Sleepless in Jakarta<\/p>\n
After having read about sleeping problems in \"Your Letters\"
\ncolumn dated Oct. 18, 1995, I felt relief. I used to think that I
\nwas the only citizen of Jakarta who has a sleeping problem. I
\nlived in Cililitan for 12 years. I remember having always gone to
\nbed accompanied by a choir or a vocal group practicing which went
\non until close to midnight (most of the people in this
\nneighborhood are talented singers). Regardless of the beautiful
\nsongs, I just couldn't help going sleepless since my bedtime was
\n8.30 p.m. (I was a kid then).<\/p>\n
When I was a teenager I moved to grandma's at Cikini. A
\nsupposedly nice area, but unfortunately it is located five meters
\nin front of quite a busy main street and railroad tracks. Then a
\nfew years later, for a considerable time, the construction of a
\nrailway bridge for overhead tracks went on. Luckily, my sleepless
\nchildhood experiences in Cililitan helped me get used to 24 hours
\nof Cikini street business. Besides, my bedtime has changed to 11
\no'clock.<\/p>\n
Another, rather funny, sleepless experience I had was when one
\nday I stayed over at a friend's house, in a considerably nice,
\nconvenient area and relatively far from the main road. Yet I
\nfound it difficult to sleep beyond 5 a.m. because, from that
\npoint on, various vendors of bread, chicken porridge, vegetables,
\ncooking gas, etc. were marching back and forth down the street
\nhawking their goods. I was told that it was the norm of the day.<\/p>\n
Have I considered filing a complaint? Not at all! Does my
\nfriend want to lodge a complaint? To whom? Those noises all have
\ngood reasons for being. If you decide to live in Jakarta and you
\nare against \"sleeping pills\" or \"ear plugs\", the best thing to do
\nis to try to adjust yourselves to its atmosphere. For me, I love
\nJakarta and live with its crooks and crannies.<\/p>\n
ULI ARITONANG<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sleepless-in-jakarta-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }