So, I missed an item on my list of things we "miss": Bagels. My wife has been hounding me to find her a nice, warm, soft, chewy bagel with cream cheese. So, I found one. It's at the American club.
On Monday it poured again in the late afternoon, shortly before I was ready to leave work. I had no intention of spending 2.5 hours in traffic again, so I had my first opportunity to make use of a uniquely Jakartan innovation - the Car Jockey.
In its infinite wisdom, presumably in an attempt to prevent traffic jams and encourage car pooling, the Indonesian government created what they like to call a "Three Way" (for those of you with prurient interests, no, it isn't that). Much like the carpool lanes in the states, these lanes require three people in the car in order to use them. When I travel home, it's me and my driver. For most, much like the US, it is just themselves. So, these lanes travel faster than the average traffic lane.
Indonesians have never found a money making opportunity that they could not exploit for profit so, as you leave the business district and make your way towards a 3-way, you'll pass a line of people with their hands out trying to hitch a ride. Only, they aren't hitch hikers. They are a 3rd passenger who, for a nominal fee of 15,000 Rupiah ($1.25) will ride in your car as long as you need them to so you can use the fast lane. Talk about your externalities! The Indonesian government is missing out on a massive tax opportunity. If they just made the 3-ways a toll road and charged 15,000 Rupiah per entrance, they would eliminate this untaxed cottage industry.... of course, they would take food out of the mouths of those doing it, too.
I'm told the trick to finding a car jockey is to find one that doesn't smell. I wish they had told me that BEFORE I used one. From what I understand, if you choose a male, there is a 50/50 chance he has showered in the last week. If you choose a female, you have a 75% chance. On my coin flip, I called heads and it came up tails. The car still had the odor when I entered it in the morning. But, I sure got home fast!
Tonight we went in search of a Mexican restaurant. I have a map of Jakarta and saw that, near my house, there was a Chi-Chi's and a Salsa House. When we were in Bali, I noticed the Chi-Chi's I'm familiar with from the Midwest of the US, so I had high hopes. Our driver took us to the map location for both restaurants. In both cases, the restaurants had gone out of business and a new establishment stood in their place. Mexican food just does not translate well in Indonesia. Not enough rice...though I think Chipotle would do AWESOME here!
We ended up at an Italian restaurant called Toscanos. An appetizer, four meals, a bottle of wine, and four desserts later, our tab was still around $90 including tip. Not bad considering the bottle of wine was 1/3 the cost. The food was amazing, too. I had a slow roasted prime rib with black pepper and rosemary spice in a beef gravy with cheese covered cauliflower - $10. The banana split only had one slice of banana, which didn't quite make it a split, but as long as it has 3 scoops of ice cream I'm not going to complain.
I think this weekend - the last my mother-in-law will be here - we are going to make a trip to the beach closest to us and also spend a day at the American club. Should be interesting.
Showing posts with label kemang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kemang. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
First week of work in the books
I didn't realize it has been over a week since my last post. I am trying to post at least once a week - probably Saturdays - though I am going to try to post twice a week. Waiting so long I have a lot to catch up on, so this may be a long post.
Finishing out Bali. A few things I forgot to mention about Bali. First, my wife and I had both read that many Indonesians view children with blond hair as good-luck charms and that we should be prepared for them to want to touch them. This was EXTREMELY apparent in Bali. All of the beach merchants wanted to shake our daughter's hand, pat her head, whatever. People on the street would stop to take pictures of her. When we went to the Kecak ceremony, as the dancers were preparing, they wanted to shake her hand for good luck. Everyone is always calling at her, asking her name, etc. As we left the Kecak ceremony, and were returning our modesty skirts, the people at the counter also wanted to reach out and touch her. I think she had finally had enough because she said to me, exasperated: "I can't talk to EVERYONE."
Second, Kuta beach is a party beach. This is where people go when they want to enjoy the party scene. When we return to Bali - and it is "when', not "if" - we will probably go to a different beach.
