Just got back from Jakarta and it was a fun trip. Spend a few days in Bandung and Lembang and then back in Jakarta. The whole trip was great especially relaxing in the holiday home in Lembang. We had BBQ and lots of local food while in Bandung.
A few new terms I learned in Indonesia:
1. Batago - Baso Tafu Goreng
2. Baso - meal ball
3. Pangsit - wanton
4. Pekedel - croquette or fritters
5. Ikan malas - "Sun Hook" fish
While in Jakarta, visited several major shopping centers, Plaza Indonesia and Plaza EX (Celebrity Gym), and Plaza Semayan. Both are very up market similar to StarHill and Lot10 of KL. Taman Engrek is a huge mall with 8 blocks of condo on it. Plaza Semanggi is one similar to Mid valley and has a FitnessFirst gym there. There are at least 2 more major mall development in Jakarta as far as I can remember, Grand Indonesia and Pacific place.
Enjoy the beautiful scenery pictures in my album. The biggest issue with Jakarta/Indonesia is traffic jam. I suppose the government really need to improve the public transport and infrastructure. Accordingly, they will have a subway or monorail system by 2007. Great place and people.
Opportunities in Jakarta:
1. Infrastructure development
2. Chinese restaurants
3. Importing labour (kitchen and bakery staff) from Indonesia
4. Cool cafes
5. Rice is very important food in Indonesia (and other part of SE Asia), they ate everything with rice.