Rojak Timeout (by Shakeleg)

Just like the spicy rojak salad dish, the postings here are about anything and everything under the sun. They're meant to make you a keen, lean, lovin' Internet machine as you wait for the next story to be posted by our authors.

Today's Rojak Timeout is by Shakeleg in Indonesia.



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Shakeleg says:

Jakarta's infamous traffic jams, called "macet" (pronounced mah-chayt), are part and parcel of city life.

A 15-minute drive could stretch to an hour or two because of the jams. The streets are polluted and wearing facemasks is common practice.

To beat the traffic, most people (like me!) opt to hire an ojek, or motorcycle taxi offering to shuttle people to places. These ojek riders are dangerously skilful!


The Pangkalan Ojek, or the Ojek Terminal, typically is at a street corner, usually under trees.

You can spot ojek riders from afar. Use these tips.




(oops spelling error spotted,should be "properly"! :P -- hey, to err is human! Hahaha!)

The helmets used by the ojeks have missing straps and many look like inverted bowls. Not only do they look uncool, they offer no/little protection.



Sure you're not expected to be all covered up like this (below). In any case, you might die of heatstroke if you choose to dress like this. Haha!



You also need to protect yourself from pollution. Check out the guy with the hanky covering half of his face in the photo below. Unlike him, you don't want to look like a suspected terrorist either. Ha!



These are safety tips from me. I got my PSB-tested helmet from Singapore and a cloth face mask (that can be washed and used over and over again).



And now we're ready to go for a spin!