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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

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.

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.

lukereg wrote:

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

there's stray kittens everywhere here..

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.

Ubudian wrote:

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

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

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.

Ubudian wrote:

Back to the corruption issue, I also can work with it within limits.  I mean, if youÂ’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, IÂ’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.

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 ExpatÂ’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.

IÂ’m sorry, but I just donÂ’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.

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.

alexisacyl wrote:

a terrible traffic.

True but it's not a lot different to many other Asian countries.
Still, a first timer to Asia will have a shock or few.