Gastronomical Adventure in Jakarta

I just got back from Jakarta ... and after settling down ... finally managed to get some time to start writing again.

First off .. to those of you who haven't been to Jakarta .. it's a big .. no.. that's an understatement. It's a Huge city. You don't see that many high rise lots in the city, that is because the buildings are spread out all over the city. Population ... ? Let's just say it's crowded. Economically ... there's a big gap as what the people would say. Meaning .. the rich are filthy rich and the poor are ... hoohum....

To find food in the J city is not at all difficult. To find good food ... firstly you'll have to pick up some Indonesian slang. "Selamat siang, pak!" is a common greeting term. Then you learn to take the Bajaj, a local transportation that will bring you to the most corner of the city. Finally, you may want to learn how to read Indonesian menu ... of course, if you're heading to a hotel or fast food joint, that doesn't apply, although the currency exchange might have some shocking effect. The Rupiah's are great currency ... you can see that by the amount of zeros it has on the behind. Alright, now that the cultural thingy is settled, let's move on to the topic of food.

Food in Jakarta city, I would split it into a few category ... this is according to my analysis.

First in the chart would be the exclusive hotel/restaurant/fastfood which is easily accesible (i.e. no problem ordering). The food here are easily understood, menu are usually in plain english and mostly international food.

Then, there's foodcourts in shopping malls which is also easily accesible and language barrier shouldn't an issue since most of them working in malls do speak english.

Finally there's the millions of tiny stalls dotting around the big J city. Every corridor turn, every pavement alley, under bridges .. you name it, there they are.