Public Transportations in Jakarta

I know it`s kinda silly, but I noticed that many of Jakarta people that I knew don’t know about these very well. When taking public transportation, you have to have a good skill of asking questions, since there`s no maps available everywhere.

Ojek

It`s a person who gives a ride on his/her motorcycle, usually they operate near real estate, schools, open markets or residential complexes, and this is a short distance type of transportation. Housewives and housemaids use it to get to the nearest open market in the morning. Others use them to get to the nearest bus stop to go to the city or coming home after getting out from busses. The cost starts from 5000 rupiahs and is negotiable.

Mikrolet/Oplet

It`s a modified wagon that can take up to 12 people and is one of the long distance type of transportation. In the Philippines it`s called Jeepney. However, since the space is too small, many people would not prefer to choose this type for a long ride. You can ask the driver to stop ANYTIME and ANYWHERE, there’s NO specific stops. The cost depends on how long you stay in the car, but it`s not too much, usually you will start giving 2000-3000 rupiahs to the driver when you`re getting out, if it`s not enough, he`s going to let you know, otherwise, just leave.

Kopaja/Metro Mini

It`s a small ugly bus with natural air conditioner, most of the time it looks like a running bus frame. The biggest difference with mikrolet is the space, it`s bigger. Some Kopajas have a helper to collect money during the ride and shout to the driver when somebody asks to stop, or tell people the next stop so that they would walk nearer to the door (during the rush hours, you barely can walk on the aisle). The helper may tell you how much you should pay, otherwise, do the same thing like if you are taking mikrolet.

TransJakarta

The popular name is BusWay. It`s a good looking bus running on special lines identified with colors, flat rate (3500 IDR per ride), air-conditioned, take passengers only on its stops. More convenient and safe (not 100% safe from pickpockets though). Unfortunately it doesn’t reach all corners of Jakarta. But it passes business centers, downtowns, malls, etc and so it saves people from being stranded on traffic jam. You have to buy the ticket prior entering the bus stop, and then give it to the ticket man. The idea is more or less similar like taking subway. The route map can be downloaded online (http://www.rutebusway.com/data/rutebusway.com.pdf) or seen on the ticket booth.

Taxi

Taxi meter in Jakarta runs based on the time, unlike in Europe and the US where it runs based on the distance. Thus, no matter how long it takes to get to a place, you cannot be sure of how much you`re going to pay. In Jakarta, if the way to get to the destination is too jammed, people wouldn’t prefer to take a taxi or at least postpone going home until the rush hours finished. If you`re an outsider or a female, it`s highly recommended to choose certain taxi companies. Mostly people would recommend to take Blue Bird Taxi, it has the most expensive rate, but according to most people it`s the safest, the second would be Gamya Taxi, a little bit cheaper. Then there are some others like Putra and Express Taxi. Maybe there`s more, but they`re not very popular and I haven’t tried other than those four.

Metro Mini/Kopaja, Angkot and TransJakarta stops at the Grand Central Station called Blok M. You can see the route list for Metro Mini and Kopaja at the station, otherwise, find a security guy or man who are shouting to get passengers, and ask them questions.

Again, this is a one side observation from an outsider. Comments are highly appreciated!

The Art of Jalan Tikus

Jalan Tikus is the term people use for short cuts. The direct translation is "Rat Street". It is associated with how rat tries to find hidden ways from one kitchen to another without getting caught.

When you drive in Jakarta, you have to master these Jalan Tikus. Otherwise you will be stucked in traffic jam for hours. Jalan tikus are unofficial alternative streets that go through sub-urban villages and slum areas behind tall buildings, most of the time they’re very narrow, no street name, lights or signs and most of the time the conditions are very bad. How did people find them? A lot of trials and errors! The rule is that you have to have extra patience and butt-headed, because all vehicles are trying to fit in at the same time and nobody is going to let no one take over. Still, it saves time to get to places. I have been exploring jalan tikus since I arrived here more than main roads.

Since there are hundreds of Jalan Tikus all over Jakarta, would it be cool to have a GPS map for these streets instead of main roads only?? pics are coming soon!

Reverse Culture Shock?

Jakarta, 1st week in Indonesia

Having lived in the US for 2 years, I thought that I would still behave normally when I returned to my home country. However, maybe I started to get used to the lifestyle in the US. For example, as soon as I landed, I and my friend went to the nearest restroom in Cengkareng Airport, and then we noticed that there was not any tissue left, we then asked for a tissue refill to the cleaner lady, and she responded us by pointing at the napkin dispenser next to the sink. Then I realized, I`m in Indonesia now where the toilet is flushed and wet and you should provide your own tissue.

