In this hard times I call “the Indonesian power crisis of 2008″, PLN once again shut the electricity off. But this day, they did it starting from around 17:20! It’s now 18:12, and Sokaraja Tengah is still pitch black. Luckily my laptop has batteries and my modem can live off the UPS.
Yesterday night, the television began announcing that starting from May 24th the new prices of fuel will take effect. My parents immediately asked me to fill the almost-empty tank of the car. Accompanied by my youngest brother, we took the ride to the closest gas station.
It was not far off, but we got halted by the one and only traffic light between my house and the station. The counter showed that we had to wait for 50 seconds. On our left and right were motorcycles with their riders dressed in all sort of thick clothing to protect them from the fierce coldness of the night. “Hurry up!”, I said to myself as if it would speed things up. I knew people everywhere are now rushing to the station, so I better arrive soon to prevent being the tail of a long line.