After spending 4 nights in Jakarta, I’d like to share with all of you the memorable observations/experiences from this dynamic city.

Always start and end the trip with some local food. Thanks to a former uni-class mate I got to taste Sate Babi, and some Bakut without the teh. It’s ribs in some “kiam chye” soup base. I thought my stomach wouldn’t be able to handle the street food but, all is well. Bakso on the other hand has no “bak” in it but yummy beef dumplings (and some other yong tau fu inspired accompaniments)

Keep in mind the zeros in the rupiah are not really as big as it seems. (IDR 1,000 is barely 40 sen)

Container ports in every country look pretty much the same except some are bigger, some are smaller.

Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia are 2 very different languages.

I can survive running and managing 2-day conferences as long as I have my iPod and I have wi-fi.

Older men can be cute and look like underwear models too.

I discovered that there are some things that I’ve never heard/seen of in the last 28 years of my life such as the Angklung, a traditional musical instrument from the island of Jawa.

I also discovered that the Angklung is so much fun–not only it can make music but it’s a great headpiece.