The Guardian Cities team is live in the Indonesian capital to get under the skin of south-east Asia’s greatest megacity. Here’s a snapshot of what we found on Day 1
4.19pm GMT
That’s it from us for today – we’ve enjoyed hearing all your wise and hilarious suggestions (yes, I’ll definitely try eating the artificial foam food, what a good idea), and hope you enjoy the rest of the content we’ve got planned for this week ... which starts tomorrow with Philip Sherwell’s expose, months in the making, on what must be the most ambitious project on earth to stop a city from literally sinking into the ocean: the Great Sea Wall...
In the meantime, notwithstanding some brilliant and edifying updates from around the city from our correspondents David Munk, Kate Lamb and Jamie Wilson, I leave the last word to south-east Asia correspondent Oliver Holmes, who just wins on style. That’s it from the Guardian Cities team, see you tomorrow.
I found one way to avoid Jakarta traffic... #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/aXDTRrsyY0
4.10pm GMT
Tonight’s sold-out event at the Goethe-Institut, brilliantly hosted by Marco Kusumawijaya, was a roaring success, one that felt at times more like a TV comedy variety show – due in no small part to David Nurbianto, the 26-year-old comedian who was a fountain of wit and wisdom.
As David said, Jakarta is suffering from an identity crisis, its Betawi roots lost – “Even on the rare occasion that we have a smart Betawi like JJ Rizal [the historian and fellow guest], we stereotype him as being less good” – and he urged Jakartans to learn about their history and beware their civic duty. “People come to Jakarta only to earn money, but I hope they don’t just exploit the city and then leave because they can afford to live somewhere else nice. What about us, who have an emotional connection to Jakarta? Where can we go if they ruin it for us?”
"Jakarta is a stressful city. But you always want to come back despite its insanity"
- @kartikajahja #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/DI9SyFwxb8
“Haven’t you been listening? Everything we’ve said here today has answered that question – Jakarta doesn’t need any leader at all!”
3.49pm GMT
Thanks so much to everyone who contributed today and please keep sharing photos and stories with us throughout the week – here’s how.
Tips to survive Jakarta’s traffic: leave your car and use @PT_TransJakarta instead! @guardiancities
@guardiancities Watch some talkshows, listen to podcasts, and chew on snacks. Also see interesting things around you. #GuardianJakarta
@guardiancities I usually read e-book in my tablet or smartphone or bring a novel book. I spend 5 hours a day in the traffic.
@guardiancities Ojek+commuter train+Ojek. Listen to radio while waiting. OR go to nearest pub/coffee shop & wait till traffic subsides.
@guardiancities Since the rise of motorbike ride apps I haven't driven my own car in over a year. #GuardianJakarta
2.23pm GMT
Sport gets the army treatment
In May, Indonesian football finally had its ban lifted by world governing body Fifa (itself no stranger to controversy), after the national government agreed to stop interfering too much in the game’s affairs. Or something like that.
2.03pm GMT
At the port. These are the large boats that spend 3 days docked and 3 months at sea. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/zl0Zk1iImO
Boat tour. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/X0mqN4CNuY
Tahir, 62. Likes fish. Dislikes reclaimation. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/dFV6LBWLog
1.46pm GMT
Some highlights from tonight’s Jakarta at 30 Million debate …
"Jakarta is a stressful city. But you always want to come back despite its insanity"
- @kartikajahja #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/DI9SyFwxb8
"You say you hate cars. So why do you people buy so many cars?" Comedian David Koropitan at #GuardianJakarta live event pic.twitter.com/ZWvwMW37YD
"80% of Jakartans think they have access to clean water -when actually only 40% do" - @evimsofian #GuardianJakarta
1.24pm GMT
Our collaboration with Tempo has also borne fruit in the shape of a fascinating investigation by their reporter, Larissa Huda, into the ongoing issue of football hooliganism in Jakarta.
Related: Jakarta's hooligan problem: violence and deaths surround 'Jakmania' football fans
12.29pm GMT
Jakarta is quite a flat city: there aren’t steep streets or hillside neighbourhoods. So where do you go to get a great view over the city? Share your photos of your favourite views in Jakarta and where you can see them from. You can share pictures on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #GuardianJakarta or Whatsapp us on +447881337758.
Jakarta adalah kota yang rata: tidak ada jalan yang curam atau lingkungan yang berbukit. Jadi di mana kamu pergi untuk mendapatkan pemandangan kota ini? Bagi foto-foto pemandangan Jakarta favoritmu dan di mana kamu bisa melihatnya. Kamu bisa bagi lewat Twitter dan Instagram dengan tagar #GuardianJakarta atau Whatsapp kami di +447881337758.
