Bandar Jakarta Seafood Restaurant
During a recent 2 day visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, I was very plesantly surprised by the modernity of the capital city in Java. Located just 1 1/2 hour by flight from Singapore, it is a bustling modern metropolis city with all the trappings any modern Asian city. I had not been to Jakarta since 2000 so it was a good 10 years. My impression of it was
1) Corruption amongst the taxi driver touts was all but wiped out. Every cab company has a good reputation and there are easily 6 - 10 cab companies and countless private limousine services, so competition is fierce, which is good for the customer.
2. The traffic is very heavy during the peak hours of 5 - 8 pm and 8 - 10 am each working day. Try to avoid it if possible else, make sure you go to the rest room before your trip out to prevent an unexpected 'accident' or strained bladders to the point of bursting !
3. The infrastructure is still basic although, the cars are all looking brand new, and very cheap to own. There is no city MRT, or MTR or Skytrain like in Bangkok and KL. Buses are horrendously packed during peak hours, and there are some taxi-cycles which serve the basic transport purpose but as torists, its best to use the private limos or established taxi companies for safety reasons.
Free Boat Rides along the Marina
4. After the Bali and Marriot bombings in 2002 and 2008 respectively, security is very tight, with checks on bags in shopping centres, hotels and nightspots, there are metal detectors and auxillary policemen at every major building.
5. People are living harmoniously and there is very little evidence of the Muslim fundamentalism which has taken over much of Malaysia with many adult and youthful Indonesian women in western dressing. There is also freedom or worship and Indonesian people of Javanese, Batak, Boyanses, Iban heritage can worship any religion they choose to. They are not born into a particular religion like in Malaysia.
Bamboo Clams Live and Fresh
The seafood in Indonesia is summed up in one word, fantastic. The evening I was there, my friends who are chefs brought me to the Bandar Jakarta theme park for a pick up seafood meal. All the seafood was live and fresh, so we had river prawns, garouper, babmoo clams, mussels, honey clams, scallops, vegetables and all the beer we could drink for a really inexpensive price, which left my wallet smiling and still heavy.
They have brewed their own beer called Bintang, which is quite good actually and I have noticed that Indonesian people on the whole have progressed materially since the days of the Financial Crisis some 13 years ago. It is quite a remarkable achievement which has gone unnoticed by the foriegn funds for quite a while now.
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