6pm and no lights.

I didn't do anything much today because both Fengyi and Shalina were inconvenienced and were feeling very tired.

I went to Jalan Maliboro (tourist spot - and therefore boring, but has good exchange rates at the Inna Garuda) this morning to change all my Singapore dollars into Indonesian rupiah. For a while, I was walking around with a stack of notes each of which was the equivalent of S$50 in the local society. I was scared.
That was the thickest pile of notes I have seen in a while.

There was a strike at a government office (I didn't understand the official sign - shame on me) along Jalan Maliboro.



The people on the streets just went on doing their own thing while the people involved in the strike sang the national anthem and created a lot of noise. They might have been enjoying themselves while doing a strike. I didn't understand what was going on and my Indonesian friend from Bali (who lives in my rumah kos) were in a hurry to leave the area as soon as we satisfied our curiosity (Fengyi was also with me).

Tomorrow, the ibu (what people here call older ladies) in charge of this place will install the air-con for me in my room. She is very sweet and she does the little things that other people wouldn't usually notice. For example, she lays out a set of cutlery and utensils in my room so I have my own set of bowls to use. Also, she provides 2 pillows and a blanket. She also allows me to use her kitchen to make my daily bowl of oatmeal.
She keeps an eye on the door so she knows who's out and who's in. I've got a curfew, but I don't see myself staying past that. The streets are a little scary to be around after dark, and I'll explain why in a bit. All in all, I like these little touches.

Since Fengyi and Shalina were feeling inconvenienced, I went out at 6pm to get dinner for myself.
While I was waiting for the place to prepare my dinner (a bit expensive, I must say, but I didn't want to try a warung yet because I'm still new here and my stomach is still sort of delicate), I took this picture. At 6.20pm.



Isn't it dark?
I thought it was 8pm until I looked at my phone.
The buses don't run after dark, so if I were at Fengyi and Shalina's place, I would have to take a taxi and spend about Rp 16.000 to get back to my rumah kos. It's such a major difference from Singapore where buses run till midnight. I guess people here do place family time above work.



This is the menu at the fancy place I bought my dinner from.



... And it's not really murtabak as seen in Singapore, but something similar. They actually fry the thing (in not-so-new oil) and it's huge. I was already feeling the effects when I finished half of it. I also realised that food vendors here like to fry their food. There was also the choice of adding ice cream/chocolate in lieu of beef, chicken or meat. I wonder how durian ice cream murtabak tastes like.

I have a sore throat, which is bad. I'm currently drinking lots of water in the hopes of it going away on its own. I don't want to go to the hospital!