Jakarta, Indonesia - MOJOinINDO2013

What makes the best kind travel experience?  We think it should be something that you would recommend to others, something you would want to tell your friends or family about; an experience you'll always remember.  Well, that's exactly what we got when we traveled to Indonesia last Spring (I apologize for the tardiness of this update).  I'm going to do my best to explain the stories of our adventure in the following next 3 posts, but one caveat that you must keep in mind is that words and pictures will never fully explain the feeling this Indonesian experience brought us.  One might call it a spiritual journey or some kind of self discovery; well, I like to call it 3 weeks of the best massages, beaches and sunsets of my life.

Mira drinking coconut milk

First day in Jakarta: We arrived just after sunset and met everyone at one of Mira's mothers' rental apartments.  Oh, here's some background before we get too deep into the details...


We met Mira 5 years ago.  She's a "born and raised" Sumatran living as an expat in Amsterdam and working for adidas, just like us (except the Sumantran part).  Her Mama, Mia, is a real estate tycoon in Jakarta, owning several properties in the city center.  Mira invited us and another couple to come to Jakarta and meet her Mama, Mia, learn more about her home and experience this crazy place as a local.

So, Mira's family driver met at the airport, gathered our bags and took us through the craziest traffic I've ever lived through.  Upon arriving at the apartment, we immediately headed to a family style dinner at one of Mira's favorite childhood restaurants called 'Cafe Betawi'.  It was delicious Jakarta style food; spicy hot goodness that warmed our bellies. 

The next day was our first full day in Jakarta and Mama Mia said "no better way than to start the holiday off than with a half day at the spa!" We enjoyed a refreshing body scrub followed by a steam bath in some funny looking chairs, then into a 2 and 1/2 hour full body and head massage. Just when we thought we couldn't feel any more relaxed they finished our treatment with an amazing whirlpool bubble bath. We got to soak in an over sized tub = heaven.

We are sitting in contained steam chairs, yes I have a shower cap on.

After we were feeling born into our new baby smooth bodies, we met up with Mira's parents for lunch at a typical Patang restaurant.  There were all kinds of local delicacies including cow brain, tiny fried fish to eat whole, and chicken in every spicy flavor!  I liked the noodle and vegetables the best though.  After our meal, we were off to an Indonesian Craft Fair where we found really great deals on locally produced garments. Needless to say we left the place with bags full of stylish southeast Asian swag!

In the afternoon, us girls had appointments to get our hair done; it was the first time I had a blow out without a trim.  Plus, it was an added bonus that they gave us Mani's/Pedi's at the same time ;)
Once we were feeling fresh and revitalized, we headed out for the evening. We met up with some of Mira's friends from her high school days and enjoyed cuisine from all over the world at a place called Social House.

If you think that sounds like a pretty full day of activities, it wasn't over yet.  We made one last stop at a Karkoee Club.  We sang our voices out into the wee hours of the morning and didn't make it to bed until 4am.  Luckily the video footage from that event can't be found ;)

On Sunday morning, we made our way down to the kitchen for breakfast (it was actually closer to lunch time) and found a pyramid of rice surrounded by all kinds of yummy dumplings, fried noodles with shrimps, eggs, spicy potato, chicken and greens! It was all so delicious, but we hardly made a dent in it because within the hour we had to shower and get dressed for an Indonesian wedding that we were invited to as guests of Mira.  That's right, you're allowed to have +5 strangers at an Indonesian Wedding, they were very welcoming!

As we started to get closer and closer to the wedding location, we noticed huge signs made of flowers standing on the side of the road and some of them said "Happy Wedding" and other Indonesian phrases that I didn't understand.  Mira explained that these are gifts to the couple getting married.  Those decorations were so elaborate, but they didn't hold a candle to the floral arrangements inside the venue. Imagine rows of tables with tiered bundles of roses in a stadium sized room... there were thousands of people there.  It was an eye opening cultural experience.

We both wore clothes purchased from the Indo Craft Fair

We had our photo taken with the Bride & Groom (center)

After the wedding reception was over we took a tour through South Central Jakarta with Mira's brother, Dodie. This was really the first time we stepped outside of the bubble of spas, fancy restaurants, malls and high class living.  The contrast was extreme to what we had seen prior.

Jakarta is a big urban city, but it's also ranked 3rd on the most polluted city on Earth list.  Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia and it's centrally located within the country on the northwest coast of Java Island at the mouth of the Ciliwung river.  The Ciliwung river is heaped high with litter and garbage, so the smell is not too great. Jakarta dominates Indonesian’s administrative and economic core, serving as a major commercial and transportation hub within Asia.  

With a population of about 9 million, Jakarta has more people than any other city in Indonesia. The climate is hot and humid year-round (which doesn't help with the smell). Rainfall occurs throughout the year, although it is the heaviest from November to May, but we only experienced one rain storm. The city lies on a flat, low plain and is prone to flooding during periods of heavy rainfall and there were big floods just one month prior to our visit.

When we wondered around the streets with Dodie, he pointed out some of the historical sites, like the oldest standing train station in Jakarta, but it was hard to see the beauty of the architecture past all the motor bikes. 

One of our first observations was that the majority of the people in Jakarta travel by motor bike.  We saw families of 4-5 people on one small scooter zipping between traffic every couple of minutes.  It became clear at that point, that the people in the cars were being driven around by professional drivers, just like us.  And these drivers had to be on their toes to avoid how crazy the scooters are.
It was interesting to see the contrast between regular Indonesia and luxurious Indonesia, and I'm glad that we got to see this, but I was really happy when we went to Seafood City to meet up with Mira's mom and friends.  Mama Mia was spoiling us with fresh caught fish and coconut milk for our final dinner in Jakarta.  We can't thank her enough for her hospitality and kindness!

We love you Mama Mia, and we had a wonderful time in Jakarta!