Sunday in Jakarta

On Sunday I found myself to be in a most peculiar state. Awake, in the city, complaining of the time and the heat all before 9am. In my early days here I would sometimes get home around 7am on a Sunday but that is not me any more and I do like a lie in on Sundays to recharge and enjoy the laziness that Sunday has to offer.
However, a promise was made and I did not want to back out of it and so I went along with my Fiancee to her company gathering kite flying spectacular at Monas.
I was at Monas by 7am! alive and walking, not awake mind but alive and stumbling about moaning and complaining about the need for a nice cup of tea but alas only water or some really strange Indonesian drink could be sought out so I stuck to water.

My fiancee works for a large Japanese insurance company and so there were many employees all running about in white t-shirts doing exercises and what not.
Actually I was stunned by the sheer volume of people at Monas as sun rise doing exercises, playing badminton, riding bikes, playing football and generally staring at the only bule to be seen.
So kite flying, well not my cup of tea (clearly as it was not available there) so I sat and watched everyone flying kites big and small with little or now breeze to hold them up, still it was a nice try.

The kite flying lasted until about 8.30 and then it was time to move on. Tea/Coffee/food seemed to be important and so we headed to Thamrin which is about 5 minutes away.

This Sunday was a no car day down the main drag of Jalan Sudirman and went from Thamrin to Semanggi and only the busway was running. So we walked through the trees and swarms of family into the road and then to Thamrin in an eerie silence which was only broken by the sound of cyclists and the odd Transjakarta bus. Actually it was nice to walk down one of the busiest stretches of roads in Jakarta. (I have walked all the way down Dann Mogot from the flyover but that another story) and to enjoy the city a little more differently

Mind I will still say the traffic was still really bad but this time it was traffic created by push bikes so it was friendly emission free traffic. 

Walking to Sarinah was nice and pleasant and hassle free. The Mcdonalds breakfast of hash brown and sausage egg muffin with my eagerly awaited cup of tea went down a treat and then to savour the rest of the morning, Starbucks for a coffee to make the other half smile.

I like Starbucks as the staff are endearingly friendly and I like Indonesian people as when they smile it looks and feels genuine. But I dont like Starbucks at Thamrin as every time I go there I cannot pay with my Permata card and have to pay cash as they only have one machine to process cards, whereas every other I have visited have at least 3. The smiles and no misters only get me so placated and then its well I wont return there, and to be honest I wont. But after that debacle I sat quite merrily and read the paper and the news on my phone for over an hour before getting back home and sleeping and enjoying the rest of the day. And they dont have working internet either at the moment which is frustratin. Back to Central Park or Menteng then!

So I am now thinking what else is going on in the city at 7am on a Sunday, lets hope I can find out soon.... in my dreams, in the newspaper or from someone else vicariously.