Pictures Talking

In the year 2011, when I was one of many bus terminals in Jakarta, I saw many people rush to go to their home town to celebrate Idul Fitri. And along the way, not only people went home by bus but also their motorcycle. Probably to be given to their family back home or to be used during the festive day.

At first nothing happened

Beware WIth PPD P 157

If you are in Jakarta right now and use regular buses please always be careful with your bags, wallet and so on. It has been a while since I used regular bus and a pickpocket succesfully took my wallet without me knowing it...

Don't expect another passenger will help you as they naturally worry they will be the next target. Especially if they are using the bus daily.

Watch it for this bus PPD P 157. If you wish to see the route you may refer to this link. Unfortunately is in bahasa Indonesia.

You may be friendly with other passengers but don't let your guard down. If your bag has zipper make sure the bag never lost your sight. If you are wearing backpack maybe you should put it in front of you. They can use cutter to open your bag and take whatever they can have.

Enjoy Jakarta but always be careful!

Another Reminder

Life, when we think about it is a repetition of same things all over again. It's called routine. Every morning we all race to reach our destination. an office or school. Wake up so early just to find someone else has beat us again. Street full with cars in the wee early of the morning. So, there we are getting stuck with other passengers on public transportation because we woke up late. Other reason, we do get up early but the public transportation didn't arrive on time. So the result is the same. We stuck together with others like baggage inside the warehouse.

Fashionista on the Bus

I am not a fashionable person. Well, everybody knows that...I am sure my friends will scream that to me. I remember exactly every comments that people gave me whenever they saw my appearance during my working years.
"Oh, your office allows you to dress like this?"
"Wow! Your office sounds like fun with their employee looking so casual like this!"
"Hmmm, do you work in a office or actually in a factory?"

I am sure you begins to get curious about my appearance. Okay. I will share it with you.

Separation

Busway management try to avoid sexual harassment cases by separate women passenger from men. All women passenger are being lead to sit and stand at the front area of the bus. While the men should be at the back area.

Is this an effective way? Well we shall see :)

When I was watching the news, almost all Trans Jakarta user responded positively regarding the separation between male and female passenger. But from what I have read on the mailing list of Trans Jakarta; this way is not effective. Male passengers get cramped on the back of the bus while the front area is still empty because there is only few female passengers.

Phewww, it is hard to set up things to avoid anymore sexual harrasment cases. And more over it's even harder to find solution that could please everybody...

Honestly do we need to have separate buses? You know like special bus for women and special bus for men? So, is that mean more bus stop need to be built? And more trees to be cut off to build new bus stops?

I can only imagine those officials in charge will be the first to get scold or angry remarks by the annoyed passengers regarding this new arrangement.

So how to handle this in the nicest way, Trans Jakarta management?

Home Coming

Slowly but sure people starting to get pack and ready to go home to their hometown away from Jakarta. People probably wondering why on earth same thing always happens during these getaway season. Traffic jam all over the place.

How can't be traffic jam? I heard that there are about 6 million of people leaving Jakarta to their home town. If they are going home on the exact same day (for about 2 -3 days before Idul Fitri) then you can imagine how crowded the road must be. No wonder it has been said so many times that we have to know about holiday on other province or even in another country. For example, if we are in Bali on Seclusion Day then we will be so clueless about things to do. As on that day there are no activity in all over Bali. And they make sure of it. Or you go traveling here in Indonesia from one province to another near Idul Fitri celebration. Then I can assure you are going to be stuck for hours due to heavy traffic jam.

Zebra Cross

Well, Zebra Cross is obviously not a mass transportation vehicles. But considering that it located in the public street so let us assume this is an immobile public transportation. Odd? Well, who cares... It's my writing :)

Things that makes me worry

These are the things that I am worried about when I have been inside the crowded public transportation:

Crowded!

Ever wondering why people prefer to risk their safety by standing near the door instead inside the bus?

Being fat, another seats episode

I created this post not because I dislike or hate size plus people. I am myself is a size plus. And there was a time I reached a size which could make others shaking their head feeling sad for me

Engine problem...

What was the most thing that drive you mad whenever you were in a hurry and have-not-so-much money and need to use public transportation? 

For me was when the vehicle suddenly have engine problem and just stop totally…

Oh my God…

How long can we wait?

How much time that we willing to spend for waiting regular buses or busway? 15 minutes? Half an hour? An hour? Or 2 hours? Or perhaps forever?

Waiting is the most annoying thing to do ever. Especially when we are in a hurry to go to our destination but have no extra money to take a cab. That and added to unfriendly weather but then again, what’s the point of getting a cab during rainy day around peak hour? It will be only wasting money because you are going to get stuck on the road anyway. So, yeah…public transportation is the only way.

