Sinking in the Swamp, Drinking in a Bar
04 April 2011
You all know the titles of these blogs are just my way of amusing myself, right?
***
So this weekend I made a last minute decision to go with Nicole to Jakarta to visit our Obie friends Lindsay and Eric. We always have these grand plans of going clubbing when we get there, and this time we had a goal of epic proportions: STADIUM. Stadium is a nightclub in Jakarta that is apparently open for 4 straight days. As in you could enter after work on Thursday and literally not emerge until the following week. I've heard all kinds of insane (and illegal) things go on in this 5-story pulsating behemoth of a party, and one person even told us it's "not possible" to experience Stadium unless you are on drugs. The Lonely Planet forum on Stadium is hilarious, with gems like this:
Stadium was my 2nd home for about a year. Then I came to the realisation I needed to maintain my severely diminished seratonin levels. So I don't venture out kota way as often now.
We were willing to take the risk of not fully experiencing Stadium and mostly just wanted to see the mythic black hole of dance to make sure that it's for real.
But when Saturday night rolled around, what actually ended up happening was this:
Or a version of that. The above pic is actually from the time we were exiled to Jakarta because our local volcano was exploding. This weekend we just played Settlers of Catan all weekend, which is a significantly more nerdy game than SET that revolves around 'resource acquisition'. I have to say that we probably had more fun that we would have at Stadium. And the mystery remains... one of these days, I WILL go.
Other funny thing that happened in Jakarta: Amazingly, my cab from the airport had a customer complaint and suggestion sheet laying on the backseat which was translated into "English" for my convenience. This is what it looked like:
Why wasn't "kidnapped" on the list? "Threatened at gunpoint"? I mean, if blackmail makes the cut why not just go all the way. I also noticed that my most common complaint wasn't listed: "Proposed marriage by driver". Or even more common: "Took 3 hours to drive 5 kilometers." All though that one is not really the cabbie's fault I suppose.
Jakarta must be the only city in the world that has complete stand-still traffic going in AND out of the city. Traffic experts predict that the city will be completely gridlocked by 2014 and there are constant rumors that the government of Indonesia is going to move to Borneo. The real question is, will Stadium move to Borneo too?? And will people go all the way across the country for an epic clubbing experience? I better get there before the whole city disappears... if only there weren't so much damn traffic.
***
So this weekend I made a last minute decision to go with Nicole to Jakarta to visit our Obie friends Lindsay and Eric. We always have these grand plans of going clubbing when we get there, and this time we had a goal of epic proportions: STADIUM. Stadium is a nightclub in Jakarta that is apparently open for 4 straight days. As in you could enter after work on Thursday and literally not emerge until the following week. I've heard all kinds of insane (and illegal) things go on in this 5-story pulsating behemoth of a party, and one person even told us it's "not possible" to experience Stadium unless you are on drugs. The Lonely Planet forum on Stadium is hilarious, with gems like this:
Stadium was my 2nd home for about a year. Then I came to the realisation I needed to maintain my severely diminished seratonin levels. So I don't venture out kota way as often now.
We were willing to take the risk of not fully experiencing Stadium and mostly just wanted to see the mythic black hole of dance to make sure that it's for real.
But when Saturday night rolled around, what actually ended up happening was this:
Or a version of that. The above pic is actually from the time we were exiled to Jakarta because our local volcano was exploding. This weekend we just played Settlers of Catan all weekend, which is a significantly more nerdy game than SET that revolves around 'resource acquisition'. I have to say that we probably had more fun that we would have at Stadium. And the mystery remains... one of these days, I WILL go.
Other funny thing that happened in Jakarta: Amazingly, my cab from the airport had a customer complaint and suggestion sheet laying on the backseat which was translated into "English" for my convenience. This is what it looked like:
Why wasn't "kidnapped" on the list? "Threatened at gunpoint"? I mean, if blackmail makes the cut why not just go all the way. I also noticed that my most common complaint wasn't listed: "Proposed marriage by driver". Or even more common: "Took 3 hours to drive 5 kilometers." All though that one is not really the cabbie's fault I suppose.
Jakarta must be the only city in the world that has complete stand-still traffic going in AND out of the city. Traffic experts predict that the city will be completely gridlocked by 2014 and there are constant rumors that the government of Indonesia is going to move to Borneo. The real question is, will Stadium move to Borneo too?? And will people go all the way across the country for an epic clubbing experience? I better get there before the whole city disappears... if only there weren't so much damn traffic.
5 comments:
you're so cheeky.
what is "drive in lost" anyway??
and why is the phrase for it "Berputar-putar"??? hahaha.
I love absolutely everything about that list. Like, that you are a COSTUMER (I hope you put the cabbie in an awesome costume); IMPOLITE manner (I guess the reason marriage proposal - I've gotten that in New York by the way - is not on the list is that it is actually a POLITE maneuver); Left Properties (? decided to fill out this form, check this box, and THEN leave my stuff?)... I also love that the meter rate is not "incorrect" but rather "inappropriate."
hahahaha. I LOVE THIS, I hope you kept the original document so you can frame it and display it on your wall next year... :)
Hahaha...'Proposed marriage by driver' should definitely be on the list! And also 'Driving backwards on a crowded one-way street' and maybe also 'Driver only pretended to know where destination was'.
SET! You can see it in the picture: all solids and doubles. Yes, I am a huge dork.
Settlers of Catan?! Brittany, have we learned nothing!!! I need to find out what Stadium is like and I'm not past coming back to Indonesia to do it...but not before I take you and Nicole down with me!
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