I don't really have lots to say about Jakarta. I've been there so many times now that I don't really have much more to see there. I'd still like to see the textiles museum, but that's about it. I worked the whole time I was there and didn't have much free time anyway, so I didn't get to do much as it was. But one thing I can say is that the fact that I've been there enough, even in that city of 17 million people, I have started being able to recognise areas from time to time, even if minimally so. One day when my taxi driver was lost, I started recognising familiar plant and concrete garden ornament shops, of all things! They're always on the way to the hotel I usually have to stay in when I go to Jakarta, so I was surprised to when I realised I actually knew where I was. Maybe the city is sectioned off into various districts anyway. I went down Fatmawati for a long time and noticed it would be the place to look for furnishings, interiors and design, and oriental carpets. It was store after store with these offerings. Most were general oriental carpet stores, but one was specifically for Turkmenistan carpets!
I noticed a lot of funny signs this time around. I saw one that said: Try our new twin massage, and a bumper sticker that read "Real men use three pedals." I've never driven a stick, so I don't know what that means, but it struck me as really funny regardless. Probably would be funnier if I understood it fully!
Another thing I've noticed while travelling generally is that a lot of times, taxi drivers will switch the radio station they're listening to to what they think you would want to hear as a westerner. Usually it's crappy hip-hop and dance music, but it's always funny to me that they assume you'd rather hear that than whatever local music they have on.
And with all the travel I do, things start to merge together in the world for me. Perhaps that's what being a citizen of the world means. As we drove past some Isuzu vehicles, I pondered that Isuzu is a company I'd heard of before but then couldn't remember if I'd seen them in Canada or not. I figured I'd had, but then maybe it's just that I've been to Asia so often and seen the Isuzu so often that it's now because part of what I think are my daily general memories, and I can't distinguish them anymore.
Meanwhile, here are a few pics!
I noticed a lot of funny signs this time around. I saw one that said: Try our new twin massage, and a bumper sticker that read "Real men use three pedals." I've never driven a stick, so I don't know what that means, but it struck me as really funny regardless. Probably would be funnier if I understood it fully!
Another thing I've noticed while travelling generally is that a lot of times, taxi drivers will switch the radio station they're listening to to what they think you would want to hear as a westerner. Usually it's crappy hip-hop and dance music, but it's always funny to me that they assume you'd rather hear that than whatever local music they have on.
And with all the travel I do, things start to merge together in the world for me. Perhaps that's what being a citizen of the world means. As we drove past some Isuzu vehicles, I pondered that Isuzu is a company I'd heard of before but then couldn't remember if I'd seen them in Canada or not. I figured I'd had, but then maybe it's just that I've been to Asia so often and seen the Isuzu so often that it's now because part of what I think are my daily general memories, and I can't distinguish them anymore.
Meanwhile, here are a few pics!
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