So on Thursday we finally got our long-term stay visas. Basically this means that we can now go house hunting on our own terms and without an escort. So on Friday we took advantage of this freedom and went out to visit an apartment called Pakubuwono (www.pakubuwono-residence.com). It's one of the nicer high rise apartment complexes in town and a large portion of ExxonMobil expats choose to live there. We did a tour, saw 5 or 6 units, then headed home. On our way home we ask our agent (who is riding in the car with us) where Sheuwen can get her Blackberry "unlocked" (since phones in the US are designed to only work in the US, you have to "unlock" them to get them to work in another country). Our agent, who is a young guy about our age, mentioned that there are not many people in Jakarta that know how to unlock cell phones, but that he has "a guy" that can do it. He asked if we wanted to go then. We had a few minutes to spare before we had to be back home (Sheuwen's mom was watching Kate), so we said sure, why not? He then told our driver to go to the Ambassador, which turned out to be our first taste of a "local mall". Want a knockoff Coach bag? Go to Ambassador. Want to see Iron Man 2 on DVD? Go to Ambassador. Want to buy the latest Blueberry telephone? (yes, they are called "Blueberry") Go to Ambassador. On the 4th level of the mall was the cell phone section. There must have been 50+ little cell phone boutiques selling used and knockoff cell phones, all crowded and packed together like the Macy's cosmetics section times two. Our guide leads us to one of the many vendors and they start talking in Bahasa, presumably negotiation the cost to unlock Sheuwen's phone. The deal is $12.50 to unlock the phone and it should take about an hour. Okay, sounds good, so we decide to walk around the rest of the Mall.
First thing I noticed was the smell of cigarette smoke in the air. Clearly the indoor smoking ban hasn't made it across the Pacific. I wasn't too interested in shopping as I'm not in the market for perfume, pirated DVD's, or faux jewelry, but we walked around anyway. It only took me about 20 minutes for me to see another white person....not bad! After a few minutes we actually came to a pretty decent food court. They had an array of Indonesian fast food places, including a KFC, and an A&W. We slurpped down a few root beers when our agent got a call that the phone was ready.
We headed back to the cell phone section tested the phone and everything seemed to work just, until Sheuwen asked about the data plan, you know emails, internet, chat, all the things you buy a Blackberry for. The guy behind the counter was like, oh, you wanted a data plan? That will be another half-hour. We debate whether to forget about it and go home, but we decide to forego any chance for this year's "parents of the year" award and stay to get the data plan set up. We decide not to walk around this time, rather we decide to stay at the counter in hopes that it might motivate him to work quicker. It didn't work. 30 mins quickly turned to 45 mins, which turned to 60 mins. Finally, he finished, tested the phone, and we went on our way. Moral of the story? To get something done in Indonesia, it helps to have "a guy", and give yourself twice the amount of time you would expect it to take. There are no Targets, Home Depots, or CVSs.
That's it for this week...enjoy the picture of Kate going for her first swim! Notice the lushness and beauty of the Shangri-La Hotel.
For more pics, go to www.adamandsheuwen.shutterfly.com
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