I feel I've been mean to Jakarta...

So I'm attempting to make amends by cataloguing some of the good stuff:

The large-mansion-in-large-garden areas are of course very lovely. But I actually prefer driving through the small neighbourhoods in South and South Central Jakarta -- the ones with narrow streets and ordinary houses and small gardens and all the paraphernalia of the kampung. Here you would hardly know it even was Jakarta.

And many streetscapes are very attractive -- the plant- and tree-sellers make the roads round the Bung Karno stadium a delight; Jalan Surabaya is wall-to-wall antiques; and many of the public buildings are very beautiful.

Lengthy taxi journeys certainly give you plenty of opportunities for roadside people-watching, as well as for practising your Indonesian...

And the hotel has produced its better moments, too. Yesterday, I had baked bananas for tea, as consolation for a wasted trip into town for an interview that didn't work out. I was aghast to find them liberally sprinkled not only with chocolate but also with cheese... But I have to admit they tasted pretty good. Maybe I'm just getting used to that dreaded combination...

Plus, I've met the hotel cat. Yesterday I found him just strolling along the corridor, looking for all the world as if he was just on his way to his room, and couldn't possibly have had anything to do with those room service trays sitting outside various doors. He's a very pretty cat, with enormous eyes. Today, I met him again. I was on the way to my breakfast. He was in the middle of his, and had succeeded in spreading the remains of one of the room service trays all over the corridor...

And everyone has been helpful. Jakarta may be big and bothersome, but its denizens are still remarkably courteous and affable.

Maybe if I had a chance to be here longer, I would yet learn to love it...