Page 47 and a strange fruit.

[Indofred]

A street family.
These people do what they can to earn a little money and, as I saw last night on my way home, they live in the cart, putting a plastic sheet over the top to protect them from the rain. Sadly, there was no way I could get a photo, but maybe in time.

Where are the little kids going?

Ah, to talk to their big brother.

Who's teaching them to beg from customers leaving a McD

In Indonesia, it's illegal to give them money - would you?

 

[Indofred]

I don't think they intend to be cruel, seriously unhygienic and stupid, just they're uneducated.

 

[Indofred]

A lady, walking

A man, selling

A village shop

Tempe and tofu are popular food. Loads of protein, made in filthy conditions but tastes good. Well, I dislike the tofu, but the tempe is great.

But you don't need to go to a shop to buy things, carts are pushed around every village and estate. We buy most of our veggie from carts like this.

 

[Indofred]

It was the presidential election here on 9 July, 2015.
I visited 10 polling stations in the BSD and Bintaro areas, all seemed totally clean of corruption, all had witnesses from the village/estate and all had witnesses from the election officials.
Before I went too close to each one, I observed from distance, looking to see if any dodgy blokes were hanging around, trying to bribe voters - I saw nothing out of place.
The procedure a all the stations was strict, and in my small experience of the day, followed to the letter. I saw one man turned away from a station because his ID was not in order, but I understand he'd just gone to the wrong station as he'd moved house but had yet to update his ID card.
They all had the correct posters and general information.

Polling stations were ...... Indonesian.

 

[dilloduck]

The 21st of September 2008 was a funny date.
It saw me start a blog of sorts on another forum. It stayed as the written word until page 47 when I started posting photos regularly.
The photos were taken with an old mobile phone and the camera wasn't that great.

The first was this strange fruit that I never really remembered the name of.

A lot were way too poor quality to bother with now but I did get the odd interesting snap.

I started to look around for interesting bits and bobs.

Jogjakarta is a tourist city.
The road signs are in Indonesian and javanese.

A durian-----cut one open if your party guests refuse to leave.

 

[Indofred]

Oh, forgot the tiny one, just outside a village mosque.

 

[Indofred]

The police had people wandering from station to station, watching out for trouble.
It's highly unlikely there would be problems at these stations, or many others, as the local village head system means the officials and observers know every voter personally.

 

[Indofred]

A durian-----cut one open if your party guests refuse to leave.

Not so. A durian looks a little like that, but not the same and that thing didn't stink.

The durian is a strange fruit in itself; I would describe it as, giving your favourite lover a tender, loving kiss while she'll sat on the toilet with a serious case of the shits.

 

[dilloduck]

A durian-----cut one open if your party guests refuse to leave.

Not so. A durian looks a little like that, but not the same and that thing didn't stink.

The durian is a strange fruit in itself; I would describe it as, giving your favourite lover a tender, loving kiss while she'll sat on the toilet with a serious case of the shits.

must be a close relative---- a guy from Hong Kong introduced me---I really thought it tasted like a vanilla custard but you really have to work thru the smell

 

[Indofred]

Last on the election; the voting process.

The voter enters and has his identity checked with his ID card, and ticked off the list of eligible voters for that station.

Once he's checked off, he's given a voting card, and wanders over to a private booth where he may choose the canditate he wished to vote for.

After this, he pops his card into the ballot box.

Once he's voted, he must dip his little finger in ink so there is no chance he can claim he has yet to vote.

As you may guess from these photos, this gentleman kindly allowed me to follow his voting process, so I'm able to show you.

My thanks for his help, and the help given to me by the people in charge of that polling station.

 

[Indofred]

Elections, presidents, governments - not a lot of good to some people.
No pensions for poor people can be a disaster.

 

[Indofred]

Housing estates are commonly closed and guarded. This isn't just for rich expats, but from the middle classes, upwards.
This estate, near Bintaro, south of Jakarta, is pretty typical.

 

[Indofred]

Labour in Indonesia is cheap, so people are used to make what would otherwise be expensive.
These are the steal re-enforcing frames for concrete supports.

All hand made.

 

[Indofred]

These guys look like they're freeing a line or something.

Safety lines and such are minor considerations.

 

[Indofred]

Today I risked life and limb, all in the cause of free bananas.
OK, I lied, the banana plant could be reached from the upstairs window, but there were free.

Pushbikes - Push bikes

If you look at the little kid's foot, the one in the red shirt, driving the motorbike, you'll notice he's pushing the long bike.

Another kid pushing a bike.
Working from a young age, probably until he's too old to carry on, then he will have to hope family look after him.

 

[Indofred]

Lots of people have gone 'home' for the holidays, leaving Jakarta very quiet.
There's still traffic about, but nothing compared to the usual mess.
Businesses are still running.

Even the ones next to railway tracks.

 

[Pogo]

This thread just frickin' rocks. I came back to give it a 5-star rating.

Thanks again, Fred, really enjoying it. Like being there.

 

[Indofred]

This thread just frickin' rocks. I came back to give it a 5-star rating.

Thanks again, Fred, really enjoying it. Like being there.

Thank you for your kind comments.
I just wander around with my camera, just a hobby really.

 

[MaryL]

You went slumming in Indonesia. This smacks of rich white trust fund kid indulging themselves. OK, nice pic(s) though, can't take that away from you.

 

[Indofred]

You went slumming in Indonesia. This smacks of rich white trust fund kid indulging themselves. OK, nice pic(s) though, can't take that away from you.

Not at all, I'm just some dude with a camera.
I've been here for seven years now, and I love the place.
I'd hate to leave, so hope the political situation remains stable. Hopefully, it will.
I live in an estate, pretty much as many middle class Indonesians do, and live and work in the same manner as so many other local people.
There are some differences, mostly in salary.
Expat salaries, especially when you can offer a hard to find skill, are much higher than most locals could even dream of getting.
However, I don't flash cash about, nor do I mention money or tell people how much I earn (well, get paid).
I rarely pay the subjects of my photos, but I do from time to time; one of those times was today, you'll understand why when you see the first photo of the next lot.

This thread is not intended to be political, just to show people the reality of Indonesia, sometimes with a bit of limey humour, or comment.
However, some people take it as political, mostly because I show a lot of street life, depicting the poorest in society.