We Are Jakarta

We love this city. See what we see.

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It is hard to celebrate the joy of New Year when you just suffer a grievous lost. Without consequential family, friends, or loved ones, counting days or years will be just too trivial. We are deeply saddened by the QZ8501 plane tragedy. Our hearts go out to all passengers and crew, and families who are anxiously waiting for the news of the whereabouts of the plane and their relatives. We pray for the search and rescue team who are still out there looking. That said, We Are Jakarta is wishing you a safe and blissful New Year. May you all filled with new hopes and aspirations. We also want to thank you for your support, it has been a great year for us. We will come back next year with more exciting stories and adventures. WAJ crew

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There can be no doubt that the doctor costume is a Halloween classic. The doctor costume is an always going to be a hit, and this is especially true when it come to the surgeon costume. Jasmine and Basten were two Jakartans we met at Taman Kridaloka Senayan. We chatted with them only to find out that they were real doctors.  

WAJ     : “Have you always wanted to be a doctor?” Basten : “Well, my parents wanted me to go to medical school. I wanted to be a lawyer because I thought winning the best debater award on the high school debate team was sufficient experience to do well in law school. It was silly, I know. But evaluating your own desire to enter a lifelong profession is always going to be an educated guess. When you’re 18 years old, it’s impossible to know what the future may bring, but you should at least do some soul searching and gain some experiences that would help lead you to a good decision. Medical school isn’t so bad at all. My next step is to pursue a career as a thoracic surgeon."

WAJ       : “What about you? Why did you want to be a doctor?” Jasmine : “I have no idea. And if I was asked again, I'd say I don’t know. I wanted to be a stuntman. When i was younger, I saw a man jumped off a cliff. I thought that was cool."

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“20 year old Renaldy has just finished his undergraduate study and wants to become a food entrepreneur. He started Dreamland artisan ice cream and sorbet business with his friends. Renaldy's passion for ice cream is obvious and when we spoke to him he was keen to emphasize on the fun in making and selling your own artisan ice cream. ‘You can create your own product range and develop your own flavors – your imagination is your limit!” he said. We believe him. His Halloween special Tropeek-A-Boo stole our hearts.”

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We saw these two devilish beauties, Reza & Rika at Jakarta Halloween Festival.

WAJ : “What do you do for a living?” Reza : “I am a litigation lawyer.” WAJ : “Would you defend people who you know to be factually guilty?” Reza : “It’s not my duty to decide whether to defend people based on their worthiness. Anyone who has been accused of a crime has the right to obtain a lawyer of his own choosing to defend him in court.”

WAJ : “What inspired you to be a nurse midwife?” Rika : “I think a successful midwife approach will have led to reduced maternal mortality and improved health outcomes for both women and children. The society needs to realize it’s worth it to invest in a woman’s life. And I think a midwife’s work is being sensitive to women’s needs, which includes understanding and respecting their human rights.” WAJ : “How old was your youngest patient?” Rika : "15 years old.”

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In a city that loves costumes year round, Halloween is pretty special in Jakarta like it is in some other parts of the world. With a culture that includes costuming for several events, Halloween is just one of the reasons to get dressed up as someone, or something else...

We spotted this face-melting man at Jakarta Halloween Festival.

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We did our first photo shoot a month ago. Thanks Honeycombers Jakarta for making us not only look good but also feel good.

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"What does it say?"

“First love is dangerous only when it is also the last. The things people hate the most are the things they envy the most. If words were for sell, we would not speak as much. Who flies high, falls low. Kind words will unlock even an iron door. The bag is most heavy when is empty. Not everything that shines is gold.

It's a collection of my favorite quotes that echo my sentiments. There were times when I was very unhappy with my life and my friends would send me inspirational quotes to cheer me up. Most of my friends are from Serbia, that's why the quotes-plate necklace was engraved in Serbian. I am grateful for having such amazing friends and sad at the same time that they live so far away from here. As a thank you note, I made a customized quotes-plate necklace so I can keep them close to my heart."

WAJ loves this art piece and was a bit disappointed when Qia said it's crafted only for personal wear. Oh well. 

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"I think a designer should be able to create design that breaks boundaries, to surprise someone with something unusual and out of the ordinary. You just have to learn when and where to break creative boundaries, and when it’s more appropriate to be consistent with what’s proven to work."

“What’s the latest unusual item that you use in your product?”

“A drawer pull”

Qia, an accessory designer for ZaraTentriabeng label.