12.05pm GMT
I just finished a meeting with M’bah P’ea Ki Nogo Koro, a self proclaimed dukun, or witchdoctor. Each week, he says, he receives dozens of customers seeking help with their love life, or remedies for problems with their health or career.
M'bah P'ea Ki Nogo Rogo at his home, with ondel ondel, a traditional Betawi puppet in the background. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/myrNVpnv4q
11.30am GMT
Jakartans and Indonesians can be superstitious. That’s where dukun, or witchdoctors, mystics and paranormals come in. Advertising their services in the local papers across Jakarta, local paranormals say they can ward off black magic, heal lunacy, cleanse your aura, or that of your home or office. Oh, and for important events, a wedding or film shoot for example, people also hire pawan hujan, or rainstoppers, to make sure it doesn’t rain on your event …
11.06am GMT
The every-form-of-transport-in-one-afternoon mission draws to a close …
Trip 7. New form of transport through Jakarta. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/WPEJm062RX
And finally trip 8. On two wheels. Go Jek heading toward a well earned refreshment. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/CWvB5S6hFQ
10.39am GMT
For our week of reporting from Jakarta, we’ve asked a team of great Instagrammers (including @sam_otitt, @indostreets, @liewielliam and @aditpk) to take photos all around the city and tag them with #GuardianJakarta. Tag your own photos of the Indonesian capital this week and a selection will be featured in a gallery on Guardian Cities.
9.53am GMT
Leading urbanist Marco Kusumawijaya of the city’s Rujak Centre explains the key struggle for Jakartans: how to imagine the future of their city.
Unlike other megalopolises across the world, and in sharp contrast to the trend of global urbanisation, more people are actually leaving Jakarta than arriving. The city’s net migration rate has been negative since at least 1990.
Imagining a future for this chaotic metropolis is very difficult for most people who live and work here. If they imagine anything, it’s to detach their own future from the city.
Related: Jakarta at 30 million: my city is choking and sinking – it needs a new Plan B
Related: Jakarta di 30 juta: Kotaku tercekat dan tenggelam – dibutuhkan rencana alternatif baru
9.43am GMT
As part of Guardian Jakarta Week, we have joined forces with Tempo, Indonesia’s leading source for investigative journalism, on several special reports, as well as a live event this Wednesday entitled Indonesia and the Media.
Tempo has been and will always be about independent reporting and quality journalism. These are the qualities that we – as Jakartans and Indonesians – desperately need more and more in the media now, especially when we see there is no sign of abating corruption while sectarianism and intolerance are on the rise.
We want to remain the voice of reason in this city. That is why we are joyful to be invited to collaborate with the Guardian, and to discuss Indonesia and the international media [at the event on Wednesday 23 November]. Hopefully the forum will shed some lights on some of the concern people have about Indonesia’s image abroad, and how journalists can do a better job in reporting the facts.
9.22am GMT
I’ve met up with the men who clean Jakarta’s rivers, balancing on foam rafts and scooping up the rubbish with a giant stick that also works as an oar.
Jakarta's river cleaners. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/qWj7FHk1uw
Yup, there are snakes in there... #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/KtPcQklNR4
9.01am GMT
Pineapple peeling, Jakarta style #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/71eGrzDiyq
Jakarta's food stalls come in all shapes and sizes, but this one is definitely the most bijou so far #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/jTDuWxEdAX
Deep fried tofu. The oil is re-used over and over again. Some people say it makes it taste better... #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/ERPjXLf61s
It's been a very long lunchtime #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/lQCdOuUATM
8.36am GMT
Jakarta’s deputy governor has come up with a programme to control the city’s expanding rat population – a cash bounty of 20,000 rupiahs for each live rat handed in. That’s about $1.50, which is generous in a country where many live on $2 a day.
Related: Jakarta's Rat Eradication Movement: public offered cash reward for live rats
8.34am GMT
This week we’re asking you what the best and worst things abut life in Jakarta are, and what you would change to improve the city. Already over 130 people have contributed – thank you! – and if you want to add your voice, you can by contributing here.
8.16am GMT
The every-form-of-transport-in-one-afternoon mission continues...
