Friends - The Album

Me with Girl J, Little C and Sister J on a night out

One of the things I will take away from my time in Jakarta are the number of friends I made. Most were British, some were American, Canadian and the odd Antipodean and Irish. I mentioned in the previous post that my friends were the #1 in things I miss since leaving. I miss drinking, laughing, eating, gossiping,travelling and crying with these people; we were a big,fat mad family. One of the saddest things to happen due to the nature of the job is that after twelve months people leave. Some go back home, some move onto another country or move onto another company within the city.My time in Jakarta was spent cultivating these friendships and Lord knows if I did not have these friendships, I would have had a difficult time adjusting to Indonesia.I want to dedicate this post to those lovely people who I left behind or left me in Jakarta. Some of them you would recognize by their 'names' from previous posts. So it would be awesome just to put a face to the name of some of these lovely people. 

 To kick off my little album, let me start with The Jays, i.e Girl J and Scottish J. These two became my two favourite people there especially Girl J. Prior to leaving the UK, I got in touch with Girl J to introduce myself in the hopes of making an amiable impression, what did I get in return? A welcome pack of an apple, Pop-Mie and a letter welcoming me to the house since everyone was at work. I was impressed! Scottish J was the first of my housemates I met. He got me sorted with changing my money and other little essentials on my first night in Jakarta. They both moved out of the house in March and lived in a nearby apartment complex due to Girl J getting a job at an embassy school. Regardless, of them leaving we remained close. I saw Scottish J a lot through work and socializing, while Girl J and I did lunch, window shopped and other girlie pursuits. Scottish J has been the most incredible help to me especially in times when I was doubting myself as a Business English teacher, not to mention he is also one of the nicest guys I have ever met. The Jays finish up in Jakarta in July and August respectively, but they are going to be in Scotland this week with Girl J staying with me for a couple of nights.

 Little C - Another nice Canadian girl who made the first six months in Jakarta awesome! Best housemate I ever had for sure. One of my personal highlights was her birthday. We all went to Immigrant, a posh nightclub where we danced our asses off till 5 in the morning. Along with Sister J, she dubbed our little group 'The Oreo'. Funny and gregarious, a part of me died a little when she left in July but here we are looking forward to seeing each other in Denmark in May after 10 months of not seeing each other.

Sister J - Whenever anybody needed a ray of sunshine, just look at Sister J's smile and all is right with the world again. When I got the job in November, I asked the recruiter for the e-mail address of a new teacher to ask them about their experience living in Jakarta. We began to exchange e-mails and became Facebook friends. I was pleasantly surprised that she was black and quickly bonded over black girl issues mainly hair related. She lived and worked in the North Jakarta so I did not get to hang out with her as much as people that lived in the centre with me but she was good value for hanging out. Sister J left in October and has since resettled in London. We got back in touch when I returned and plan to meet up in London as soon as I start working. 

D - My friendship with D started like how all new friendships start, over social media. I was introduced to D by her former workmate who I met on Twitter to discuss living in Jakarta said workmate put me in touch with D. When I added D as a Facebook friend, I was surprised to find she was friends with my Dad. It turns out she shot a documentary about Jerk cuisine and my Dad was one of the chefs she interviewed. Small world or what? Her contract finished in March but she has since got a job in Bali and we maintained contact ever since. This lady's spirit and wanderlust is awe-inspiring and it is just always awesome to meet Jamaicans in far flung parts of the world. Check out her blog right here!

Kiwi E and Manc C - My workmates and the dearest of girls. Manc C (from Manchester) was in Jakarta only a couple of weeks before me and worked at another school and lived in the north of Jakarta. We bonded on our trip to Singapore and decided to celebrate us passing our probation by going to Lombok and the Gilis together. Eventually Manc C moved into my house and school and are friendship continued to grow. She decided to stay another year to explore the scuba diving that's on offer here. Kiwi E came in April and we quickly bonded over our mutual love for Facebar, Ladies' nights and small children (more me than her). I had a giggle with these ladies at work and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

 

B - My delightful Irish housemate who arrived in August. After losing Little C, I did not know who was going to replace her but I hoped it was another lovely girl. Thank goodness for her! B's good nature, sense of humour and radiant smile won me over and we became really good friends. We plan to meet up in London or Dublin or Edinburgh. I look forward to seeing her again and have right ole knees-up.