Upon arriving, the first thing I really wanted to do is eating meatballs soup, and I made it. It was deliciousss… (Actually I`d never been able to differentiate which meatballs that are delicious and which are not hehe) Even though I was worried to the fact that most of my friends who had returned before me said that they had a temporary diarrhea upon arriving. Luckily until now, I don’t have it.

The first day was all about sleeping. In addition, I did not have much rupiah, so I asked my cousin to take me to the bank, she took me to the nearest branch, however, they just accepted 100 dollar bills. The cashier suggested me to go to the branch in one of the malls, which is quite far from the house. My cousin said that they were picky, they would only select bills with good condition (I wondered if that was true).

The next day, my other cousin took me to this mall for a currency exchange, on the way, things have changed quite a bit, I noticed that people would prefer to go through short cuts rather than main roads to avoid the traffic jam, meanwhile, short cuts are unbelievably narrow, and yet cars and motorcycles are trying to fit in at the same time. Often our cars almost hit some motorcycles, and I was freaking out inside, but our driver easily told me, "That`s usual in Jakarta that you`re almost hit."

I had a funny story about changing the currency. When I arrived there, I took out all my 20, 10 and 1 dollar bills that made more than 200 dollars and gave it to the cashier without saying a word. He said to me that he would just accept the bills with good condition instead the bad, folded, and scratchy ones. And then he asked if I understood what he said, I responded that I got all of them from the ATM in the US (which was true) and they were all original. He then noticed that I did not speak Bahasa very good, FYI, I didn’t do it by purpose. He asked me how long I have been back in Indonesia (while selecting the dollar bills), I said yesterday (which was true), and he said it seemed that I had not been home for a while, I said, “That’s true!” After finished separating them, he said, “You know what, I would take all of them and change to Rupiah for you.” He then gave me new Rupiah bills, coins and told me that some of the designs have been changed since I left (I never told him how long I had been abroad, but I assumed that he thought for a long time lol). I was happy because before my cousins predicted that the bank would not take many of them. Thanks to my foreign accent hehe..

When we were walking around in the mall, I was having a nice conversation with one of my cousins about how high the price of branded shoes and clothing lines in Indonesia are. We went to several stores to check if our hypothesis was right. Our findings were that some of them were extremely higher than the US price, however, some were almost similar, if converted to Rupiah. He told me that some faked-brands even had much better quality than the original ones, with a very much lower price. I did hear that when Asians go to Hongkong, they would bring empty big suitcases, and later fill them with various faked-brand products. There are terms they use as KW1, KW2, KW3 and I guess KW4. KW1 is for the you-can’t-even-notice-any-difference ones. And this type is still very expensive. It can still be more than USD 1000, however, it would be like 75-80% cheaper than original products. KW1s are not displayed in public, it`s like when you buy a limited edition of Rolex watch, the store manager will firstly observe your appearance, and later take you to his/her office for a private display. I was on the same flight from Hongkong to Indonesia with groups of women who went to Hongkong for a big shopping, I noticed from their carry on hand bags, which I was pretty sure that they were all fake, and their conversations about how and where they got this bag, that clothes, these jewelries, etc. when they were in Hongkong, and they felt proud of it. I did not mean to disagree since I had some faked-brand products that have a better quality than the originals, and you are barely able to differentiate them, and the most important thing was the price was much cheaper.

another thing that happened during my first week back home was just enjoying the jet lag. I would sleep after 5 pm until 1 am most of the days, and stayed awake after midnight, chatted with whoever was online, watched movies, hunted mosquitoes, tried to work on my thesis, blogged, had some friends visited me, played with my cute niece and nephews and chatted with my cousins about many things. Oh yeah, and also enjoying the hospitality where food is served, dishes are washed, driver request. It was kind of weird for the first days since I got used to do most of the things myself, sometimes I felt bad asking for the food to be served, or even asking the housekeeper to open the gate, moving the dirty glasses and plates to the sink, etc.  But that`s how my family do it here in Jakarta.

My internet connection? Don’t ask. My cousin lends me his mobile internet modem, and I was surprised that I can Skype my friends without getting disconnected. However, there are some days when the signal is away for vacation, I couldn’t get connected at all. Sometimes it feels like I`m losing one of my feet since it was so easy in the US to detect Wi-Fi everywhere I go. But I`ll get used to it!