Monday, October 6th, 2003 – Day 230
I had planned to go to the fish market this morning. You need to be there around 5.00am, but I simply could not get up. Yep, the diarrhea was back.
The definition of diarrhea depends on what is normal for you. For some, diarrhea can be as little as one loose stool per day. Others may have three daily bowel movements normally and not be having what they consider diarrhea. So the best description of diarrhea is “an abnormal increase in the frequency and liquidity of your stools.”
Anyway, it did not believe it would be so bad and i caught a bus to the market. Bad, luck, as it just about finished at 7.00am. i did not feel well.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Fish Market (06-10-2003)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Fish Market (06-10-2003)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Fish Market (06-10-2003)
I rushed back to the hotel. i could wait as I rushed upstairs to the toilet. I was there for 20 minutes before I popped an imodium. I stayed in bed until 1.00pm. I did not want to waste the whole day and I felt a small bit better. I had an ice cream and headed to Ratu Plaza which is about 15 minutes by bus. You can buy pirate DVD’s from Malaysia on the 4th floor. The whole floor was full of vendoes even though this is an upmarket mall. There were thousands of titles from classics to brand new releases.
I did not feel good. I could not concentrate on any of the product as I was back and forth to the toilet and had no energy. I had to sit doen every few minutes. I bouught some DVD’s for between 20,000 and 25,000 Ir and headed back. I was back in the hotel for 3.30pm and went to bed. I did not get up until 6.30pm, when I went on the Net for an hour.
I was just checking the best place to buy pirate DVD’s in Asia.
- Vietnam: 19,000 Vietnamese Dong = 1.10239 Euro in Vietnam. They normally come from China.
- Malaysia: 10 Malaysian Ringgit = 2.29278 Euro in Malaysia. By all accounts, they are the best copies. There is a crackdown at the moment. You can get them at Bukit Jambul Shopping mall, Prangin Mall and Komtar in Penang.
- Thaialnd: 200 Thai Baht = 4.37 Euro in Thailand. They come from all over Asia. There is a crack down at the moment.
- Indonesia: 25,000 Indonesian Rupiah = 2.58 Euro. They come from Malaysia.
- China: 8 rmb (.80 Euro), and DVD 9 which are better quality for 25 rmb (2.55 Euro).
In Jakarta, you can buy DVD’s at Central Plaza, (Sudirman), Ambassador Mal on Jl Casablanca, Ratu Plaza (south end of Sudirman) and at many street stalls in Blok M. There are alos lots of places in Chinatown area like Glodok Plaza and Gaja Mada Plaza.
There is a good article in the Guardian today be Michael Moore.
Michael Moore fired his opening salvo against George Bush and his rightwing cronies with his bestseller Stupid White Men. Now the president is in his sights again. In this second extract from his new book he asks his old enemy seven awkward questions
I have eaten nothing today and I was glad to get to bed. The only thing i ate was a ice creama nd a alrge coke with ice from McDoanlds. i swear the ice came out the other end without having time to melt 🙂 I was weak as a sop, so i headed to bed early.
Tuesday, October 7th, 2003 – Day 231
Thunder storms all last night. Very heavy! Lots of thunder and lightning as well. Amazing to watch but hard to sleep as all the roof’s are made of tin in my area. I had a small breakfast of small rice which came the other end just as fast.
An article in USA Today, says Worker blogs raise some company concerns.
There are an estimated 1.2 million blogs, or Web logs Web pages that function as personal publishing forums. But few companies have blog policies, and they run a risk should their employee divulge confidential company information or make statements that compromise it financially or legally.
In Bali, Southeast Asian leaders from 10 nations (including indonesia) signed a landmark accord Tuesday that would pull together their disparate region into a European-style economic community in less than two decades.
Anyway, I had set my alarm at 4.15am to go to the fish market again, but decided when the alarm went off to let my body rest. I am flying to Singapore tomorrow morning and dont want go do sick!
I spend the way traveling between Ratu Plaza and Godok Plaza buying DVD’s. As mentioned those DVD’s imported from Malaysia are more expensice but are better quality. They also ahve far more choice and include hard to find and art house movies that you would normally have to order on-line at home. In godok Plaza the stalls have hundreds of DVD’s, but all of them recent (18 months or so). They do not cater to specialist tastes but to the black market. I have never seen so much activity. Box’s were been made up to send to destinations to the rest of Indonesia and the World. It was a hive of acticity as girls apckaging DVD’s, VCD’s (which are more opular here than DVD’s) and MP3’s. There is a marked price difference. DVD’s were only 10,000 IR (1 Euro) which is a bargain. This included the case which i didn’t need. This is cheap, nasty stuff but you can test each DVD you buy on there systems. Most were fine although new releases are obviously taken from either U.S theatres or from advance copies. Advance Copies usually show the Line on screen every few minutes – YOU ARE WATCHING ETC, COPYRIGHT ETC.
I was offered Jiggy Jiggy (porn) every 2 seconds. they seemed generally surprised taht i did not want the stuf, Shocked nearly. They have alot of Japanese and Asian businness for this stuff.
It was 6.00pm when I headed back to the hotel. Not too much to report other wise. Next post, from Singapore.
So what did I think of Jakarta. I liked it. I liked the wide strrts, the flash hotels, the you can go everywhere bus system, the pirate DVD’s and back alleys copy operations, the good cheap food (except for the bastard that caused my tummy upset) and the gals. i liked juming ona nd off the buses when they still were moving (and I liked them more if they were air-conditioned). I liked ice tea and I liked the bicycle taxi men. What i didn’t like were the guys on the street who constantly asked (hundreds of times) in no order:
- You want to buy JIGGY JIGGY Movie!
- Where you going now?
- What are you looking for?
- Transport, tranport?
i hated the pollution, the smog, been woken up at 4.15am every morning by prayers, bus drivers who over charged, thunder storms.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Various (06-10-2003)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Various (06-10-2003)
)
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Jakarta – Java – Indonesia – Various (06-10-2003)