Before entering Indonesia, you receive a customs form that includes the following:
Immediately I had flashbacks to a Claire Danes movie that I’d seen which took place in Thailand and involved her getting falsely arrested for drug smuggling because someone stashed heroin in her bag. I’m not going to lie...a little paranoia definitely set in and I gave a quick scan through my carry-on luggage.
Since we arrived in Surabaya well after dark, there wasn’t much to see on our ride from the airport to the hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, however, there was definitely something that I took notice of: the security. As a result of the bombings over the past five years at various tourist locations, they definitely take security very seriously. The entrance to our hotel felt more like a military checkpoint. But I will say this: I definitely felt safe.
Waking up in the morning wasn’t a problem as by 6am it was brighter than a summer day in Switzerland and the temperature was already well over 80F (even though the A/C was on you could definitely feel the heat radiating through the window).
For breakfast we had some fruit, but not your standard Western faire as seen in the picture below. The hairy one is appropriately named the “hair fruit”.
Despite being in Indonesia for work, I feel like I got exposed to a good deal of the local culture. My overall impression is that the people are very nice and that the common Western perception that Indonesia’s status as the largest Muslim country in the world makes it de facto anti-American is flat out wrong.
In a lot of ways, Indonesia reminds me of a developing Central American country (e.g., in terms of the economy, the public infrastructure, the overall U.S. / Western influence). The streets are very crowded with people and full of activity. There is also an interesting (and very active) level of entrepreneurship. My favorite example was a gentleman who sat alongside a busy intersection and – for a nominal fee – singlehandedly blocked traffic for cars that wanted to turn during rush hour.
An ever present aspect of Indonesia is the motorbike. Everywhere you go you see them by the hundreds zipping around the streets. And they’re not just for one (or two) people. A number of times I saw whole families delicately balancing on these tiny bikes while darting in and out of traffic. It was actually pretty amazing that there were no accidents, but people just seem to understand the rules of the road.
Speaking of the rules of the road, one of the most interesting things that I witnessed in Indonesia was the manner in which people crossed the streets. Regardless of how busy a street was (or where you chose to cross for that matter – no crosswalk needed), the proper protocol was to simply raise one hand straight up over your head and proceed across the street at a constant pace. No hesitation…no waiting for the right time…just go! It’s simply a way of life and traffic adapts accordingly.
I’m convinced that the Indonesian language is by far the most efficient one that I’ve ever come across. There are no tenses, verbs aren’t conjugated and nouns / adjectives don’t have gender. Also, there’s no such thing as “plural” – if you want to refer to something in plural form, you just say the word twice. And there are even a number of words that are simply phonetic versions of their English counterparts (e.g., business: “bisnis”; taxi: “taksi”; electric: “elektrik”).
During a brief break from work we were able to take a tour of the colonial buildings in Surabaya. Unfortunately, very few original buildings from the Dutch period remain and those that do haven’t been very well maintained. That said, we did get to see some that were very nice.
Here's a statue that I found interesting:
We also saw a monument related to Indonesian Independence I believe. As seen in one of the photographs, the views towards the allies during WWII weren’t overly favorable.
“Warning: Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers under Indonesian Law”
Immediately I had flashbacks to a Claire Danes movie that I’d seen which took place in Thailand and involved her getting falsely arrested for drug smuggling because someone stashed heroin in her bag. I’m not going to lie...a little paranoia definitely set in and I gave a quick scan through my carry-on luggage.
Since we arrived in Surabaya well after dark, there wasn’t much to see on our ride from the airport to the hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, however, there was definitely something that I took notice of: the security. As a result of the bombings over the past five years at various tourist locations, they definitely take security very seriously. The entrance to our hotel felt more like a military checkpoint. But I will say this: I definitely felt safe.
Waking up in the morning wasn’t a problem as by 6am it was brighter than a summer day in Switzerland and the temperature was already well over 80F (even though the A/C was on you could definitely feel the heat radiating through the window).
For breakfast we had some fruit, but not your standard Western faire as seen in the picture below. The hairy one is appropriately named the “hair fruit”.
Despite being in Indonesia for work, I feel like I got exposed to a good deal of the local culture. My overall impression is that the people are very nice and that the common Western perception that Indonesia’s status as the largest Muslim country in the world makes it de facto anti-American is flat out wrong.In a lot of ways, Indonesia reminds me of a developing Central American country (e.g., in terms of the economy, the public infrastructure, the overall U.S. / Western influence). The streets are very crowded with people and full of activity. There is also an interesting (and very active) level of entrepreneurship. My favorite example was a gentleman who sat alongside a busy intersection and – for a nominal fee – singlehandedly blocked traffic for cars that wanted to turn during rush hour.
An ever present aspect of Indonesia is the motorbike. Everywhere you go you see them by the hundreds zipping around the streets. And they’re not just for one (or two) people. A number of times I saw whole families delicately balancing on these tiny bikes while darting in and out of traffic. It was actually pretty amazing that there were no accidents, but people just seem to understand the rules of the road.
Speaking of the rules of the road, one of the most interesting things that I witnessed in Indonesia was the manner in which people crossed the streets. Regardless of how busy a street was (or where you chose to cross for that matter – no crosswalk needed), the proper protocol was to simply raise one hand straight up over your head and proceed across the street at a constant pace. No hesitation…no waiting for the right time…just go! It’s simply a way of life and traffic adapts accordingly.
I’m convinced that the Indonesian language is by far the most efficient one that I’ve ever come across. There are no tenses, verbs aren’t conjugated and nouns / adjectives don’t have gender. Also, there’s no such thing as “plural” – if you want to refer to something in plural form, you just say the word twice. And there are even a number of words that are simply phonetic versions of their English counterparts (e.g., business: “bisnis”; taxi: “taksi”; electric: “elektrik”).
During a brief break from work we were able to take a tour of the colonial buildings in Surabaya. Unfortunately, very few original buildings from the Dutch period remain and those that do haven’t been very well maintained. That said, we did get to see some that were very nice.
Here's a statue that I found interesting:
We also saw a monument related to Indonesian Independence I believe. As seen in one of the photographs, the views towards the allies during WWII weren’t overly favorable.
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