indonesia buses confuse me
was reading a IG post about the white gaze when it comes to traveling i felt this most while navigating the public bus system (DAMRI) in jakarta airport to bogor and again when i bought a private bus ticket from bogor to yogyakarta. the anxiety of not knowing where to go next, i bought my ticket and then what? the bus isn't here at the time it said it would be, should i continue to wait or do i find a staff and ask them what's happening? i'm so used to efficiency (the western norm?) that when things work but not in the way i expect i get stressed out. i mean in the end i got to where i needed to be and it was faster/more affordable compared to hiring a private taxi driver so what more could i ask for? sure it's messy but i'm on a gap year now to experience life differently from singapore. indonesians are a lot friendlier/helpful than singapore, most of them can tell i'm a tourist and if they can't speak english they'll either use google translate or find someone that can talk to me. which is honestly a lot more than i expected them to do, made me wonder when a country focuses everything on survival + economic development, what do we give up? i feel in singapore people will see you struggle and just continue walking, we're always in such a hurry that i don't know how many people would actually stop and inconvenience themselves to help a stranger. and if they do help someone, do they want something in return?