Ok, so it's weekend recap time.
So Saturday after class, Meg and I went to Citos for lunch and internet. We had lunch at Mother's Cook, a burger place. They always have really good food, and they put onions in the burgers for a little extra zing. The Simpsons Movie is out, but it wasn't playing at Citos yet... Then we went to the Mr. Bean coffee shop, as usual. I called home with Skype, so it was nice to chat with the folks. You have to buy an internet voucher to use the wi-fi, but for Rp. 100,000 (about $11) you get 8 hours.
So at around 7, we get the call from Chrys to go out, we wrap things up and get in the cab. We pick her up at her place, then stop at my place to drop off the computers. Chrys was wearing some new, very high heels, which broke right when she got in the cab. I found a safety pin to hold them together for the night. Then, we had to walk up the hill to get a new cab. Traffic was awful in both directions, and it took us about 15 minutes to get a taxi. After driving about 10 minutes, Meg realizes that she forgot her wallet. Well, we weren't about to turn back, so Chrys said she'd cover her.
The first place we went to was the Autumn Cafe, a wine bar with a band. We got a couple pitchers of beer, the girls had the Autumn salad, and I had the Spaghetti Carbonara. It's wasn't bad, but they use smoked beef here instead of bacon, which makes me sad. On my last bite, I fumbled and sent the contents of my spoon flying everywhere, some landing on Chrys. A few minutes later, she responded with a volley of mesclun, completely by accident, I'm sure. She later sang (or mumbled) karaoke to some song that she didn't know the words to, and of which Meg has some rather embarrassing footage. Around midnite we hopped a cab to Public, a club.
They were playing techno, quite loudly, we had a lot of beer, and some of Chrys and Meg's Indonesian friends stopped by. Worth mentioning are the bathrooms, which are surrounded by mirrors. Can make you self-conscious... So around 3-ish, lights come on, music dies down, and we shtumble out there. Chrys lost her safety pin, so she walked barefoot.
We got to my place at what must have been 4:30am, because morning prayers were blaring over the loudspeakers. For the next 3 hours we sat on the couch and watched That 70's Show on DVD. Meg fell asleep at some point and was snoring rather loudly. Chrys left at around 8am, as she had some horse-riding competition at 10 and a race at 2. Good luck, right??
I went to bed, woke up at about 2pm, er, and then for real at about 3:30, and went to meet Felix at Margo. He was reading some Clive Cussler book in Starbucks. I had some Japanese fast food at the food court.
(Begin rant)
Ok, here's how an Indonesian food court works. There's about 15 or so places to choose from, all lined up on the back wall. You place your food order at the window, and they give you a ticket. If you want a drink, you have to go to one of the drink islands in the middle of the food court. And you get a ticket from them. You take your tickets to the cashier at the other end of the food court and pay. Then you wait for the people to bring you your separate food and drink orders. If you want another drink, you have to go back to the island, get a ticket for the drink you want, bring it to the cashier, pay for it, and bring the ticket back to the island. It is so stupid.
It's the same way for department stores. You cannot take a shirt out of the department and walk around the store with it. When you see a shirt you like, you can try it on in the dressing room, but then you have to give it back to them. If you want to buy it, they give you a ticket and bring your item to the cashier, and you pay for it there.
(End rant)
Ok, so that was pretty much my weekend, and, it seems, every weekend. I haven't gotten bored of it, but it is becoming a financial drain. Well, I gotta get to class, so I'll post again some other time. Thanks for reading!
--jared
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
7/21
7/21
Ok, I know it's Wednesday, but I'm doing a recap of the weekend.
So Saturday, I had my 4-hour business class, as usual. After the movie, Meg and I went to the mall and saw the new Harry Potter movie. It was good, but the ending left something to be desired. Plus, I hadn't seen the previous one, so I was a little confused about some parts.
