the Chinese celebrate their Lunar New Year with lion dances. Mosque leaders echo the prayers from sunset until sunrise without rest !

Jakarta is an interesting place of hope and things to behold all year round, thanks to a copy of  Jakarta Java Kini, but if not for the less worsening traffic during the festive season, it could be harder to complete one’s mission for a holiday trip to Jakarta, as I thought about what I have gained on my flight back to Singapore at night.

 

 

Tips about Jakarta travel, dining and accommodation

 

1.                      Gelatio Bar and Ice Cream, Plaza Indonesia, Entertainment X’nter Lt. Dasar No 37-38. Tel: 021-3151874.

2.                      Green leaf, Pondok Indah Plaza II, offers tasty and cheap Chinese cuisine.

3.                      The Mango, Cilandak Town Square Lt. Dasar is a red, black and white dominated restaurant serving freshly cooked Chinese dishes.

4.                      Koah Express, Blok M Plaza Lt. 6, Jl. Bulungan Raya No. 76, Jakarta Selatan 12310, offers nasi ayam jamur and Sichuan Indonesian-style dishes.

5.                      Four fruits (two oranges and two apples) cost a minimum of Rp 3,500 (S$1.00) altogether. A tetrapak of full-cream milk (large size) from Jakarta Fruit Market costs Rp 7,800 (S$1.44).

6.                      Some food terms in Bahasa Indonesia (English): Lombok (chillies), adas manis (caraway), kemiri (candle nut), kayu manis (cinnamon), jahe (ginger), cengkeh (cloves), serai (lemon grass), lengkuas (galangal), bunga pala (mace) and pekak/bunga lawang (star anis), dawn pandan (screwpine), kunyit (turmeric) and vanila (vanilla).

7.                      One taxi ride by PT. Reims Nusantara Taxi from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to Blok M costs Rp 3,000,000 plus airport tol Rp 300. E-mail: Reims_Group@cbn.net.id. Other reliable taxi companies of Jakarta are Blue Bird Group and Family Taxi.

8.                      One Busway ride from one station to the next costs Rp 3,500 (S$1.00). It is worth it if commuters travel a longer distance, for example, from Blok M to Kota. Transjakarta Busway follows the CityBus system of Hong Kong. There are 20 Busway stations. They are, Blok M Terminal, Masjid Agung Al Azhar, Bundaran Senayan, Gelora Bung Karma, Polda Metro Jaya, Bandungan Hilir, Karet, Setiabudi, Dukuh Atas, Tosari, Bundara Hi, Sarinah, Bank Indonesia, Monas, Harmoni, Sawah Besar, Mangga Besar, Olimo, Glodok and Stasium Kota, in sequence.

9.                      Behind New Blok M Plaza is Damri Airport Bus Stand to Soekarno-Hatta. Come out of Blok M Plaza’s exit, on the left of the Busway bridge to the other side leading to Mal Blok M.

10.                   There are two other ways to reach Halim Perdanakusuma Airport from Central Jakarta. Firstly, board Metro Mini 16 in front of BDN Building (offices of Thai Airways International and Qatar Airways) to Kampung Rambutan. Travel by another bus to the intersection of Cawang Luki where you board a taxi-motorcycle at Rp 5,000 (S$0.90) to the airport.  Secondly, board Metro Mini 19 at Sarinah Shopping Centre. It is a 30 minutes ride to Blok M where you board Metro Mini 57 to Plaza Grosir Center at Cililitan in one hour. It is another hour by a small Mitsubishi rented car indicated by numbers to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.

11.                   A true-blue Blue Bird taxi ride to Kemayoran from Soekarno-Hatta costs Rp 130,000 (S$24). Normally the true-blue Blue Bird taxi driver is not conversant in English. Only the Silver Bird taxi driver understands and communicates in English and Bahasa Indonesia. He offers better service and travel is faster than Blue Bird by 15 minutes. Three months ago, a Blue Bird taxi ride to Kemayoran costs Rp 105,000 (S$19.40), including tol fees.

12.                   There are tols and highway fares (Rp 2,000 + Rp 2,000 + Rp 4,500) on the way from Bundara Hi Busway station to Soekarno-Hatta. Fare in total is Rp 100,000 (S$18.50). Total expenditure in Jakarta on three days 2 nights is S$200.00, inclusive of international airport tax Rp 100,000 (S$21).

13.                   Hotel Karya Bahana, Jl, Jaksa 32-34, Jakarta 10340, http://www.indo.com/hotels/karyabahana. E-mail: karyabahana@hotel.indo.com. Tel: 62-21-3150519/-3917924/-3917925. Fax: 62-21-3142781.

14.                   A one-hour Internet surfing at Jalan Wahid Hasyim bordering Jalan Jaksa costs Rp 10,000 (S$1).

15.                   Current domestic airlines of Indonesia operating to Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Halim Perdanakusuma Airport include Adam Air, Air Efata, AWAIR/AirAsia, Batavia Air, Deraya Air, Dirgantara Air Service, Express Air, Garuda Indonesia Citilink, Garuda Indonesia, Kartika Airlines, Lion Air, Mandala Airlines, Merpati,  Riau Airlines, Sriwijaya Air, Star Air, Top Air and Lion Air’s domestic subsidiary Wings Air. Do not look for “fiscal” or “fiscal/departure tax” (Rp 1,000,000) as that is only charged to local Indonesians who do not reside aboard. As Singaporeans, you check-in and pay the airline you are flying with the Airport Tax.

16.                   At Soekarno-Hatta, domestic flights are from terminal 1 A to C while international flights are at Terminal 2 D to F. At Terminal 2, there are two floors for departures and arrivals while departure and arrival at the domestic terminal are at the same ground level.

17.                   Peak hours in Jakarta are from 7 am to 9 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. DAMRI Shuttle Bus from Soekarno-Hatta reaches Blok M, Gambir, Kemayoran and Rawamangun at Rp 10,000 but it charges Rp 12,000 (S$2.13) for travel to Bekasi/Depok/Bogor outside Jakarta.

18.                   Avoid money exchange offices in airports for Rp as the rate is always very low. Beware of pickpockets and thieves onboard non-aircon buses at Rp 1,500 (S$0.30) per trip.

19.                   The biggest shopping complex of Jakarta is Mangga Dua while the biggest mall is Mal Taman Anggrek.

20.                   For more information on Jakarta’s cultures and heritage, please refer to http://www.beritajakarta.com/English/AboutJakarta/HistoryofJakarta.asp .

 

6/11/2005                                                                                Gan Yung Chyan