Big Bad Wolf 2020, A Book Fair Before All Things Going Covid-19

Today the Jakarta administration started the #SocialDistancing policy, which includes work from home, study from home and pray from home, to curb down the Covid-19 outbreak. But before things started to look grim in the weeks to come, allow me to bring you some photos and stories from my latest trip to Big Bad Wolf 2020 (BBW 2020), a book fair held in ICE BSD. I went to BBW 2020 on March 14, two days before the Social Distancing policy was implemented.

Cisauk train station has modern architecture style

I went there with Mbak Elly, a journo friend, last weekend. We met in Cisauk train station, walked to Modern Market to have breakfast and lunch, and hopped on a shuttle bus from the bus terminal. The train station, the market and the bus terminal are located within a walk's distance.

Nasi Langgi at Pasar Modern Cisauk

Overlooking the atrium with live music performance

Rows of food vendors

I think I will come back again to this market

We discussed the Covid-19 and the best strategies to search the books without getting in contact with other people as we walked to the BBW. Although several friends said that it was reckless of me to go to BBW in this Covid-19, I believed the crowds in BBW were different than, let's say, rock music concert or religious group meeting. Bookpeople are usually logical, read many information, and not walking in big groups. Well, maybe just me. I could be wrong, though.

Although the lines were rather long to enter ICE, once we were inside, the BBW ground was quite empty compared to last year's BBW 

We arrived at ICE BSD and found very long lines of people. We got our temperature checked before entering the building, then we were asked to use hand sanitizer. BBW has always been crowded, and although we still saw many people, there were not as many crowds as I had seen in the past BBW. The people checked the books individually, not in groups, giving a proper distance to other people. Many people wore masks.

The piles of books

This one brought memories of journo days :)

Too many choices

A gentle reminder during the time of Covid-19

This year, I found dining area inside the BBW, which was great because it meant we did not have to leave the area to get food and drink. Two years ago, I had to leave the expo area to get food and then faced another long line to get inside. The prayer area was still located outside of the expo area, though.

We spent around 7-8 hours in the BBW. Mbak Elly got several adult coloring books and Tudor period novels that she was searching. I got my fair share of books too. This year's BBW had more classic novels than the previous as I saw novels by the Brontes, Jane Eyre, and Louisa May Alcott. I even found Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in The Time of Cholera. I thought, how apt was this, and bought the novel.

So here they were, the pile of books to get me through Covid-19, lockdown, and lonely nights in my 40s. Many people may be hoarding foods, hand sanitizer, or multivitamins for Covid-19. This girl feels complete with any books worth reading and a cup of tea.

MRT Jakarta Public Trial

Hello, people living in Jakarta and its greater areas! The time has come for us to raise our heads and say proudly,"Yes, we are one of those cool cities that have subways!" Woot woot!

The MRT Jakarta opened its gates for a free public trial during March 12 and 24. Tickets for the public trial were available at ayocobamrtj.com, a website that collaborates with e-commerce BukaLapak. We have to type in our email/ID card number/mobilephone number, and after a period of time, you will get the ticket in the form of QR code in the email.

Although the process is relatively easy, I still think it's just so much hassle for a public trial. But a friend, who was invited by the Jakarta administration to get a free trial a month before it was opened for public trial, said that the registration was to get everything in records, in case something happened. (Tangent: if you want to see the pictures he takes on Jakarta's infrastructure, you check his IG account at @darisarch)

I did a free public trial of MRT Jakarta on March 16 with a former colleague. We hopped on to the MRTJ from Bendungan Hilir station. The QR code was scanned, a sticker was handed. Then we walked down to the platforms and waited for the train to arrive.

Bendungan Hilir station 

The sticker for the public trial

In my opinion, the platforms look like the ones in Singapore. My friend commented that it looked similar to the ones in Japan. But of course, MRTJ was designed by a Japanese consortia, I said.

I didn't take the photo in the right angle to show everything, but there is an escalator next to this stairs

Let's go to Lebak Bulus

The design of MRTJ takes accessibility seriously. The stations have escalators, elevators, ramps, and special tiles for the visually impaired. The car has priority seats. Upon approaching a station, passengers can see the notification on a small screen above the car door or hear the name of the station being announced.

