10 INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT INDONESIA

It was my first time to visit INDONESIA and many things about this country amaze me. Some of them are:

1. WORLD'S LARGEST ARCHIPELAGO. INDONESIA HAS MORE THAN 17,000 ISLANDS. THE MAJOR ISLANDS ARE JAVA, SUMATRA, BORNEO AND NEW GUINEA.

2. The INDONESIAN CURRENCY is RUPIAH.  WITH JUST 100$, YOU ARE A MILLIONAIRE IN INDONESIA. 100$ IS EQUIVALENT TO 1,400,000 RUPIAH. ON THE OTHER HAND, ONE PHILIPPINE PESO IS EQUIVALENT TO 300 RUPIAH. WITH 3,300 PESOS, YOU ARE ALREADY A MILLIONAIRE IN INDONESIA.

3. ELECTRIC SOCKET is DIFFERENT IN INDONESIA. BRING SOCKET ADAPTER TO BE ABLE TO RECHARGE YOUR GADGETS WHILE IN INDONESIA. 

4. JAVA IS THE MOST POPULOUS ISLAND IN THE WORLD. IT IS ONLY 6% OF THE TOTAL LAND AREA of INDONESIA HOWEVER 60% OF THE POPULATION OF INDONESIA ARE RESIDING AND WORKING IN JAVA.

5. MINI INDONESIA PARK IS THE CONSOLIDATION OF SIGNIFICANT LANDMARKS IN INDONESIA. IT IS SITUATED IN JAKARTA CITY. IT IS LIKE "NAYONG PILIPINO". BUT UNLIKE NAYONG PILIPINO, MINI INDONESIA PARK HAS THE ACTUAL SIZES OF THOSE LANDMARKS.

6. MANY ISLANDS ARE STILL INHABITED and UNNAMED. ABOUT 6,000 ISLANDS DO NOT HAVE NAMES YET.

7. BAHASA INDONESIA, THE INDONESIAN NATIONAL LANGUAGE, HAS GREAT SIMILARITY WITH FILIPINO or TAGALOG, THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE PHILIPPINES. THERE ARE ABOUT 300 WORDS IN TAGALOG AND PHILIPPINE DIALECTS WHICH ARE THE SAME OR ALMOST WITH BAHASA INDONESIA.

8. MARIAN RIVERA IS THE MOST POPULAR ACTRESS IN INDONESIA. MANY OF THE INDONESIANS THAT I WAS ABLE TO TALK WITH WERE ASKING "HOW'S MARIAN RIVERA?" THEY ARE ALSO AWARE THAT SHE IS ALREADY MARRIED AND PREGNANT.

9. JAKARTA, THE CAPITAL CITY OF INDONESIA, HAS THE WORST TRAFFIC FLOW IN THE WORLD. HOWEVER, HEAVY TRAFFIC FLOW IS CAUSED BY THE LARGE VOLUME OF VEHICLES INCLUDING MOTORCYCLES, BUT NOT BY UNDISCIPLINED CITIZENS. INDONESIANS STRICTLY FOLLOW TRAFFIC RULES AND REGULATIONS.

10. MAJORITY OF THE BRAND OF TOILET BOWL, URINALS AND OTHER COMFORT ROOM EQUIPMENT IS "TOTO".