Chrystina later met up with us to go out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Jakarta. We took the long way as to avoid traffic, and it was a good thing, because it was totally jammed. When we got to the Hard Rock, we sat at the bar, and was still Happy Hour, so we got 2 pitchers of Angker for the price of 1. (beli satu, gratis satu!) I got a bowl of chili and fajitas, which took forever. Pretty decent tho. We had another pitcher after Happy Hour ended, and listened to the live band. There was an older British guy at the bar hitting on Chrystina (which is very typical), and she kept giving me the "kill me now" eyes. Upon leaving, he said, "Ok, goodbye, you crazy Americans!" A little while later, 2 other guys came in, and totally ignored us. 1 shorter, older, rounder guy, and 1 strikingly handsome guy. Chrys was kinda pissed that they didn't even acknowledge us, but when the handsome guy started dancing, it was obvious why they both came in together. Plus, they were speaking German.
The band was covering some rocking bands, like Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance. I had a neck-ache for 2 days from headbanging, I think we all did. So we got the bill (over Rp. 600,000 for the 3 of us, yikes!) and since we were right around the corner, we got a taxi to Jalan Jaksa.
We started out at Memories cafe, like last weekend, got a couple large bottles of Bintang (awful, especially after Angker) and sat at a table. Almost immediately, this Indo guy comes tot he table and starts chatting with us. He works in Bali as a SCUBA instructor. He was a little tanked, and kept getting really close to Megan, who was mortified. At one point, he was laughing, and leaned in and gave her a bite on the shoulder. So we left, and continued down the road. We walked to the end on the road and met up with an African guy. We asked him a question or 2, but he wasn't able to help us... The 3 of us ended up in the Djaksa Cafe, in the bottom of a hotel. There was horrible, loud karaoke and a woman in a really disturbing looking outfit; a bra, see-through mesh shirt, and a tweed sports coat. It wouldn't have been so bad if she wasn't 50, fat, and butch. I was feeling woozy, so I just had some water, the girls had Bacardi and Cokes, a tequila shot and a screwdriver. I went outside for a few minutes and talked to an Indo named Lucky for a few minutes.
We left the bar, but weren't quite ready to go home yet. We went to a third bar, and tried to order 2 bottles of beer with 3 glasses, but we ended up with 3 beers. Which sucks, because it was near closing time. So the bar girl kept refilling our glasses, topping them off. It was not pretty. I'd turn around, and my glass was full again. We finally finished and shtumbled out of the place. The creepy Indo from Memories found us outside, but the bar owner shooed him away. We found a taxi and headed back to Depok. Chrys passed out in my lap in the back of the cab. We all went to my house and sat around and talked until sunup.
Ok, I know it's Wednesday, but I'm doing a recap of the weekend.
So Saturday, I had my 4-hour business class, as usual. After the movie, Meg and I went to the mall and saw the new Harry Potter movie. It was good, but the ending left something to be desired. Plus, I hadn't seen the previous one, so I was a little confused about some parts.
Chrystina later met up with us to go out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Jakarta. We took the long way as to avoid traffic, and it was a good thing, because it was totally jammed. When we got to the Hard Rock, we sat at the bar, and was still Happy Hour, so we got 2 pitchers of Angker for the price of 1. (beli satu, gratis satu!) I got a bowl of chili and fajitas, which took forever. Pretty decent tho. We had another pitcher after Happy Hour ended, and listened to the live band. There was an older British guy at the bar hitting on Chrystina (which is very typical), and she kept giving me the "kill me now" eyes. Upon leaving, he said, "Ok, goodbye, you crazy Americans!" A little while later, 2 other guys came in, and totally ignored us. 1 shorter, older, rounder guy, and 1 strikingly handsome guy. Chrys was kinda pissed that they didn't even acknowledge us, but when the handsome guy started dancing, it was obvious why they both came in together. Plus, they were speaking German.
The band was covering some rocking bands, like Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance. I had a neck-ache for 2 days from headbanging, I think we all did. So we got the bill (over Rp. 600,000 for the 3 of us, yikes!) and since we were right around the corner, we got a taxi to Jalan Jaksa.
