Alterity | Jakarta and Bali

This is the sensational Jenny Cortez shot that everyone is talking about. Click on the image for a full size pic - but don't click there (hahaha!)

Now this is good news: one of Indonesia’s hottest showbiz stars, the irrepressible Julia Perez is set to become a politician! Eight parties, including Hanura, Gerindra and the National Resurrection Party (PKB), asked Jupe to be their candidate in Pacitan even though she was not born or even raised in the East Java district. Wow! But is the bikini clad star really up for it? Does she have the intellectual acumen and strategic insights necessary to formulate crucial economic and social polices at the local level? Well here is what she has to say: “I doesn’t know much about the world of government, but I am ready to learn”. But what sort of policies will she advocate? Well, if she needs some ideas perhaps she could consider the ones below: Policy ideas for Julia's political manifesto 1. End Censorship • Bring about the establishment of a truly national classification scheme which includes a special rating for Indonesian erotica. • Introduce an R and X rating for computer games. • NO ...

The wrongdoings of a corrupt tax office employee (and now his wife) may be making all the headlines in Indonesia, but far from these shores there is another corruption case involving Indonesia which - I have been informed – has far, far wider repercussions - if the case were ever to be investigated in Indonesia (which is highly unlikely). In some ways I have some sympathy for Innospec. Because it is – so I have been told – impossible to conduct business in Indonesia unless the inner cogs of the vast machinery are kept well and truly greased. Different companies go about this in different ways. I once met a guy who told me he would spend afternoons on the golf course and make utterly preposterous golfing bets with his “golfing partner” during the course of the game – bets he knew he was obviously going to lose. By the end of the round he was hundreds of thousands of dollars down. Can I sink this put from 83 meters? Yeah sure I can. Wanna bet on it? So what did Innospec do that was so wr...

Poppy comes to Jakarta but doesn’t find the sidewalks paved in gold – in fact mostly she doesn’t even find any sidewalks at all – just open drains that are occasionally coverage by stone slabs. Yes she’s sexy and yes she ends up working in a bar (what else is there for her to do?). From then on in it’s a tale of drugs and debt and even a little bit of striptease chucked in – just for good measure. And so a confused Poppy has to make a choice: Friendship, Love or Virginity? Well that’s a difficult question to answer. Especially when you only have two options! Starring: Ardina Rasty, Michella Adlen Ladouceur, Jamsa Prajasasmita

It must have been a “hard” decision to make but the constitutional court has only gone and upheld the much maligned “anti-pornography law”!  Indonesia's Constitutional Court on Thursday threw out an appeal of a controversial anti-porn law, in a blow to some secular parties, minorities and artists who had said it threatened freedom of expression. The court said concerns about the law's ambiguity, lack of regard for certain ethnic and religious minorities, and its potential to incite vigilantism, were exaggerated. There was one dissenting opinion from the panel of eight judges.   Source: Washington Post   In typical fashion, of course, the lawmakers couldn’t “get their heads around” the issues at hand and - rather than rejecting this nonsense outright - have instead upheld a law which defines pawn in such “broad” terms that it even makes the Taliban look liberal.  In the final legislation, pornography is described as "pictures, sketches, photos, writing, voice, sound...

How would you feel if you woke up one morning to find the delightful Ola (Revalina S Temat) warming the sheets next to you? Very happy of course! But also very surprised if you didn’t know her! A truly bizarre state of affairs but the basis of a titillating Indonesian sex comedy served up by our friends at Kanta Film. In the film Ola doesn’t recognise Riyo (Tora Sudiro) either. So she accuses him of abducing her in order to take unapproved carnal advantage of her undeniably curvatous body. Definitely rocky grounds for an amorous relationship one might think, but the bad feelings are quickly forgotten and Mat Jago (Ola’s father) is insistent that Riyo does the honourable thing and marry his lovely daughter. Arr… a happy ending. For Riyo at least! Hahaha! Also starring : Tyas Mirasih

