By your second day, still fuzzy with jet-lag, your employers expect you to at least show up at the office to meet a few people. If you're not here to work, by now you should be bored enough with the hotel facilities (even if it is the Borobudur) to want to see a little of the town. The most effective way of getting around town is in the back of a shiny Mercedes with an English-speaking, hard-nosed, Jakarta-born driver. If you don't happen to have both of these handy, flag down the nearest taxi after you have memorized the accompanying vocabulary.

Street names and addresses are rarely sufficient to get you where you are going in Jakarta unless you are going to a very well known building, hotel or shopping center. Remember to learn the local pronunciation of your hotel or street, you may need it to get back home. Many place and street names are derived from English or other languages, but sometimes they are not pronounced as you would expect. For example, the "Hotel Orchid" is pronounced Ortchid and "Golf" usually has two syllables (Gol-ef).

The best way of giving directions in a taxi is to mention the neighborhood (Kebayoran Baru, Blok M, Jalan Thamrin, Kemang, Pondok Indah etc.) and the street. If there are any tricky turns before you get there, you may want to mention that, too. Don't fall asleep on the ride. Lacking specific instructions, drivers often take you in circles.

Vocabulary (Click on the sound icon to listen)

  Ke kiri - To the left

  Ke kanan - To the right

  terus - straight ahead

  lurus - straight ahead

  ini - this

  itu - that

  rumah - house

  gedung - building

  jalan - street

  Ke mana - Where are you going? (Also a common polite greeting.)

  Saya mau ke Amerika - I am going to United States.

  Saya tidak tahu- I don't know. (This will likely be obvious to the driver but may encourage him to find directions elsewhere.)

   Di sini - Here. (Not really useful, but it's something to say while you're pointing at the house.)

   Di sana - There. (Not really useful, but it's something to say while you're pointing at the house.)

   Kiri, kana? - Left or right? (Drivers often ask this when approaching a street they assured you they grew up on.)

   Berhenti! - Stop! (Often necessary)

   Stop! - Stop! (Often necessary)

   Salah. - Wrong.

   Saya mau pulang. - I want to go home.

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| Day 1 - Being Polite | Day 2 - The Taxi | Day 3 - More Politeness | Day 4 - Numbers | Day 5 - Simple Sentences | Day 6 - Asking Questions | Day 7 - Leftovers |