We started out at Memories cafe, like last weekend, got a couple large bottles of Bintang (awful, especially after Angker) and sat at a table. Almost immediately, this Indo guy comes tot he table and starts chatting with us. He works in Bali as a SCUBA instructor. He was a little tanked, and kept getting really close to Megan, who was mortified. At one point, he was laughing, and leaned in and gave her a bite on the shoulder. So we left, and continued down the road. We walked to the end on the road and met up with an African guy. We asked him a question or 2, but he wasn't able to help us... The 3 of us ended up in the Djaksa Cafe, in the bottom of a hotel. There was horrible, loud karaoke and a woman in a really disturbing looking outfit; a bra, see-through mesh shirt, and a tweed sports coat. It wouldn't have been so bad if she wasn't 50, fat, and butch. I was feeling woozy, so I just had some water, the girls had Bacardi and Cokes, a tequila shot and a screwdriver. I went outside for a few minutes and talked to an Indo named Lucky for a few minutes.
We left the bar, but weren't quite ready to go home yet. We went to a third bar, and tried to order 2 bottles of beer with 3 glasses, but we ended up with 3 beers. Which sucks, because it was near closing time. So the bar girl kept refilling our glasses, topping them off. It was not pretty. I'd turn around, and my glass was full again. We finally finished and shtumbled out of the place. The creepy Indo from Memories found us outside, but the bar owner shooed him away. We found a taxi and headed back to Depok. Chrys passed out in my lap in the back of the cab. We all went to my house and sat around and talked until sunup.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
7/15
7/15
It's Sunday night, and I'm at Citos on the wireless connection. Yesterday was fun, where to begin? After my class ended, I went to the supermarket and picked up some toiletries. I was thinking of geting a new DVD player for the house because ours keeps crapping out. The average price is about $20-25 but you can get really nice ones with DVD recorders for about $320. I'm gonna keep looking around. I had a nap, then a shower, and met Felix at Timezone, the arcade in Margo City. We played a few video games with some of the receptionists at work, and at about 7, David, Megan and Chrystina showed up to go to dinner. Felix already ate, so it was just the 4 of us. We got into a Taxiku Taxi, and told him to go to Kemang. He had to stop and ask for directions at least 4 times. It was very aggravating, and the ride cost way more than it should have. His excuse was that he only knows Depok, but come on, if you drive a cab you have to know how to get around!
We got into another taxi, and within a few minutes we were in Kemang, and walked to Little Baghdad, an upscale restaurant. Appetizers were good, but I was fairly disappointed with the main course, in was bland and tough. Dessert was pretty good, I got the flan. And we shared a shisha (strawberry flavored). It was about 11pm when we left the restaurant, and we went looking for a club or bar. There wasn't much in Kemang, Chrys suggested Kelapa Gading, but we ended up at Jalan Jaksa in Jakarta. David had been there a few years ago, on vacation. It was full of foreigners, lots of Europeans and Africans. We started out in the Memories Cafe, had about half a dozen big bottles of Bintang between the 4 of us, and chilled out watching the band. Chrys pointed out the fact that 2 of the guys were dancing awfully close to each other, and looking around, I noticed a LOT of more stuff like that going on. Chrys was sure that the really tall woman was a guy, but I couldn't tell for sure. A very friendly woman, April, sat next to me and started talking to me. "Are you here alone?" Hmm...
Later, I had to use the bathroom, and another woman came up to me and asked if either of the girls I was with were girlfriends, or just friends. Hmm... Well anyways, Didi invited us to Club Absolute. Ok, this bar was even worse. It was full of guys dancing. the only women there were the bartenders, Didi, and April, who mysteriously followed us there. We had some more drinks, I had a few whiskey Cokes, and we just hung out. After about an hour, a fight broke out between a bunch of the Arabic guys there, they were throwing people down the stairs, it was quite unnerving. A bouncer came up and pulled all the guys downstairs. The cops came later, and were questioning everyone downstairs. Didi kept telling me I could stay at her place, but I graciously declined... About 3 a.m., we told her we were getting tired, and got the hell out of there.
