Saturday 30 January 2016

January 2016

With January over, I can honestly say that it feels like time has moved quickly for a change and its been quite an eventful month.

There has been a lot happening in Jakarta what with one thing or another, some good some not.

I took the family on a train ride through the city which was fun to be repeated soon as Jeremy liked it and it was simple enough. We only a short distance by train but went quite far if we had to go in a car.

Trains are fun in Jakarta, if not a little overcrowded

Then there was the terrorist attack in the city which took lives and seemed to get everyone all upset as well as patriotic. The bombs did kill people but not as many as I suppose the clowns with the bombs wanted to kill.

A view of the police box destroyed opposite the McD and very close to the Starbucks

Terrorism will never win. Local Jakartans came out in force the same night and held peaceful events around the bombed areas.

"we are not afraid' was the message of the day

And of course, this man hit the news for selling food while it was all going on, very close to everything. This made huge news here as a sign that people ignore terror.


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More importantly for those in Indonesia was this policeman who seems to be far too handsome to be on duty and this caused a huge stir in the Indonesian Internet pot


Funny how different cultures react. People here were more upbeat or 'care less' over the bombs than other parts of the world. I suspect that this may change if things like this happen again but Jakartans are a tough bunch of people.

2 days after the bombs, I attending a wedding of a good friend here just up the road from it all and you would not have known anything had happened if it wasnt for the boarded up Starbucks and police box. The wedding was nice Catholic affair, followed by lunch with friends at a restaurant nearby and then beer and photos in the evening, which was great.

Oh the Bridge and groom were lovely too!!!

Peter, in the bow time was the groom

He married Stella

And then we (I) drank beer in the evening to celebrate

For a full review of the wedding - try this link from the Melton times in England!

 http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/news/local/couple-refuse-to-let-jakarta-terror-attack-ruin-their-wedding-day-1-7170820


As the month draws to a close, I went to a car free Sunday in Jakarta and despite the rain it was a pleasant Sunday morning. Yovita went off running and I walked through the city enjoying the views and we will probably go back this weekend.

Yovita off running

Local Kids bike, which is obviously illegal as there is no reflector on the back wheel

And that was January in Jakarta. Hopefully February won't be as dramatic but equally as fun.











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