The MRTJ stays underground between Hotel Indonesia station and Al Azhar Mosque, and then it jumps up to an elevated railway track until Lebak Bulus Station. The 15-kilometer route is completed in less than 20 minutes, it's efficient and traffic free.

On the day I tried the MRTJ, the car was crowded with families going out and about. Many people took photos, made vlogs and stared in awe. All has the look of pride and happiness on their faces. As for myself, I was overwhelmed with emotions. After trying subways in many countries, I am finally able to take one in my home land. It felt so surreal!

I read that after the first phase is inaugurated, the government will soon plan for the second phase, which will connect the east-west areas, and then the third phase, which will connect Jakarta and four greater areas (Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi). May God grant me the opportunity in this lifetime to see them all in operation.

The Fifth Passport Renewal Or How To Renew Passport In 2019

Hello, lovelies!

As my passport will expire in June 2019, I decided to renew it this month. Upon hearing my plan, a friend asked if I had a plan to travel somewhere, and to that question, I replied,"I have been having passport since I was 15 years old. It has become a habit for me to renew my passport, because it seems I would always need it."

At 15, I went to Austria to visit my uncle and his family who were assigned there. At 20, my class in uni went on a field trip to Singapore (just imagine the riot that took place when 100 young people went together? Lol). 

At 24, I was working for a small media company, and one day the boss decided to send a young reporter on an assignment abroad (destination: Shanghai). Guess what? Of all 7 young reporters, only I had a valid passport. As my colleagues said, I am such a lucky bastard (ha!). After the incident, all young reporters made their passports. Since then, I also made a mental note to always renew the passport because I would never know when I would need it.

The tiring part of renewing passport is to learn the new procedure. Every five years, or perhaps less, the procedure is changed. Sometimes the change was for the good, other times was bad. I have been trying to renew my passport by myself, so I know the struggle. 

Ok, enough with intro, here was how I renew the passport in January 2019:

1. There is a new regulation for passport renewal, in which passport applicants can no longer queue directly, they have to book the date and time through the official "Antrian Paspor (Passport Queue)" application. So I downloaded the application from Play Store (I think it's also available in iOS). However, when I downloaded it, it was in the middle of some failed update. I tried the web link: https://antrian.imigrasi.go.id/ 

I signed in with Google account. It was quite easy, just followed the instruction, picked the immigration office you'd like to come to (all immigration offices are already online), the date and the hour. Et voila, you will get a QR code. I screenshot the code.

2. On the date that I have chosen, I arrived early at the immigration office. I still had to fill in the hard copy form, which I found ambiguous. I mean, why would we have to fill the hard copy form if there is an app to queue? But ok, this is all work in progress.

After filling in the form, I queued to submit the form to the officers and attach copies of ID card, family card, birth certificate and the old passport. I also brought the original papers as the officers would check them. 

While the registration is already done online, applicants still have to do some paper works. Oh well, it's work in progress I suppose.

A new regulation says that if you want to renew (you already have passport), you only have to attach ID card and old passport. I still brought all documents though, because in Indonesia, we would never know, so just in case...

The banner that says all you need is love...rrr, I mean, a copy of e-KTP and old passport if you only want to renew

Tips on copied papers: each document is  copied on an A4-sized paper, no need to cut the paper. Any failure to meet the requirement would result in having to re-copy the papers at the cooperative (one paper = Rp 1,000)

3. After all documents are checked, the officer told me to take another queue: the interview, finger scan and photo session. The queue was tedious, but once you face the officer and everything is according to the regulation, the procedure was smooth.

The officer handed me another paper with QR code for the payment process in the bank or post offices. I ran outside to pay at the mobile post office, but it was already 4 pm, and it was closed. 

4. So I went to the bank the next day. The payment was easy, no need to key in password. I signed a paper the teller gave me and then the teller said,"It's done." I was like,"huh?"

5. Three days later, I received an SMS that I can pick up my new passport the next day. Oh joy, oh joy.

Tadaaa!

Ok, now that I have a new passport, perhaps it is high time to plan for some short getaway. Any suggestion?

