Jalan-jalan Tangerang

Streets of Tangerang.
Yes, my first home in Indonesia, Tangerang, where West meets East...

My first morning at home in Taman Ayu I was anxious to venture out. Arriving here by taxi in the late afternoon, and then settling in, our focus was getting to know each other. Evening came on suddenly as it does in the tropics, and then night, but we hardly seemed to notice. So after all the excitement of encounter yesterday, and a good sleep, we woke up to a sunny day, and I wanted to explore a little, so Yudhie and I took a walk around the neighborhood. This first day I really had no idea of how neighborhoods were laid out, or where to find things like a mailbox or the ‘corner store’ or where to catch a bus. Though where we live looks a little like America, I gradually found out that almost everything works differently here.

Driving home by taxi yesterday, I noticed that we stopped at several check points. I didn’t notice at the time what exactly was going on, but later I understood. Taman Ayu is a walled community of townhouses divided into apartments of various sizes. It is completely residential, and you enter it through a gate that is manned by security guards. As we left Taman Ayu and entered the surrounding streets, we passed through this gate. The guards knew Yudhie by sight, so even seeing me, a tall ‘white’ bulé (Westerner), no other check was made. But anyone driving into the project has to stop and show identification and, if not a taxi or other public vehicle, probably has to give the reason for entering.

My first impression of the area was that it was like a high-end Portland neighborhood—large houses, tree-lined streets, new cars parked in driveways. Private homes in Indonesia, as I came to discover, are almost always surrounded by a wall with a sliding wrought iron gate to admit people, cars and motorcycles. As I noticed in Japan, there are no sidewalks, and the pavement is flanked by drainage gutters, sometimes partly covered. People share the road with cycles and cars. I was expecting to see bicycles, but nowhere did I see any, except kid’s bikes. Everyone here seems to ride motorcycles, if they have no car. Right outside of the gate to Taman Ayu, at the first corner, about five or six men lounged with motorcycles parked in front of them.

Outside of Serba Food Express, at Benton Junction

For the first time I noticed that I was an object of curiosity. Little did I know this first day that I would be the only ‘white’ person for miles around, but from the way I was stared at by those silent faces, I might’ve guessed. In Japan, though I was a gaijin (foreigner), everyday people would usually flash a smile and utter a friendly ‘Konnichi wa!’ when they saw me. Here it seemed, at least this first day, that a somber reserve reigned. I didn’t know what to make of it. It seemed unfriendly, but then, what did I know? This was my first day in a strange land. I would make the best of it and look on the bright side. My first impression of the country, I have to admit, was that it was a serious sort of place, where people minded their own business. Only later did this change.

We walked the nearby streets up to the gate of the school where Yudhie is a teacher. I would’ve liked to enter and see the school, but it was the holidays, and the gate was closed and locked. It is a private Christian middle school. In fact, though it is probably not officially segregated, this entire neighborhood seemed to be Christian, or at least, non-affiliated. By ‘non-affiliated’ I mean a place where religion is of no great importance. The district that we live in here in Tangerang is Lippo Village, a small very Westernized enclave completely surrounded by Islam Village, or ‘Islami’, a well-defined Muslim area. In Indonesia, everyone must carry an ID card on which their agama, religion, is shown, one of six choices. You cannot not belong to a faith.

Times Bookstore, on the edge of the UPH campus

After our walk in the neighborhood, later in the day we took a taxi to where Yudhie has spent the best part of the last four years, the junction of the UPH campus, and the Karawaci Supermall. This intersection is where West meets East in Indonesia, and West wins hands down. You can’t even tell you’re not in the States when you’re there. Time and again I was reminded by my friends here, ‘This is not the real Indonesia.’ At the edge of the campus is the large Times Bookstore. We didn’t go into it on this my first day, but we visited it a few times in the coming weeks. Our last day together, Dwi, Yudhie and I sat together inside one of those ‘onions’ you see in the picture, while we sorted out the itinerary for the end of our visit. Dwi and I would be leaving the same day.

Promenade at Serba Food Express, at Benton Junction

We were hungry, so first we went for lunch to one of Yudhie’s favorite places when he was a student, the Serba Food Express at Benton Junction, right across the street from campus. This restaurant was moderately priced and had entrées from every Asian country. This time, as I usually did, I asked Yudhie to order for me as well as for himself, so we could eat the same things. I was never disappointed, and there was never anything I was served in restaurant, warung, or at home, that I didn’t like. Everyone kept asking me with astonishment, ‘You really like this?’ And I kept responding, honestly, ‘Yes, I really like this a lot.’ Early on I learned the phrase enak sekali, which roughly means, ‘very tasty.’ Only one snack I tried later didn’t appeal to me much, crispy-fried rice paddy eel…

The mall was really quite gorgeous and could easily hold its own in comparison with a large mall anywhere in the world. What surprised me was how American it really was. Two of my biggest surprises were finding a very large and well-stocked Ace Hardware store, and an A & W restaurant, in the mall. I half-expected to find a Pizza Hut, and maybe even a Wal-Mart, but the hardware store and the A & W were really over the top.

It was a hot afternoon and I was feeling a bit worn out when I spied the A & W. ‘Yudhie! There’s an A & W! Let’s go and get some root beer!’ I said when I saw it. ‘Have you ever had root beer?’ ‘Root what? What’s that?’ he replied, and I just said, ‘You’ve got to try some! It isn’t really beer, and it’s enak sekali (yum!), really.’

The Wal-Mart here in Indonesia is called, by the way, Hypermart, and it is every bit as magnificent as the stores in the States, except better. I found the same to be true of other stores and restaurants transplanted here from the States. They always seemed better, more interesting, had greater selection, than their American twins.
I’ve always found this to be true, though, wherever I’ve gone outside the States, even to Canada. There is always a greater selection of things, more variety, and usually, but not always, better quality. When Yudhie and I came to the mall on another day and had pizza at Pizza Hut, well, who else has Indonesian hot sauce with pizza? and where else do they ask you if you want cheese on yours?

Hey, is anyone else tired of ‘civilisation’ yet? I know, I am!

Let's go to… Sumatera!