Jakarta, Rains and Singapore Airlines
Little dots of green and brown in the middle of surfing waves was the first glimpse of Indonesia’s many islands as my plane pierced through the clouds. I always take a window seat whenever it’s a day journey or if it's my first visit to the country. So was this time. I was visiting Indonesia first time. As I approached Jakarta, I could also see many rectangular shaped string of wooden sticks stuck in the water. Were these fishing nets? My curiosity of deciphering them without success may have made my nose tip flat by pressing hard against the aircraft window but it didn’t deter me to shift my focus to check of any human settlement on these little islands. Most of them did not show except an occasional house perched amidst banana and coconut trees. I wondered the economic feasibility of providing electricity, food to these 17,000 islands. No wonder only 6,000 are inhabited. Can Indonesia not consider making money by selling these islands to rich people of the west? My wild though...