Jakarta solution

Ojeks are too scary, I go around Jakarta on my own bike

Blue bird.
Mad bike riders bounce of the sides without hurting you.

It is what it is.... unless the govt can come up with something briliant...

It is what it is, exactly

I like walking, lots of smiles as you pass by and slower pace to see what's going on. Though I can't really recommend the pavements

Ah Pavements, how I missed that word. No one knows what that means and I have ultimately ended up using the American version of the word.

Didn't someone write a song about chasing pavements? Chasing sidewalk doesn't have the same resonance somehow

Sophie Fisher wrote:

It is what it is.... unless the govt can come up with something briliant...

They could try stopping the cops from taking bribes to issue a licence to anyone with at least one leg and one eye or actually doing something about all the traffic laws the cops totally ignore being broken unless they fancy the Rp50,000 "fine".

Just a thought.

mas fred wrote:

Sophie Fisher wrote:

It is what it is.... unless the govt can come up with something briliant...

They could try stopping the cops from taking bribes to issue a licence to anyone with at least one leg and one eye or actually doing something about all the traffic laws the cops totally ignore being broken unless they fancy the Rp50,000 "fine".

Just a thought.

Its all in a circle mas fred. What do they say abt money? Its the root of all evil.

It will take a very long time for Indonesia to be better. That, if the people want it to be better.... but really, most of us dont care.

Well, ojek helps me a lot so far. Not so dangerous, when they only go 20 km/hr in the traffic jam.

I heard the MRT is in the process. Hope it can be the solution for the crazy traffic.

sherlylim wrote:

Well, ojek helps me a lot so far. Not so dangerous, when they only go 20 km/hr in the traffic jam.

I heard the MRT is in the process. Hope it can be the solution for the crazy traffic.

I dont know if the MRT is BACK in the process now since I'm not in town, but when I last visited, it was still abandoned (been abandoned for God knows how long).

My driver got stopped yesterday by the police for no real reason at all, just pulled over at random and then because we had no cash on us, he was given a ticket and has to go and pay a fine to get his sim back.  Perhaps of blagging drivers for money, the police should be sorting the rules out and targeting the pollutors and reckless road users, but alas as you say Annie, its a circle.

Jakartans reap what they sow

Indonesia needs its own Maggie Thatcher.
That'd sort it out.

Damn right

I lived through Maggie's reforms. Tough medicine, can't recommend it!

Samhand wrote:

I lived through Maggie's reforms. Tough medicine, can't recommend it!

So did I.
Maggie got rid of the commie Scargill.
It was the union's fault for being greedy and having wsy too much power.
Maggie would easily have sorted Indonesia's problems.

RIP lovely Maggie.

I may have a different view since I was in Yorkshire t the time, so can't wish her peace.

It was tough medicine, yes the unions were greedy and the balance needed restoration, but she also attacked the idea if community and laid the foundations of a greed is good, look after yourself  culture and financial speculation that let the UK to where it is today

Yin and yang as always. Good and bad

Change is good. But there's always another bunch of politicians available to step in and muddle around.

mas fred wrote:

It was the union's fault for being greedy and having wsy too much power.

The unions (who got crushed) Vs the bankers, (who got bailed out)

Both greedy with way too much power!

Samhand wrote:

I may have a different view since I was in Yorkshire t the time, so can't wish her peace.

It was tough medicine, yes the unions were greedy and the balance needed restoration, but she also attacked the idea if community and laid the foundations of a greed is good, look after yourself  culture and financial speculation that let the UK to where it is today

Yin and yang as always. Good and bad

Change is good. But there's always another bunch of politicians available to step in and muddle around.

I'm from 8 miles outside Barnsley but I identify more with Barnsley than I do Rotherham.
I saw what the unions were up to and I saw what they did to people who wanted to break the strike.
No, if Scargill and his daft pals had used their brains; the strike and total dumping of the industry would never had happened but the twits had to try to force a commie revolution.

However, Scargill was far too stupid to take on Thatcher.

mas fred wrote:

However, Scargill was far too stupid to take on Thatcher.

That, I agree with

Use blue bird taxi if you know where you  are going. you may run into the challenge where the driver does not know the way. In that case use your handy Google map with my location feature turned on. And also enable wi fi to get the most accurate location reading. Otherwise both will give you error. :-)

Use taxi to travel to major shopping malls. Then switch to ojek motor bikes to go to those not so well known narrow back streets.

Sometimes the wait for a taxi is really long at the mall. You think you can call the taxi but the taxi companies will not pick up at the mall because they think their drivers are incapable of identifying the person who called? Solution : use a taxi booking number like all the other taxi in all other countries :-)

If you are willing to squeeze you can take the  Trans Jakarta bus. Google map of trans Jakarta to find the bus routes.

The challenges of living in Jakarta. Solution think creative. You only wish that Jakarta can be as convenient and orderly as Singapore.

Trans jakarta has an android app.

alexjkt wrote:

Use blue bird taxi if you know where you  are going. you may run into the challenge where the driver does not know the way. In that case use your handy Google map with my location feature turned on. And also enable wi fi to get the most accurate location reading. Otherwise both will give you error. :-)

Sometimes the wait for a taxi is really long at the mall. You think you can call the taxi but the taxi companies will not pick up at the mall because they think their drivers are incapable of identifying the person who called? Solution : use a taxi booking number like all the other taxi in all other countries :-)


The challenges of living in Jakarta. Solution think creative. You only wish that Jakarta can be as convenient and orderly as Singapore.

Additional info, a lot of taxi drivers (nowadays) pretend they dont know the way, even the ones from the big companies. They would use longer routes in order to get more money from the passangers. I always asked them if they know the closest route and would tell them  I could open my GPS and check it for them. There's no way they would dare to fool me.

Taxi booking number in Jkt is still not as much effective as in other countries. The company just told you your taxi serial number thats written on the window of the car, there is no code. Even though they are willing to send a taxi to public places such as malls, but the chance of other people taking over your taxi is big. I ordered a taxi to come to the apartment, they said it was otw, a few moment later I called them back to ask for position and they said " it is already confirmed here that you took the taxi". You see, some people are just that bad. Taxi drivers dont ask for your name, instead they tell you your name " Ms. Annie?" Ofcourse anyone who doesnt care would say yes, as long as she gets a taxi...

It will take a while. And the fact is, both the govt and the people are not willing to make it better. Its always just the talks...

I use taxis a lot more than I used to and find them now less likely to rip me off. The odd taxi driver going a different way has actually saved me time and money despite my protests.
But I agree that booking them is no gaurantee they will come or will even wait for you. Bluebird taxis won't come to the house in the morning and often the operators can't find one to come through the day.
Their reservation fee is 30,000 now which means they make more money. It can only be a matter of time before the charges go up again.

lukereg wrote:

Their reservation fee is 30,000 now which means they make more money. It can only be a matter of time before the charges go up again.

30 thou now? Are you kidding? Is it right after the BBM raise?
These people only knows how to steal money from people but no improvement on the service..