Kemang Club Villas. We really like our neighborhood. I had forgotten how nice it is - two pools, 4 tennis courts, soccer field, playground, gym, spa (with 1 hour massage for $12) and a small cafe all on site. There is a grocery store with expat food that we walk to when we need groceries. I learned a new Indonesian phrase from shopping there - "terlalu mahal". It means "too expensive". We have 24 hour maintenance and security as well as a property management team that will help arrange for anything we need.
The house itself has a few peculiarities. First, we do not have central air. Instead, every room has a remote controlled air conditioner. Oddly enough, despite the heat and humidity, we've only turned them on in a few rooms - my office is not one of them - and it seems fine. We've met a few of our neighbors, but are not yet friendly with any of them. All our expats, most have children.
Time Off. I spent a few hours in the office on Thursday, April 2. This was so my official first day in the office - 06 April - was not spent going through email. I had nearly 400 to read on Thursday. Friday we took the opportunity to go to Safari Park. This was the place I had visited a year back when I took pictures with the tiger and orangutan. This time, we purchased carrots to feed the animals on the way in. We had some great animal encounters. From the car, we fed zebra, llama, camel, antelope, water buffalo and a monkey. One zebra became frustrated when I stopped feeding them and literally bit a piece off the car!
After the drive-through portion of the park, we spent some time at the petting zoo. I took my daughter for another attempt at pictures with the orangutan. He was very interested; she was absolutely not and SCREAMED whenever he would try to hold her hand. She did get to ride a pony again and several of the amusement park rides. They were also in the process of building a water park, so we will have to go back when they open it.
After Safari Park we went to Pencak, a mountain city near the park. We went to the Pencak Hotel which has amazing views of the plateaus and vistas in the mountains. Both the park and the hotel were at a much higher altitude than Jakarta and the temperature reflected it - about 10 degrees cooler.
Jakarta Shopping. Our rental package includes the basics - beds, desk, couches, large appliances and a water cooler. It did not include essentials - blender, toaster, iron, ironing board, floor lamps, bedside lamps, extension cords. These, along with place mats, pillows and a few other items we needed to buy. We went to a nearby mall called Pondok Indah.
These people saw us coming. We first went to a department store to buy pillows, dishes, small appliances, etc. We had a team of people following us around. In the department stores, everyone has commission as a portion of their pay. SOMEONE needs to get credit for every sale, so they are very eager to help you. With all the different departments we shopped in, five different people received credit for our purchases - which, by the way, amounted to more than the per capita income of Indonesia ("Terlalu Mahal!!!").
We couldn't find everything we needed - tools, lamps, etc - at the department store. When we asked where we could find it, everyone said "Ace Hardware". I was hesitant. I know Ace Hardware as a more expensive Home Depot with a lot less selection. In Jakarta, Ace Hardware is like WalMart. They had everything - tools, dishes, towels, lamps, aquariums, fish, plants - everything! Well, almost everything. We asked for nails so we could hang the paintings we bought in Bali. They only had screws.
We had two other shopping adventures. One was to Carrefour, a grocery store that the locals shop at. Here we found much better prices than at the Bule store near our home. The store is about 3 miles away. Took us 45 minutes to get there and, because it was a Friday evening on the way home, and Kemang is THE hot place for nightlife, the ride home took over 2 hours and involved several U-turns and redirections as traffic and police blocked our preferred routes. Carrefour was more like a Super WalMart - groceries and other items. It is here we finally bought lamps.
One of the greater challenges is finding alcohol. Beer is pretty available, but I don't drink beer. Wine is usually available and is 3-4x the cost - Sutter Home white zinfandel cost me $23. Liquor and spirits is impossible to find. I asked around and was directed to a place called "Duty Free". This was a nondescript store in Kemang with black, tinted windows. We walked through the door - plastered with signs indicating they took Visa, AMEX, MC, etc. - and discovered a huge store with nothing but bottles of wine and spirits. There were rows and rows of three shelves high of wine from all over the world - New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Spain, California, France. One wall was spirits, but a very limited selection. Midori, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Cognac. No Vodka, no Gin, no Rum, no Seagram's. The Johnny Walker Green Label was $71. Ouch!