JP> Authorities said Wednesday that they will not issue a permit for an international gay and transgender group to convene a regional conference in Surabaya because of fears it could incite unrest .  The international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex association (ILGA) had been scheduled to meet from Friday to Sunday in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city.  "This is a bit of a prickly problem for us and based on intelligence reports we believe this event could generate social disturbances,” a spokesman told reporters.   “They may bring along dangerous sex toys and use these as “offensive” weapons. Have you ever seen one of those being used “in action”?  Frightening. Worse than a bloody truncheon!” “And what if they plan orgies afterwards? This will only draw paying punters away from our city’s very own Dolly , which, after all, we are very proud of and have never tried to close down.”   >END

6. Mangosteen. The prickly durian may be the “King of fruits” but the honor of “Queen of fruits” is deservedly given to the mangosteen, a simply sublime fruit whose flavor the British explorer Burbidge described as "...something like that of the finest nectarine, but with a dash of strawberry and pine-apple added." And so yummy is this fruit that the British monarch Queen Victoria herself once famously offered 100 pounds – a huge sum at the time – to “anyone who would bring her one." This gave the encouragement to creative horticulturalists in Old Blighty to try and grow one – more for honor than monetary reward. And thus, in 1855, the UK, with its most miserable of climes, achieved the impossible: the first ever fruiting of this fabled tropical fruit on British soil! And here I quote: This feat was accomplished at Syon Park, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Northumberland, by their highly skilled gardener John Ivison. The greenhouse complex was heated to maintain a s...

WTF moments come thick and fast in Indonesia.  This time I’m in South Jakarta, crossing the road and carefully avoiding the lunatic motorcycle riders who speed toward me, when I notice an enormous mansion shimmering in the distance, seemingly covered in gold!!!    Curiosity often squashes the Jakarta cat but I still feel compelled to get a closer look at this architectural masterpiece. So I make my way over there. Five minutes of walking later and this is what I see: An absolutely gargantuan house – my picture doesn’t do it justice – which seemingly pays homage to the celebrated gay fashion designer Gianni Versace who was tragically murdered by a psychopathic rent boy. Closer inspection and you can make out the trademark lions. Yep. This is a true Versace pad alright, right down to the finest details. Quite incredible but just a tad ostentatious don’t you think, given the harsh poverty not so far away? Heck, whatever next? Gilt edged houses of worship ? Well you sho...

Still remember the Blair Witch Project? I’m sure you do – even if it was released more than 10 years ago. The three young student filmmakers who hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch, and subsequently go missing one by one? And now we have Terekam. A sort of Indonesian take on the Blair Witch Project. The big difference though is that the three filmmakers are all sexy Indonesian women – Olga Lydia, Monique Henry and – would you believe it – the inimitable Julia Perez! The madness begins when the sexy model Olga Lydia decides (for some reason that only she can know) that she wants to shoot a horror film. So Olga gets a couple of her sexiest looking mates - Monique Henry and Julia Perez (Jupe) – to join her in her gorefest quest. Soon they end up in a house which belongs to Siska (Olga’s friend), and it’s then that the really weird shit starts to happen. Not a great film but fans of Jupe won’t want to mi...

In the cutthroat world of the Indonesian celebrity circus, fame and fortune are the only thing that matters. But only a few celebs ever really “make it” to the “big time”; the large majority of them are left to die a slow and miserable death like a beached whale on a Bali beach. In such cases, their reach exceeds their grasp. Yes they have talents but not so far above the average that they are able to succeed by the light of natural brilliance alone. They arrive on the scene, arouse some attention for a short while, and then simply disappear from the public eye. So what can be done to avoid this terrible fate? Well, large numbers of them turn into schemers, betraying their fellow celebs, stabbing them (metaphorically or otherwise) in the back, and just generally behaving in a really bitchy way. But there are also a smaller number who will seek notoriety - since it is so much easier to be exceptionally bad than to be exceptionally good. A perfectly sensible approach of course. After all...

