I had never been to Jakarta before. But at the end of March 2015 I arrived with the two little people. It was lovely to be reunited with my husband, who had been there on his own since January and was getting pretty lonely. The kids were so excited to see him and I was ready to start the new adventure as a family in Jakarta.
Jakarta is actually a really great place to live, but the settling in period was a lot longer and harder than I anticipated. I really started to miss Doha and my life there. The familiarity of a city that was home for almost 8 years, where we had got married and had both children. Settling into Jakarta, with a new house and no friends was all a bit daunting and resulted in a few tears. A twin tub washing machine and no oven or bath resulted in a few arguments, but all easily fixed with a glass of wine. Once school started, I got a kick up the bum by a couple of new friends and we got into a routine, things started to look up!
We have a driver. Something which was completely alien to us. He sits and waits and takes us wherever we want to go. When I tell people they think it's amazing and it is, but sometimes I just feel the need to get in the car and drive myself. Don't get me wrong, I am loving having a driver. The Jakarta traffic isn't fun and driving is frustrating. But what I miss is just stopping when you see something on the roadside or popping out quickly. A car is a private space, I hadn't realised this until now, sharing that space is odd and I don't think I'll ever get over the need to hide my shopping bags.
Jakarta is full of megamalls, so shopping is generally what is ladies of leisure do (although I mostly window shop), that and drink coffee. Yep, totally stereotypical. But the malls are pretty impressive and often have great restaurants, coffee shops and bars, so you actually can easily spend a day there mooching around.
One of the hardest things I have found is the supermarket shop. It can literally take me 3 days to find and buy all the things I need and that's if everything is in stock! I thought Qatar was bad, but I find expat products few and far between and those you can get mean you have to travel miles and check at least 2 supermarkets before you find them. When I first got here, I felt I spent all my days in supermarkets. Meat from Ranch, general household from food hall, vegetables from the market and fruit from Total. That 4 different supermarkets and in Jakarta traffic, that usually means 4 days shopping.
I am still yet to have this city feeing like home, but we will get there in time I am sure.