Jakarta Living. We are settling in to our living in Jakarta. I was already accustomed to having a driver before coming out thanks to all my prior trips. My wife, on the other hand, is still uncomfortable with the idea that we have someone who sits in our garage waiting for us to need them. She enjoys their help loading our purchases into the car, however, as well as not having to find parking. However, we have already replaced her first driver because he could not speak any English and she speaks no Indonesian.
The weather here has been very hot and very humid. Our first few days found temperatures 90+ with 80-90% humidity. Two steps out the door and a bead of sweat would fall from your forehead to the ground. We have had rain every day so far, and two days have been cloudy the whole day.
Monday was my first day in the office. I am trying to overlap my hours to some extent with our team in Phoenix, as well as avoid as much traffic as I can. This means that, for the first time in my life, I am waking up between 5 and 5:30 AM every day and leaving the house by 6 AM. Of course, my driver has to get up before me because he has to wake up, dress, and drive here by 6 AM. Luckily, he is devout Muslim and is up by 4:30 AM for his morning prayers, so I don't think he is experiencing any hardship. Each day, including Monday, my trip to the office has required a mere 15 minutes. I leave by 4:30, so I am usually home shortly after 5 PM. Monday was an exception.
On Monday, we had a very heavy rain for about 90 minutes from 2 - 3:30. This rain caused flooding. Flooding caused traffic jams. My commute home on Monday took 2.5 hours. In addition to spending 2.5 hours in the car, we also drove through a flooded area. Freeport has provided me with a Ford Everest. This is an SUV with very high carriage. We needed it on Monday.
We weren't sure we could drive on the flooded road. Most cars were turning around. Turning around probably would have made my 2.5 hours 4 hours. When we saw people pushing their motorcycles through, we decided to forge ahead. To get the picture of what we were dealing with, the people pushing their motor cycle were wading through water that reached to just below the seat of the bike. As we drove through, we created another 1-2 foot wake as the grill of the SUV pushed through the water. The waders were not happy. As we drove by we literally submerged their bikes, and sometimes them. Several of them rushed the car and banged on the windows to express their displeasure. It took about 3 minutes to navigate through the flood waters and I'm glad we saved me another 90 minutes.
Finally, I feel like I am easing into this role. I took two weeks off before I started (with a few half days of work and meeting with vendors along the way). This week I only had to work 3-days. Friday is a public holiday for Good Friday. The current President declared Thursday a national holiday because it was a national election. Can you imagine Barack Obama just picking a day in a month and requiring all companies to give their employees the day off? So, I'm enjoying a four-day weekend this week.
Finishing out Bali. A few things I forgot to mention about Bali. First, my wife and I had both read that many Indonesians view children with blond hair as good-luck charms and that we should be prepared for them to want to touch them. This was EXTREMELY apparent in Bali. All of the beach merchants wanted to shake our daughter's hand, pat her head, whatever. People on the street would stop to take pictures of her. When we went to the Kecak ceremony, as the dancers were preparing, they wanted to shake her hand for good luck. Everyone is always calling at her, asking her name, etc. As we left the Kecak ceremony, and were returning our modesty skirts, the people at the counter also wanted to reach out and touch her. I think she had finally had enough because she said to me, exasperated: "I can't talk to EVERYONE."
Second, Kuta beach is a party beach. This is where people go when they want to enjoy the party scene. When we return to Bali - and it is "when', not "if" - we will probably go to a different beach.
Kemang Club Villas. We really like our neighborhood. I had forgotten how nice it is - two pools, 4 tennis courts, soccer field, playground, gym, spa (with 1 hour massage for $12) and a small cafe all on site. There is a grocery store with expat food that we walk to when we need groceries. I learned a new Indonesian phrase from shopping there - "terlalu mahal". It means "too expensive". We have 24 hour maintenance and security as well as a property management team that will help arrange for anything we need.