We went a little ways up the street and found another bar, and had a few more drinks. The place closed up at about 4, and we hopped a cab home. Megan and I were having a discussion about great cartoons, and she mentioned the fact that she had brought some Animaniacs DVDs with her from the states. We got to Chrys's place, helped her up the stairs, and finally got to our place. Meg and I then had a few more beers and watched Animaniacs for about an hour. I went to sleep about 6 this morning. I finally got up at about 2 or 3 this afternoon, a little weary, but still good. David had a wicked hangover.
We went for dinner tonight at Citos, and ate at Izzy Pizza, which was awesome compared to the crap I've had recently. And now I'm here, writing this. So, I'm gonna leave it at that, have a nice day!
It's Sunday night, and I'm at Citos on the wireless connection. Yesterday was fun, where to begin? After my class ended, I went to the supermarket and picked up some toiletries. I was thinking of geting a new DVD player for the house because ours keeps crapping out. The average price is about $20-25 but you can get really nice ones with DVD recorders for about $320. I'm gonna keep looking around. I had a nap, then a shower, and met Felix at Timezone, the arcade in Margo City. We played a few video games with some of the receptionists at work, and at about 7, David, Megan and Chrystina showed up to go to dinner. Felix already ate, so it was just the 4 of us. We got into a Taxiku Taxi, and told him to go to Kemang. He had to stop and ask for directions at least 4 times. It was very aggravating, and the ride cost way more than it should have. His excuse was that he only knows Depok, but come on, if you drive a cab you have to know how to get around!
We got into another taxi, and within a few minutes we were in Kemang, and walked to Little Baghdad, an upscale restaurant. Appetizers were good, but I was fairly disappointed with the main course, in was bland and tough. Dessert was pretty good, I got the flan. And we shared a shisha (strawberry flavored). It was about 11pm when we left the restaurant, and we went looking for a club or bar. There wasn't much in Kemang, Chrys suggested Kelapa Gading, but we ended up at Jalan Jaksa in Jakarta. David had been there a few years ago, on vacation. It was full of foreigners, lots of Europeans and Africans. We started out in the Memories Cafe, had about half a dozen big bottles of Bintang between the 4 of us, and chilled out watching the band. Chrys pointed out the fact that 2 of the guys were dancing awfully close to each other, and looking around, I noticed a LOT of more stuff like that going on. Chrys was sure that the really tall woman was a guy, but I couldn't tell for sure. A very friendly woman, April, sat next to me and started talking to me. "Are you here alone?" Hmm...
Later, I had to use the bathroom, and another woman came up to me and asked if either of the girls I was with were girlfriends, or just friends. Hmm... Well anyways, Didi invited us to Club Absolute. Ok, this bar was even worse. It was full of guys dancing. the only women there were the bartenders, Didi, and April, who mysteriously followed us there. We had some more drinks, I had a few whiskey Cokes, and we just hung out. After about an hour, a fight broke out between a bunch of the Arabic guys there, they were throwing people down the stairs, it was quite unnerving. A bouncer came up and pulled all the guys downstairs. The cops came later, and were questioning everyone downstairs. Didi kept telling me I could stay at her place, but I graciously declined... About 3 a.m., we told her we were getting tired, and got the hell out of there.
We went a little ways up the street and found another bar, and had a few more drinks. The place closed up at about 4, and we hopped a cab home. Megan and I were having a discussion about great cartoons, and she mentioned the fact that she had brought some Animaniacs DVDs with her from the states. We got to Chrys's place, helped her up the stairs, and finally got to our place. Meg and I then had a few more beers and watched Animaniacs for about an hour. I went to sleep about 6 this morning. I finally got up at about 2 or 3 this afternoon, a little weary, but still good. David had a wicked hangover.
