2 weeks in Jakarta (2014)

In January 2014 I had the opportunity to head over to Jakarta for a 2 week stint with a pharmaceutical factory. This is a really good opportunity to see how drugs are actually being manufactured and a good exposure on how the manufacturing industry actually works. This was also my first time being out of the country for a long time (yeah 2-3 weeks is probably really short compared to those who had the opportunity to further their studies in overseas for years). It was also an eye opener to see how life is really like in my neighbouring country and it is always good to see it with your own eyes rather than reading it on the media.

Malindo Airlines

So, with my two friends and I we left KLIA via Malindo Air. This was also my first time taking this airline and I was rather impressed. The seats are definitely much larger than Air Asia's and they have in-flight entertainment as well as providing some snacks for guests even on a short duration flight. About 2 hours later we safely arrived at Jakarta International Airport (Soekarno-Hatta International Airport). It was indeed a huge difference compared to KLIA back in Malaysia as the whole airport seemed pretty runned down.

Blue Bird Taxi. 

As soon as you leave the departure hall, throngs of people will come and approach you to take their taxis, as it is the only way of transport to the city centre anyway. Based on multiple reviews online, the best choice was to take the Blue Bird taxi as they are the most honest operators amongst the others as they run strictly on meter. To get their stand you would have to turn left and find their signage. Be careful of other operators claiming that they represent Blue Bird though. 

Generally taxis are really cheap compared to the fares in Malaysia and it was our main mode of transport whilst travelling throughout Jakarta every single day. It is cheap, IF you are not stuck in the notorious Jakarta jam, which may leave you stuck in the cab for up to hours just to get from one point to another in a relatively short distance. Blue Birds (usually Toyota Vios) can be easily found roaming on most streets of Jakarta and most, if not all, shopping malls have dedicated taxi lanes just for Blue Bird. Perhaps one day, a taxi company in Malaysia can at least be this honest by sticking to the use of meters.

Look alike house

From the airport, we then headed to Bintaro, Southern Jakarta (which was a 40 minute drive) where our placement site is located as well as our accommodation that I've somehow managed to find online on Indonesia housing websites, Wisma Tobana. Upon reaching the area with the help of Google Maps, it was quite apparent that security was really laxed, especially in this area. There are many houses around that aren't gated and even their main door was not locked! We actually couldn't find where exactly was Wisma Tobana and then mistakenly entered the house above. Fortunately nobody was home that time, only their house keeper was around who politely told us we were in the wrong house.

Wisma Tobana - Home for 2 weeks

After clarifying with the locals we then finally found our place of stay, which was actually located behind a narrow alley. The whole building was rather decent but I shall blog about this in another post. After checking in and leaving our luggage, we then headed out towards the main street to explore and find out where exactly is the factory. 

First meal of the day - Nasi Padang

Apparently the location on Google Map of the factory was rather inaccurate as the factory was located in the opposite direction. Fortunately for us it was only a 15 minute walk along the main road (Jalan RC Veteran) from our home. Having said that, every morning and evening we had to endure all the smoke emitted by the never ending traffic which consists mostly of motorcycles. It was a huge challenge to cross the roads as the road users often show no mercy as they fly past. It often required someone to actually to stand in the middle of the road to stop the incoming traffic before people could actually cross the road. Not having any road bumps or zebra crossing throughout the entire stretch of the main road did not help matters.

Our working hours for the two weeks were quite crazy as we had to start at 7.30 in the morning. This was probably the earliest I've ever been to work. It helps a bit when the sun rises here at about 6am. On the plus side we get the go home at 4.30pm! Apparently this working hours only apply to the factory side. Normal businesses still follow 9-5pm working hours. 

Front desk 

Dog statue that greets us everyday at the entrance

Since we were only there for 2 weeks it was mostly on observational basis. Everything here was conducted in Bahasa Indonesia and it was a bit tricky to comprehend at times but we managed well. From sourcing of raw materials, to tablet and parenteral production, packaging, QA, QC etc, all the staffs were really, really friendly and helpful in teaching us the various processes in manufacturing drug products. So sorry for accidentally dropping a 5kg weight on the floor and leaving a big hole hopefully it's fixed now .___. 

Working desk

Entrance pass

Having said that, a lot of the times we were mostly stoning in the room since there's nothing that we could do. But no complaints there since it was already expected. As for lunch, the factory canteen actually prepares food for the workers every single day so we need not go out of the factory to hunt for food (more money to spend on dinner instead)! Food wise was really an eye opener as it was a really typical Indonesian affair. One piece of small chicken, some tempeh, a bowl of really spicy soup, timun, lettuce, one serving of keropok (SOME ARE REALLY DELICIOUS) and refillable tea with a piece of fruit as dessert.

After the placement session has ended we practically have nothing much to do back at our rooms. So our regular night sessions are mostly in shopping malls or hunting for food along the main street. The shopping mall that we frequent almost every night was none other than Pondok Indah Mall which is one of the largest shopping malls in Jakarta with 3 wings. Fortunately there is a shortcut which takes us about 10-15 minutes from our place that bypasses all the crazy traffic jam. At first we were kinda worried that our area is rather secluded but when we saw this mall all our fears were pretty much cleared. This was also where most of our money went ._.  During the weekends we also took the opportunity to explore areas further away from our area.

Makeshift ice-skating rink @ Pondok Indah Mall

Overall it was a really wonderful experience living 2 weeks in Jakarta as well as experiencing life overseas. Due to work commitments soon I foresee this opportunity would be getting lesser and lesser and I cherish every chance I have to go overseas lol.