Jakarta

This morning, I got a mail from some one who wanted to buy my abandoned blog site. Am in Jakarta and I would have liked to return and then post. But not after this morning's mail. So here it is, my Jakarta trip, in bits.


At long last, another break. 9 entire days. Till the very last minute I couldn't believe that I was just taking off in the middle of a LOT of work. (But in an ad agency, there is never a no-work period). I almost didn't make it. In the end, I managed to leave, but a week after A did.

I stepped out of the plane and was met by a smiling man with my name on a placard. He whizzed me through the non descript airport and through the entire visa / immigration / luggage tour. I was wondering who he was, when I met A who tipped him, for his "services". (Out here, its apparently a common thing, to avoid long and bother some queques at the immigration and visa counters).

The exterior of the airport was so very different. The sloping dark brown glazed tiled roof, wooden beams running horizontally through out the breadth of the airport was a riot of orange bougaenvilla.

A's first comment on arriving in Jakarta (a week before me) was "Its just like Behrampur". This irked his brother no end! True. Small huts, banana trees, clumps of other vegetation, not unlike any small town / village in India and perhaps Behrampur.

And then yet another of those commonly done things...a small tip...and one can take the shorter route to the city on a road meant for government vehicles.