Sunday, 12 November 2006 at 3:31pm.
On Friday night, I went with friends to Fatahillah Square in Kota Lama (Old City), West Jakarta. We went to see the opening show of the Jakarta International Puppetry Festival (JIPF). The show was held outdoors in front of a museum and close to Cafe Batavia (the latter by the way had a nice atmosphere, but was much too pricey). Slamet Gundono and the Komunitas Suket performers presented “Wayang Air” (Water Play). It was “a modern interpretation of puppetry” - think “performance or experimental art” with people, not traditional puppets. According to today’s Jakarta Post, “Slamet chose the medium of water for his human puppet theater to shed light on the water crisis looming in his hometown of Solo, Central Java.” I guess I found this a bit confusing since the performance used a lot of water, which may be considered wasteful. I’m not sure if I didn’t “get it” or if it was the lack of music in long parts or the uncomfortable vibe in seeing certain “sexualized” artsy scenes and being surrounded at the same time by men standing in the audience who kept staring at me (probably a combination of all three!), but the show wasn’t really my cup of tea. For more information about the JIPF, though, go to http://www.jakartapuppetfest.com.
Yesterday, there was the unfortunate news of a bomb blast at the A&W fast-food restaurant in Plaza Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. The alleged bomber, 36-year-old Muhammad Nuh, is being treated for injuries at the National Police’s Soekanto Hospital. No one else has been reported as wounded. The Jakarta Post said today that past bomb blasts in Jakarta included “the Philippines Embassy bombing in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in 2000″ and “explosions occurred in subsequent years at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building on Jl. Sudirman, Atrium Senen shopping mall in Senen, Central Jakarta, and the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuningan, South Jakarta. A massive explosion killing 11 Indonesians and injuring several others took place in front of the Australian Embassy in Kuningan, South Jakarta, in September 2004.” Let us hope that yesterday’s bomb is not the beginning of a series. Sigh…
Folks are gearing up for U.S. President Bush’s upcoming visit, which I believe is set for November 20th in the city of Bogor (not too far from Jakarta). I have heard that a helicopter pad is being built in the Bogor Botanical Gardens in preparation for Bush’s arrival. There have been some relatively small protests, as well as public debates, about his trip to Indonesia, as I’m sure you can imagine.
In much less serious news, a friend and I discovered Ya Udah, a lovely not-too-expensive restaurant on Jalan Jaksa no. 49 in Central Jakarta. I had a big plate of spaghetti there along with apple pie and ice cream for dessert. The chocolate mousse gets an A+. The waitstaff were polite and efficient. The menu is long and varied, too. If you’re craving sandwiches, sausages, or breads, try Ya Udah. Oh and the little bathrooms were clean! We highly recommend that travellers and those living here check it out. 
