Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

[Visiting Taman Bunga Nusantara, one HUGE garden up on the mountainside, about 100km from Jakarta]

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By now, we’ve lived in Jakarta for five months, and to be completely honest, there are quite a few things about this city that I’m still not particularly fond of – things that I need to get myself used to because I know they are simply things in life that will not change in the near future (eg. General habits to litter and people smoking everywhere, even inside air-conditioned restaurants)

Recently I wrote a post on ‘What I miss about Singapore: My Top 10 things!‘ and this time round, I’d like to share with you the things that I appreciate about Jakarta.

(That’s right, it’s not all that bad over here =)

So, in no particular order, my top 7 things that I personally appreciate about Jakarta are:

They are more likely to greet and smile, even at strangers. Customer service staff are mostly smiley and helpful too.
> People are generally tolerant and loving towards little children

The kids could be running around, playing and laughing out loud in public, and people would generally understand, and can even playfully greet the kids too (something that may not happen much in Singapore, I must say)

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[‘Es Oyen’, one of my favourites. It has avocado, jackfruit, coconut, condensed milk and all sorts of other yummy stuff in it]

> More affordable and less costly food and yummy dessert  

I’m a dessert person, and so I really treasure the fact that I can enjoy a huge variety of sweet dessert for less than S$2 each =)

Plus, street stalls are just everywhere, which means I could have a bowl of rice, fried chicken and a cold glass of tea for less than S$2!

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[Kids and their 92yo great grandpa, and his ipad =)]

> Presence of Family 

I’ve lived away from my parents and almost all other family members for more than 22 years, and so now that we get to see them around more often (though it requires some adjustments too on my side, having lived my life ‘independently’ for very long), I feel it’s good for the kids because they now can actually see themselves being a part of a bigger family. They also learn to ‘put into action’ what it means to be respectful towards the elderly, etc.

They are mostly available too to help out and care for the kids if I had video shoots to do.

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> Services are generally lower in cost 

For example, the kids can get a haircut in a salon for S$5. And, part time helpers who are paid by the hour charge less than S$2 / hour.

(If you’re wondering if we now engage a live-in domestic helper, the answer is no. We now engage a part-time helper though who comes for about 2 hours, 3 times a week. Her help with our housework has been great, because our home here somehow gets dusty and dirtier much faster compared to when we lived in Singapore!)

[Together with their Sunday School, both kids went to paddyfields, bathed a water buffalo and tried to catch live fishes with their bare hands. A great experience for them!]

> Access to beautiful nature within a few hours drive

We may not have gardens nor well-maintained local parks, but we can see beautiful mountains, paddy fields and be in the great outdoors within 2 hours drive (or more) from Jakarta.

(Note: Traffic jams are common though, so if you’re to beat the heavy traffic, leaving Jakarta early in the morning is probably best)

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[Late afternoon stroll at Taman Bunga Nusantara]

[Hiking in search of a waterfall at Cijeruk, West Java]

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> Exposure to a greater variety of people from different walks of life

Here in Jakarta, the richest to the poorest of people can all be in front of our very eyes. In my opinion, such exposure to people coming from different walks of life (ie. Those who live tough lives in the streets, I mean) allow our children to see that there are people (even little children) living tough lives every single day. That life is a struggle and is not at all convenient for many, MANY people. Opportunities for us and the kids to give and share with the less fortunate are also more available here.

And to me, putting what the children ‘know’ into action helps a lot in making their learning journey … more ‘real’.

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[During our weekend visit to the mountainside, the kids explored the bushes with me]

[Away from gadgets and technology, they get to do the simplest activities like observing tadpoles and little fishes]

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Well, these are my top 7 good things about living in Jakarta.

Perhaps you can help and add more to the list?