Weekend in Jakarta & things i want to do

What do u do on weekend when u are in Jakarta?

Not much for me, u can finish counting in 5 fingers : shoppping, visiting frineds, go eating, watch movie(DVD), stay at home & surf internet.

First 3 things are easy to achieve in Singapore, why? Transport is SOOOO damn convenient! u can reach any places via MRT, bus, taxi.

Ok, i am not saying there is no taxi in Jakarta but mostly are not reliable. Rumours said that they will rob the locals in taxi not to mention u r an outsider who doesn't speaks their language. Either that or they will make big turn & go by the wrong or long way to reach ur destination. That is personal experience.

I am not a very adventurous person, u may say i am super kia see because i need to take care of myself for my family members & friends who love me. I will only take public transport to places that i know well-like Mangga Duo (my favourite place for buying DVDs). If not, i will take the free shuttle bus provided by the management to Mall Ciputra or Mall Taman Anggrek.

Today is Saturday. So, what did i do? Hmm, i had a tuition from 9am to 10.30am. Then i took the free shuttle bus with Helen to Mall Ciputra and had our lunch. There is a new restaurant called 'Qua-Li'. Food is good, tried their Goreng(Fried) Udang(Prawn) with Thousand Island sauce pus kankong & 2 Nasi (rice),2 drinks. Cheap & good. Total is Rp 61.000 (S$10). I also bought a new bra & 2 panties cos Matahari is having 50% sale! How can i miss it? Only Rp 50.000 (S$8.30).

My weekend or my Saturday(off day) is normally comprises of all the 5 items. I will shop & eat in a shopping centre, then when i go home in the evening or late afternoon, i will surf internet & then watch DVDs.

Sounds interesting for a while but when u do the things repeatedly for weeks, months...it gets so bored!
I long for the sight of family members
I want to go library & read borrow books
I want to talk to stanger even if it is just some simple words like 'thank you', 'welcome' 'can i help u?'-i miss singlish
I want to just hang around in the neighbourhood, browsing & just sitting in a corner, looking & watching people talking about 4D, toto, weather, price of vegetable...last time i went back, i heard housewives talking about stock & shares leh!
I miss wearing short going downstair or mall-Jakarta is a muslim country, respect their culture & also for ur own safety, dress decently when u r out. Take out expansive jewellery if need be.

It is a choice i have made to stay here & work, so i will just grumble & u will just read my blog, ok?

If u cannot change the environment, u have to change yourself. I have learn to deal with loneliness & boredom these 2.5 years. Maybe it is a rehearsal for my retirement.

There are things i plan to do here :
meditation - sad to say, not much progress but the greatest achievement is : i can fall asleep within 5 minutes once i lie on the bed
learn piano - the piano cannot find me
learn Bahasa - 28 drops of ink inside the bucket only (satu, duo,....udang, permissi, terima kasih...)
learn painting - i lent the easel (Mr Ng gave me)to the spider family, they r living happily there, hoping forever
I definitely need to save up for myself & dad & hopefully clear my housing debts, sigh, guess that would means i have to stay here for at least 5 more years?!