A Wine Tale of Two Cities: Jakarta and Bangkok(1)
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
So begins Dickens' story of two cities (Paris and London) caught-up
in the political turmoil of the French Revolution. Of course the
metropolises of SE Asia are no strangers to political unrest.
Living amongst revolutionary uprisings and governmental see-sawing
has more or less become a way of life in Jakarta and Bangkok. For
the most part life goes on, yet transitional times can have a
depressing affect on lifestyles and local economies. Tourism for
example is very important to both Indonesia and Thailand and with
Jakarta and Bangkok acting as the major gateways into these
countries, times of political change can equate to some very
difficult circumstances for local businesses.
Wine appreciation can be especially tricky in Jakarta and Bangkok.
For a start, taxes in both countries are currently knocking on
around 400%. Indonesia can be a notoriously difficult country for
alcohol importation, with the government often nominating
"red-light" periods where absolutely nothing moves through customs
(without a back-hander anyway).
Having said all this, I have come to appreciate and respect both
cities. Jakarta and Bangkok host an incredible array of foods and
cultures not to mention play home to some of the world's most ardent
lovers of wine - enduring aspects that never fail to draw me.
Jakarta
My first visit to Jakarta was a disaster. It was 2003 and my
husband and I were en-route to a highly anticipated tropical
paradise holiday in Bali. Our travel book of Indonesia revealed
absolutely nothing in Jakarta that may have been remotely of
interest to me and it appeared in fact to be more of a survival
guide section listing all the dos and don'ts in this city plus a
whole manner of tips that might relinquish us from otherwise certain
doom. If I'd had my way we'd have touched down in Jakarta just long
enough to stretch our legs during the swift jaunt between aircraft
to make our connection to Denpasar. But no, my husband's intrepid
nature sentenced us to one night in Indonesia's much derided
capital. This was just after the Bali bombings so my own
fearful-of-an-excruciatingly-painful-death nature was swollen to a
state of barely concealed hysteria.
We arrived at our hotel just as it was growing dusk. While I
usually prefer to stay in small, locally owned hotels, in an effort
to minimise any and all risk I'd booked us into a "reliable" luxury
chain name. It was a best-laid-plan that was to prove deeply flawed
by that overriding natural order that governs all my holidays: Sod's
Law.
The exterior of the hotel was of course heavily guarded (as Jakarta
hotels remain today) - I wasn't complaining. But once inside I
began to wonder if the guards weren't in fact there merely to
contain the scene of utter chaos that was unfolding. The lobby was
overflowing with angry guests and no one seemed to be able to get a
room. After about an hour of fighting our way to the front of the
queue we managed to ascertain that the hotel had been flooded and
that only a few rooms were habitable. Lucky for us, they could
offer us one. After hauling our luggage up six flights of stairs
(the lifts were out) and a labyrinth of water sodden halls, my hope
was fading. Rightfully so ?the floor of our luxury room was
beneath four inches of water. Five minutes into a heated discussion
with the porter about the meaning of habitable, the lights flickered
and we were plunged into pitch blackness with only a few working
emergency lights to guide us back to the lobby and into a taxi out
of there.
Back in 2003 I was seriously ticked about giving up one night of my
glorious Bali nights for an evening of squalor in Jakarta. But
recently the promise of a dinner featuring some very fine and rare
wines tempted me back and I'm pleased that it did because it was an
opportunity to experience a little of what Jakarta really has to
offer.
