After my business class flight, jet lag hit me.
First time in Asia, excitement was over the top.
Went straight outside the airport.
I was approached by dozens of taxi drivers trying to take advantage of me.
But with research beforehand, I knew what to avoid.
I almost got scammed but found my driver using a mobile app.
The driver was so friendly, as it seems they don’t often see white folks in their hood.
He wanted to take some photos with us.
I knew I wasn’t in Europe anymore. Noisy, smelly and HOT.
You could see smog, but that was just in one part of the city.
My rule of thumb was to explore areas where locals spent their days.
So we went straight to the market.
Well, the smell was indescribable - the worst, but interesting.
A random picture of the nearby market area.
Every city, even in Europe, where there’s a market, there’s a smell.
Combine this with smog, heat and humidity and you have the best perfume on the planet.
A side street near the market.
Not super busy, but it was at that time coming from Europe.
Also, almost every city has some kind of park.
This time it was a temple where we were approached by dozens of people who kindly asked if we could take a photo with them.
Once one family asked, there were 5 then 10 more families who did the same.
Felt like a Hollywood star for a moment.
My face when I’m thirsty as hell because of the heat.
Our next goal was to find fruits.
I was dreaming about fruits from Asia, straight from the tree.
Well this time it was from the local mini market.
First coconut and pineapple experience!
The best thing you can have on a hot day was an ice cold drink and pineapple.
Was it cold this time?
No, but still impressed with the taste.
Tiny little pineapple that tastes like sweet candy.
And here’s a video of my first time seeing a coconut being prepared to drink.
It took 2 full days to get ‘enough’ of Jakarta.
What can you expect if you’re not a city person?
It’s great to see for a few days, but to live?
Crossing streets?
You must be insane.