The house itself has a few peculiarities. First, we do not have central air. Instead, every room has a remote controlled air conditioner. Oddly enough, despite the heat and humidity, we've only turned them on in a few rooms - my office is not one of them - and it seems fine. We've met a few of our neighbors, but are not yet friendly with any of them. All our expats, most have children.
Time Off. I spent a few hours in the office on Thursday, April 2. This was so my official first day in the office - 06 April - was not spent going through email. I had nearly 400 to read on Thursday. Friday we took the opportunity to go to Safari Park. This was the place I had visited a year back when I took pictures with the tiger and orangutan. This time, we purchased carrots to feed the animals on the way in. We had some great animal encounters. From the car, we fed zebra, llama, camel, antelope, water buffalo and a monkey. One zebra became frustrated when I stopped feeding them and literally bit a piece off the car!
After the drive-through portion of the park, we spent some time at the petting zoo. I took my daughter for another attempt at pictures with the orangutan. He was very interested; she was absolutely not and SCREAMED whenever he would try to hold her hand. She did get to ride a pony again and several of the amusement park rides. They were also in the process of building a water park, so we will have to go back when they open it.
After Safari Park we went to Pencak, a mountain city near the park. We went to the Pencak Hotel which has amazing views of the plateaus and vistas in the mountains. Both the park and the hotel were at a much higher altitude than Jakarta and the temperature reflected it - about 10 degrees cooler.
Jakarta Shopping. Our rental package includes the basics - beds, desk, couches, large appliances and a water cooler. It did not include essentials - blender, toaster, iron, ironing board, floor lamps, bedside lamps, extension cords. These, along with place mats, pillows and a few other items we needed to buy. We went to a nearby mall called Pondok Indah.
These people saw us coming. We first went to a department store to buy pillows, dishes, small appliances, etc. We had a team of people following us around. In the department stores, everyone has commission as a portion of their pay. SOMEONE needs to get credit for every sale, so they are very eager to help you. With all the different departments we shopped in, five different people received credit for our purchases - which, by the way, amounted to more than the per capita income of Indonesia ("Terlalu Mahal!!!").
We couldn't find everything we needed - tools, lamps, etc - at the department store. When we asked where we could find it, everyone said "Ace Hardware". I was hesitant. I know Ace Hardware as a more expensive Home Depot with a lot less selection. In Jakarta, Ace Hardware is like WalMart. They had everything - tools, dishes, towels, lamps, aquariums, fish, plants - everything! Well, almost everything. We asked for nails so we could hang the paintings we bought in Bali. They only had screws.
We had two other shopping adventures. One was to Carrefour, a grocery store that the locals shop at. Here we found much better prices than at the Bule store near our home. The store is about 3 miles away. Took us 45 minutes to get there and, because it was a Friday evening on the way home, and Kemang is THE hot place for nightlife, the ride home took over 2 hours and involved several U-turns and redirections as traffic and police blocked our preferred routes. Carrefour was more like a Super WalMart - groceries and other items. It is here we finally bought lamps.
One of the greater challenges is finding alcohol. Beer is pretty available, but I don't drink beer. Wine is usually available and is 3-4x the cost - Sutter Home white zinfandel cost me $23. Liquor and spirits is impossible to find. I asked around and was directed to a place called "Duty Free". This was a nondescript store in Kemang with black, tinted windows. We walked through the door - plastered with signs indicating they took Visa, AMEX, MC, etc. - and discovered a huge store with nothing but bottles of wine and spirits. There were rows and rows of three shelves high of wine from all over the world - New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Spain, California, France. One wall was spirits, but a very limited selection. Midori, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Cognac. No Vodka, no Gin, no Rum, no Seagram's. The Johnny Walker Green Label was $71. Ouch!
Jakarta Living. We are settling in to our living in Jakarta. I was already accustomed to having a driver before coming out thanks to all my prior trips. My wife, on the other hand, is still uncomfortable with the idea that we have someone who sits in our garage waiting for us to need them. She enjoys their help loading our purchases into the car, however, as well as not having to find parking. However, we have already replaced her first driver because he could not speak any English and she speaks no Indonesian.