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“Ally McBeal! The show made me want to become a lawyer,” Arum said. “It might not be the first show involving lawyers and the way they are in real life. But, who knows? All I know was I looked up to her as a lawyer despite her dealing with love issues. But, I’m not a litigation lawyer as Ally was. I handle corporate matter, commercial transaction, and foreign investment. In my first year of practice, I handled a divorce case and I got highly emotional just listening to my client’s story. Then I realize that I will never run into a “nice” divorce, I switched to other field.”

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“I don't really believe there is an actual ideal time to get married. I met my husband when I was 16 and he was 21. We got married 4 years later, have 2 beautiful children and will be celebrating our 13th year anniversary soon. 

I remember the first time I met him was in Sydney. I was on school holiday and decided to visit my brother who lived in Sydney. He was my brother’s friend and I was there only for a short holiday. It was only when I was back in Jakarta that we started to communicate frequently. I finally moved to Sydney for college and we dated for more than 3 years before we decided to tie the knot.

We got married because we felt it was right for us. You will never be 100 percent ready for marriage, but you just have to make sure that you get married for the right reasons.”

Mira, an online retailer and a housewife.

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“Tell me a story about a dramatic moment in your life.” “I was on board, waiting for the plane to take-off at Soekarno-Hatta airport. I was leaving Jakarta for Kuala Lumpur to pursue my degree. While I was reading farewell letters from my friends, the Captain informed us of a possible bomb threat and we were told to leave the plane. It was indeed a dramatic night. It was raining really hard with thunderstorm. We waited for several hours until the police bomb squad and dog teams finished searching the plane and the aircraft was cleared. And to kill your curiosity, it wasn’t Malaysia Airlines.”

Andhika, an Interior Designer.

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“If you could go back in time and re-experience an event in your life, what would it be?”

“College time! It would be reliving the college experience. It was the best and the worst of times. I also remember it as the most confusing of times and, some would also agree, the drunkest of times. It was my first taste of freedom and carefree days. “

  “Would you change one thing about your life?”

“Would I change things? I’m not so sure. I might have had less party, less fun and finished my college degree on time, so I might have made better career choices….but then I wouldn’t have all the work and life experience that led me down the path of life to where I am today. I’ve done things in the past I’m not proud of. I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life and I don’t regret it. I have learned tremendously from every single mistake and my life is pretty great. I think it’s worth it. The stress, the drama, the hard work, the mistakes, the hangovers, it was all worth it.”

  Rina, a logistic coordinator at one of Indonesia’s largest agribusiness company

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"Last week, we asked you to share w us your best shots that document voting experiences of the 2014 presidential elections. And today, we're back with selected photos and stories. As with any photo and story from submissions, it is impossible to capture every aspect in just a handful of pictures - collected here are only some of the scenes that played out in Jakarta during the voting day and public celebration in light of the new President's inauguration.

Please check out We Are Jakarta's facebook page (click on the link above) for the photo exhibition that showcases the people’s participation and celebration in one of the largest democratic elections in the world.

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"Herry waited two hours after work for the jams to subside before heading home. Feeling bored, he went across the pedestrian bridge, pulled out a camera from his bag, and took photo of Jakarta's notorious traffic." Photo by: www.pandatosca.com

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"A street vendor pushed a water cart in Tanjung Priok" (Tanjung Priok is a subdistrict of North Jakarta. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbor, the Port of Tanjung Priok)

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Only 3 days left to submit your photos to us! Did you make it to the polls? Do you have an interesting polling place? We want to see your photos from Election Day! Send us your best shots that document voting experiences of the 2014 presidential election to [email protected], like what Meena did here. Her family and she voted at TPS Menteng and recalled their voting experiences as an exciting one.

1. Entry deadline is October 19th, 2014 2. Limit is 3 photos per person and digital photos must be in JPEG format and re-sized so that the longest edge is 1400 pixels. 3. Your name and location of the shared photographs with captions 4. Stories! If you have voting experiences, feel free to share your stories and send them with your photographs.

Photographs of polling places, election night parties, or you flaunting your ink-marked finger as proof of exercise of your democratic rights. Selected photos and stories will be displayed on We Are Jakarta’s website and FB page.

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As I'm feeling tired in the heat, I run past a stooped old guy with his leg perched to chest height up on a fence! Pak Suyudhi said he usually runs around GBK (Gelora Bung Karno), Monas (Monumen Nasional), Sudirman and Kota, always with his 2.5kg barbell. "Dulu di Yogyakarta, aku sering lari tiga jam lebih, sekarang cuma satu jam. Kalau aku nggak lari, pasti aku sakit."

Sayudhi, 90 years old.

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