I have happily arrived in Jakarta!!!

I was pleasently surprised that there were no problems with my Visa on Arrival. I thought there'd be cause I read that everyone entering Indonesia has to have a ticket out of the country, and I don't have one since I'm leaving the country by ferry from Tanjung Balai Asahan and I couldn't track down where to get tickets in advance. Anyways, there were no problem, I just payed 240000 rupiahs (=21 euros) 30 thirty days visa, got stamped and that was that.

As soon as I was out of the airport there were tons of people coming to me for help, trying to get me to jump into their taxis... but I was determined to get a shuttle bus to Gambir station first and then take a taxi (reputable company, like blue bird) over to Jeff's who is my host in Jakarta. So I got into the bus, and after like 10 mins or so I was thrown out to the side of the highway by the busdriver. Apparently he missunderstood when I asked whether the bus was going to Gambir, and only realized it after leaving. So I was left behing, but the driver was kind enough to explain my situation to another guy at the bustop and he waved at me when the right bus arrived and I got on it. It was full but a nice boy called Galileah (or something) offered me his seat. I gotta love Asian people, they've really got manners!

Then I took a taxi over to Jeff's. He lives in the 30th floor of a building that's actually called a tower. Nice wiew from the balcony! Jeff and his girlfiend Rosa are supernice. It's easy to chat with them and feel like home:) They also have a little cat called Kitty, who I'm already in love with, and who is in love with my shoes. And my conditions are pretty luxorious. I have my own room and my own bathroom (which i share with kitty but that's ok:P). I also got my own set of keys so I can come and go as I like.

It's strange how homy I feel being back in Asia. I like the look of Jakarta too, though I haven't seen much yet. It's pretty random: slums next to skyscrapers next to mosques. The air is heavy, the traffic is crazy. There are cars, scooters, motortaxis, buses and pedestrians altogether in a huge jam. Jeff told me if i ever wanna cross a street here I should just close my eyes and go:D

I'll try that tomorrow.