Indonesia in expats eyes

some friends of mine which come from outside indonesia...they really want to try Indonesia food once they arrived here..and they loved it..

The streets lined with palm trees, kittens at the airport and no rain

hey, what about the heavy rain and hurricane these days:D

Rats in restaurants.
These little creatures clearly know where the best food is.

The warmth of the people.

The sound coming from roti peddler. It sounded weird for me.

sybel_23 wrote:

The sound coming from roti peddler. It sounded weird for me.

but sometimes they put nice music:) is it still weird?

iamwanderwoman wrote:

The warmth of the people.

warmth with misanthrope nomad currently living in the very colorful city of Jakarta....doesnt sound little bit weird miss wander:rolleyes:

nadji22uk wrote:

sybel_23 wrote:

The sound coming from roti peddler. It sounded weird for me.

but sometimes they put nice music:) is it still weird?

I never heard any changes in the sound since I came here at my place, lol....hearing that sound takes me to the reality that I am indeed in a foreign country. :-P

sybel_23 wrote:

nadji22uk wrote:

sybel_23 wrote:

The sound coming from roti peddler. It sounded weird for me.

but sometimes they put nice music:) is it still weird?

I never heard any changes in the sound since I came here at my place, lol....hearing that sound takes me to the reality that I am indeed in a foreign country. :-P

that means there is only one roti peddler around your place LOL..well, i would order few for you, need the address:D

The smell of durian and shrimp paste!  It was love at first sniff for me!

Indonesians are the most friendly and polite people.
And its also so safe,

11years ago, february 2002, arrived for the first time in Indonesia. Landed in Bali. People talk to me in Indonesian language with huge smile. I'll Leave indonesia and that's'the most thing I won't forget. Those smiles!!!! And all indiscrets questions : where do u stay, are u married, how many kids u have, blabla about your life once. So funny....

Indonesian people are generally friendly and polite and while they understand that western culture is different to their own, it will be appreciated if their customs are respected.

I do agree, they are so polite and friendly. Even between them they are delinitely respectful. And one last thing. They are born with yoga. So amazing! I'm jealous. I speak their language and I do many things in indonesian way but one thing I never got after those years. Their patience. I give u guys an example. I take my trolley in a rush to do my shopping in supermarket Carrefour bali. In few minutes I'm done. Even I look like Indonesian people, they watched me like I'm a zombie! Oups that girl is not Indonesian! Haha! I must pay to get what they have naturally : Yoga. Whatever problem u get there is this word they used to say : sabar means patience. Isn't that amazing?

mike36aus wrote:

Indonesians are the most friendly and polite people.
And its also so safe,

Thailand is the land of smiles but they can't get close to Indonesia.
Indonesians are amazing; the people make the country great.

what about the BBM habit in public transport & places??

more importantly the way the locals stop at the end of an escalator holding everyone up and taking the elevator in malls as they are too lazy to walk or perhaps they are also fed up with the people on escalators

nadji22uk wrote:

what about the BBM habit in public transport & places??

Part of the charm.
I have a photo of a bus driver shaving at the wheel.

minahasato wrote:

Do you never read newspapers or watch TV?

I rarely watch TV because it's crap but I read at least fives newspapers every day.

Tom, your comments here have given me an incentive to respond to your more detailed comments on the topic started by Julien titled:  5 good reasons for living in Indonesia:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 76#1130956

It would appear that not much has improved for yourself since last September. 

I lived in Indonesia for a year as expat. The wonderful girls are calling me back, looking for my soulmate for marriage and family this time.

lukereg wrote:

The streets lined with palm trees, kittens at the airport and no rain

there's stray kittens everywhere here..

Hi, for info, some posts have been removed.

Please do not forget that you're on a friendly forum, so avoid personal attacks.

Thanks,
Harmonie

I like the fact that I can get fresh coconut, my bike serviced, freshly fried Tofu and Tempe and Nasi Padang all within 30 metres of my house. More reasons I like it here.
Corruption is part of the society I live in so there are times when I have to pay a little extra to get what I need and if I don't I cant have it, so I pay. If thats how it works then who am I to argue?

lukereg wrote:

I like the fact that I can get fresh coconut, my bike serviced, freshly fried Tofu and Tempe and Nasi Padang all within 30 metres of my house. More reasons I like it here.
Corruption is part of the society I live in so there are times when I have to pay a little extra to get what I need and if I don't I cant have it, so I pay. If thats how it works then who am I to argue?

I'm no fan of the corruption but it is part of life here so it makes no difference what I think.
However, things are far better than even a few years ago.
No bribes at immigration these days.

I salute the Indonesian government's attempts and hope they do more.

As for the food here...WOW.
I love it. Padang food is seriously yummy.

