The more time I spend in Jakarta the more I discover that there is to love about this unique city.

Note: This optimistic outlook could potentially be driven by the fact that I just returned from a swim in the pool at my new Mansion of a Kos... my commendations might not be so positive after a 3-hour delay in Jakarta's peak traffic!

John Howard's Mate:

Last weekend my awesome, youthful (hope you're reading this mum) and supportive parents flew over to Jakarta from their vacation in Bali for a 24-hour visit. Jakarta is the business capital of Indonesia and not exactly known for being a major tourist area. Because of this I was at short ends trying to find tourist attractions to show them. While taking the stock-standard photo in front of Jakarta's National Monument (big statue that looks like a match stick) we discovered one of Indonesia's hidden gems. During our photo shoot, a weathered old Indonesian man in a security uniform struck up a conversation with us. After instantly bonding over our mutual knowledge of the existence of John Howard, the numero-uno-head-honcho security guard at the Jakarta National Monument offered to take my parents and I on a tour of the Mosque, Mesjid Istiqlal. We previously had no intention of visiting the Mosque but weren't going to say no to our new friend so we went along for a look...aren't we glad that we did! Mesjid Istiqlal is the second largest Mosque in the world (the largest in Mecca) and houses the world's largest drum. The main prayer area has 5 levels of balcony and the most extravagant dome roof I have ever seen, embellished with rose gold detail. We were there during prayer time and witnessed what was one of the most perfectly uniform and choreographed assemblies of people that I have ever seen... they put the Ohio State band to shame!

Coffee with the Ambassador:

Next door to the castle (my new Kos) is an urban style coffee shop that was inspired but cafes that the owner had visited in Melbourne. Yesterday morning I sat in this cafe drinking coffee alongside the Austrian Ambassador and a delegate from Brunei. It is moments like this that I thank the Lord that I selected Politics as my contextual major at University so that I had the basics down-pat for a conversation involving world politics, aboriginal displacement and multicultural integration around the world (who knew that I could bluff my way through so many topics!). There is no other country in the world that I would have the opportunity to sit and converse with such a breadth of International Relations knowledge and experience.

Half Price Cocktails:

On Thursday night I went to the bar "Face Bar", a low-key bar where ex-pats and buleh (white folk) tend to congregate for drinks and complimentary bowls of popcorn. I figured that this bar was worth a mention because it has some of the best cocktails I have ever tried (think Chocolate-mint martinis and banana pinna coladas) for only AU$4.50!!!

Disposable Underwear:

Another thing that I thought was worth a quick mention is the perfect lazy traveller item that I found in the local Hypermart, bulk packs of disposable underwear! I haven't yet been tempted to stoop so low as to adopt this next level of lingerie comercialisation, but hand washing all of my clothing is becoming quite tedious and I'm running low on sox & jox so I can certainly appreciate the genius and convenience of this product!