doomed megalopolis

jakarta. its an acquired taste. its ugly. its crowded, noisy, filthy. rats and rubbish, rickety buses and raucous vendors. the stuffy humid air is noxious. the very rich flaunt their money openly while dozens of children die in the slums of perfectly preventable diseases such as diarrhea. there's corruption on a massive scale. sleaze. vice. calling the traffic system dysfunctional would be making a compliment. the city is flooded annually, spreading the waste and sludge that's deposited in the city's canals across town. there's earthquakes. bombs. riots. its in your face, nothing subtle about it.

...and i have grown to love the town, its spice, its edge, its cast of bizarre characters. though having to spend three and a half hours in traffic this morning to travel 25 km was a bit excessive...