Kitty -  I met this delightful American through Aussie R and Girl J at an Indian lunch buffet. At the time she was working for another franchise of my company where she was the only girl yiikes! As such, she was taken into the our sisterly bosoms as one of our own. We bonded over musicals, costume dramas, Richard Armitage and Disney. She has stayed on another year but teaching at an Australian feeder school where she teaches Literature and Global Citizenship where she is relishing her role. She even masterminded a hilarious but poignant goodbye video for me. I am hopeful we'll see each other again whether it's here in the UK or in her hometown of Boston drinking a cup of tea singing a song or two.

Lola -  This party-loving creature of the night is all kinds of awesome. She had her own dance, her own style and her own laugh. She took me to the airport where we both tearfully said goodbye to each other.I am so grateful for that as I would have gone to the airport on my own and cry by myself. I look forward to seeing her when she gets back here; I do miss her cackle.

Boy L - One of the sweetest guys you will ever meet. Boy L moved in in October after the sacking and eventual departure of 'he who shan't be named'. He had no problems joining in the Cang (pronounced chang) family. We both shared a love for football and tennis and engaged in banter and he's a great laugh on nights-out. I'm super excited for all the cool things this year has in store for him personally and professionally. Without a doubt, one of the best people I met out there and I miss the wee dear.

The album is to be continued.

Five Things I Miss and Five Things I Don't Miss about Jakarta

Mal Sarinah in Jakarta Pusat

It's been 9 weeks since I left Jakarta and I miss the bitch! This south-east Asian concrete jungle of a city was my home for a year and what an intense experience it was? In the beginning, there was not a day that went by where I got pissed off with it and vented my frustrations to my house mates, colleagues or anyone that listened for that matter. The honest truth was that I did not love Jakarta! However, as  time went on, my attitude towards Jakarta mellowed out and I became tolerant and at some points liked it. As I mentioned before, I did not love Jakarta, but I appreciated her for taking me and not swallowing me whole as she had done to so many other foreigners. In the 9 weeks I've been away from her, I've reflected on my time there and I realised how much I got out of it. Friendship,a career option and the opportunity to travel. So I compiled a list of ten things - i.e. five things I miss and five things I don't miss - about living in Jakarta.

• I don't miss Jakarta traffic - I foreshadowed that this was going to be the bane of my existence in this blog and it continued to irritate the hell out of me the longer I lived there. Indonesians are some of the worst drivers in the world and it is any wonder why there are so many road fatalities in Jakarta alone? The worst was during wet season when people just forgot how to drive and created five lanes of traffic with malicious sounding car horns going on and on. I however dealt with it as well as I could and just rolled with it like every other sucker.
• I miss Indonesian food  -  If I'm being very honest, I did not love Indonesian food. I thought it lacked depth of flavour and was not very diverse. I could probably call it the British of Asian cuisine (very unfair!) Most Indonesian food is served warungs ,street carts, Padang restaurants and regular restaurants that specialise in regional Indonesian cuisine. But I digress, I did love some of the food on offer and ate them with no problems and as often as I could especially if it was SO good. My favourites were Beef Rendang (2nd picture),Sate Ayam (1st picture), Nasi Uduk,Ayam Goreng and Nasi Goreng.

