Negotiating Jakarta

19.10.11

Today turned out to be quite a lot more stressful than we anticpated!

We decided to brave the bus system today as we needed to go to the train station

to buy a ticket for tomorrow. William had said the bus shelter was very close,

across the road. So we made our way to the main road hoping to see the

shelters. We saw a footbridge over the road so we headed for that. There

were buses pulling up at both side of the road at the foot of the bridge.

But it was impossible to tell where they were going and there was no shelter

to pay like William had described, so we decided this wasn't the correct

system!

Determined not to give up, we went back to our apartment block, which in itself

was trecherous-trying to cross the roads. From there we called William for

clearer directions. This time we walked towards the mall and around the

side of the main entrance was another footbridge. This time when you crossed

over the slip road and went down the steps you got to a small shelter

with a ticket booth and clearly marked signs labelling the routes. A route map

looks similar to a underground map and the buses go up and down the routes,

in specially designated lanes, continuosly. You pay for a single journey

on entering the shelters and can change bus routes within the shelters without

paying again. It was still slightly confusing, even with a map, as it wasn't

always clear what direction on the route the buses were going and sometimes it was

difficult to tell which stop we were at. It was also a bit scary trying to get

on the bus at times as the shelters are a good few feet off the ground, the gaps between

buses can be a couple of feet and then you have crowds of people shoving

to get on the bus!

Anyway, after changing twice and feeling quite smug we got to the station. We

found the correct ticket counter and the lady spoke good English. This was all

looking pretty straight forward! Until we realised we'd only bought my wallet

with us, with half our money and 1 bankcard. We didn't have enough cash

to pay for the ticket so we had to find an atm. No problem! So off we

trundled to the atm only to find my card was rejected. Panic began to set in

as we realised we couldn't buy a ticket and get back to our hotel. So

we either had to go all the way back to our hotel and then back again or

phone the bank and get it sorted.

So luckily we did have a sim card and credit so I called Barclays. Before the call

had started I was panicked because I knew I did not know my telephone banking

code and did not have any information with me. Got through to 'Personal

Banker 1' and got through the first few security questions okay and then he started

to get progressively ruder, talking down to me , being really abrupt.

I asked him not to speak to me and that way and explained for the 2nd time the

situation I was in and that I was already quite stressed. The next question

I didn't quite catch because of the line and he shouted at me...at which point

I burst in to tears! Brilliant! In my head this is not the person I am!

In my head this situation doeesn't phase me, it's not a desperate situation.

Anyway..apparently I am a big pansy so I just cried!

Martin took the phone off me and demanded he speak to his manager, who he told

how cross he was for having staff that made pathetic girls like me cry!

I then pulled myself together and answered the same questions again to get through

security and he was just putting the call through to the fraud department

when.....the phone ran out of credit! Great.

So we bought some more credit with the little money we had left and I tried again!

This time I was even more flustered and didn't get through the security questions

with 'Personal Banker 3', but I begged him and was about to start crying again

when he put me through to the fraud department. Luckily i got through security

questions and she agreed to reinstate my card (lucky me being to access my own

money!). So £15 quid or a days budget later we managed to buy a train ticket

to Yogykarta or Jogja.

After that we had some lunch at the station and then decided we would head back

to the hotel. We did consider trying to navigate around Jakarta on foot as we

were now more central, but I think Martin worried that the smallest mishap

now might push me over the edge!

When we returned to the apartment we went for a relaxing swim and then got ready

to go for dinner. We didn't go to the cinema in the end because the times

were different from the night before and we missed the film we had planned to see.

So I let Martin loose on the chocolate aisle of Carrefour instead!