Being in lockdown, if you get an offer to go somewhere – you do it. Anywhere – I don’t care where.
Saturday afternoon I was offered a visit to the Jakarta Fair. I’d read a little bit about it in the local newspaper, and one of the guys I went 10 pin bowling with on Friday night mentioned it. Subconsciously I cringed – it wouldn’t be my sort of thing.
The Jakarta Fair runs for about a month and has 3 million people visit. For those from Melbourne – imagine the Royal Melbourne Show without animals and rides. Add a huge dose of a “home maker” show – with endless kitchen gadgets, loads of furniture and bedding. Add a healthy mix of a motorbike and car show and you’ve got the Jakarta Fair.
The fair held at a former airport – with one of the roads the old runway, while all the exhibits are in the old hangers and main terminal building. We’re talking vast sheds!
To summarise – I think my subconscious cringe was pretty bang on!
After wandering for 3 hours my mind had also wandered off, imagining sitting in the hotel bar with some fajitas sizzling in front of me. My host had another idea – and so we went to “Ancol Beach” and one of Jakarta’s biggest seafood restaurants. We’re not talking seafood restaurant with steak for the non seafood eaters – we’re talking 100’s of fish, crabs, clams, prawns swimming in tanks. An equivalent number of whole fish sitting in eskies (a.k.a cool boxes) on ice.
You select your fish, weigh it, get charged and then it gets delivered to your table with rice and a few condiments. I’m not the worlds best fish eater, so tiger prawns it was. I wasn’t even game to pick them out of the tank, so I let my companions order and select on my behalf. At least they were fresh – too fresh to think about.
Meanwhile in this massive center courtyard things started heading down hill, with a graduating high school year celebrating, their teacher getting on stage and singing to them. The nights nadir though came when tinkly keyboards started up and someone in a pretty wobbly voice started singing “And Iiiiiiiii, will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” in quite possibly the most ordinary rendition of a very ordinary song. To paraphrase the Australian band Weddings, Parties, Anything… “When I listen to Whitney Houston I wonder what I’m doing here”.
June 18, 2008 at 11:32 am
Beats the hotel and gets you out and about. You will soooooo enjoy life that bit more when you get back home. Not long to go I’ll start practicing the Whitney if you like.
Counting down the days
June 19, 2008 at 2:59 am
I hope you remembered to thank your hosts for a very interesting day. Like your mother would have taught you.
June 24, 2008 at 1:01 am
Whi is counting down the days?
June 29, 2008 at 9:12 am
so ABIJ,
didn’t know you were a big whitney fan – kept that one quiet. at least Rach has prior warning to have the CD loaded up for the trip home from the airport. only trouble will be if you start doing Karaoke (i know how well your family can sing):)