We went for dinner tonight at Citos, and ate at Izzy Pizza, which was awesome compared to the crap I've had recently. And now I'm here, writing this. So, I'm gonna leave it at that, have a nice day!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
7/10
7/10
Today is Tuesday. Sunday I walked around Plaza Depok for a while, because it's right there and I haven't really checked it out yet. On the top floor is an arcade and a small bookstore. On the underground bottom floor is a music store, a Dunkin' Donuts, and supermarket (of course). Dunkin' Donuts has sandwiches, you can get either a croissant sandwich or a Boston sandwich, which is on a bulkie roll. They also just came out with a line of dark chocolate donuts. Their slogans here are "The real coffee & donuts", and "America's No. 1 Donuts"
At the supermarket, I got some fruit (passionfruit and mangosteens) and an atlas, for school. For the record, I don't understand passionfruit. You open it up, and there's a big grey ball of snot inside full of seeds. Do you eat the seeds? they're awfully crunchy. I like the mangosteens though, really sweet and creamy.
David, Megan and I went to Hanamasa in Margo City for dinner. It's a Japanese style restaurant, where you get a plate of raw meat, and cook it at your table. It was great fun, once we got the hang of it. They also had shabu-shabu, where you boil your meat in a community soup, but we didn't try that. After dinner, we saw Transformers. Great movie!! It's been in theaters for about 2 weeks already, but I just haven't had the time. The special effects and CGI are amazing.
Also, on Monday our pembantu (maid) started. She washed all the floors and dishes. Today she started on laundry. I really hate doing my own laundry, especially when there's no clothes dryer.
Ok, well I gotta head to work. Bye!
--jared
Today is Tuesday. Sunday I walked around Plaza Depok for a while, because it's right there and I haven't really checked it out yet. On the top floor is an arcade and a small bookstore. On the underground bottom floor is a music store, a Dunkin' Donuts, and supermarket (of course). Dunkin' Donuts has sandwiches, you can get either a croissant sandwich or a Boston sandwich, which is on a bulkie roll. They also just came out with a line of dark chocolate donuts. Their slogans here are "The real coffee & donuts", and "America's No. 1 Donuts"
At the supermarket, I got some fruit (passionfruit and mangosteens) and an atlas, for school. For the record, I don't understand passionfruit. You open it up, and there's a big grey ball of snot inside full of seeds. Do you eat the seeds? they're awfully crunchy. I like the mangosteens though, really sweet and creamy.
David, Megan and I went to Hanamasa in Margo City for dinner. It's a Japanese style restaurant, where you get a plate of raw meat, and cook it at your table. It was great fun, once we got the hang of it. They also had shabu-shabu, where you boil your meat in a community soup, but we didn't try that. After dinner, we saw Transformers. Great movie!! It's been in theaters for about 2 weeks already, but I just haven't had the time. The special effects and CGI are amazing.
Also, on Monday our pembantu (maid) started. She washed all the floors and dishes. Today she started on laundry. I really hate doing my own laundry, especially when there's no clothes dryer.
Ok, well I gotta head to work. Bye!
--jared
Friday, July 6, 2007
7/6
7/6
Well, it's Friday night, I was feeling awful on the 4th, so yesterday I was taken to Rumah Sakit Umum, or the General Hospital. I had a translator with me, and I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and Levopront syrup, and 2 other pills You may have heard Cipro a few years ago, when people were stockpiling it in case of an anthrax attack. It's just an anti-bacterial medicine, I don't have anthrax.
Uh, not much else to report, a few people are going on vacation right in a row, so it got me thinking about taking one. I want to go to the beach, I haven't been since I got here and that really depresses me. So I was thinking of a trip to one of the Gilis off Lombok. David said he went to Trawangan and had a great time. Beach, clubs, no police, lol. Well, I'm gonna get some martabak and call it a night.
-jared
Well, it's Friday night, I was feeling awful on the 4th, so yesterday I was taken to Rumah Sakit Umum, or the General Hospital. I had a translator with me, and I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and Levopront syrup, and 2 other pills You may have heard Cipro a few years ago, when people were stockpiling it in case of an anthrax attack. It's just an anti-bacterial medicine, I don't have anthrax.
Uh, not much else to report, a few people are going on vacation right in a row, so it got me thinking about taking one. I want to go to the beach, I haven't been since I got here and that really depresses me. So I was thinking of a trip to one of the Gilis off Lombok. David said he went to Trawangan and had a great time. Beach, clubs, no police, lol. Well, I'm gonna get some martabak and call it a night.