The Jakarta Post reports that six months after marrying movie director Hanung Bramantyo, actress Zaskia Adya Mecca is now pregnant: But despite her pregnancy she still intends to carry on working: “Next week, I will be going to Bangkok and Bali for some commercial shoots,” she said. “But I’m planning to take some medicine to keep my baby healthy.” Besides taking medication, Zaskia has been adhering to a strict diet, staying away from junk food and canned drinks. “I’m only eating healthy foods,” she said. Good for her. And let’s hope she stops smoking as well! Don't smoke if you're pregnant - it's not healthy for the baby.

1. Bananas (pisang) . Ever the butt of crude joke makers everywhere, bananas are potent imagery in a country where the warm and sultry tropical climate lends itself toward amorous encounters. Indonesia has at least 42 varieties of banana, ranging from the sickly sweet Pisang Mas (gold banana) to the absolutely huge Pisang Ambon. No wonder Indonesia has a large and growing population (240,271,522 and counting).  2. Rambutan . These testicular looking fruits are a delight to eat – if not to touch. Get to the wonderfully juicy flesh inside by breaking open the hairy fruit by squeezing it between your thumb and first finger. But be warned - when buying these fruits in the market they’ll probably already be crawling in ants – which are presumably attracted by the fruit’s sweetness. So either wash the rambutans in a bucket of water when you get home or expect to get ants in your pants when you unpeel and eat them! 3. Durian . Definitely an acquired taste, the English writer Anthony Bu...

Although they are not supposed to, Indonesians love a punt. So every so often, groups of Indonesians get together in a unique social gathering in which they conduct what can only be called a private lottery or betting pool (the local term for the activity is arisan). Each member of the group contributes a similar amount of money, it is added to the pot, and then the name of the lucky winner is drawn. The winner gets to take the cash home of course. But arisan is not really gambling in its purest form because the names of the winners are progressively removed from the pot - meaning that everyone wins once in one cycle of the lottery (which varies depending on how many people enter). Arisan groups are particularly popular among housewives and upper class women who use these social events for gossip and bragging opportunities: Life is a lottery. Get lucky and you get the girl. But which one? Who would you rather go to bed with? Bella Saphira Heather Storm Free polls from Pollhost.com

Roy lagi omong sama dua temannya. Budi omong duluan: “Saya berfikir isteri saya main sama tukang. Kemarin saya ketemu sebuah obeng yg bukan milik saya dibawah tempat tidurku!” “Gila!” bekata Dimas. “Saya curiga isteri saya main sama mechanik. Kemarin saya ketemu sebuah spanner yg bukan milik saya dibawah tempat tidurku!” Lalu Roy omong: “Saya berfikir isteri saya main sama kuda!” Dua temannya lihat dia aneh. “Ya ya,” bekata Roy. “Kemarin saya pulang dan ketemu seorang jockey dibawah tempat tidurku!” Hahaha! Sigi Wimala takes news of the affair badly… But she’s happy again now!

Indonesia may have its fair share of desperately poor people - including people so poor they can pass themselves off as hobbits (I kid you not) – but there are heaps of rich people too. But who are these rich people? And who are the richest? Well, it’s not that easy to get a definitive answer as the rich can use nominee accounts and employ other trickery to hide their wealth – or simply not report it – but Forbes has come up with a new list that places seven Indonesians in the worlds 1,000 richest people. They are:  1. Michael Hartono, ranked 258 (70 years old) US$ 3.5 billion  2. R Budi Hartono, ranked 258 (69 years old) US$ 3.5 billion  These two brothers founded Djarum, now Indonesia’s third largest cigarette company. The cash is continuing to pile up as Indonesian smokers puff away in huge numbers but growing realization among Muslims that smoking causes death (Muhammadiyah has just passed a fatwa saying smoking in haram ) may make things tougher in the longer term...

Good job lads. Nice to get things sorted just ahead of my visit. And to whom should I make the US$10 million (Rp100 billion) cheque out to?