But, they can take forever during peak hours and it is really testing your patience to wait for the public transportations. The problem is for how long? And how much can we stand to wait? We really have to depend on our feet for a long time. It is even worst when the rain pouring down hard. Even inside the bus stop there will be no picnic either.

My very selfish moment

Well, I am after all just another human being... LOL... Self defense before starting to confess...

I am most obviously know that I should be able to give my seats for pregnant women, parents with so many kids around them, elderly or anyone who needs to sit more than myself.

BUT, there were moments when I absolutely unable or unwilling to give my seats for other passengers....

1. If I was not feeling well
Headache, stomache cramp, tired feet over standing too long... Once I have myself a seat then certainly I would not want to bother about other people's misery. Rather than try to be nice and just give my seat away and then collaps in public place...

2. While I am sleeping
Well, how in the heck I could care less about the other when I was already flying to dreamland?

3. If I was in the mood to read
You can't read book while standing... Hopefully to get seat near the window so I could be more ignorant to other people and finish my book

4. If I was so damn tired
There were times when my body not ready to be pushed around and my hands unable to grip on something so I would not fall. I felt exhausted and could only wish to enjoy my time while sitting at least to refresh myself.

5. When I have too many stuffs
I totally hate it to keep on standing while bring so many plastic babs full of groceries. I could not feel my fingers as they already numb for holding the plastic bags too long. So, when I do get a seat I will not going to give it easily to somebody else

Yeah, I know that when we think about it...other people probably more tired than I am. But there are moments when I just give up and thinking to take care of myself first rather than other's.

(So, I should not be ranting or grumbling when people do not want to give me seat on the bus ... LOL! THEORETICALLY)

Tips from Detik.com

This picture was taken in one of the bus stop for busway. The title is 5 Comfy Tips using Trans Jakarta from Detik 

1. Queuing in orderly. Follow the official's instruction
Yeah, right. I am not so sure people will do this during peak hours. Can't say I promise to do so either... If people already panic because they are late or just simply loves being in the rush..., getting comfy is at the bottom of life's priorities. The most important is to get to the destination sooner and if necessary just push anything or anyone that stands in the way.


2. Careful when you get on and off the bus
You really need to pay attention on this matter as it is dangerous to just walk like that. The space from the busway to the bus stop could take about 20 cm... If you are not careful, you could fall in between.

3. Don't huddle together, disperse to the empty are of the bus
The problem is, all of the passengers were thinking about the same thing. They want to be near the door as most of them will be getting off the bus shortly. Why would they be far away in the back when they are about to reach the destination within 2 bus stops?

4. Get use to remember time, destination and bus number that you are about to get on.
It is very important to remember your destination as you need that to decide which bus you will take. You can't take bus to the north while you are actually heading to south, right?
To remember the time...I think that is a bit tricky... I do not think I ever remember regular buses and busways able to arrive at the same time daily. If they manage to arrive within five minutes difference is a bonus already!
TO remember the bus number... I kinda confuse, is this mean for regular buses? I don't think busway has number to indentify their destination. They do have Identity number and I don't think this will be useful to inform us about the destination...

5. Report immediately to the officials if you have any security disturbance
I once in the busway where a passenger report to the official that he has been mugged. Immediately the officials told the driver to just go straight to the last bus stop. Naturally, innocent passengers were annoyed by this as they need to get off at another bus stop. TO make the matter worst, their bags were searched when they get off from the busway. Obviously these are useless when the pickpocket already escape and the passenger realizing this too late.

Hang on to your dear life...

One of the most basic things when you are on the bus... Hang on to anything near you for your dear life... Otherwise, prepare yourself to get thrown away or fall if the driver hit the brake or start the engine...

Excusing myself...

Dear all...,
During this December I will write only once a week... Will write again three times a week starting January 2011...

But I do hope you keep on reading :)

Rain oh rain

 What is the connection between rain and public vehicle? Obviously there are a few…

Though I am so happy if rains pouring down the earth as it were supposed to help creating cooler atmosphere but when I was still on the street or inside the bus…then the cool atmosphere is a no-no. Neither inside the regular bus, Air Conditioned bus up to bajaj and mikrolet… There is only a thin line of differences.

The obvious facts are the humid air, sultry condition and the decreasing stock of air. That situation would be worst if heavy rain pouring down on earth. Even when there is no rain, the sitting passengers would not want to open the window let alone if there is heavy rain outside. The closed window does not guarantee that the rain will not seeping through it. So, those who already sat has to let their clothes slowly but sure getting wet by the seeping rain.

