After Jokowi's visit

This saturday I had an appointement down town and decided to use the opportunity to finally visit one of Jakarta's most famous landmarks, the Monas (Monumen Nasional). What I wasn't aware of was that President Jokowi had had the same idea which is why the place was packed with people wearing mainly red and white clothes in honor of the Indonesian flag. It was an interesting sight but also very depressing as people were apparently given free cardboard boxes of neatly packed food and water - all wrapped in layers and layers of plastic. What was left was plastic garbage everywhere! People just left it where they had had a picknick... It took me over an hour to finally find a grab car to take me back to BSD as - of course - everybody was leaving at the same time, but it was worth the trouble. A very Indonesian experiences with lots of national pride, singing and red balloons.Read more