Hello! Remember me? I seem to be neglecting this blog yet again and of course can offer many excuses but really I have just been living and I haven’t had a chance to transfer all my camera memory cards… in WEEKS… now the backlog is making the task of writing quite daunting!
So instead of transferring all my photos, I will just download my phone photos from Sunday mornings adventure with little Samudra. As per usual he was awake super early, and although my eyes were sleepy and my body so tired I asked Putra if he wanted to go to Car Free Day and he answered in the negative, but I couldn’t think how else to entertain Samudra so early on a Sunday morning. As soon as I told the taxi driver our destination he mentioned that there was no Car Free Day because of Ramadan, so in a panic about what to do I just asked him to take us to the Ratu Plaza end of Jl. Sudirman and I would make a decision from there, whether to just go for a walk, or detour over to Taman Suropati. We arrived to see the road was blocked off.. Car Free Day was on! Hip hip hooray! but where were all the people?? No matter, with Samudra in my sling and the sun covered by clouds, we started our walk and it was the quietest walk I have ever had in Jakarta! Is everyone here fasting for Ramadan? There were no more than 100 people on the whole road as we walked for over an hour.. Samudra and I sang the whole way and spun in circles giggling… we practically had the road to ourselves which was an absolute treat!
We did manage to find another great source of entertainment and amusement on our travels though, just as we arrived near Taman Samanggi, I noticed a man with a duck waddling along behind him.. Samudra was so excited so we caught up to them and had a quick chat. The man was enjoying a Sunday walk with his duck, named Boi, and they were having a lovely time! Roads free of bikes and thousand of joggers and sunday strollers, so they were heading all the way up to Monas. The few stragglers along the road came over to take photos and then quickly disappeared in fits of laughters and bewilderment, and we decided to let them enjoy their journey in peace. Only in Jakarta would you find someone taking their duck for a Sunday walk!
Once we arrived at the fountain at Bundaran HI I was again amazed that there were so few people around! There was no buzz of activity, but the sounds of the water splashing about, so we sat and watched it while I caught my breath and we enjoyed the fountain. I thought it was a great ‘calm before the storm’ with the impending Presidential elections to be held on Wednesday 9th July. No doubt the fountain and surrounds will be heaving with people and I will definately be steering clear of the area and keep to the comforts of home.
I hope you all had a beautiful weekend, and for those that can, please use your right to VOTE and just think about who would be the best leader to bring hope to your country… My opinion doesn’t count, but if it did, JOKOWI you have my vote a thousand times over!
Taking his duck for a walk… as you do.
Boi is one seriously fit and happy duck!
Enjoying the flowers which I have never noticed before due to the crowds..
The empty streets of Jakarta… it’s a miracle!
Samudra giggling as we swirl and dance around the road!
We made it to the fountain and enjoyed the tranquility.
