Hello world,
Apologies for not updating this thing in a few days. The last few days have been quite a whirlwind for me, and seems as though life will continue at that frantic pace until i finally get back home to the US. Based on the number of things happening as soon as i get home, there are no signs of slowing down in the near future either, but i’m absolutely loving life and all the amazing things i’m experiencing so full speed ahead!
My presentation got moved up a few days, and have spent all day banging out a write up i’m doing, and then still have to throw the whole presentation together by this time tomorrow evening…here we go! Feel like i’m studying for finals week or something, and as strange as it may sound it’s a bit refreshing. Sure, we had exams in Spain but those weren’t real classes or exams, so this is pretty much the first time i’ve felt pressure and responsibility to accomplish something in pretty much the past 8 months, so should be good to propel me back towards real life as i head home in less than a week or so. Naturally, i’m procrastinating by writing this blog post right now haha…somethings will never change
Anyhow, I just got back from an absolutely incredible weekend on the beautiful beaches of Bali. It was just as amazing as advertised, and that’s saying a lot! I’ll be sure to put up a blog post about it as soon as i’m done with my project…or feel the urge to procrastinate once more
I landed back into Jakarta on Sunday morning, and after dwindling away the day i met up with a guy named Ajie and he took me to my new pad! I had asked to be moved from the less than wonderful accommodations that i had been given, and thankfully i was able to move to a sweet new place!
The W residence hostel resort!
My sweet new room! Found myself appreciating all these mundane things in the room after my stay in the other spot. It’s in a great location in the downtown area of the city where all of the ex-pats are, along with the areas to go out, etc.
For some reason, every place in Asia seemingly decides that in the summertime blankets are unnecessary. I solved the problem by using my newly purchased double-size parachute hammock to remedy the situation haha
I also have a balcony, and it looks out over the sweet pool area. Went for a very refreshing swim the other day, and felt great to hop into a pool for what must have been the first time this summer. There’s also a basketball court, so went out there and shot the ball for a bit…my jumper could really use some work haha. Haven’t played ball in forever, but definitely wanna get back to playing some pickup games with friends this semester
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This morning before work, i found the seemingly equivalent of College Park’s one and only bagel place in Jakarta…BagelBagel!
Grabbed a plain bagel (First one in months) and some delicious homemade thai iced tea.
After my crazy scooter adventure in Bali (more details to come in next post), i’ve become rather bold and decided to take the much faster (and more dangerous) route to work via an Ojek (Scooter taxi) opposed to the taxis.
Riding on the back of an Ojek is most likely one of the craziest, most dangerous, and exhilarating things i’ve ever done. As i had mentioned earlier, traffic in Jakarta is just absolutely insane, and being on the back of a scooter weaving in and out of the traffic is no different. Although i’m far more comfortable today on the back of one than i was say a week ago, dunno if i’ll ever get used to it. Nothing quite like going full speed into oncoming traffic while trying to overtake a bus with another one steaming towards you or riding along the bumpy “sidewalks.” Nonetheless, it’s made for a great experience, and i guess “Cuando en Jakarta” seems to be an appropriate phrase for the situation.
Yesterday was my first time riding one, and once the guy had dropped me off to the mall the restaurant was at i asked him how much i owed him. Naturally, he didn’t speak any english and i thought he had said 3,000. I was shocked by how low the price was, and gave him 5000 thinking i was being rather generous. We exchanged confused glances and i gave him and awkward smile and said “Terima Kasih” or thank you and headed off to work.
Was shocked to hear that the rides are usually around 20,000 when i got to work, and felt like a complete Ahole, but realized it was one of the issues which happen with language barriers. I went back this morning to the same guy, who was a friendly and reserved guy but none too pleased to see me after yesterdays mishap. I gave him 20k for the day before, and he smiled and we managed to establish that as the rate for the day again, before speeding off into the madness.. On the Ojek!
Bobbing and weaving our way through the Jakarta traffic! Feels like you’re in some sort of crazy video game on the back of the bike
Along with being the first day of Ramadan, Monday also marked the day i moved from the Ratu Plaza restaurant to the other one which is located in the Pondok Indah mall.
Today, i decided to try some more Indonesian food as i’ve gone through the Outback menu far too many times already. I walked into the kitchen, and to my pleasant surprise i found the breakfast meal for the evening.
The ingredients to the soto mi bogor
Added some beef stew, and ended up with a spicy, delicious dish called Soto mi bogor! Can’t wait to see what’s on the plate tomorrow evening!
Life has been treating me really well recently, and am very much looking forward to what lies ahead. On thursday morning, i take a flight out to Singapore, and will be there till early morning on August 8th. While there, i’ll be giving my final presentation for the second time to the CEO of the hospitality division which will hopefully go well. After the presentation, i’m done with my internship which is crazy to comprehend. My tight aunt (But actually just moms friend who i call aunt), Namtu masi, is gonna be in Singapore for a couple days so really looking forward to meeting up with her.
On the 8th morning, i fly out of Singapore on my way back home. My flight is stopping over in Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan. Just like when i stopped over in Hong Kong, i figured if i’m going to Tokyo that there is no way i’m just going to stay inside the airport. Dad planned it out perfectly, and so i will be staying in Tokyo for 3 nights!
Then, on the 11th i will finally board a plane and head back home to Maryland, USA. Funny enough, my 15 hour flight back from Tokyo will actually land at around the same time it leaves on the same day thanks to the time differences haha.
In other news, we got our house in College Park on August 1st! Soo so excited to get back home, and move in and set it up. School years fast approaching, and surprisingly actually looking forward to the school year starting and my life having a bit of a return to normalcy
Can’t believe this summer and experience has flown by so fast. Hard to put into words. Anyhow, i really need to stop procrastinating and talking to myself on a computer screen/pretending people actually read this thing and get back to work.
See ya in 9 short days amigos!
Cheers,
Sahil
Sahil Rahman 