The weather here has been very hot and very humid. Our first few days found temperatures 90+ with 80-90% humidity. Two steps out the door and a bead of sweat would fall from your forehead to the ground. We have had rain every day so far, and two days have been cloudy the whole day.
Monday was my first day in the office. I am trying to overlap my hours to some extent with our team in Phoenix, as well as avoid as much traffic as I can. This means that, for the first time in my life, I am waking up between 5 and 5:30 AM every day and leaving the house by 6 AM. Of course, my driver has to get up before me because he has to wake up, dress, and drive here by 6 AM. Luckily, he is devout Muslim and is up by 4:30 AM for his morning prayers, so I don't think he is experiencing any hardship. Each day, including Monday, my trip to the office has required a mere 15 minutes. I leave by 4:30, so I am usually home shortly after 5 PM. Monday was an exception.
On Monday, we had a very heavy rain for about 90 minutes from 2 - 3:30. This rain caused flooding. Flooding caused traffic jams. My commute home on Monday took 2.5 hours. In addition to spending 2.5 hours in the car, we also drove through a flooded area. Freeport has provided me with a Ford Everest. This is an SUV with very high carriage. We needed it on Monday.
We weren't sure we could drive on the flooded road. Most cars were turning around. Turning around probably would have made my 2.5 hours 4 hours. When we saw people pushing their motorcycles through, we decided to forge ahead. To get the picture of what we were dealing with, the people pushing their motor cycle were wading through water that reached to just below the seat of the bike. As we drove through, we created another 1-2 foot wake as the grill of the SUV pushed through the water. The waders were not happy. As we drove by we literally submerged their bikes, and sometimes them. Several of them rushed the car and banged on the windows to express their displeasure. It took about 3 minutes to navigate through the flood waters and I'm glad we saved me another 90 minutes.
Finally, I feel like I am easing into this role. I took two weeks off before I started (with a few half days of work and meeting with vendors along the way). This week I only had to work 3-days. Friday is a public holiday for Good Friday. The current President declared Thursday a national holiday because it was a national election. Can you imagine Barack Obama just picking a day in a month and requiring all companies to give their employees the day off? So, I'm enjoying a four-day weekend this week.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Returning to US
In the few areas I've injected myself, I'm already seeing positive results. My message has been clear, understood, and, it appears, accepted. The true test is what happens when I am gone for a month - do we revert back, or do we continue improving and maintain the same focus. My experience these last few weeks is encouraging to me for my assignment. When I first discussed this role with my management, I believed I had to come here and rebuild an engine. Thankfully, that is not the situation. Instead, I feel more like the expert mechanic called in to make minor adjustments to extract those last few horsepower from the engine. We do not need to make significant changes here, just minor tweaks.
The last few days have been sunny with partly-cloudy skies. This afternoon was a torrential down pour. When I looked out my office window this afternoon, I felt something was missing. I realized the brown cloud I typicall associate with Jakarta was not there. I don't know if I am now acclimated to the pollution, or if the rainy season minimizes the pollution, or if it's actually less than normal. I realize, however, that I never really felt like I could taste pollution when I breathed, or see it in the air this whole trip.
As a result of the rain, the drive to the hotel from my office was absolutely brutal. The half mile trip took more than 90 minutes. I can travel a half mile faster than that crawling, with a broken leg, while pulling a piano. Coincidentally, I had lunch with an expat today who shared some driving horror stories with me. He lives in the same area - Kemang - though not the same neighborhood, that I will. He said most evenings the 4 mile drive from the office to Keman takes an hour. That's a good night. Nights after a heavy rain - like we had today - will take two or three hours. On his worst night, that 4 mile drive took 6 hours. That's less than one mile per hour!
