Fred went a wandering.

Indonesia has taxis but they vary a lot.

The first is Blue bird - They also have silver bird and big bird.



I've had a couple of duff drivers but the vast majority were pretty good. No messing around on the road, no mobile phone calls while at the wheel and always polite.
If you want an airport run, use these guys. They sort out any cock ups for missed flights or whatever if it's their fault you missed it.
They even have an Android app so you can book hassle free.
The most expensive but they're worth it.

Another big one is Express.



I use them a lot off the street and have never had any problems. I must find out their booking number and give them a try.
As with Blue bird, the cars seem well serviced and no rust buckets.

Next one I use off the street are Taxiku.



Again, well serviced but I've had a couple of slightly mad drivers and had to tell them to slow down.
I've booked them a couple of times and they've failed to turn up so I only use  them if I see them on the street when I want a taxi.

I'm sure there are a few more reasonable ones but you have to be careful as many are not a lot short of rip of merchants, out to get anything they can from you.
Many refuse to use the meter and/or the car and driver are rubbish.
I never use anything that looks rough.

England has potatoes; for Indonesia, rice.
Everyone eats the stuff so most food shops sell it.
Some shops only sell rice.

Before the rice can get to the shop, someone has to grow it.





People aren't the only ones interested in rice so the birds have to be scared away.
This mess of flags and whatever is all strung together so if you pull one wire, you move everything.



That means someone has to pull the wire.

Field aren't always used to grow things.
Manchester united is as well known here as it is in Manchester. Every kid wants to be the top scorer at Old Trafford. Of course few few will ever see the ground, Manchester or England but that doesn't stop them dreaming.

They may have slightly better luck if they didn't have to share the pitch with cows.

A man sewing whatever for a living.



from his bicycle.



The roads can be dangerous places so better to ride on the pavement.



This badly loaded truck has lost a wheel - A pretty common sight as the servicing if non existent a lot of the time.



best get under it and try to fix the thing.

My Indonesian is getting much better now so I could understand most of the comment the men were making about the ladies while said ladies were out of earshot.
Most involved a bed so that would suggest the advertisers picked the right media to get their message over.

This particular thread is so fascinating of mas fred capturing alot of the daily life in Indonesia. Although some of it is quite amusing, at the same time, its sad to see what actually goes on there too.

I read this particular forum like a newspaper - one that gives you the daily news and the truth.   Unlike some newspapers that just make up stories and garbage for the hell of it! One or two newspapers from UK spring to mind.. 

Thanks for the pics mas fred -

Only one or two papers in the UK?

They have to sell advertising so need as many readers as possible.
This doesn't sell anything so I can just show what I see without slant or making anything up.

Now for the killer.
This runs on a couple of other forums and has been so popular, I'm trying to sell versions of it to newspapers/mags in the UK.

Indonesia is a tropical country so tropical trees are pretty common.
Even on motorbikes.

People sell anything and everything from anywhere they can.
These guys selling plastic products are everywhere.

Builders here are not my cup of tea.
Many build cheap, crappy houses to sell at a very high price and, in this case, rip out perfectly good woodland to do so.
The locals in the previously built estate are very unhappy because the trucks are using their road to get to the new area.
Demo last week but Sulis wouldn't let me stop to take photos.
They blocked the road with a height barrier now but the new access bridge is still there.

My favourite thing (apart from sheep sex) is food and I hardly ever mention it here.
I had a western style dish because I was feeling all "white" that day but Sulis had goat ribs in sambal (chili) with rice.



Imagine the tender meat falling off the bones and melting in your mouth.

Poverty often means kids have to work.
This kids sell traditional pottery. It's still in common use out here.
Ruddy heavy to carry - You should have seen them straining as they walked.



Then they sit at the side of the road, waiting for customers.

My favourite thing (apart from sheep sex) is food and I hardly ever mention it here.

The food dish looks tempting though!

hahhaa... i like this particular forum and what different story it tells everyday

Poverty often means kids have to work.
This kids sell traditional pottery. It's still in common use out here.
Ruddy heavy to carry - You should have seen them straining as they walked.

Its a shame kids have to do this kind of stuff just to survive there. For them they dont really have any choice and i feel sorry for them

If its one thing i'd like to see go in this world, is poverty!!

jazzy851 wrote:

If its one thing i'd like to see go in this world, is poverty!!

These kids are luckier than many.
Some end up being enslaved and forced to work as beggars.
I'm trying to upload a video but my connection is very slow.

Then they sit at the side of the road, waiting for customers.

I sure hope they did get alot of customers as their reward.

I'm trying to upload a video but my connection is very slow.

I know what you mean, its not much different here in Bahrain. I think it enjoys the weekend rest like the rest of us or runs at snails pace

Back to those beggars.

The women and the bloke are 'slave masters' to the kids who are forced to beg at traffic lights with those badly written signs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVI43Ihh … e=youtu.be

I enjoy so much your pictures, mas fred. It's so real. I follow the thread. It makes me missing the country ! Thank you.

hay fred hows the other bridge doin.....is the hole any bigger yet

indobe wrote:

I enjoy so much your pictures, mas fred. It's so real. I follow the thread. It makes me missing the country ! Thank you.