• I don't miss taxi drivers - I can say with confidence that around 60% of the taxi drivers in Jakarta alone have tried to rip me off. The main reason for this is because I'm non-Indonesian and female *smh*. Another pet peeve I had was the drivers' lack of knowledge of the city. Unless you know where you are going,chances are you are going to get lost. The more lost you are, the more expensive cab ride will be.That shit frustrated me to death and I walked out on a few occasions and walked to my destination.
• I miss ojeks - Oh ojeks! (picture below). So much fun and so much frustration at the same time. Let me explain the fun part, an exhilarating and often times dangerous ride on these mad men on bikes gets you where you need to go within reason of course (ojeks don't go from one end of Jakarta to the next). Often, they got me where I needed to go in quick time, weaving in and out of traffic like a boss. The frustration came with bargaining with the occasional a-hole and dealing with their chauvinistic attitudes towards me, which I dealt with by telling them in kind exactly what I thought in English and Bahasa. Regardless, I enjoyed the ojeks and took them rather than taxis.

• I don't miss the pollution - Jakarta is without a doubt one of the dirtiest cities I've ever lived in. The air reeked of car fumes, rubbish was strewn in the streets and rivers.Look at the picture below at the skyline,look at the smog! It's not like I'm not used to pollution but I had not seen it on this level before and I'm sure the more I travel, the more I'll see it.

• I miss Ladies' Nights -  Apart from Facebar, this was my home. Nothing more satisfying than drinking cocktails that were free after a long ass day. Ladies' Nights were in specific bars around the city. However, my favourite and the one in which I was a patron was Thursday night at the Grand Hyatt. It made sense because I did not work the next day lol! Can you imagine Ladies Night in Edinburgh or just anywhere in the UK? The bars would be drunk dry.
• I don't miss being stared at  - I already talked about my feelings of being black in Jakarta in this post. It became quite irritating towards the end that people on my street who I saw day in day out stared at me like I had two heads. Don't get me wrong I am not the only person who has been 'othered', many of my colleagues- majority of whom are white - had experienced being stared at like they had not seen white people before. Bizarre considering you do see many some tourists trekking around Jakarta. Personally, I don't mind if people interact with me to try and get to know me but staring with no action is just plain rude and scary. 
•  I miss being in Indonesia - As much as I did not love Jakarta, I could not help but fall in love with Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and it was an honour living there. I only visited the popular islands of Bali (1st picture), Lombok (3rd picture) and Flores (2nd picture) but there is so much more to see and I would like to return and explore this lovely land. If I were to return to Indonesia, I would visit Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan,Papua and other parts of Java. I forgot to mention that I miss the heat now that I am back in 'sunny' Scotland.

• I don't miss smoking - I have a nasty secret to tell you... I started smoking again when I was in Indonesia!In Indonesia, there isn't a smoking ban like there is in the UK and cigarettes are dirt cheap (£1.00 a pack). Nearly everyone and there mother smoked here and it didn't help that my housemates and co-workers smoked too! It didn't take long for me to start having the odd one when I was drinking at a bar or a club. So one became two and then I started buying my own pack five years after quitting. I then decided to quit a month before Doc visited and I was fag free until October when I was in the middle of my breakdown. I quit them for good in the new year since I was going back home (at £8 pack in the UK, can you blame me?!). But why start again in the first place? I don't know perhaps boredom, peer pressure, lack of vice, whatever; I started and stopped as soon as I could. Do I miss it? Not really in all honesty.
• I miss my friends - A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles is a quote from Tim Cahill. This certainly resonates with me as I met so many interesting and awesome people. I met some wonderful Indonesians who made me feel welcome and at home. They made me feel comfortable and put up with me butchering their language. I will also mostly miss my fellow teachers especially the ones I had the distinct pleasure of working and living with. They had been nothing but my tower of strength and support during my year. I certainly made some friends for life out there with whom I would like to embark on another adventure wherever it may be. As a matter of fact, Little C and I are going to Denmark in May and the Jays (picture below) are coming to Scotland next week with Girl J staying with me for a couple of days. Excited much? Yes I am.

Have you ever missed a place after returning home? How did you cope being back home?