Nothing feels better than a Friday Photo Walk, no matter the heat and dust and all other daily life problems.

To Taman Fatahillah last week, I chose to ride the TransJakarta busway from Blok M to Kota. It would be a super way to get around the city if there were more routes; such a perfectly good system – for Rp 3500 (a third of a dollar), you can ride anywhere on the busway, as long as you don’t exit the turnstiles.

And old city (Kota Tua) is one of my favourite people-watching hangout places in Jakarta. It has a large wide open square (gasp!) and old buildings with loads of character. And cannon balls lying around the fringes. Buildings falling apart. Artists, handicraft pedlars and prettified bicycles. Cafe Batavia with all the old-world charm you could imagine.

This time, being nosy photographers, we found our way into a dilapidated building, that had a small workbench for carving traditional wayang kulit puppets. The craftsman worked in the neighbouring Wayang Museum, but took some time out to pose for us and regale us with his tales. After loitering about for an hour, we realised that the building wasn’t coming crashing down just yet, so we venture upstairs to see the ruin.