Adventures in an ordinary day.

Today started out like any other day, alarm goes off, breakfast, shower dress, travel to work. However, I needed to go into town to pick up some plane tickets, no they couldn't deliver if I wanted to pay by credit card, have to pick up in person!

OK, ok. So after a barrage of calls, emails and sms's I arrange to pick up the tickets Tuesday morning since I have several free hours in the morning. I am to meet this travel agent at a mall near where she works in South Jakarta, and she'll take me there.

Well, I live a good hour away from South Jakarta. So I make my apologies and I leave at work at 7.30am, first mistake, my town/suburb, turns out to be very congested at this time of the morning trying to get out.... grrr. Anways, I send an sms to the agent to say I'm with my driver can you just give me the address and we can meet you there?

Just as we are getting close to the mall in question, I send another sms to this agent since she hadnt replied to my first one that morning. Turns out she is already on the back of a motor bike and headed towards the office already, ok, I hand over the phone to my driver who briefly talks with her while dodgy motorcycles and buses all over the road.

We are still headed North, in fact Jalan Sudirman, a major arterial road has a regulation designed to decrease congestion a ban on all cars carrying fewer than 3 people during peak hours..... and you can bet there will be dozens of police officers on patrol to catch motorists and extort a fine, never mind any criminals that they ignore, car owners obviously have more money that can be extorted.

well this has only served to create a new profession, that of the "street jockey" - hundreds of people line the streets prior to the main roads with their thumbs out as if hitch hiking, however, you have to pay them, they will sit in the car to make up the number, and then get out after the restricted area and travel back to their point of origin to repeat the process. All for a few thousand rupiah (about a dollar).

Since it was only myself and my driver we needed to pick up one, however, this young man and a few others like him didn't really thrill us.


Fortunately we found a well dressed man instead, we were making good time, (relatively speaking, I've been in the car over an hour already) but it was still getting late, turns out this bladdy travel agent is in the North of Jakarta!!!

So we drop him off, of course the cheeky git wants extra money.. "tiga ribu lagi pak!" I suspect because I am 'bule'.

We have arrived at the correct street, we drive in the service lane looking for the travel agent, chinese style shopfronts, numbering not easy to find, looking for numbers here and there.

As we were going through an intersection a disinterested copper waving traffic almost gets knocked over by us, uh oh, we went supposed to be going then he was waving the opposite traffic, that was a red light we went through, uh oh, this street is now one way only, the police man is blowing his whistle and yelling at us to stop, a motorcycle nearly hits us and my driver begins to stop over the otherside of the intersection, I just tell him to go, so he does, at about 80km/hr. still up the wrong way road.

We've definately gone passed the travel agent now anyway, my driver turns down a street and we are now in the back streets, the irate policeman left behind. The traffic is really snarled up down here, cars blocking the road, ignoring red lights all over the place, we spend 15 mins to drive around a block only to find that we cannot turn left to get to where we want to go, so back to do another block again, I get the travel agent back on the phone to speak with my driver again, about the exact location of her office.

He sort of pulls over to speak on the phone.... in front of 3 more police, who gave us a good stare, fortunately they dont seem to be bothered to hassle us for money.

Drive up the same service road as before, this time I get out and walk to almost exactly the same spot we had almost knocked over the irate policeman, lucky he didnt recognize me (well, it was almost an hour later.

The agent in the shop hasnt bothered to print the tickets yet because she was worried the details might be wrong, never mind the 60 million emails we had exchanged already! Its now almost 10.00am

I offer the travel agent a lift back in my care to the original mall she was supposed to pick me up at. I ask her why this office was so far away, and she proudly explains that her office is more expensive and that she has found me the cheapest travel agent in all of jakarta .... by about $10 or $20 ... ! WTF!

So I wasted an entire morning getting a ticket for $1160 instead of $1180???

Green Parrots play cricket 6's in penang again!

Birds in Jakarata, a status symbol.

BMW or Merc, Big house in an expensive suburb, plenty of drivers and house staff, after that how else does one show off their wealth??

Well in Indo, caged birds are also a symbol of wealth, they are quite expensive and require constant care, during the day the birds will be placed outside and be gently washed with a house and allowed to dry.

These birds I have seen next door on many occasion, i thought it was about time i took a piccie of them.

Match report for rebels cricket club

A Season Opener Shocker

Winning the toss turned out to be the highlight of Rebels new season day opener. Marty calling right, the boys padding up, chompin’ at the bit with the chance to stick it up the Ghandi School League Winners from last year.

The “tui’s” Robbie and Baldy strode to the middle confident they could hand out a batting lesson to the GMIS. The youthful, skillful Ghandi boys drawing first blood in the 5^th over, Baldy (13) run out by a direct hit. The next over producing the play of the day. Robbie (9) driving at a well-directed outswinger, snicking it low and hard to first slip. The Ghandi guy taking a superb grab ankle high. Rebels reeling. Marty looked good, one Buster Douglas type upper cut and a couple of text book drives heartening the Rebels fans who’d made the early morning drive to Karawaci. Suresh’s (0) stay in the middle terminated early by a yorker and Rebels were 3 for 30 off not a lot. Yogi joined Marty and they took Rebs to the first drinks’ break without further loss.

The drinks break full with conservations about Evan and how if he doesn’t turn up soon we’ll be short. Early after the restart Marty (26) slashed at a short one only to see it snapped up at gully. Big, bad Bruce walked on the centre stage. Yogi doing a sterling job holding up his end, Bruce punishing anything short or off line. From 4 for 40 Bruce and Yogi looked capable of building a decent total.

It all went pear-shaped with one of those most controversial of all decisions an LBW. Home team umpires had almost taken this most dastardly of dismissals out of the local game but neutral umpires, nah that’s a whole new can of worms. Bruce (34) failing to make contact with “the bat God gave him” and adjudged OUT. The spray from Bruce over the decision could turn into a tidal wave of suspension in the weeks to come – time will tell. Bruce’s main mistake: twiggin’ his calf muscle when turning for a second, rendering himself unable to open the bowling.

Rebels now well and truly in trouble, one short on the team sheet, and the top 5 run getters all out with just 90 on the score board. Yogi (13) the 6^th wicket to fall. Amar (3) clipped one to short midwicket, 7 down. Kookie (1) cleaned up by a straight one and Rebels were 120 with just one wicket left and 7 overs to go. Pito and Kapil only able to get Rebels to 133 in the 30^th over.

Not a great total but maybe defendable – so the Rebels think tank thought. Amar opening up with venom, producing some nasty bounce from a deteriorating Karawaci track. Unfortunately for Rebs the bounce only produced byes not wickets. One of the Ghandi openers too good, the other too lucky. Pito carted early and GMIS were skipping along at 10 an over. In what was a lackluster bowling and fielding performance Robbie produced the highlight with the unveiling of his much talked about out swinger. A true gem that just missed getting a wicket not once but twice. The Ghandi openers riding their luck, many airborne shots passing or falling just short of hungry Rebs fielders. The one chance that did carry to hand, spilled.

In the 15^th over the pain ended. Ghandi 134 for 0. Rebels defeated by 10 wickets.

Professional Protesters

i'm sure most countries pay people to protest for them, rent a crowd that sort of thing. But sometimes its just a little too blatant. Jakarta appears to have a crowd of professional protesters that for a small some of money can just turn on the indignant rage, regardless of what they are 'protesting' about.

A good book that has some pics of this is called Jakarta Inside out (they have made one for bangkok now also)

In it this one guy has been photographed 3 times for 3 different protests for different sides, he was even wearing the same shirt.

So imagine my surprise this morning when i'm reading BBC and see the same man's face again!