Mass Transportation...

Hmmm, a quite busy week... another one like this I'll be dead.

Now, the theme du jour is transportation.

I am one of those few who don't drive in Jakarta. One main reason, I don't have a car nor a motorcycle not even a bycycle. Sad but true. I am not complaining, though, since my condition allows me to be creative. For example, I'm at my office and I have a rendez-vous at Plaza Senayan in 30 minutes and it's 6 PM, so traffic would be awful and even if I had a car, I wouldn't be able to make it in time. Pop quiz, hot shot... what would you do?

Simple. Take an ojek to a Transjakarta shelter and take the so-called Busway to Ratu Plaza and walk through the mall. 20 minutes. Tops.

You have to go to Pondok Indah from Pancoran at 8 PM and you promise to be there in an hour. Take a bus to Blok M and then take the Metro Mini from there. 45 minutes.

Of course there are many variables in the equations and sometimes you are faced to some obstacles like the rain, unexpected traffic jam and many others things that'll make you wish you had that Kamehameha thing from Dragon Ball and blow away anything in front of you. Or a knife to slice your own wrist. Depends on your hardcoreness.

But I kinda like taking those public transportations. It allows me to see something different from my usual daily boring life. Just call it another perspective. It's quite refreshing somehow. It put you back on the ground, it shows you the real Jakarta and yes, sometimes you could buy some cheap strange things like for example ginger candies, funky pens *with lights s'il vous plait* and gazillions extraterrestrial devices.

Here are my favourite means of transportation.

Ojek: A wild ride on motorcycle between the traffic jam in Jakarta while you pray silently as the chauffeur zigzags avoiding anything, including that big ass dump truck, that BMW and that nasi goreng vendor. Fastest way to go anywhere but definitely the most dangerous as well. Make sure you don't mention it when you're filling that insurance policy.

Kopaja, Metro Mini and other medium sized buses: you'll be surprised on how precise the driver maneuver his vehicle. You'll think a thing that big couldn't go fast. Wrong. It is surprisingly fast *sometimes you wonder if the brake works* and yeah, Makkinen could learn a thing or two on driving fast and uhmmm... carelessly?

Busway: A quite comfortable and cheap transport. It's clean, it doesn't pass through any traffic jam as it has its own lane, but there aren't many of them. Thus, you'll be crushed like sardines in busy hours and I think they should put a panel that says "Deodorant Required". Good thing I am quite tall. But that little lady? She had to stop breathing for about a few stops until the man next to her exits the bus. And a purple-face lady is not that funny in real life.

Taxis: I only take it when everything above aren't operational. Like after midnight or sometimes when I have a very important rendezvous where I don't want to appear messy. It's expensive, but the good thing is that you could talk during the trip with the driver. Usually they are talkative and I just love to hear their stories, especially some X rated stories, because they do pick uhmmm... shady ladies.

I guess it's my list from now... maybe you could tell me which public transportation that you like.

Well, I see you around then... until then, go tell someone that you love him/her...

Cheers.