Rain, Rain, Go Away.Jeez. Watching the rain falling non-stop all day, spreading a greyness across the skyline of West Jakarta as the tops of apartment blocks disappeared, reminded me of similar days 'back home'. It has been a very grey day.
The sky emptied, roads flooded and I knew, just by looking out the window, that getting home was going to be hell. There were no
mikrolets (mini-minibuses) passing because the road was under half a metre of deluge; there was seemingly no way to get to the toll road and catch a bus.
However I managed to cadge a lift from someone I know who was passing quite close to Jakartass Towers in South Jakarta. What is more she has a TV in her car. For nigh on an hour and a half we were stuck in the longest tailback I've ever been stuck in, but it certainly wasn't the longest in town. No siree. And as we watched Metro TV it was quite pleasant hearing about Soekarno-Hatta Airport being shut down and the
Istana Negara (Presidential Palace) being flooded.
But that tailback .....
aduh. We ran out of things to talk about, swapped sweets and snacks, watched a documentary about how the next ice age is going to wipe us out, maybe as soon as next year, and stared at the tailgate of the truck in front of us as we inched onwards to where the toll road into town separates for those going north and those of us going south.
And it was north-west Jakarta which was flooded. Nothing was moving in that direction and as we travelled south, giggling madly because we'd never been on such an empty toll road, not even at night, we stared at the traffic not moving in the other direction.
Yep, it seems
my prediction is coming true: the city is gradually tipping into Jakarta Bay, and there ain't nothing SBY can do about it. He had to mix with us proles when first he got snarled up at Pondok Gede toll gate and then later in Jakarta's main drag, Jl.Thamrin, when his posh Mercedes had engine trouble he had to swap comfort for expedience and drive on in a Mercedes SUV.
Some folk really have it tough.
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