"JAKARTA...cik !" Special Capital Region of Jakarta by airasia

En-Cik (as in Mr.)! said a taxi driver with a hand raise to his fore head as if he is saluting a General coming out of the Soekarno- Hatta airport.’1st time here en-Cik’ ??. That kind of gesture always prompts me that as soon as I gave him an answer, I will be take for a long long long ride. But sometimes I am totally wrong. In fact sometimes it is a sign of culture courtesy or wanting to start a conversation as a host. A deed by some pleasant Jakartans.

Some locals said Jakarta was used to be called Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta, etc.

Later it was name Jakarta, the capital of the largest city of Indonesia. A little similar to exotic Bangkok, Thailand, Jakarta is also seen with heaps of people such as Javanese, Betawai, Sudanese and others, all sorts of traffic jams (and bemos bossing around !), chaotic infrastructures, a mix bag of modern & old fashioned developments and much much more.

Generally Jakarta has a hot and humid climate. Wet season is usually January and that’s where we will hear our local news reporting flu out breaks, floods happening in this huge city. But all local news may happen to be overrated at times. Haze from burning forest or be it pollution from all kind of vehicles are quite a common sight around Jakarta.

From visit to visit this city evolution are seen a little slow but surely moving as compare to other South Asia countires.This is perhaps due to the long political instability started around in the late 90’s if I can remember.

Despite that, the hard working people here are making in macro or micro ways to survived & improve their lifestyle on their own. Be it working in Jakarta (or Indonesia) or out of country Indonesian are one of the most sought after group of workers.

My driver (and friend) said while we were food searching in town, ‘sometimes Jakartans do the extreme just to survived’. ‘Well my friend who doesn’t’. With such huge population and the gap between the poor & rich could sometimes be pretty obvious.

A ‘cost of living’ survey (2007) conducted recently, Jakarta is the 11th most expensive city around South Asia, to lived in (total 16 cities were evaluated). This could be good and bad news to some. Surprisingly it is a little more expensive than my home, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (rank 14th).

An almost common increasing scene among South Asia countries, are foreigners flocking in doing business, residing here, foreign fast-food chains , high end boutique, international hotels or whatever, are seen growing. This perhaps shows a good sign for economic growth in Jakarta in the near future. Not forgetting, other contributing factors, the yearly international Java Jazz Festival which not even Malaysia or Singapore are able to gather such event almost continuously.

Jakarta similar to Ho Chinh Minh, Vietnam is divided to Central Jakarta, East Jakarta, North Jakarta, South Jakarta and West Jakarta. Each district/ city has more or less its own charm & scenes.

An observation success on Jakarta infamous traffic congestion which some countries are not able to implement - solution to traffic crawls - a 'three in one' rule during rush hours, which says 3 passengers per car entering certain roads. Clever! but still there is a way out to this rule, I bet fellow Jakartans will able to tell you how ; ))

Jakarta's roads are notorious for driver behavior; transportation laws are sometimes broken in directly but still Bangkok ‘tuk tuk’ fast & furious drivers tops it all if we were to compare to ‘bemos’ in Jakarta.

One thing that gives me a chilling feeling is how a 7 seater Toyota ‘Kijang’ able to negotiate between another Kijang on the narrow Jakarta roads. Man !!! at times I swear it was really close between the 2 cars.

Ciggi smokers heaven – Generally the locals smoke everywhere & every freaking way they can. Be it air conditioning place such as restaurant, close door halls & I heard in cinemas too! You got to be kidding me ; )

With all things being said about this city, all the tourist traps or warnings, all the direct or in direct stuffs being commented by ample of tourist, Jakarta is still a reasonably, entertaining and ‘deliciously dark’ at times to work or play as compare to other South Asia countries.

Further more where on earth you can be an over night millionaire ; )) where else but in Jakarta (or Indonesia) of course! Hooray….

• Pros:Holidaying in this region is still cheap & worthwhile
• Cons:The real taste of peanut butter & JAM !