The end of the day was a bit of a scramble around the office. Typically, when I leave, I have to pay the $15 departure tax. Now that I have a work visa, I have to pay the $15 departure tax and a $250 fiscal tax. I was floored! Everytime a national, permanent resident, or foreign national with a work visa leave the country, they are required to pay this fee. That is, unless you can prove you have a tax ID, which means you are paying taxes every year. I learned that, unlike most Western nations, people here don't typically have a national ID card. This enables them to not pay tax on any earnings they might have. A decade or so ago, foreign nationals left in droves after Suhanto became president. They took all of their money and left. So, Suhanto decided to implement a $100 departure tax. This recently elevated to a $250 departure tax from which you are exempt if you have a tax ID card. I don't have such a card, though I will soon. I also do not have enough cash to cover this expense. Office Services, the group helping me with my relocation - and booking my Bali vacation - provided me with a government issued temporary ID and a piece of paper that should be all I require to avoid having to pay the fee.
When I return to Indonesia the next time, I will have my family with me, and our first stop will be the tourist destination of Bali. Still don't know exactly which hotel I'll be staying in, though I have recommended accomodations at a hotel recommended by a colleague who visits Bali a lot - 3 BR villa with a private swimming pool for $100/night. I'm very much looking forward to this experience.
The last few days have been sunny with partly-cloudy skies. This afternoon was a torrential down pour. When I looked out my office window this afternoon, I felt something was missing. I realized the brown cloud I typicall associate with Jakarta was not there. I don't know if I am now acclimated to the pollution, or if the rainy season minimizes the pollution, or if it's actually less than normal. I realize, however, that I never really felt like I could taste pollution when I breathed, or see it in the air this whole trip.
As a result of the rain, the drive to the hotel from my office was absolutely brutal. The half mile trip took more than 90 minutes. I can travel a half mile faster than that crawling, with a broken leg, while pulling a piano. Coincidentally, I had lunch with an expat today who shared some driving horror stories with me. He lives in the same area - Kemang - though not the same neighborhood, that I will. He said most evenings the 4 mile drive from the office to Keman takes an hour. That's a good night. Nights after a heavy rain - like we had today - will take two or three hours. On his worst night, that 4 mile drive took 6 hours. That's less than one mile per hour!
The end of the day was a bit of a scramble around the office. Typically, when I leave, I have to pay the $15 departure tax. Now that I have a work visa, I have to pay the $15 departure tax and a $250 fiscal tax. I was floored! Everytime a national, permanent resident, or foreign national with a work visa leave the country, they are required to pay this fee. That is, unless you can prove you have a tax ID, which means you are paying taxes every year. I learned that, unlike most Western nations, people here don't typically have a national ID card. This enables them to not pay tax on any earnings they might have. A decade or so ago, foreign nationals left in droves after Suhanto became president. They took all of their money and left. So, Suhanto decided to implement a $100 departure tax. This recently elevated to a $250 departure tax from which you are exempt if you have a tax ID card. I don't have such a card, though I will soon. I also do not have enough cash to cover this expense. Office Services, the group helping me with my relocation - and booking my Bali vacation - provided me with a government issued temporary ID and a piece of paper that should be all I require to avoid having to pay the fee.
When I return to Indonesia the next time, I will have my family with me, and our first stop will be the tourist destination of Bali. Still don't know exactly which hotel I'll be staying in, though I have recommended accomodations at a hotel recommended by a colleague who visits Bali a lot - 3 BR villa with a private swimming pool for $100/night. I'm very much looking forward to this experience.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Touring Kemang
My family and I are really going to like living in the Kemang area. It is an amazing amalgamation of Western stores and restaurants, Eastern stores and restaurants, and uniquely Indonesian twists. Kemang has a central shopping district that would rival any open-air mall anywhere else in the world. It is more urban than what most people expect from a mall, yet quaintly familiar.
I started the day sitting in the back seat of the car, so I missed some good picture opportunities (and finally felt too cramped). When I finally moved to the front of the car, I started taking pictures. The first three pictures below are on the main street leading in Kemang. You'll see some familiar company names, none of which I actually visit. In addition to those, there was a Burger King, a Cold Stone Creamery, a Circle K (2, actually) a McDonald's (open 24 hours and with a drive through!) and Coffee Bean and Tea Company.