Trip 5. In a Bajaj. Off to see statue of Obama. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/yu9LhPG7PN
Food on the go. Jakarta style. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/6EaESZ2TUK
The young @BarackObama @POTUS "The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams" #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/PFYgtvsN7X
7.55am GMT
Peaceful, shady, green spaces are an all-too precious commodity in Jakarta. So the haven of eco-friendliness that residents of Tongkol and its neighbouring kampungs have created along their riverbanks would, you might imagine, be held up as a rare example of good urban practice in this rubbish-clogged, highly polluted city.
You’d be wrong.
7.08am GMT
They say to get to know a city you really need to get to know its food – and in Jakarta that means heading to the street. Here’s some of what I’ve found so far.
Time for some morning refreshment in Tak Kie, one of the oldest coffee shops in Chinatown. Condensed milk compulsory #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/TjdjYgZm7q
I've headed south to Blok S where Woody is preparing meatballs for the lunch crowd he hopes will show up despite the rain #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/kCAmjyocoS
Bang Boy uses 500 fish a day to make his Somay, a kind of steamed fish cake #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/s9BfnRRjy8
6.48am GMT
Mr Udin, 52, owns a Chinese medicine shop in Glodok. It has been boiling up roots, flowers and herbs for 25 years.
Mr Udin mixing up some Chinese medicine in Glodok. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/JbWwN3fwFs
Stage one. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/LzBxN5ypnD
Stage two. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/g9LUfWi5Jb
6.27am GMT
Today I’m meeting people in Jakarta’s tight-knit neighbourhoods, known as kampungs, starting with the one I used to live in.
How it feels. Hujan terus #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/3YAPIfgCek
The Four Seasons and the kampung. Jakarta is a city of extreme juxtapositions sometimes. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/A4BtAdGsKJ
I met Achmad Adamadli, 61, a pensioner earlier today. Each day he trawls the streets for plastic bottles to sell. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/MsbhmJU9zt
6.00am GMT
My mission to take every form of transport Jakarta has to offer continues...
Lots of things you can't do on this train. No guns and smelly fruit for sure. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/ytfHf7B2w8
Trip 2: the minibus. No doors and a man with a ukulele hanging off the side. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/mA9tWWIUW3
Not sure if this counts. But trip 3. Cable car. #guardianjakarta pic.twitter.com/tKEfBVrzrd
Trip 4. Back to central Jakarta on the bus. Air condition joy again. And empty. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/BEYdad1jnM
So doom arrived at 12.25pm. Chock a block. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/ev1P8vuMvF
5.43am GMT
We’re in Jakarta this week to listen and learn – not least tonight, at the first of our live events, entitled “Jakarta at 30 million: where does the city go next?”
It’s an interesting time to be an Indonesian woman – particularly in Jakarta, where women have more freedom to access education, information and technology. On the one hand, we are more aware than ever of our potentials and our rights as women. On the other, we are still chained to a lot of traditional or religious norms that are holding us back.”
No, I don’t. Like almost everything else in the world, the people who run the show are men. Which means plans and policies only consider the male perspective, without attending to women’s needs.”
It takes a special set of eyes to see the beauty of Jakarta. But once you see it, you’ll fall in love. Jakarta people have a sense of resilience and spirit I don’t find anywhere else. Almost everything you see in the city is expensive and less-than-decent – from public facilities to law enforcement to education – yet we celebrate life in our own Jakarta way every day. I don’t know how we do it.”
I’m not. But I’m still here.”
5.26am GMT
Our team of intrepid reporters is currently getting soaked, live, from around the city. Tell them what to do and where to go in the comments below or on Twitter using #GuardianJakarta
Not sure if this counts. But trip 3. Cable car. #guardianjakarta pic.twitter.com/tKEfBVrzrd
This is Karyudi, who sells chicken porridge, a breakfast dish made from rice, on the corner of the Chinatown market #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/kHJ3nUDq1X
As I said, great things are portable in Jakarta's kampungs. The local fish shop. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/UHu7PXXFPF
Started today at an Ahok campaign rally for the capital's gubernatorial election next year. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/yroSvjSc2r
5.01am GMT
Republika leads with a grim story of violence against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, Myanmar. Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs, has said that the Indonesian Embassy at Yangon is keeping a close eye on developments: Indonesia is the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation and takes a keen interest on how Muslims in the region are treated. The Jakarta Post, meanwhile, has a feature on the Indonesian government’s efforts to team up with the World Bank to attract foreign investors for its toll roads.
