Jason's Jakarta Jottings #2 : Time Difference

    I just learned a few weeks back that Indonesia is so far spread out that they have 3 times zones. Being in Jakarta, the time here is (GMT +7) 1 hour behind Malaysia.  In Bali and nearby islands, its GMT +8, or same time as KL, and finally nearer towards Australia, in Papua, its GMT +9 (1 hour ahead of Malaysia)


The thing is, even though its an hour behind Malaysia here, the sun here rises at 6.15 in the morning and sets about 6-ish in the evening. (thats about same time in Malaysia if you factor in the time difference). So now, usually i will be wide awake at 7-ish or 8 on weekends because the sun is already up, and fools me to think I am oversleeping... And at night, I tend not to go out after work even though its only 7pm cause its already pitch black outside.

Its especially weird when i get off work at 5pm, jam my way back for an hour, and this its all dark. It almost feels like as if I worked till 8pm or something.

Looks like I just gotta get used to the timing here.

Early to bed,
Early to rise,
Makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise!

Observations during the World Cup 2010

Its the third week of World Cup in South Africa and over here, there is a huge following.

Its a once in 4 years thing where even non fans and most importantly women, suddenly become football fans. No doubt, this is a great way to break ice among strangers. Just talking about football and easily the conversations will get going. There has not been abetter time to get to know a person better than using the World Cup as a starting point.

It is also the time when people of all ages and races unites at restaurants, cafes,pubs, bars, to watch football. We share our joys and grief together. It is definitely a true 1 Malaysian spirit that our politicians aim to achieve.








ANother thing that I've noticed is the amount of "coffee shop talk".
Well this obviously stems from the above ice breaking conversations made lah.
Suddenly every1, regardless of whether they have ever kicked a ball in their life, to transform into a football pundit. They can tell you the formation, the tactics, who is on form and etc.
But the funny part is that sometimes these people are jsut trying to makes sense to themselves. When you've played football before, you would understand the basics and that it is definitely not an easy game to play. Cursing other for being losy when one has never kicked a ball in their life is a big no-no for me.

Well, actually i've been guilty of playing the role of football pundit myself, but hey, i've played the game for many and still do. I also follow the game quite closely, so in total i've played football for about 15 years now. I won't say I'm a great pundit like those we see on ESPN, but hey, I do understand the concepts lah~~~

What I even hate most during this time is people who gamble and curse everytime the team he or she backs misses a glorious chance. YOu will hear them curse non stop. Dude, if you wanna gamble, you gotta be preprared to lose. And please, if you don't love the game there is no need for you to show disrespect to the other people who love to watch football on its own. Football is already a great sport, there is no need for gamblers like you to exist. Your sad pathetic excuse that gambling makes football exciting is outdated and dumb. its obvious that you do not enjoy football, and do not enjoy how much goes on on the field. People only gamble in football esp. during the World Cup types are ppl who just dont wanna feel left out in the enthusiasm of the game. To make them feel more enthusiastic than the average fan, they gamble. That way they feel the "kan cheong"ness of every moment in the game. Utter rubbish!

There are also a huge amount of sleepy workers turning up at the office every morning, no thanks to the world cup. This only happens once in 4 years and it is quite funny to hear the sleepy colleagues talk about the game they stayed up to watch in the wee hours of the morning.

Oh, World Cup is also a time when we football fan do not have to suffer from the dreaded football withdrawal syndrome everytime the European leagues season ends. With the World cup, we only get like a months break from football =)

ANyways, those are my observations so far. Might add to the list as i think about it.


Boodyboy, out!!!