Same thing happened when using Bajaj. Eventhough the driver already closed the window, but since it was not permanently built then once there is a windy rain, the water splashing inside the bajaj and let the passenger get wet. And when you using mikrolet and sitting by the door, well get ready to get sick as the back door will not be closed even though rain pouring hard on earth.

During the heavy rain, I would not want to use ojek. But, if I was already using it then what can I say? Once I was using ojek to go somewhere. In the middle of the journey suddenly from not so heavy rain then escalated to heavy rain. There was no question that I was totally wet. The ojek driver also worried that his motorcycle could broke down as flood starting to fill the street. Luckily I finally arrived at my destination…though with soaking wet.


Then what happened with passengers standing on the bus? Most of them just get on the bus and already soaking wet. Either their body or their umbrellas or their belongings are all wet. Those who bring umbrella just keep holding the umbrella and the dripping water falls on to clothes of other passengers. The wet clothes were not going to be dried. However, it would be getting even more wet by sweat due to the hot weather inside. The supply of CO2 are bigger than 02…


What about using Air Conditioned bus? Sure, they might be air conditioned bus but these buses mostly are 10 years old. Not so sure whether they replaced the AC. For certain, ACs in so many buses are mostly damaged. The craziest thing I have ever been was getting on the bus with only a bit wet from the rain and getting off 70% soaking wet. When I was about to sit inside the air conditioned bus I was fully aware that there was dripping water from above probably from the damaged air conditioner. So, I just sat there and fallen asleep immediately. (I love to sleep, what can I say?). When I finally woke up I suddenly realized my jumper feel heavier and I feel cold on the neck. So, when I was to get off I stare at my seat… OH DEAR…, already there was a towel on the back of the seat to contain the dripping water. And my jumper also became the container of the dripping water. I have to take a medicine once I arrived at home to prevent me from getting sick.

Getting on the busway you could feel the cold air since it is air conditioned. But after soaking wet from the rain do you honestly still want to feel the cold inside the bus? Not to mention other people will push you around here and there. Additionally, due to the heavy rain the bus stop for busway becoming slippery. And if you are just in luck queuing for busway after office hour during the heavy rain…then get yourself ready for the splashing windy rain on your face. Sure, there is a rooftop above the bus stop but along the way there is nothing that separate you from the nature.


After all of that I still try to think positive. As even though I was soaking wet both before and after using the bus at least that all these times I have never experienced bus stop due to something wrong with its engine during the heavy rain. I could already imagine how I am going to cry in blood if I have to get off the bus because of that. And while waiting for another bus, I have to stand all the way under the heavy rain. Not to mention that while we are waiting for the bus in the middle of the heavy rain, there was a bit flood near us. Get ready to get wet as the passing cars and bus will not going to hesitate to pass that flood and the splashing water from it will hit us straight away.

Rain oh rain...

Muffler stove...

SELAMAT MERAYAKAN HARI RAYA IDUL ADHA BAGI YANG MERAYAKANNYA

Muffler Stove? When my friend asked me to write about this I kinda stunned…. Well, I have not been long in dealing with buses… And just get a bit bitchy by noticing almost about everything after dozen of years.

It turn out, it was sort of something my friend and her friends talk about related to bus with destination Jakarta – Merak that producing heavy black smoke from the muffler. The black heavy smoke sort of like old time stove and that’s why they used to say that bus is like a walking stove. Perhaps they should say a walking fire… Kidding

Well, from years we have been wondering why on earth those buses that produce heavy smoke were allowed to keep on operating. My friend even said that she could not breath properly when she was using motorcycle and were EXACTLY behind the bus along with the heavy smoke. Not only that she could not breath properly, the heavy smoke made her looks as if she just come out from the fireplace. No wonder my cousin saw no interest to stay permanently in Jakarta. He said he could die of trouble breathing if he has to keep on using motorcycle in Jakarta. Even though he has all the gears like jacket, helmet and do not know what else. Once we are having bad luck and be in the middle of cloud of smoke …oh dear. It was better if we standing on the street we could still close our mouth and perhaps nose (though is useless anyway as we have inhaled too much already). But if we are riding motorcycle then how in the heck we close our mouth? The only thing we could do is to let that smoke find its way through our helmet. Yuck…

 

This picture was taken from an article about EARTH DAY on a website and we could see what happen to the Jakartan during that day. Heavy pollution from that vehicle really show how bad it is already.

I experienced that too when I was standing on the street waiting for the bus to come. The bus that I have been waiting was not to be seen but other public transportation were passing us by along with the heavy smoke. I am still lucky I was not addictive to the heavy smoke… LOL… Usually the older the bus or other public transportation then they would surely produce more heavy smoke from the muffler. And it is not a surprise that we all became alert whenever we saw the rotten bus approaching from a far. We could say that we the passengers waiting for the bus on the street like a bunch of mosquitos and the buses are bug terminator (sorry I can’t just say any brand as they are not the sponsor of this blog… hehehehe)… As soon as they are approaching we all going to disperse.

