In the meantime... postcards from Jakarta

{from: intheworldwithfriends.blogspot.com}

In the meantime,

I will be writing from the house where I currently live, the very same house that I used to share with Fina and the girls, that was flooded up to 2 meters in 2007. The house is at the moment undergone a renovation, so it's a complete mess here.



While writing this, I was amused by my own thoughts that - if you have watched the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" - I might imagine living like Frances, the main character in the movie, the scenes where her house in Tuscany was being renovated. The people working here are so nice. My landlord has an assistant and these guys are her relatives. They start working very early in the morning and stop at sunset. Every morning I walk pass the traditional market in the neighbourhood and there are the very nice couple who sell green coconut drinks, the old man who always sits by the veggie seller, the traditional cakes seller who already knows that I would ask for "onde-onde", my favorite yummies (fried sticky rice balls rolled on sesame, with sweet mung bean paste inside) - and the thoughtful couple who runs the rice stall just across the street: they know that rice with fish is my favorite, and a big spoonful of stir-fried tempeh would add the taste. When I go home from work in the evening, I often found their kids Wisnu 8, and Nadine 3, chatting and playing with the guys who work in the house, and the guy who sells fish cake and stations his stall just in front of my house would normally join the conversation or watch tv in the terrace when not serving customers.

Haha, it's nice. I also love passing by the other street where the couple who runs a small grocery store in the corner always greet and wish me a good day or 'take care' - as so the lady who owns the co-housing next door. It's the "trick" of living in this kind of neighbourhood, where most people would sit and chat with one another in front of their houses mostly in the morning. You can't avoid passing by them and even if you don't know their names, a cheerful "good morning" is always returned along with a genuine smile. It's a good energy. Now you understand why I always arrive at work energized and happy :-)


More 'postcards'

Walking journal 1
Walking journal 2
Walking journal 3
Walking journal 4
Walking journal 5
Walking journal 6