-jared
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
7/4 -- Happy IndependenceDay!
7/4
Well, it's Wednesday, the 4th of July, which means nothing in Indonesia, but I still have my American pride. As I said previously, we went to the Outback on Sunday to celebrate. I am just about over my cold, but I couldn't sleep at all last night, I kept waking up with terrible cramps and the runs.
On Monday, as I was leaving for work, a man flags me down and says that our electric bill is 2 months late, and he's going to cut off the power. He said he wouldn't cut it if I paid him Rp. 50,000. Mighty suspicious, no? I was in kind of a hurry, and couldn't tell if he was bluffing, but I gave it to him and called my boss at work. She had a shouting argument over the phone with the guy, and he finally left. Well, it later turned out that yes, he got the number right, G7, but the wrong apartment complex. My boss, Meta, threatened to call the police on him, screaming, etc. Today, he came to the house with the Rp. 50,000 and offered his sincerest apologies.
Well, that's it for now, enjoy your holiday, Independence Day here isn't until the 17th of August.
--jared
Well, it's Wednesday, the 4th of July, which means nothing in Indonesia, but I still have my American pride. As I said previously, we went to the Outback on Sunday to celebrate. I am just about over my cold, but I couldn't sleep at all last night, I kept waking up with terrible cramps and the runs.
On Monday, as I was leaving for work, a man flags me down and says that our electric bill is 2 months late, and he's going to cut off the power. He said he wouldn't cut it if I paid him Rp. 50,000. Mighty suspicious, no? I was in kind of a hurry, and couldn't tell if he was bluffing, but I gave it to him and called my boss at work. She had a shouting argument over the phone with the guy, and he finally left. Well, it later turned out that yes, he got the number right, G7, but the wrong apartment complex. My boss, Meta, threatened to call the police on him, screaming, etc. Today, he came to the house with the Rp. 50,000 and offered his sincerest apologies.
Well, that's it for now, enjoy your holiday, Independence Day here isn't until the 17th of August.
--jared
Monday, July 2, 2007
7/2
7/2
It's about 1 in the morning Sunday night. I'm listening to various versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D major. It's the only thing on my iPod shuffle, and I don't have iTunes to change anything on it, so I've been listening to it just about every night to help me sleep. I know it by heart now, it's a beautiful song. I read Stephen King's "Cell" and he made a reference to it while I had my headphones on. Anyways, one of the characters called it the "song of memories." It does invoke a lot of emotions. It reminds me of mom, because she had me put it on her iPod before she left on vacation. It also makes me think of a person who disappeared from my life for a long time, then returned.
Things aren't always awesome around here, and it's a comforting piece to listen to. I'm still tooling around with my guitar, and can kinda play bits of it on string 6. Oh, and I also figured out "Babes in Toyland" on String 5.
*sigh* well, I'll leave it at that. Keep in touch!
It's about 1 in the morning Sunday night. I'm listening to various versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D major. It's the only thing on my iPod shuffle, and I don't have iTunes to change anything on it, so I've been listening to it just about every night to help me sleep. I know it by heart now, it's a beautiful song. I read Stephen King's "Cell" and he made a reference to it while I had my headphones on. Anyways, one of the characters called it the "song of memories." It does invoke a lot of emotions. It reminds me of mom, because she had me put it on her iPod before she left on vacation. It also makes me think of a person who disappeared from my life for a long time, then returned.
Things aren't always awesome around here, and it's a comforting piece to listen to. I'm still tooling around with my guitar, and can kinda play bits of it on string 6. Oh, and I also figured out "Babes in Toyland" on String 5.
*sigh* well, I'll leave it at that. Keep in touch!
7/1
7/1
So on the plus side, my boss doesn't think I have Typhoid. I'm feeling better, though still achy and congested. I got a thermometer at the pharmacist and I'm running about 37.1C, which is normal.
