Saturday, 16 December 2006 @ 9:30pm.

The Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFF) is now in its eighth year and runs from December 8th to the 17th. It is a rare opportunity for Indonesians (and foreigners) to see award-winning domestic and international films at local venues for free or discounted prices. There are more than 200 films from over 35 different countries. One of my friends said that it is not surprising for people to rearrange their work schedules around JIFF so that they can see one or more films per day! I’ve been enjoying myself, but am not yet one of the hardcore filmgoers who sees multiple films daily. People generally line up one hour before a movie starts to obtain a ticket if it is a free movie. For paid movies, most people bought their tickets before the festival began because tickets on the day of showing often run out, but everyone still has to line up early as seats are first come, first serve. Some of my friends have written film reviews for some of the screenings, so check out their work in The Jakarta Post.

So far I have seen:

Serambi - documentary with some probable fiction about the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Aceh (recommended)

An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore warns about global warming (highly recommended)

Falkenberg Farewell - summer misadventures of a group of guy friends in a small Swedish town (I left early, though, as I didn’t like it much unfortunately, but others might like it.)

Black Gold - documentary about injustice from the unfair global coffee industry and the negative impact on coffeegrowers in Ethiopia (recommended)

Sierre Leone’s Refugee All Stars Band - documentary about a group of talented refugee musicians (highly recommended)

In other news… I went to the dentist today. My bottom left wisdom tooth sometimes hurt, so I thought I should get it checked out. I went to the Mintohardjo Hospital (naval hospital open to the public) in Bendungan Hilir, Jakarta. I went early (no appointments), filled out some general forms, waited for my turn, and then was seen by a woman dentist. There were no x-rays, though I saw other patients in the waiting area with them so they are taken if needed. I think I had a cavity. We conversed in Indonesian, and she simplified things for me, but I still didn’t know a couple of words. She cleaned the tooth, applied medicine, and then sealed the “lubang” (hole, cavity). The process probably took 15 minutes and with waiting, the entire visit took an hour or so. I was told to come back if any pain occurred again in the future. I asked about whether or not I needed my wisdom teeth pulled as I know several people who have had that procedure done as they got older, but the dentist said my teeth were fine so there was no need. Whew! Not including transportation to and from the hospital, the dental check-up and capping the cavity cost Rp. 350,000 or about USD $40.00. No wonder “health tourism” is growing in Asia!

I went on a Glodok (Chinatown area) adventure today with my friend, too, but I’ll write about that in the next posting…

For a random factoid break, check out the list of the most popular websites visited by Indonesians at Alexa, a website that monitors site traffic. Click here. Interestingly, Friendster tops Google! Duniasex.com (SexWorld.com) is listed at number 14, Ebay ranks at number 43, and Bali Online is at 89.