Jakarta, Indonesia

 After my first visit to Asia, I had my first visit to the lush, green country of Indonesia. What struck me immediately upon arriving at the airport was the number of Muslims. Since we were in town for my husband's business meeting, I had not done any research or advance planning for this leg of our trip.  Turns out this was also my first trip to a country that is primarily Muslim.

Another thing that was immediately apparent was the extent of security in this country. This was our third country in two weeks and we had the most difficult time with customs…they practically removed every item from my husband's business materials and questioned their purpose.
When we arrived at our hotel, the entrance was gated and the hotel had guards that scanned the undercarriage of each vehicle. At every entrance, the hotel had more security guards and every person must pass through a metal detector. It wasn't only our hotel, my visit to the local mall also involved the same practice of passing by the guards and going through a metal detector.

The malls look western enough with their modern interiors and escalators. In addition to all of the American chains and upscale designers, I was surprised to see how many shops were exclusively devoted to Muslim clothing such as the full body burqua or the headscarf known as a khimar.  Don't worry, I still found plenty of shops with clothes that suited me.

The mall was so ornate inside, it boasted an atrium with a large clock tower. The clock opened up on the hour and figurines rotate out and play music as they turn around.

The malls had everything, one even had an indoor slide.  (FYI-one thing you cannot buy in Jakarta is tampons. Trust me, I went inside three stores that sold feminine products and even asked…but they just don't have them.)

Other than the mall, I did manage to be a tourist and visit some of the historical sites.

First, if you care to fight the traffic, no visit to Jakarta would be complete without seeing Old Town which gives you a glimpse of what the city was like during the Dutch colonial era. The plaza was crammed with people trying to peddle their goods. 

They aren't very many Americans in town so I was an easy target. When a group of teenage girls approached me, I turned aside thinking they were trying to sell me something or ask for money. I soon learned that they were learning English in school and needed to interview someone to practice speaking.  One interviewed me by reading a list of pre-written questions from a notebook while her friend videotaped the interview on her smart phone. When I asked if I could take their picture, they shouted "selfie" and we all posed for my camera.

Another top tourist attraction is Tamon Mini Indonesia Indah. This is like Disney World's World Showcase at Epcot. Since Indonesia is comprised of thousands of islands, the country has many ethnicities. The park is comprised of houses and costumes from each region which are erected around a lake. The park is enormous, so large that we took a bus tour around the park stopping at only a few of the houses. My favorite was from West Sumatra which are colorful and probably the most iconic of Indonesia construction with their "buffalo horn" roofs.