About a year or so I think, the US cracked down on cold and flu products containing Dextromethorphan, or DXM. The reason was, in high doses it's classified as a hallucinogen, and causes feelings of floating and such, like ketamine or PCP. And too many kids went robo-tripping, that is, taking large amounts of Robitussin, Coricidin, or other products containing the chemical. Here, it's dirt cheap and sold over the counter. Panadol contains 15 mg/DXM and 30mg/Pseudo ephedrine. Now that's not to say that anyone has or would, but if one wanted to start their own meth lab, it would be darn cheap to do it here.
Well, I just took some Wood's peppermint expectorant (plus mucolytic!), just has guaiphenesin, and a hell of a lot of mint.
Moving on to lighter news, today is July 1st, and we're going to Chili's to celebrate the 4th. I made the joke that the party should start out at David's house (he's a Brit) and then everyone leave him and come to my house, ha ha.
. . .
So tonight 4 of us went to celebrate the 4th at Chili's (well, Chrystina was celebrating Canada Day, and David was just there for the food). Trouble was, we couldn't find the place. And Indonesians -suck- when it comes to giving directions. Instead of just telling you that they don't know where it is, they'll make something up and send you on a wild goose chase, so as not to embarrass themselves for not knowing the way. We walked around 3 different malls in Blok M before giving up, and just went to the Outback Steakhouse instead.
It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. A pair of crab cakes, an 8 oz sirloin plus baked potato, and a bottomless Coke set me back around Rp. 210,000 (about $23). Take into account that minimum wage in Jakarta is Rp. 900,000/month, and most people make at most 2-3x that, and you can see that this is not a luxury that most Indonesians can afford.
After that, we took a taxi home, the driver looked like he was falling asleep and kept weaving in and out of traffic, but then again, that's typical of Jakarta drivers. We -totally- bottomed out on a speed bump and the taxi started making a weird clunking noise. I was riding shotgun, so I could see the grimace on the driver's face.
So on the plus side, my boss doesn't think I have Typhoid. I'm feeling better, though still achy and congested. I got a thermometer at the pharmacist and I'm running about 37.1C, which is normal.
About a year or so I think, the US cracked down on cold and flu products containing Dextromethorphan, or DXM. The reason was, in high doses it's classified as a hallucinogen, and causes feelings of floating and such, like ketamine or PCP. And too many kids went robo-tripping, that is, taking large amounts of Robitussin, Coricidin, or other products containing the chemical. Here, it's dirt cheap and sold over the counter. Panadol contains 15 mg/DXM and 30mg/Pseudo ephedrine. Now that's not to say that anyone has or would, but if one wanted to start their own meth lab, it would be darn cheap to do it here.
Well, I just took some Wood's peppermint expectorant (plus mucolytic!), just has guaiphenesin, and a hell of a lot of mint.
Moving on to lighter news, today is July 1st, and we're going to Chili's to celebrate the 4th. I made the joke that the party should start out at David's house (he's a Brit) and then everyone leave him and come to my house, ha ha.
. . .
So tonight 4 of us went to celebrate the 4th at Chili's (well, Chrystina was celebrating Canada Day, and David was just there for the food). Trouble was, we couldn't find the place. And Indonesians -suck- when it comes to giving directions. Instead of just telling you that they don't know where it is, they'll make something up and send you on a wild goose chase, so as not to embarrass themselves for not knowing the way. We walked around 3 different malls in Blok M before giving up, and just went to the Outback Steakhouse instead.
It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. A pair of crab cakes, an 8 oz sirloin plus baked potato, and a bottomless Coke set me back around Rp. 210,000 (about $23). Take into account that minimum wage in Jakarta is Rp. 900,000/month, and most people make at most 2-3x that, and you can see that this is not a luxury that most Indonesians can afford.
After that, we took a taxi home, the driver looked like he was falling asleep and kept weaving in and out of traffic, but then again, that's typical of Jakarta drivers. We -totally- bottomed out on a speed bump and the taxi started making a weird clunking noise. I was riding shotgun, so I could see the grimace on the driver's face.
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