TIJ

"The six of you are all the same. All upper-middle class, all opinionated, very well-read, very opinionated, and very cute"

well, that's really not something I'm going to dispute since it's all complimentary.

"TIJ. You're at a shoot at 9 and everything is supposed to be set up, but TIJ."

My interpretation is rather different.

A jazz band singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Amigos Para Siempre' in a the foodcourt of a rather run down shopping mall. The guitar is a cool old man who rocks a mean solo. TIJ

A indie music joint in Blok M. The stage is a partially open-air island, the walls are draped in black fabric. Brilliant drinks for RM4 (blueberry, yoghurt, and guava love). Cigarette smoke and rain. The only people there when we enter is an old rasta dude and a younger rasta dude. The show started an hour late. TIJ.

In the old city, Batavia, kota tua. We get snuck into the former governor's house after closing hours (closing time is 4pm. TIJ) and our guide is an advocate for the restoration and promotion of the old city. On the ground floor of the governor's house there are 1 m high prison cells. There is also a shallow well which is caged up top. They used to put the worst offenders in there to die. The water only comes up to waist-level but it is leech-infested. The cannon on the grouns has a fist with the thumb inserted between the index and middle fingers as the pommel. This is equivalent to the present-day middle finger. They had a sense of humour back then too. TIJ.

Cafe Batavia in the old city is a throwback to colonial times. Fans turn slowly on the upper floor. Framed phtos of 1920s icons and advertisements line the walls. The clientele is mostly white, in their khaki pants and polo shirts and tourist cameras. TIJ.

I eat my toast spread with unsalted french butter and a smear of seville orage marmalade facing a burqa. The fabric is printed with the emblems of various Indonesian agencies and government institutions. It is suspended from the ceiling, the eye holes facing me. Birdsong accompanies breakfast. TIJ

On a Thursday afternoon in the office. In a single hour, the electricity got cut every 10-15 minutes. The airconditioning is shot for the day. Earlier in the day we came in to find the kitchen flooded. Overnight the kitchen faucet had shot through the cardboard ceiling and left water spewing everywhere. TIJ.

I do my clueless Chinese girl act in a bookstore. Tasked with finding a typical Indonesia-Chinese, I wind up talking to a MP who was on the special committee for the case I'm interested in. TIJ.

This is Jakarta