Indonesia = 263 million people.
Java = 160 million people.
Special Capital Region of Jakarta = 12 million people.
12 million people and now me.
What a city to get lost in… literally.
In case you failed Indonesian class or didn’t take geometry, Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia located on the island of Java. Indonesia is situated between the Indian and Pacific Oceans to the North of Australia. Consisting of over 9000 Islands; for which over 900 of these are permanently inhabitant, Indonesia is the largest island country in the world and houses the most populous city in the whole of South East Asia.
In case you STILL don’t know where Indonesia is, let me break this down for you in a simple way. For some this may come as a surprise but I would like to OFFICIALLY let you know that Bali is not a country but is apart of Indonesia. And that Java is the island located to the WEST of Bali and that all those islands in that area make up, yes you’re right, Indonesia. WOW right? Who would have thought that there was more to Indonesia than just… Bali.
But moving on from the sarcasm…
The Special Capital Region of Jakarta is a HUGE city with an average of 15, 174 people per square kilometre! The island of Java itself holds more than 57% of Indonesia’s population. So when you think about both of those statistics, it should come with no surprise that Jakarta is classified as the second most densely populated city after Tokyo (according to New Geography’s 2016 Report) and in 2015, was classified as the city with the WORST traffic in the world. However, Jakarta is expanding at a rapid rate; much faster than its neighbouring cities of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Tokyo, and at the current growth rate, Jakarta has the potential to become the most densely populated city in the world within the next couple of decades. Real mind blown this time!
So here I am in Jakarta with a population of over 12 million people in its province and I am trying to soak in the culture and experience the studying and working life of Indonesia. Over the last two weeks (can you believe I’ve been here for this long already) I’ve started to gain an understanding of what is the norm for Indonesian youth. Malls, for instance, are THE place where you hang out after school and there is no shortage of malls in Indonesia.
The malls I’m talking about are not street malls or shopping centres like in Australia; but malls at least 5 stories high, and that’s usually not including the under-ground and basement levels! They have everything you could ever want and that’s why no one is ever bored after school!
Before coming here, I knew malls were the place to hang out after school but knowing something and then actually experiencing it are two different things and I can now say that there will always be a mall in walking distance to wherever you are. And with that, there will never be a shortage of food or clothes close by!
But the one thing that I did not know is about Indonesia’s weird fascination with cheese. If you order anything sweet, most times it will come with cheese on top! So order a banana split? Comes with grated cheese. Order a Toblerone Crepe? They put cheese in it. Order pancakes? Can’t forgot that cheese! Oh and why get chocolate wafers when you can get cheese flavoured wafers and biscuits?
I actually ordered a Toblerone crepe last week and in my naivety, completely missed out on the section where it said ‘TOBLERONE CHEESE CREPE‘ because I was too excited over just being able to eat a Toblerone crepe! You can imagine my hesitance when I got it and saw that it had cheese both on it and in it. The flavours kind of went together but the cheese tasted like that cheese you can get in whipped cream cans in America (which is totally artificial and not real) so it was definitely off-putting. You could also definitely taste the cheese, the Toblerone and the crepe but I personally don’t think they went well together.
This whole concept is absurd because I just don’t understand how cheese works together with sweet flavours! To me, the only thing close enough to anything sweet with cheese is Cheesecake but that certainly isn’t the kind of cheese I’m talking about! Unfortunately, I don’t think this whole sweet/cheese food culture is something that I will explore further because I doubt I’m going to go home and start putting cheese on my ice-cream!
So cheese; maybe its the hidden staple food of Indonesia?
Toblerone Cheese Crepe
Apart from malls and cheese, every Sunday morning in Jakarta is Car-Free Sunday.
The Indonesian government introduced this initiative in 2002 to reduce pollution and allow Indonesians a chance to walk on the road and not become roadkill!
Between the hours of 6am- 11am, no cars are allowed on two of the major roads in Central Jakarta; Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thramin (the only exception are buses which have their own lane). The roads close between Ratu Plaza and The National Monument which is just over 7km long. During this time, thousands of Indonesians flock from all over the city to walk on the main streets of Jakarta.
On my first Sunday in Jakarta, I was excited to see this in action so I left with two friends bright and early and walked on the road to The National Monument.
The National Monument
Along the way, people were riding bikes and jogging, kids were kicking the soccer ball to each other and there was a stage with group exercises. Stalls were set up along the side of the road and storm troopers and superheroes littered the street. Human right activists and groups set up stalls to raise awareness for their cause and police were close by so that no trouble would occur. All in all, Sunday morning seemed like a festival itself.
However, by 11am, the street was quickly filled with cars and motorbikes eager to use the road again and you couldn’t even imagine that an hour before, there was nothing but people on the roads!
Sunday Morning
Monday Morning
Car Free Sunday is a great concept that I think should be explored in many other places in the world as a way of reducing pollution caused by cars and traffic. In Jakarta, Car-Free Sunday gives me an opportunity to explore the city and allows me to soak up the culture, but more importantly, be apart of the culture!
The work and study culture in Indonesia is certainly different to what I am use to back home but different doesn’t always mean bad. What I love most about spending significant time in one country is that you are able to be apart of the culture and live in the culture as a person, not a tourist. I only have a few days left of studying here and I honestly think I’m going to miss university life in Indonesia. It’s still a thrill to go to the canteen at lunch and to head up to level 14 because even though the room is ‘a bit chilly on the willy’ (as I say everyday cause their AC is pretty fierce), the view is amazing and everything is light and airy!
But all good things must come to end and Monday sparks the start of the next adventure! But before I start that, I’ve organised a little weekend trip away so Friday night after my language exam I’ll be heading South to do a weekend of exploring! As soon as I started planning this weekend away, I wished my best friend was with me because I knew that she would have loved it as much as I’m going to. But alas, I will just have to love it twice as much for her. Indonesia 2019 perhaps? (or not, lets go to Tokyo babe? Okay, thats a no… What about Iceland? Or Morocco? Spain? Wait, I know what you’re going to say “Let’s just get past this one first!” Sorry, you know I get a little too excited and ahead of myself!)
Sampai waktu lain,
Teesh xx
Ps. Your little fun fact of the day!
The first contact between Australia and Indonesia happened around the 17th-18th Century (long before the first fleet arrived in 1787). The people of Makassar in South Sulawesi used to come down to Darwin where they would collect and process ‘trepang’ (sea cucumbers). While they did so, Indigenous Australians would allow them access to the sea so that they could trade tobacco, metal, cloth, rice and gin between each other. So in actual fact, Indonesia and Australia have had a long history and I guess you could even say that the people of Makassar were one of the first people to find and trade with Australia!
Mind blown!
Adventures of a Blonde 