Tangent: Just for laugh, here is a #5YearsChallenge of my passport photo. The left photo is from 2014, the right is from 2019 obviously. It's either I'm getting better at applying make up or the new camera at the immigration office has the beautification feature, lol. Whichever that is, I am happy with the result as this is the first ID photo where I look normal. On other IDs, I look as if I was either sleepy or drunk.

#RestingBitchFaceGameGoingStrong

Waiting For Better Accessibility In Public Transportation Infrastructure

With Jakarta is building the double-double track railway that connects the capital with the railway network in Java island, the stations have been in construction work too. Some of Jakarta's inner city stations now have underpass, such pas Tebet and Manggarai, while others, if not all, are undergoing major renovation as the double-double track project requires the stations to be rebuilt on different locations.

Let's start with the underpass in Tebet station. As I was working in Tebet area last year and had to use train to reach office, I noticed something about the station. In the past, cars and people could cross the Tebet railways. But in the past few years, commuter train company PT KCJ had closed road access on Tebet station. Cars should drive on the overpass, while passengers could use the underpass in the station. 

But how about pedestrians who just want to go to the other side of the railway? An option is to pay Rp 3,000 just to use the underpass. The other option is to cross the railway through the gap made by the people. It is dangerous, but I have seen many people use it. 

Should we wait for an accident in that area to think about accessibility? I pray that we should never have to face such thing. But we should at least prepare some measures to prevent it from happening. I'm looking at you, PT KCJ and Jakarta administration!

Then let's talk about the stairs on new station design. I am in my late 30s and consider myself fit enough for the stairs. But after I fell on Manggarai station last January, which made me unable to walk fast for one month, I have tried to ease the burden on my knees. I can't imagine the struggle people with disability have to face with the station's new design.

The station's new design forces passengers to climb up the stairs in order to reach the entrance gate, then go down another stairs to reach the platform. I understand that accessibility-friendly design may need more budget to build the walkway. But if it means more people can use it, then why not? After all, it is built from the tax that we, both the able-bodied and the disabled, had paid to the government.

Asian Para Games 2018

Not long after Asian Games, Jakarta also became the host of Asian Para Games. I was curious to see the Para Games and be a spectator again, but suddenly a media company offered me a freelance job to be a writer at the Asian Para Games official tabloid. My response was definitely, a yes!

I had to complete my morning freelance work quickly, then headed to Palmerah. Anyway, if you know the media map in Jakarta, you would know which office I referred here. The work hours were until late night, so I only had time to watch APG 2018 on the weekend.

A friend had kindly bought the ticket for the last day's badminton game. However, I reached home almost midnight, woke up not feeling well and arrived at the last victorious moment of mixed double in the SU5 category Hary Susanto/Leani Ratri Oktilia, which I managed to record down below, just scroll down below. 

Here are photos of my Asian Para Games 2018 experience.

Badminton lover squad

Asian Para Games not only featured athletes with disability but also employed disabled people to provide ride for the spectators. They use this special motorcycle.

One of the tabloid's first page. You can also found the tabloid's softcopy version at asianparagames2018.id/en/news/journal.

I knew that it was an official tabloid for Asian Para Games, but having to work with this keyboard made me appreciate the five senses. Notice how the letters are not visible?

The layouters are usually ignored during the day. But they will become the most wanted men as the deadlines approach :D

The victorious yell that always send shivers down the spine

Energy Of Asia At Asian Games 2018

The main stadium of Gelora Bung Karno Sport Complex

The Asian Games 2018 has been a real challenge for Indonesia. The appointment to be host country took place in 2014, because Vietnam, which was already appointed to be host, decided to withdraw from the position due to economy factor. The last time Indonesia was appointed to be host of Asian Games was in 1962, 52 years ago.

The government launched one-year campaign for Asian Games 2018, but it was only when opening ceremony of Asian Games was finally aired that many Indonesians took notice of the pan-Asian multi-sport event. The opening ceremony was a show of Indonesia's multi-ethnic culture and tradition. 

While I had wanted to contribute to this event through freelance work, it turned out that my Asian Games 2018 experience was only as a spectator, which had been quite interesting as well. Here are shots I took during the Asian Games 2018.