Thank you.

haggishunter wrote:

hay fred hows the other bridge doin.....is the hole any bigger yet

I haven't been past it this week but it's on the way to my favourite barber's shop and I need a hair cut so I don't start looking like a hippie.

hay fred hows the other bridge doin.....is the hole any bigger yet

Lets hope its fixed now...
Then again it may have another metal sheet across it hiding the real danger?

Street kids are visible in Indonesia but only if you care about looking.
These are having a kip outside a small shop in Tangerang.

I've been a bit on the busy side because mum has come to visit.
Went to a shopping centre this afternoon and flagged down an Express cab to get home.
He went on a rare old run around in order to get the meter up to a better fare but went strange colours when I showed him my sat nav.

He knew he'd been rumbled and made a load of excuses but, upon my lack of give, he took a chunk off the fare.

Watch out for cab drivers - Most are fine but there's always one cheat out to make a fast buck.

Street kids are visible in Indonesia but only if you care about looking.
These are having a kip outside a small shop in Tangerang.

How bad is the street kids situation out there? You cant help feel sorry for these youngsters. These street kids look very young. whats their future there?
I'm guessing they have to earn their daily bread to survive as there's no other sources of help?

jazzy851 wrote:

Street kids are visible in Indonesia but only if you care about looking.
These are having a kip outside a small shop in Tangerang.

How bad is the street kids situation out there? You cant help feel sorry for these youngsters. These street kids look very young. whats their future there?
I'm guessing they have to earn their daily bread to survive as there's no other sources of help?

Pretty bad.
Most people only see them when they're on the streets but I try to get behind the scenes in order to see what's really going on.
That's how I discovered the gang of very unpleasant 'ladies' in Purwokerto, hiring kids to beg at traffic lights.
I'd noticed women often had different kids so made a point of finding their morning meeting point.
That turned out to be a posh cafe just outside the centre.

Not all the kids are enslaved; some are independent.
Wonosobo had a bunch of such kids who used to beg on the steps of the local Rita supermarket.
A friend, who also happens to be a cop, informed me they get taken to a kids home from time to time but can't cope so they run away and back to the steps.

Thank u Mas Fred for sharing what you see, what we all see!!! Nice to go through it all...

Thank you Fred for sharing these pictures, it is an eye opener to people who don't know or have seen these real things in everyday life here in Indonesia.

A man cleaning windows is pretty much unremarkable.



Spot him in this.



Next to the hotel is The jungle. A water park with loads of stuff.
The street sellers know this.



Bogor has an attraction called, "Taman safari".
It's a very nice safari park that I'll be posting photos of later. On the way there are loads of stands selling carrots.

Note.
The Aston hotel in Bogor is great.
Wonderful food, fantastic staff and very, very nice rooms.

Cigarette companies put a lot into selling their stuff.
We've seen the SPG (sales promotion girls), now unusual trikes to catch customer's attention.
These are specially imported from Japan.

In the past, I've posted pictures of poor people collecting plastics.
Don't get the wrong idea, this is big business but the bottom level, the street collectors, won't see much of the cash.
The middle level, the place the collectors sell their stuff, will see more.





Coloured bottles



and brown

One thing common to many houses here is high ceilings.
That means you need two tools.
The first is a stick thingy to put light bulbs in with.
Then there's the problem of dust.

Sate (pro. satay) is very popular out here.
It consists of bit of meat on sticks served with a peanut sauce.
Quality varies wildly as does cleanliness.





Making the sauce



Finally, the meat will be cooked on a little BBQ like this one. These guys are using coconut husk as fuel.

An unimpressive pile of rocks



But it's going to get more interesting.

Oh no - The bridge - Motorbikes are still using it and look at the state of it now!



So are trucks!!!



The pile of rocks are a safety feature so the workers are all safe from the nasty traffic.

Coconuts



Chopping coconuts



fine chopping coconuts and weeding out the bad



That's what you get



The inside is used to make duck food.



The best quality stuff is used to make coconut oil



The rest is used for fuel (remember the satay a few posts ago?).
They export to Korea.

You see photos of women carrying stuff on their heads in films about Africa.
We have them here too.



Kids all over the world love a bicycle



They're probably on their way to buy an ice cream



This guy is fishing.
Pretty common to see people catching fish out here but it's the first the I've seen it done this way.
Note the backpack.
That has a motorcycle battery in it he uses to power a home made tazer.

He electrocutes the fish so they're really easy to catch.

A monkey



with a simple musical thingy



begging



I have no idea who was in the suit but the eyes said they were very old as did the slow, painful walk.

They've finally closed the road to that duff bridge.



With the state of it, I'm not as shocked as the fish in the post above.



but bikes are still using it

No motorbikes now. The bridge is finally closed.
Except for people walking over



All the work is being done by hand



It's pretty much stripped now.



and preparing to rebuild