Yesterday as my first partial day in Jakarta. Jakarta looks like South Florida in the summer-hot, and rainy-and it feels as humid but generally you don't sweat. The air smells like incense wherever you go. The city is very crowded, with lots of traffic, and many many people riding mopeds.
After checking in to the hotel-I went out for a walk-with an umbrella the hostel lent me since it was raining. I planned on going downtown, but walking in the rain was a plan in the ass. Plus the jet lag was kicking in-and I was feeling exhausted. So I went back to the hostel, but on the way stopped at a cafeteria for lunch. The cafeteria was rushed, and other then fish and rice, I really didn't know what I was eating. I grabbed a plate of fish and rice and some other stuff-but when I was ready to sit and eat it a guy who worked there took the whole plate to the back room. So I went back to the serving area and grabbed another plate of rice and fish. And someone else grabbed the plate and took it to the back room. He then came back and returned the plate to me. It wasn't until THIS Happened that I realized they we're going back there to cook it for me (they didn't just take my plate of food). So I sat down and ate the plate of food, which was good, particularly with the spicy sauce on the table. (I don't know what happened to the first plate I gave them!)
Once I got back to the hostel, I went back to the room around 3:00 and slept for a few hours (It was dark when I woke up).
I went out for another walk, to downtown. But I couldn't find downtown. I ended up stopping at a vendor for dinner-who served me more rice and I don't know what. I sat on a bench and ate it. At the park, I watched people walk around and joke. Some folks we're doing a funny dance in one corner. (about 5 people line dancing it looked like). Once again, I was getting tired, so I fell asleep on the bench, using my camera bag as a pillow. (I do this a lot while travelling).
I woke up and walked back to the hostel, it was about midnight when I returned. I went to the room and started to get my toiletries to brush my teeth. It felt good to be back in a hostel-even smelling the various smells of a lot of people in one room. I was going to go to sleep, when what seems to happen often in hostels happened again-my plans for an early bed time we're dashed.
I heard music coming from the roof-so I walked up stairs to the roof top bar. An early night turned into drinks with the owners and a few other guests. I had some mixed drink, a glass of wine, and a bottle of beer. We sang along to some songs, (Walk of Life from Dire Straits, Shake It off, etc) One girl played the tambourine. Someone else played the bongo drums. I also learned stuff-like there are like over 100 different languages in Indonesia. And some villages don't have electricity, tv, etc. And I learned it's a HUGE country!
I went to bed about 3:00 am.
