Some more strange things about life in Jakarta and Indonesia I have experienced and observed

Things that if I did in England that I do here I would surely be arrested or just locked away.

Thinking about it, there has to be lots of things that I do here now that if I did back in England I would be not

appreciated or liked or arrested or just locked up. So here are a few of them.


1. Cleaning cutlery in restaurants
2. Cleaning plates in restaurants when they bring them to you to use
3. Walking out of restaurants when you have ordered and changed your mind
4. Ignoring flies and cockroaches in the restaurant when you are eating
5. hoping the drinking straws have not been used already
6. Having ice with lager to make it cold
7. Worrying where the ice is from but knowing the chemicals in the beer will make the ice safe to drink
8. Staying that Macdonalds is actually I nice place to visit when hungry
9. Drinking warm beer cos thats the only choice
10. Enjoying pot noodles too much for breakfast
11. Thinking pasta and canned fish and saying it is a top meal
12. Eating toast and cheese slices and saying this is also a luxury meal
13. Going to Debenhams and complaining it is expensive and the clothes are nice
14. Thinking the mall is a nice place to be any day of the week
15. Spending hours in a coffee shop on your own and not worry
16. Taking cabs with borken lights and cracked windshields
17. Buying Taxi drivers food
18. Crossing a 6 lane road using your hand to stop traffic
19. Ignoring traffic police and just riding on by when they tell you to stop
20. Riding on pavements (sidewalks) in to people who dont seem to mind
21. Giving way to the left
22. Riding a motorbike through traffic into oncoming traffic and making them stop so you can get by
23. Beeping the horn cos you can
24. Carrying a weeks shopping in plastic bags on the bike
25. Paying a man 16 pence to look after your bike while you go to an atm machine
26. Paying all your monthly bills on a cash only machine while the queue reaches beyond 10
27. Having a tab in a bar and forgetting to pay
28. Finding the main road is closed for a wedding and no one is directing traffic
29. stopping a bus where ever you like and getting on while it is moving
30. Washing the apartment in cold water
31. Washing the dishes in cold water that you cant drink but you shower and clean your teeth with
32. Not sleeping under a blanket or sheet
33. Leaving your shoes outside the apartment for all to see
34. Having to write a list of dirty laundry so that the laundry assistants dont pull it out on the floor and list it

    front of anyone watching
35. Buying and eating clearly frozen, defrosted and refrozen icecream
36. Cooking with propane in the house with no adequte ventilation
37. Living in an apartment on the 23rd floor in Earthquake country
38. Waving at the locals when walking about in the mall to make them smile
39. Stepping over dead rats and frogs and saying wow look at the size of those
40. Ignoring sirens from Police and Ambulances
41. Swimming in thunder storms
42. Drinking hot coffee from a plastic bag
43. Buy live fish from a supermarket
44. Walking about with a man bag
45. Just presenting a credit card as proof of id when boarding an aircraft
46. Carrying onto an aircraft 3 pieces of luggage which should be in the hold and not caring
47. Not getting a wage slip from work as they are not important
48. Buying the latest movie in the dvd store before it has been released
49. Haggling over 50p
50. Adding chili sauce to anything
51. Wondering why a 7 year has his own Black Berry
52. Thinking having 3 maids to keep the house clean is a good idea
53. Falling asleep in the movies is a good thing
54. Eating very late at night is good for you
55. Wearing 3 layers of clothing in 90 degree heat
56. Appreciating people wearing wolly hats in 90 degree heat
57. wearing flip flops to a bar or restaurant is a good thing
58. Taking a taxi for a 100 metre journey is ok
59. Asking if the Muslims find the call to prayer too loud and asking if they could turn it down a little
60. Actually visiting a shop that sells cigarette branded clothing and thinking hmm thats niec
61. Accepting that people do genuinely think that dinosaurs are fake and that the earth was made in 7 days
62. Accepting that people think Hitler was a good guy
63. Supporting the idea that deforestation is a good thing (once you understand why)
64. Happy to eat endangered species
65. Looking out for places that will sell you roast dog
66. Thinking Cow skin, Fish stomach,Eyes, Fish Brains are good things to eat
67. Along with deep fried fish or chicken heads
68. Enjoying the positive sides of corruption and then moaning about the bad things
69. Actually believing stories about ghosts, witches, spells etc as the people that tell the stories are so so afraid     and frightened when speaking
70. Not worrying about where the sewage goes or if it damages the enviroment
71. Riding at 60mph without a helmet is cool
72. Leaving your camera and wallet with a man who sold you a beer on a beach so you can go swimming knowing that it     will be ok
73. Going to a wedding and being more noticeable than the bride and groom as you are the only westerner there
74. Meeting the bride and groom and they ask who you are
75. Kissing the bride and grooms mothers because it is tradition
76. Not bringing a gift but eating the food and taking the gift they offer you
77. Talking on your phone through the loud speaker and not worring about the noise
78. Changing your mobile number when a more luckier number comes along
79. Applying for a credit card and lying about all your details and being accepted
80. ASking for a increase in credit so you can book some flights
81. Paying a policeman to buy you a driving licence
82. Buying eggs in a plastic bag
83. Taking a boat or ferry that has no lifejackets or safety equipment
84. Working in a building with no fire alarms, extinguishers,fire exits etc
85. Thinking Purple flashes are great when you plug in electrical devices
86. Walking across a wet floor that is being cleaned and met with smiles and hellos from the cleaners
87. Not feeling uncomfortable when you are in a toilet and the attendent is watching you and smiling
88. Thinking it is normal to watch the same film on tv over and over again
89. Watching TV with no sound is ok
90. leaving rubbish in a pile outside the door knowing someone will come and collect it
91. Booking tickets to go somewhere but not return tickets as they have to booked when you get there
92. Eating food in a swimming pool
93. Happy to stand in a queue and watch other people push in front
94. Thinks 18 in a lift designed for 15 is ok even if the overload light comes on and the alarm sounds
95. Takes no issue standing on a bus with 80 other people and only worries about the wallet and phone
96. Washes hands with sanitizer and all pens etc every day
97. Accepting that you will be misdiagnosed by a Dr if you are ill and will take the medicine anyway
98. Buying prescription medication without any instructions will be good for you
99. Have a head massage and hair treatment in a ladies salon is great
100.Not having milk in your tea and thinking it is lovely...