One of the festival areas where visitors could rest and relax between the games.

Inside the main stadium, taken during the day.

The pan-Asian multi-sport event unites athletes across Asia, even when the night has fallen.

Thanks to Asian Games 2018, the sport complex was fully revamped and now has many supporting facilities, such as this potable water station.

What I really love about Asian Games, it gave me opportunities to meet with friends, colleagues and relatives. 

With colleagues of former workplace

With high school friend at Senayan Aquatic Stadium

With Master friends and professor

With my cousin and his family, and we did not make any arrangement. I updated my WhatsApp status about going to Senayan and he replied that he was too in Senayan. Funny how technology could bring people together, eh?

We met with Tajikistan runner, Davron Atabaev, who had just competed and kindly asked for a photo. He obliged to these aunties. Whatever you see in the picture should be left uncommented ;P

Let's wrap this post with a video of Korean diver Woo Haram (well, it was aimed to be a pun, if you get what I mean) 

INACRAFT 2018

Hello, lovelies!

Did you went to INACRAFT 2018, Indonesia's largest exhibition on small medium enterprises' handicraft products? INACRAFT 2018 used Plennary Hall, Assembly Hall, Hall A and Hall B, and the lower ground area. Including the corridors. This year's participants reached 1,700, which occupied around 1,400 booths in the exhibition area. 

I went with former colleague and we had great time perusing the wonderful items of clothes, home decors, other miscellaneous stuffs showcased by top vendors across Indonesia. We spent around eight hours in Jakarta Convention Center, hahaha. 

Bank BNI is the main sponsor of the event, so it's no wonder that the ticket to the exhibition area uses BNI TapCash, its electronic money card. Visitors could use their own card and top up the credit (if they don't have enough credit for the ticket), or buy the cards offered at the ticket counter. I already have a card, but then I saw the lovely design that featured the Bataknese Gorga motif and decided to buy it just because. Argh, good design is my weak spot.

As I'm not exactly a fashion person, I didn't really pay attention to the clothes exhibitors. I think  I can find most clothes I like in Thamrin City. So what I really look for in the event was random things that I seldom find. Here are some photos of such stuffs in no particular order.   

We stumbled upon a booth that sold vintage stuffs, including this first day covers on the 4th Asian Games held in Jakarta in 1962. This year's Asian Games will take place in Jakarta and also Palembang, so these items made good memory on how much Jakarta and Asian Games had been in touch all these years.

This booth brought wicker products from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and I just fell in love with the stuffs. 

This ceramic tile is in the size of a doormat, and it has batik patterns. Be still my heart. And I forgot to ask for the namecard of this vendor, ouch.

Sometimes INACRAFT has random exhibitors, such as this booth that featured fossils and other geological-related items. 

Hello, Batgirl! Would you dare wearing this eyeglasses frame? Hahaha.

I did buy some stuffs from the event: two headscarves, a wooden spoon and fork (because I often bring lunchbox), a small leather-weaving pouch (the weaving is of Sumba pattern) and the first day covers I put above.

Big Bad Wolf 2018

I've been wanting to visit Big Bad Wolf book sale event for years, but there was never really a free time to do this. As I have just been released from the Sumba project and had yet to have any regular activities, I decided to go to the event.

The event was held in BSD's International Convention Center (ICE), so I took the Commuter Line train, hopped off at Rawabuntu train station and ordered Go-Jek to reach ICE.

I did recite prayers before entering this entryway.

A complete package of books by Beatrix Potter and Dr. Seuss, very tempting. But the price was a turn off...

Comic books galore

And another temptation, a complete package of books by Roald Dahl

Definitely for those in need of challenges in life.

I totally don't get the idea. I would never fold the pages of my books. Why would anyone even suggest this crime?

Conclusion: the books in BBW are mostly children books in English language, which in my opinion is a bit missed target. I mean, how many Indonesian children in Indonesia that actually read English books? As an Indonesian child, I read books in my mother tongue. And I intend to instill Indonesian to my future children before teaching them a foreign language. 

I didn't exactly find the books I liked. But it felt a waste of time to not buy something. So I really looked hard and...

...here were the books I got from BBW 2018:)