Demos, rainmakers, and unnatural phenomena

There have been a bunch of demonstrations in Jakarta lately against some proposed changes to the labor laws. At first the demos were kind of fun, because they shut down the megahighway near our house and I got to walk around on it. But the protesters quickly strained my patience by leaving trash everywhere, mindlessly damaging trees, and worst of all, burning tires! In a city where the air contains quite enough petroleum byproducts!

The best part of the story, though, is the rain. One of the biggest demos was on a blistering hot day. Then in the afternoon a really intense thunderstorm came through. Afterwards the city felt really cool and fresh. Everyone was talking about how clean the air was. "Magic rain," said our landlord.

Magic, indeed. The next day, The Jakarta Post quoted an anonymous source in the Vice President's office saying the government had hired about 60 spiritualists to bring down the rain and stop the demo. The VP later had to deny it at a press conference. They allegedly paid these rainmakers about $120 each. If so, they got their money's worth.

As I recall, the Soviet Union tried something like this in the 80's, except they used airplanes to try to seed the clouds. Maybe they should have called in some old Javanese guys with special powers.

Where to go in Jakarta when you're rich and bored

Go to the absurdly-named Entertainment X'nter! Which is basically some cafes, high-end shops, and a movie theatre, attached to a larger mall with even more stuff in it.

For some it's a shopping town ...

for others, not so much. This is a big new shopping plaza that's being built across the street from the Entertainment X'nter. I think these people are waiting for a bus. Or maybe just waiting.

Ibu Trish: Fast Food

Dear Ibu Trish: Can I get Dunkin Donuts in Jakarta? Signed, Boston Creme Junkie

Why, yes! You can! Dunkin's hasn't achieved quite the market penetration here that it has in, say, Somerville, Mass. But there are quite a few of them. Plus, they sell ... brace yourself, Jason Sylvis ... durian jelly donuts! Also lychee-orange, which is rather tasty. Try ordering those in Davis Square!

There's also McDonald's, Long John Silver's, Pizza Hut, and KFC. McD's sells the usual burgers, but their real stock in trade seems to be a combo meal featuring fried chicken, scrambled eggs, plain white rice, and soup. This is weird, not just because it's weird, but because I've never seen that combination of foods anywhere else. I guess it works for them. The McD's near our old hotel had Coke but no Diet Coke, which is clearly a travesty.

McD's is not that expensive here - the fried chicken meal is about 2 dollars, or what you'd pay for a sit-down meal at a fairly cheap restaurant. Street food, of course, is cheaper. If you don't want to spring for McDonald's, you can get a burger from some guys who walk the streets selling them from carts.

McDonald's in Singapore is hyping these new burger-y things that they sell on wedges of compressed rice, instead of buns. They looked ... weird.

So where are we anyway?

Our video-wiz friend Jason has combined Google World and some editing magic to make a little 30-second sequence showing where our apartment is in Jakarta. Check it out at http://www.daydreamthief.blogspot.com/. You may have to scroll down a little because, unlike me, he updates his blog faithfully. I think the entry is called Where in the world are Chad and Trish?

The big green area you can see in the video with the oval building in the middle is a recreation complex and one of Jakarta's rare grassy, tree-y spaces. At the top of the green area is the police training center I walk through to get to work. The reddish things all around us are the tile roofs of all the buildings in our neighborhood.

Home Sweet Gecko

No Indonesian decorating scheme is complete without a gecko or two scampering across the wall. So I was happy to see this one by the back window in the office. I wasn't sure they'd make it all the way up to the fourth floor.

How I got 80's hair (again)

I've been putting off getting a haircut almost since the day we arrived. I dread them even in the States. I seem to lack the gene that enables one to talk about hair. When stylists ask "How much should I take off? Do you want it chunked or layered?" I want to say "I don't know! Just fix it so I don't look stupid!" Sadly, we often fall short of even that modest goal.

So I was really scared to get a cut in Jakarta, but a week or two ago my I just couldn't stand my limp, shapeless hair anymore. I went to the salon on the first floor of our old hotel because it was close and cheap.

Before the cut, we had to get through a lengthy negotiation over Reza-the-stylist's proposal that Chad and I buy a hotel down the street. I knew it wouldn't work to explain that we aren't rich, or that we would probably be the worst hotel owners in history.

"Foreigners can't own property in Indonesia!" I finally pointed out, with an air of triumph.

"Oh, you can put it in my name," he said, right on cue.

Anyway, when we got to the actual cut, things seemed to start off well - Reza was snipping along in a way that suggested competence, and he didn't scrape the comb painfully across my ears (another reason I hate haircuts). At one point my hair looked really looked great. But maybe he was waiting for a signal to stop, because he just kept going till the style was somewhere between Early Annie Lennox and Contemporary Drill Sergeant. It's only a little longer than the buzzcuts I used to get as a summer-camp counselor in 1988, when I lived in a tent and washed my hair at the water pump every morning.

It was a bit of a jolt, going that short. But actually I kind of like it now. I don't spike it out the way Reza's doing here (he's trying to earn his extra $2 "styling" charge). I just wear it a little messy. The sides look all bald in the picture, but Chad assures me they're not in real life.

Anyway, it'll certainly be a cooler style for this hot, sticky clime. And now I won't face the horror of another haircut for a really long time!

p.s. - Dan Gorenstein, if you happen to be reading this, I will brook no Flock of Seagulls jokes at this time. No.