Welcome forward!

My first day in Jakarta but I already have a long to-do list. My Jakarta nature, I want to squeeze all in a day. Bad traffic is the main reason. I want to maximize my trip. I think this is how many Jakartans think. I was still in traffic when Cathy, my account manager, called. She wanted to steal time to do house call near her office while waiting for me. Aah… No way. I know I won't be long in traffic so don’t want to waste time waiting for her later. Also I had made the appointment two days ago. Don’t squeeze me please…

I talked with Cathy for an hour. Been almost two years not seeing each other, we spent the first twenty minutes to catch up. She looked more mature and I looked like a girl, she said. Ya, I was in jeans and school-girl shoes. We also talked about life in general. Like Ana, Universe had sent her to me. We laughed about our similar views. Nice meeting her. The rest forty minutes I learned about equity, mutual fund, fixed income, spread,… She is so nice spending time with me explaining each bank product with patience.

When I finished with Cathy, I had some an hour and half before lunch with Pien and Rad. It’s good I remembered to take my old laptop to RP, the IT mall, to be fixed. I also walked around the mall to check other computer shops to compare laptops. It’s true about the need to compare more options before making a decision to buy, especially when much money is involved. I decided on Vaio because I badly needed laptop two weeks ago. It works okay actually but I have a few major complaints: the space-bar, the weight, and the size of the adaptor. I thought I would be fine. People are right about weight and… size matter.

Since BA Museum meeting, which I thought was today, is next week so I had more time for lunch. Pien and Rad are my good friends and they had communicated thru text messages for Bali trip a few weeks ago (that Pien could not go in the end) but never met before. It was a hilarious lunch. I know that all my friends can mingle because they must have something in common – art, photography, business. Another link connects.

I am now waiting for Vic to show up in PS. We planned to visit Benny in his batik stall in a fair. With 3-in-1 traffic regulation, it seems that we have to alter the plan a bit. I have no choice but to wait here because my color stylist is off otherwise I had combined the waiting. Time now is 15:21.

I ended the day in PS. Vic was late and Benny ended the day at 17:00. We had early dinner while catching up. My Jakarta rhythm is back. Driving (which I love very much) and meeting people (read: friends). Not bad for the first day.

Photo of a silver frog I bought in Pasar Ubud.