The area of Kemang definitely caters to the Expat community. There are two grocery stores that deal exclusively in imported groceries. I didn't venture into either of them, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of that claim. Purportedly, these are the stores you go to when you want to buy American food - Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, for example. There is also an Indonesian grocery store that, in addition to carrying traditional Indonesian brands, carry a lot of Western brands. This store borders the complex in which we will live so is likely where we will do most of our shopping.
Since I was in Kemang, I took the opportunity to visit the shopping center that borders our complex. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been craving a Burrito, so I went to "Amigos", the Mexican restaurant on the second floor of the shopping center. I ordered a Margarita and a beef burrito with red chili sauce. It was quite good and really made me feel like I was sitting in a restaurant at home.
I was pleasantly pleased with everything I found in this mall. In addition to the Western grocery store and the Mexican restaurant, we have a small furniture store, a bakery, and, my favorite, a book store full of English language books. As much as I hope to learn Bahasa, I still want to read my books in English. The below pictures are the shopping center outside our complex, the security to get into the complex, one of the International schools and an Oriental rug shop.
Two other things I have found common in areas that cater to Expats instead of the locals. First, you see more white faces than Indonesian. What surprised me, was the number of languages spoken. The foreign companies I am aware of in Indonesia that would import Expat labor are either British, Australian or American owned. What has surprised me is the number of French speaking foreigners, and German speaking foreigners I have encountered. From my other international travels, I know that most large cities - Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, New York City, Hong Kong - are a tremendous mix of global travelers and residents. Those are all industrialized countries, however. Jakarta has always reminded me of Mexico City, and I did not encounter such diversity there.
The other, less appealing, aspect of these areas is the price. My lunch cost me $16. An ice cream cone I bought this evening at the Baskin Robbins near my hotel cost me $4 for 2 scoops. I am accustomed to paying $3-5 for a meal when I'm outside the hotel, so $16 while not a shock for a similar meal in the US, was a definite shock for prices here in Jakarta.
The rainy season lived up to its name today. Half way through my tour of Kemang, the skies opened up and the rain did not stop until early this evening. You hear a lot about cities that are always overcast - London, Seattle - and the dour attitude of the people who live there. They are often accompanied by high suicide rates. What's interesting about the cloudy skies here - they don't seem overcast. I've only seen blue sky during the day once on this trip, though the mornings are often clear. Despite the lack of sun, I would not recall this trip as three weeks of overcast skies. The absence of rain has been more noticeable than the absence of sun.
Another thing I am finding to be uniquely Jakartan - if not Indonesian - is everything is in some state of construction. Whether it be a sidewalk that seems half finished (see below picture), or an empty lot between two newly constructed buildings, cranes towering over the skyline, or scaffolding on an existing building to create a new visage - everything is under construction all the time. The only thing I haven't seen is road construction - I can't imagine what traffic would be like if they were doing road repairs.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday - Long Day, Good week
Very long day for me. I still haven't quite adjusted to the time as much as I thought I would have. I'm waking up before my alarm every day. Monday and Tuesday I was up at 3:30 AM and 4:30 AM, respectively. This morning I was up shortly before 5 AM. Worked out well, though, because I was scheduled to have a meeting with my management in Phoenix at 6 AM local time. When I logged on to check my email before leaving the hotel, I saw the meeting was cancelled. My driver was already waiting for me downstairs, so I went to work anyway. Normally, if my day starts at 6 AM I like to return home around 4 PM. Today, I had another meeting with Phoenix at 8:30 PM local time (6:30 AM Phoenix), so I ended up arriving at the office at 5:45 AM and leaving the office at 10 PM. Like I said, very long day.
This has been a very productive three days. Monday, I met with all of the Superintendents who will be reporting to me and discussed my vision for the organization. We have had several discussions on the products we support out of Jakarta, current issues, and I've sat in on some of the weekly meetings. Tuesday, I had several project specific meetings and a brief meeting with our Indonesia CFO - whom I report to administratively while on assignment here. In the afternoon, we had a meeting with the full team (all 35 people) and informed them of my new role.