But Jakartan are strong people, probably… There are many street vendors selling food on the sidewalk. Which means their location is near the street where those public transportation viciously producing the poisoning heavy smoke to the food and to the visitors. Nobody seems to be bothered though. They keep on enjoying the meal… Probably it taste better with mixing of heavy smoke from muffler stove…. LOL

Thanks to Mira Aqila for the idea J

Ask for help

My mom said if we deal with a stingy person then we need to ask before that person finally give in (though not with sincere feeling). We have to at least said something since we are the one who need it. Don't hold back.

We need to do that when we use public transportation. We could not expect other people will understand though some cases does. Then again, this is a public place where we meet all kind of personalities.

So...

1. Pregnancy
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know that women with this condition should not ask for help from other passengers. Other passengers should have compassion towards them. But it could be the passengers also feel tired or just don't want to know.
So for me...do not hesitate to ask for a favor from somebody's else. We should consider ourselves along with the child inside. What if the driver hit the brake suddenly and then you fall? Who are you going to blame? The driver? The passenger who sat nicely near the spot where you have to stand?

2. Sick
Pfff, once I honestly begged a guy who sat near the area where I have to standing all the way through the pms tortures. Thank you GOd he was willing to stand up and give me his seat.

3. Heated
I never understand why Indonesian people manage to breath inside a space with no air circulation. I noticed that rarely people asked from the sitting passengers to open the windows next to their seat. While the air inside the bus is intolerable due to the heat
Once, I asked a girl who sat near the window to open it now. While pouting she opened the window. Giving only few opened space. SUddenly a guy standing beside me took initiatives to open the window wider. It turn out he was also could not stand it anymore. Then again, he need someone else to pop the question first.

4. Sick part 2
If we are in good condition that getting touched by the wind is something that we do not mind. But when we are not feeling very well...that would be the last thing we need. Obviously we want to close the window tight. Sometimes I do wonder probably those people close the window because they are avoiding cold air from outside and care nothing about other people?
When we are the one who is sick then we have no choice but to ask for the window to be closed or at least not being opened too wide.


Help request that would probably be rejected totally point blank:

Request to ask for a seat to put their baggages.
If that was me, I would totally reject the request as are you crazy? If you bring too many baggages then it would be your problem don't give that to anybody else.

Soo, if you need then do not hesitate to ask for help except the last above request. Jakartan probably looks cruel but that because they are tired already. Most of them would not have the heart to refuse help request from other people... But we always knows when someone try to take advantage from our kindness. As soon as those pretenders ask for seat they suddenly become so healthy after faking to be ill...

Just have faith.

Don't mess with the driver

My friend said this after reading my posting about driver who waits for hours for passengers.
That's so true my friends. Never ever try to make a scene with the driver in the middle of his job to take passengers reaching their destination. otherwise then get ready for these :

1. Mikrolet's driver Waiting for passengers
Never ever tried to rush the driver to get it move on. If we hate waiting then it would be best for us to step out from the waiting vehicle and shut your ears if the driver screaming at you. He needs passengers but we need to beat the time. Although we still need the cheap fare as well.
If they are upset, some of them immediately barking at us. I prefer these kind of drivers as it would giving me a chance to walk out from his vehicle. If he did not retort back, then get ready to have a heart attack as the driver will speed his vehicle to the limit.


2. Bajaj's driver
The driver will be pissed if we bargain too cheap for the fare. It is a good thing if he just move away as a sign that he refused the offered fare. The disaster came when he angrily agree with the fare and once we get in he drove the vehicle like crazy
That's why I always wondering when hearing a friend bargain too cheap. Aren't they afraid that the driver will drive like crazy as he hates to accept the fare but need the money?

3. Paid below the fare
If we are on the bus, we would be dealing a lot with the driver's assistant when it comes to the fare.
But with mikrolet's driver, oh don't you even think to pay below the fare. They would not hesitate to stop, get out from their vehicle, chasing us then asked for the fare to be paid full.
How could I know? Well, I once experienced that being chased by the driver because my friend did not pay accordingly. It was a surprise to see him suddenly behind us asking for the money.
Lucky us he did not hit us on the spot.

4. Opposite tendencies
If we want the public transportation to move fast...then the driver make it very slowly as if to compete with a turtle. But when we want the public transportation to move slower ( I did not say slowly... I just want it to be a bit slower) then it was like a push for them to drive it as fast as they can be.


The point is, let them drive, let them do whatever they want as long as they bring us safe up to our destination.