Indonesia (Jakarta) and Singapore (Jun/00)

    Bum boats to Pulau Ubin

Fly a couple hundred miles across the Equator and you find Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, which could well have been the prototype of today's world. The large majority of the population lives in varying degrees of poverty in villages or suburbs of the large cities, alienated from the resources of modern life. There are plenty of social contrasts and conflicts aggravated by racial and religious differences. Food and life is more interesting there than in most places I had been before.

Under the tropical heat and humidity, whether being in the modern bland harmony of Singapore or in the primitive vibrant social conflict of Jakarta, one can find meaningful life and wonderful people. If you look well, you'll find hope, both in the future and in the present.
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This was a very busy business trip. I went to Jakarta (training and research of the local market) for 3 days and Singapore (Communicasia, the largest communication trade show in Asia) for 5 days.

After a very long flight, I arrived in Jakarta on the morning of a Saturday. We had meetings and training sessions over the weekend and on Monday. So, my experience of Jakarta can be summarized as gastronomic ones and a few car rides around the city and the northern outskirts.

I stayed in a hotel outside the city, so it was not possible to explore the surroundings by foot at night (not safe, nothing much interesting to see). The city center is more urbanized and cleaner than I had imagined, and the CNN image I had in my mind is not that bad in reality. Chinese descendants and some Indians dominate the economy. The Malays are the majority of the population.

Indonesia is a set of 12000+ islands (about 6000 inhabited, including Java, Borneo, Sumatra, and New Guinea) with a population of 200 million. Jakarta, located in the island of Java, is the capital and the largest city (20 million people, over 3/4 of the economy).

My hosts were the best. They strictly followed my request not to be taken to "nice" places to eat, but to go to the real authentic local places. I cannot remember one meal that was not memorable :o).

The traditional (and most usual and the one I used) way to eat is with your hands. The cuisine is very rich and interesting, with variations depending on the region where it comes from.

I tried Sundanese (West Java) food at a nice open-air restaurant in the Northern suburbs of Jakarta. The spicy dishes are mostly based on fresh water fish. Ate Indonesian Chinese food in a typical street food stall. We had very unique varieties of crab (huge, meaty, and with eggs), fish and frog (cooked with the skin). Also tasted food from West Sumatra. You arrive at the table and the dishes (beef, curry chicken, etc) are served, there is no need to order. You are charged based on what you eat. The best Sumatran dish was the beef rendang.

The local beers are Bintang and Anker. They are just regular US-like Pilsens. You can also find the Filipino San Miguel. The extremely hot weather (constant 32C) makes beer always a welcome refreshment.

On my last night in Indonesia, a 7.2-point earthquake hit Sumatra, killed many people, and was felt across the region. At that time, I was at a pub drinking my second mug of Bintang and listening to a very loud local band playing Beatles and Indonesian pop. The quake was interpreted as bass tone, so we did not even know it happened until we received phone calls asking if we were ok.

I spent 5 days in Singapore and there I had some time and opportunity to explore.

Singapore is an island on the tip of the Malay peninsula. It is about 40 miles across and you can go from one side to the other by car in about 1 hour. The island is all urbanized, all organized, all clean. Chewing gum is prohibited (serious), streets are safe at any time, littering is prohibited, most taxi drivers are reliable and honest.

75% of the population is of Chinese descend. Malays and Indians make up the rest of the 2 .8 million people.

The cuisine is a mix of Chinese, Malay and Indian food. None of it really local, but Singapore is probably the place where good Asian food is most accessible to the average tourist.

You can eat Chinese, Indian and Malay food almost anywhere without risking to much or having to know where that hidden street food stall is located. One of the Singaporean classics is "fish head curry" (the head of a red snapper cooked in really spicy hot curry sauce with tomatoes and okra), which I had heard about it before but tried for the first time in Chinatown. I had excellent seafood (fish, crab, prawns), by the beach, at the "Seafood Center" on the East coast of the island.

The local beer is Tiger, a good Lager. I don't know if it it is one of the best (some claim it is), but it is certainly one of the most expensive (alcohol, being one of few tolerated drugs, is highly taxed). Tokyo is the only place where I have paid more for a beer.

Singapore is a big, modern city dominated by high-rise office and apartment buildings (most of the population lives in government-built apartments). Public transportation works flawlessly. Life is expensive (general prices are close to the ones practiced in the US and housing prices are higher).

I stayed at a very central hotel in the Colonial District and had the opportunity to explore the city by foot. I walked the Colonial district (where there are some old buildings and bridges), Orchard Road (where the shopping and tourists are, a waste of time), Chinatown (which is disappearing, devoured by urbanization), the financial district (where investors watch the world through the glass windows of the high-rise buildings), and sections of the Arab and Indian quarters.
 
 

During the day, tourists are strolling around Orchard Road. At night, tourists go to Boat Quay, a live strip of pubs and restaurants along the river.

Safety and modernity don't come free. Government is strong (there is no such a thing as opposition party) and people seem to be thirsty for something that nobody really know what it is. Most resent the interference of government in everyday life and, maybe, some would be willing to sacrifice part of the world-class infrastructure for some voice and less government.

On the day of my flight back home, I took a break from urban life. I woke up early, dropped the luggage at the airport and spent the day exploring the undeveloped island of Pulau Ubin off the East coast, close to Malaysia mainland.

From Changi Village, I took an oil-stained chugging bumboat to cross the 1.5 miles separating Pulau Ubin from the main island. The crossing itself is one the highlights of the trip.

According to my guidebook, Pulau Ubin is like Singapore 50 years ago. I walked (biking would be better) the paths crossing the island and saw some of the equatorial forest, kampung houses, rubber trees imported from Brazil, and very few people other than tourists.

I would say Singapore is ok to the average tourist, but I would say Indonesia was more exciting. I would like to have more time to explore not only Jakarta, but the villages and the other islands.