Last Day
Today is already my last day here in Jakarta. I can’t believe it. I didn’t get to do as many fun things as I had hoped because I ended up being a bit too busy, but it was fun to be here anyway. I certainly ate well.
I figured something out today. I’ve been seeing signs all over the place at little street-side shops signs for obat hot. I have always wondered what this means. Obat means "medicine," but hot is not an Indonesian word that I’m familiar with. Well, I figured it out. I was stuck in traffic in a taxi that was next to one of these signs, and was better able to see what else was on the sign. Underneath obat hot, it said pil biru, and then had a blue diamond with the word Pfizer on it. Aha! Pil biru means "blue pill," meaning that obat hot just means "hot medicine." That means that people are selling either bootlegged or plain old fake Viagra. I think that all doctors should inform their patients that they aren’t selling them a medicine to cure erectile dysfunction, rather just some "hot medicine."
lovely blog.. even better if it’s not anonymous http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html
Thanks Budhi. Although, you know, it’s not really that anonymous if you look around hard enough.
I like your blog a lot. I miss Indonesia, haven’t been there in a while and reading your blog makes me want to book a trip right away. However, the 18hr nonstop flight from Newark to Singapore is definitely a killer. There’s only so much tetris (the game) that you can do while you are in the air…lol. Welcome Home!!
Dan
Philly, PA
Welcome to Jakarta. I am sure that you will found so many weird things in Jakarta other than: ” hot obat ”
Nice Blog!