Something I forgot.
Back home, my area had a serious drug problem but there's so little by way of that problem here.
Same goes for drunks, hardly seen any in 6 years.

“Same goes for drunks, hardly seen any in 6 years.”

Fred, that might be because they all hang out in Kuta, Bali: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rFo2ycRDU4

Ubudian wrote:

“Same goes for drunks, hardly seen any in 6 years.”

Fred, that might be because they all hang out in Kuta, Bali: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rFo2ycRDU4

doctor in clip wrote:

It can also be something horrible that you never imagined in your life

Yep, that bloke with his arse hanging out of his shorts was pretty horrible and I really never imagined such a thing.
Pity the lady who ran into the pool was obscured when she raised her top.

Luckily, we never see that stuff here. It may happen in some of the bule hangouts in the nastier bits of Jakarta but I never go to dumps of that nature so I never see it.
The few drunks I do see, and this will surprise a few, are the local Christians who hang around after church and drink before getting on their motorbikes to go home.
Daft at best; ruddy dangerous or murderous at worst.

However, that's a very small minority of idiots, not the norm.

Back to the corruption issue, I also can work with it within limits.  I mean, if you're caught driving or riding on a motor bike without a helmet or without your license or some other infraction, what the heck, paying the officer 50k sure beats having to show up in court a few days later and pay a heftier fine.  Given how low paid the police are anyway, I'd rather they “pocket” the “fine” than see it pocketed by someone higher up behind a desk.

Ubudian wrote:

Back to the corruption issue, I also can work with it within limits.  I mean, if you're caught driving or riding on a motor bike without a helmet or without your license or some other infraction, what the heck, paying the officer 50k sure beats having to show up in court a few days later and pay a heftier fine.  Given how low paid the police are anyway, I'd rather they “pocket” the “fine” than see it pocketed by someone higher up behind a desk.

I'm a good boy so never give them anything to fine me for so I have yet to cough up the 50K but I'm well aware it happens.
I did slightly bug me when the cop who issued my SIM C made it clear I'd fail the test if I didn't stump up Rp400k.
Still, can't really moan because, no test later and a coffee, I had a shiny new SIM.
However, I'd already passed a real test before and only wanted to change address so I assume I got royally ripped off.

Hello > can you please stay on topic? Thank you

Christine, a bit of discussion about corruption here is very much being on topic IMHO.  The title of the post is Indonesia in Expat's Eyes and bits of corruption can easily catch the attention of an expat “on the first days of arrival.”   Actually, even incidental tourists often get exposed to it rather quickly.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how this discussion has wavered from the original post. 

Perhaps you could kindly explain?

Ubudian wrote:

Christine, a bit of discussion about corruption here is very much being on topic IMHO.  The title of the post is Indonesia in Expat's Eyes and bits of corruption can easily catch the attention of an expat “on the first days of arrival.”   Actually, even incidental tourists often get exposed to it rather quickly.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how this discussion has wavered from the original post. 

Perhaps you could kindly explain?

I would have to agree.

Corruption is a fact of life here, regardless of anyone's opinion of it, so it fits in perfectly with the topic in hand.

I don't know about others, but I was royally ripped off by the first immigration officer I had the misfortune to meet.
He charged me 8 million for a KITAS that should have been less than a million. Even taking into account the 'service charge', that was way over the top and did have an impression of how I viewed officialdom in Indonesia.
On the bright side (I like to be positive), immigration is now clean as far as my dealings have gone in the last few years.
That makes a big difference to my personal impression of this wonderful country and demonstrates the government are trying to get rid of the problem.

SBY, the president, is doing a great job in really difficult conditions and I salute the guy.

“SBY, the president, is doing a great job in really difficult conditions and I salute the guy.”

I couldn't agree with you more.  He's also doing a great job in developing the economic growth of Indonesia while still maintaining the integrity and sovereignty of this great nation.  Indonesia tidak di jual! 

When I first moved to Bali, Soeharto was still President, but that changed not long after my arrival.  Every subsequent President of Indonesia has in one way or another done his or her bit moving this country forward on all levels, but SBY's accomplishments are truly remarkable.  His shoes will be tough to fill when his second term of office is over. 

So, I guess that means that having a President like him could be something to “catch the attention” of a newly arrived expat…just to keep my comment “on topic.” 

SBY IS MY MAN
GREAT MAN

mike36aus wrote:

SBY IS MY MAN
GREAT MAN

I can't fault that. I hope the next guy is as good as he is.
Hard act to follow.

I forgot one thing about Indonesia.
Police and photos.

In the UK, I would have faced many problems when taking photos of the police.
Here, I get problems if I don't.

The police may have a bad record (or rep) on corruption but they're really good to foreigners.

a terrible traffic.