Today's focus was coordination with the team in Phoenix, design sessions on new projects we want to start, and follow up on some projects I want to close out on this week. I did take a small break in the morning to finalize a very important detail of my relocation - where we'll live.
On my last trip, I toured several different apartment and housing complexes in Jakarta. We settled on Kemang Club Villas. Visit the site. Kemang is the part of Jakarta where most of the expatriates (westerners) live. There are international schools, western grocery stores, and a lot of cultural events and attractions. In fact, I only heard English spoken on the compound. This particular compound abuts the US Embassy and complies with all US Embassy security standards and protocols.
Today, I visited three of the floor plans. On the website, first click "Click Here", and then click on the "Homes" tab. The top has a few pictures of the compound and some of the interiors. The bottom portion of the page has the floor plans. I looked at Type A, Type B and Type D. Initially, we were thinking we wanted Type D because all of the rooms are on one floor...then I saw it in person. I've stayed in timeshares that were more spacious, and I wasn't thrilled with the fact that the elevator was not secured.
I had seen a Type A floor plan on my last visit, and really liked it. However, as you can see from the layout, the Master Bedroom is on a different floor than the other bedrooms. We can always make Bedroom 2 or 3 the Master Bedroom so we can be on the same floor as our toddler, but those rooms are tiny. Not sure they would hold a Queen, much less the King we are used to.
The Type B floor plan has similar issues with the Master being on a different floor. However, Bedroom 3 is spacious enough to act as a Master, while Bedroom 2 could be for our daughter. Ultimately, this is the floor plan we have decided to move into. Below are some pictures of the interior.
Terrace:
Kitchen:
Skylight:
Bedroom 3:
Bedroom 2:
Shared Bathroom:
Bedroom 4:
Master Bedroom:
Family Room:
This has been a very productive three days. Monday, I met with all of the Superintendents who will be reporting to me and discussed my vision for the organization. We have had several discussions on the products we support out of Jakarta, current issues, and I've sat in on some of the weekly meetings. Tuesday, I had several project specific meetings and a brief meeting with our Indonesia CFO - whom I report to administratively while on assignment here. In the afternoon, we had a meeting with the full team (all 35 people) and informed them of my new role.
Today's focus was coordination with the team in Phoenix, design sessions on new projects we want to start, and follow up on some projects I want to close out on this week. I did take a small break in the morning to finalize a very important detail of my relocation - where we'll live.
On my last trip, I toured several different apartment and housing complexes in Jakarta. We settled on Kemang Club Villas. Visit the site. Kemang is the part of Jakarta where most of the expatriates (westerners) live. There are international schools, western grocery stores, and a lot of cultural events and attractions. In fact, I only heard English spoken on the compound. This particular compound abuts the US Embassy and complies with all US Embassy security standards and protocols.
Today, I visited three of the floor plans. On the website, first click "Click Here", and then click on the "Homes" tab. The top has a few pictures of the compound and some of the interiors. The bottom portion of the page has the floor plans. I looked at Type A, Type B and Type D. Initially, we were thinking we wanted Type D because all of the rooms are on one floor...then I saw it in person. I've stayed in timeshares that were more spacious, and I wasn't thrilled with the fact that the elevator was not secured.
I had seen a Type A floor plan on my last visit, and really liked it. However, as you can see from the layout, the Master Bedroom is on a different floor than the other bedrooms. We can always make Bedroom 2 or 3 the Master Bedroom so we can be on the same floor as our toddler, but those rooms are tiny. Not sure they would hold a Queen, much less the King we are used to.
The Type B floor plan has similar issues with the Master being on a different floor. However, Bedroom 3 is spacious enough to act as a Master, while Bedroom 2 could be for our daughter. Ultimately, this is the floor plan we have decided to move into. Below are some pictures of the interior.
Terrace:
Kitchen:
Skylight:
Bedroom 3:
Bedroom 2:
Shared Bathroom:
Bedroom 4:
Master Bedroom:
Family Room:
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