After writing about long distance bus trips in my previous post, I was interested to come across the largely unreported news that a Presidential Decree (Peraturan Presiden or Perpres) has been issued which gives the go-ahead for what will be the most ambitious construction project ever undertaken by Indonesia:  the 29 km long Selat Sunda Bridge linking Java to Sumatra.  So long is the planned bridge that it makes the recent construction of the Rp5,438 m Suramadu Bridge that links Java to Madura look like a little kid’s meccano project. But like all grand undertakings, the Selat Sunda Bridge doesn’t come with a low price tag and will cost an estimated Rp100 trillion (around US$10 billion) to build (or more than 20 times the Rp4.5 trillion it cost to build the Suramadu Bridge!)  To put this number into perspective it amounts to a phenomenal Rp1.05 million for every working person in this country (based on a 95 million strong workforce) and is about twice the entire state...

For sadomasochist travelers Indonesia has a lot to offer.  You can fly on vintage airplanes that have done enough miles in their lifetime to get to the moon and back – one of Jupiter’s moons that is – and you can travel on aging, rust-bucket inter-island ferries that seemingly defy all known scientific laws and somehow remain afloat (but not always, unfortunately for those onboard at the time). And you can take a long distance bus ride. And believe me, when I say long distance, I mean long distance.  I’m not sure what the longest bus journey in Indonesia is (my personal record is the 30 hour torture trip from Medan to Bengkulu in Sumatra) but it is quite possible to go from Jakarta to Banda Aceh for example (1,830 KM), and even from Jakarta to Bima – a grueling three-day trip, including three ferry trips (you’d better pray the seas aren’t rough)!  To make the journey especially uncomfortable the bus company will astutely take out the seats when they first procure the bu...

Seorang cewek muda hamil tidak sengaja. Dia takut dan mengakui kehamilannya kepada ibunya. Ibunya marah sekali. “Siapalah nama anjing yang hamilin kamu!!” “Saya harus tahu!!!” Putrinya lalu angkat telepon dan telepon seorang. Setengah jam lagi, sebuah mobil Ferrari berhenti persis di depan rumah mereka di Depok. Seorang laki yang rapi keluar mobilnya. Dia masuk rumah. Lalu si laki itu omong terus terang kepada mereka bertiga. “Selamat sore. Anakmu sudah jelas kepada saya masalahnya. Tapi saya ngak bisa menikah dia. Orang tua saya tidak setuju. Tapi saya akan tanggung jawab dan nanti - setelah bayi itu lahir - saya akan kasih dua toko, satu rumah mewak di Pondok Indah, satu villa di Bali, dan 5 milliar rupiah sebagai appreciasi kasih saya anak. Apalagi, kalau twins, saya akan kasih 10 milliar rupiah. Tetapi, kalau guguran apa saya harus buat?” Si papa yang sampai ini diam saja, berdiri dan taruh tangan di atas bahu si laki itu dan berkata: “Kamu harus coba bikin bayi lagi!!!” Hahaha! Ja...

Of course you would! She is so hot and sexy that she would make a very good date. But it’s not all been an “easy ride” for this self-confessed material girl - she’s also had to endure some pretty painful experiences as well. And most recently she was burned with an electric thermos. As she writes on her Facebook page: Sory 4 sounding Jng prh percaya lagi sama muka inosent nya KIKI the POTTRs. Lengan aku di tempel termos listrik. Luka yng ga akan prn hilang,dan jadi berbekas slamanya. Makasi yah syg.kmu ksh aku kenang2an yng ga bisa aku luapiiim” Nikita Mirzani says thanks for her latest body marking: even though it’s not a tattoo this time!

After the horrors (sic) of “The Menstruating Ghost” aka Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan we now have another sex-horror movie to look forward to. This time the gore and whore are provided in equally generous proportions in a simply exquisite production by the fine folk at Rapi Film. The plot centers on a bunch of youths who make an amateur movie at a railway station and later discover “demons” on the footage when the movie is played back. Thinking they can make money from this discovery, they return to take more video footage but are then all killed by the demons - expect for Rasty. Rasty’s only hope? To find the girl who was long ago raped and killed at the train station. Then – and only then – can Rasti end the terrible curse by burning the poor girl’s shroud. But is Rasty up to it? Well you’ll have to watch the film to find out… Rasty: under pressure to find the virgin’s shroud Starring (sic): Adina Rasti, Ratu Felisha , Sarah Jane and Smitha Anjani.