Good news, meanwhile, for Indonesian sports fans. Kompas Newspaper has splashed a photo of the Indonesian badminton men’s double players Marcus Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya, celebrating their victory in the China Open Super Series Premier yesterday. Indonesians love badminton, and the pair’s victory has sparked hope for a new star in men’s doubles after the country’s hero, Hendra Setiawan, quit the national team. Along with Fernaldi and Sanjaya, Olympic mixed double gold medalists Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir also won big. Gadi Makitan
Related: 'Biggest invisible thing on earth?' – It's called Indonesia, and it's waking up
4.41am GMT
The never-ending flood of motorbikes, cars and minibuses belching black smoke mean Jakarta city centre is not renowned for its clean air, nor as a prime running location.
Jakarta 100K - traffic was an issue ... But atmosphere was great https://t.co/SXLZcQgcAk
Every Sunday Jakarta closes its main street to cars and the people come out ... Why can't London have a #CarFreeDay? pic.twitter.com/uPvR8VL6fP
4.15am GMT
What do you do when your president gives an important press conference wearing a fly bomber?
If you’re Jakartan, you start a hashtag, of course ... and within days the bomber sells out at Zara.
Your president would never... #JaketJokowi pic.twitter.com/UWZbBDVING
Related: Welcome to Twitter city: is there no limit to Jakarta's social media obsession?
3.36am GMT
Throughout the day, our correspondents are reporting from around the city. Tell them what to do! Either in the comments below or via #guardianjakarta
So, I’m going to be whizzing – if that is the right word – around Jakarta using as many different transport forms I can find. Jakarta is notorious for its dreadful traffic and Indonesians have embraced the latest techno fixes to assuage this – mainly with apps for taxis and motorcycle rides. But still an average commute into the city can last a couple of hours, if not more. Follow me on @davidmunk and on the blog to see how I get on. David Munk, international news editor for Asia-Pacific
Trip 2: the minibus. No doors and a man with a ukulele hanging off the side. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/mA9tWWIUW3
They say to get to know a city you really need to get to know its food – and in Jakarta that means heading to the street. While the city has lots of restaurants – from Michelin-starred fine dining to burger bars and local neighbourhood joints – most of Jakarta’s estimated 10 million inhabitants will rarely, if ever, set foot in any of them. Instead, eating out will usually mean a plate of nasi goreng (fried rice) perched on a stool at a rickety table on the pavement or grabbing a bag of bakso (meatballs) from one of the ubiquitous wooden food carts plying their trade on every street corner. Jamie Wilson, international news editor
Right, I'm on the hunt for Jakarta's best street food, starting in Kota - the city's Chinatown #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/B4mPeLm274
I’m spending time today in the kampungs – the local neighbourhoods – of Jakarta, reporting on the fascinating characters who live and work there: from mobile playground operators to octogenarian chess stars and a real-life practitioner of the (illegal) arts of black magic. Kate Lamb, Jakarta stringer
When the toy shop comes to you! Right outside your school gates. Jakarta's magic is often portable. #GuardianJakarta pic.twitter.com/Bi96sKK20W
I’m working the north Jakarta beat – starting in Glodok, the capital’s Chinatown since the 17th century, when the Dutch were in control. I’ll work my way north, through the oldest parts of the city, to the port and meet fishermen who are concerned that plans to reclaim parts of the bay will destroy the livelihood on which their families have depended for centuries. Oliver Holmes, south-east Asian correspondent
3.21am GMT
Our question for Monday morning is: what are your top tips for staying sane in the rush hour traffic? Do you listen to music or play games? How do you spend all those hours – and can they be fun? Share your tips and stories in the comments below, or on Twitter using #GuardianJakarta.
@guardiancities Prepare some meals, and good radio channel to avoid the traffic madness ;) #GuardianJakarta
3.11am GMT
Around 10 million people live in the City of Jakarta itself – but the wider metropolitan area is home to an estimated 30 million.
The government is allowing low-density development outside the city, and the wider metro area is spreading. That makes it difficult for public transport because there isn’t the coverage. We need high density development where your first option is walking or cycling, and for longer journeys you can use the bus or metro.
3.02am GMT
It’s 10am, the heat is already sweltering, and we’re about to kick off a week of stories, photojournalism and live events exploring all aspects of life here in the capital of Indonesia.
In partnership with local Jakarta journalists, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the stories that tend to go under-reported even in the city itself – from malls, to rats, to the city’s controversial new flood defence scheme (which, if the pop-up lake outside our office last night was any indication, is desperately needed).
Related: Guardian Jakarta live: what it is, and how to get involved
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