Picture Of The Day

 

Sop Asam Pedas (Fried Fish with Sweet-Sour-Chili Sauce)

 

Sop Asam Pedas Ketrin
Ruko Jalur Sutera Timur 3A - 29, Alam Sutera Serpong

Picture Of The Day

 

Mie Bak Cahsiu

Bakmie Aloi Alam Sutera
Jl. Alam Utama, Ruko Alam Sutera Town Center 10F No 6, Alam Sutera, Tangerang

Picture Of The Day

Some Kinda Coconut Jelly, served in a Coconut

X.O Suki & Cuisine Tomang
Jl.Tomang Raya No.7 Jakarta Barat

Picture Of The Day

 

Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken) with Rice

Picture Of The Day

 

Lele (Fried Catfish) with Sambel

I ate this delicious fried catfish at ‘Rumah Makan Pecel Lele Pak Jo’ at Serpong.
(Jl Raya Serpong KM 8,5 No 25, Tangerang, Indonesia)

Jakarta - Berlin

Since the end of April I’m in Indonesia again – doing an Internship at a construction site in Alam Sutra (close to Jakarta).
Of course I’m spending a lot of time in Alam Sutra, Jakarta, Sentul and Karawang.
I talked with friends and their families about the problems they have in the cities and other very obvious problems.
All these problems screaming at your face “Help!”
For helping or doing something against the excisting problems you need to understand the urban planning of the cities first.

How to understand the planning of a city? It’s simple nowadays.. use Google Maps!
You take two different cities, Zoom in the same scale, there you go: Compare the cities!

 

Jakarta (above) vs. Berlin

After looking at these two pictures I was quite shooked first… where did the free  (green) space in Jakarta go?! Both Zooms show an area of the city mostly used for living (houses or appartement houses), but in one case you have visible streets and GREEN space and in the other case you just see rooftops and asphalt!
So now to one problem in Jakarta: Every year Jakartas inhabitants suffer by floods. Not only 20 or 50cm, nooo… it’s getting way higher. How come? Look at the zooms and ask yourself; Where do you expect the water to go? How can the water be absorbed by the ground if everything is covered in asphalt? Does it in a mysterical way disappear? No it doesn’t. It certainly appears every year again in form of a brown, disgusting liquid full of rubbish in your neighbourhood or even in your house.

Maybe the normal citizen of Jakarta thinks that there is nothing he or she could do against it. Well actually there is (at least I think that there is something). In Indonesia it is more common to buy land or a house than renting something. So the ones buying a house or land do have a choice about the size of the house they are going to built. So Please if you want to make Jakarta a better place to life don’t  built your house on the whole land - Safe at least 1/3 for green space. Design a backyard or something in front of the house ( No Garage or parking space! That doesn’t count as green space!), not only will it absorb some water but also your children will love to play outside and you don’t have to worry about them playing on the street!

Maybe this post will make you think about what you want and what you could change in your life for making an incredible city like Jakarta a better place to life!
Of course  this also works for other cities with flood problems and too much builded space.

~ Together for a more habitable and even more incredible Jakarta!! ~

Amsterdam – A City Full Of Surprises

In the beginning of March some friends, my boyfriend and I went on a weekend vacation to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
It’s not that far away from Hanover – a 4,5hours trainride. So after work we took the train, just on time for Dinner we arrived in Amsterdam.
First thing I remember after stepping out of the train – the persistant smell of weed.. No kidding, this city screams at you “Marihuana is legal here!!”
…Well, back to the important things of life: FOOD!
Until 1945 Indonesia was a colony of the Netherlands. For centuries the Netherlands were able to eat delicious, spicy food. After Indonesia got independet they couldn’t life without these wonderful tastes so, at least Amsterdam, has a bunch of Indonesian Restaurants and Foodstores.
A little Paradise for the Hanoveraner – Hannover has not one single Indonesian Restaurant!
First Stop: Sampurna Restaurant close to the tulip market.
We didn’t know about the very high prizes there, especially the drinks: 4,5€ for one Bintang and 7,5€ for one ‘Cendol’ Drink. Whatever, the food was okay. Nothing special, if you are used to eat Indonesian food in Indonesia

After that surprisingly expensive Meal we head to the Red-Light-District. It was quite fun there, seeing all these young and some old women and men dressed like women shaking there butts and boobs for random people. All of it next to the Coffee-Shops with its high customers.
A whole new interesting world in which I couldn’t live -  Too much weed, too much tourism, too much people high on drugs…

Red-Light-District during Daylight

Back to the beauty of Amsterdam… there is still so much old architecture.. it’s amazing how nearly every big city in Europe has its own unique architecture. The canals in Amsterdam make sure you can explore these architecture in many different ways – from a boat or from a brigde. Every angle gives you a different new perspective. You can see details you’re not able to see if you’re just standing in front of a house.

One of the many Canals in Amsterdam

Some Backyard

Kinda crooked Town House..hehe

House Boats are very popular in Amsterdam

If you search for a very outstanding impression you have to visit the Anne-Frank-Museum. Next to a heartbreaking story about a jewish girl and her brilliant thoughts about people and the world, a history nearly no one in Germany is proud of and the cruelty human kind is able to do to its own species you can learn more about the traditional houses in old Amsterdam. The arrangement and the size of the rooms, the staircases and so on.
You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the Musem, but I guarantee you it is worth a visit!