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I spent a month in Jakarta earlier this year and wasn't impressed. Traffic was terrible. I almost missed my flight due to taking a bike over a car, but then it
by itake 11mo ago
I spent a month in Jakarta earlier this year and wasn't impressed.
Traffic was terrible. I almost missed my flight due to taking a bike over a car, but then it started pouring rain and I had to huddle under a bridge while I waited for a car.
Jakarta has a noise problem. The temples blasting the prayers is disruptive to sleep and inner peace. The traffic does not make anything either.
Also, Indonesian food IMHO is at the bottom of SEA food culture. MY has wayyy better food (both in quality and diversity).
- darkwater 11mo ago> Also, Indonesian food IMHO is at the bottom of SEA food culture. MY has wayyy better food (both in quality and diversity). Agreed! Malaysia is really underrated, or at least it was by me. Now it's one of my favorite spots in the world, food is great (not as Thai's but comes close), wonderful sea, wonderful jungle, Kuala Lumpur is becoming a really nice city and CoL is value for money.
- itake 11mo agoThe teh tarik tea (served in a glass mug! paper cups don't count) is my favorite drink right now. Also Malaysian Indian food is one of my favorite foods (especially the sweet roti).
- phainopepla2 11mo ago> Indonesian food IMHO is at the bottom of SEA food culture I take it you haven't been to Burma / Myanmar
- itake 11mo agohaha, I have not.
- seattle_spring 11mo ago??? Burmese food is absolutely delicious. Burma Love in SF, Rangoon Bistro or Burma Joy in Portland. They're some of my favorite restaurants.
- phainopepla2 11mo agoBurmese food in the US is very different from the food you encounter in the country itself.
- izolate 11mo agoNot only is Burmese food in Myanmar far better, but even the small, modest restaurants bring out a whole spread of complimentary small dishes (pickles, salads, crunchy snacks, all kinds of delicious little sides) before the main meal. It's just built into the dining culture there, and it's incredibly generous compared to what you see abroad.
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- fuzzythinker 11mo agoNot sure if it's still there, but Burma Super Star is the one I go to and it's good.
- socalgal2 11mo agoThose restaurants had none of the food I ate in Burma
- EB-Barrington 11mo agoNice. I'm an ex-tour guide, and had many jovial discussions with a colleague who toured Myanmar and LOVED the food - he knew I thought it was pretty average, at best. Of course, that crazy guy didn't really like Thai food...
- CitrusFruits 11mo agoHaving been to both Indonesia and Myanmar, I can say confidently Burmese food is much better. The one exception is the dessert Martabak you can get in Java is to die for.
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- petesergeant 11mo agoLived in SE Asia for well over 15 years, and Burmese food is great.
- nrhrjrjrjtntbt 11mo agoRain, noise, traffic... welcome to SEA
- CamperBob2 11mo agoThe regional abbreviation, or the airport code? .... what? Either works?
- mandolingual 11mo agoSeattle's not really known for noise. The opposite, if anything. Rain (caveat it's not the rain it's the dark and it's mostly mizzle blah blah blah) and traffic though, sure.
- paxys 11mo agoMan if you think Seattle has too much noise and traffic you should stay away from basically every other mid-large sized city anywhere in the world.
- Nition 11mo agoI presume they mean South East Asia.
- askvictor 11mo agoBangkok doesn't have nearly the noise issues of Jakarta; the traffic proceeds without every vehicle beeping most of the time in Bangkok. Also no prayer calls.
- Affric 11mo agoPutting Indonesian below Filipino food is quite something.
- CuriouslyC 11mo agoI'll see anything you get in Indonesia, and raise you Balut... Or Betamax... or Helmet. Their national dish was designed to hide the aroma of rotten meat, FFS.
- itake 11mo agoTrue. I forgot about Filipino food. Filipino bbq pig was good tho
- kabes 11mo agoMade me remember again how disappointed I was (food-wise) that time I went backpacking in the Philippines after backpacking in Thailand. Most days we had to choose between dry rice with tasteless fried chicken, or tasteless fried chicken with dry rice.
- throwaway2037 11mo ago> Jakarta has a noise problem. I offer a practical template: <Large city in developing country X> has a noise problem. When you say "temples", do you mean masjid (mosque)? It is pretty normal anywhere in the Islamic-majority world to sing prayers over a loud speaker a few times a day.
- satvikpendem 11mo agoThis is an appeal to normality fallacy, just because something is normal doesn't mean it's good, or in this case that it doesn't disrupt sleep.
- itake 11mo agoU.S. cities have noise laws. I don’t think Tokyo is considered loud. Yes, temples blasting prayers.
- rester324 11mo agoI can tell you that Tokyo is very loud. Constant road traffic noise everywhere, drunk people singing on the streets, pointless warnings from the local municipal office on the public alert system, noisy street advertisements, constant announcements in train stations, bousouzoku gangs constantly revving their bikes in silent neighborhoods every night, flight traffic noise, railroad noise of the trains passing, level crossing barriers constantly ding-donging, etc
- mc3301 11mo agonoisy street advertisements.. and jingles... shops of all shapes and sizes blaring music...
- pezezin 11mo agoI live in Japan and this is something that I will never get used to. Yes, the people are quiet, but shops are ridiculously loud. Go to any supermarket and there are seven different jingles playing in parallel! Honestly, I don't understand how the employees don't go crazy.
- cholantesh 11mo ago>Also, Indonesian food IMHO is at the bottom of SEA food culture. MY has wayyy better food (both in quality and diversity). I won't speak for the quality but this seems like an extremely dubious statement. Malay cuisine is certainly diverse, owing to settled migrant populations from other parts of Asia, but they don't have the dizzying array of indigenous cuisines on offer in Indonesia, many of which aren't readily available in Java.
- rd07 11mo agoA little tip for your next visit to Jakarta : - Indonesia is a tropical country, and Jakarta is in the vicinity of the sea, so depending on the month of year, it can rain anytime on the day. So, if you are not comfortable with rain, always use a taxi/grab/gocar to go around. - If you are pressed for time, I suggest you use airport train to go to the airport. At least you won't get stuck on traffic. - About the noise problem, I think it won't be a problem if you sleep in a tall building. The last time I go there, I sleep in a relatively good hotel and deliberately choose the higher floor. And the noise doesn't become a problem for me. Hope this help and you can get a nicer experience on your next visit
- csomar 11mo ago> Traffic was terrible. I almost missed my flight due to taking a bike over a car, but then it started pouring rain and I had to huddle under a bridge while I waited for a car. I guess people perceive this very differently. One sees it as an adventure while another one sees it as a hustle. Jakarta is a hustle. Some people like it and make them feel alive. If you don't enjoy it, it'll make you miserable. > Also, Indonesian food IMHO is at the bottom of SEA food culture. I agree. I hate the food but Malay food is similar. What Malaysia has is two other major races (Chinese and Indians) and a strong expat community (ie: Thai, Viet and Japanese) that bring lots of food diversity.