#EF7: A Cheap Place to Hang Out

Where do you usually hang out? Don’t say you go to the mall every weekend. That is okay for adults, actually, because I did, too. Now, I have to rethink about it since I have a kid and mall might not be good to visit often. 

Let me introduce you to my neighborhood, a big housing complex located in the suburb of Kabupaten Bogor.  It is big because it has more than ten blocks, excluded some clusters and a village circling the area. Just like big cities, we have a business district here a.k.a street vendors on every side of the road, shops, traditional market, minimarket, and supermarket. So, it feels like living in a mini city.

Another great thing is that there are parks for you and your family to just sit and relax, while feeding your kids (this is what parents mostly do here). One of the parks is located in a mosque’s yard and this is the most crowded park. Lucky me, it’s only 5 minutes walk from home. Don’t think about Taman Menteng or Taman Surapati because this park is smaller and less clean. What makes it attractive is that there are lots of food sellers and odong-odong for your kids to ride. For your information, odong-odong is a ride-on kids bike that is moved by pedaling a modified bicycle and cart.

My son is one of odong-odong fans. He is not a frequent rider, although he always walks straight to odong-odong whenever we reach the park, haha.. You only need to spend Rp 2000 for a ride which is about 15 minutes. For me, it’s a looong time. I have ever spent that minutes waiting for my son by checking twitter timelines and blackberry messages, taking some pictures with my cell phone, or having a chat with the odong-odong owner since my son is always drown in his own enjoyment.

Sometimes, I look around and see how people enjoy their leisure time here. Some buys food like grilled meatball satay, durian ice cream, deep fried food, while others sitting on the grass, enjoying moments with their beloved ones. Kids are riding bicycle on the park, playing football, or learning to walk for some babies. They are simply happy without spending too much money (or spending nothing). 

I am lucky to stay here. Well, that’s my personal experience since others may think that this place is quite crowded, especially on the weekends. A lot of people from sub-districts or villages nearby usually come here to buy their needs or just to hang out. We have no café but we have a lot of food stalls (because they are not fancy enough to be called restaurant). In a nutshell, you can find anything here, and they are cheap.

In my hometown, which is a quite big city, I seldom find a place for public which is free like this. There are some, but usually no things to ride for kids. I really urge the government to provide more places that can be enjoyed by everyone, not only the haves, not only the adults because happiness is everybody’s right. Don’t you think so?

This post is made for English Friday challenge by Blog English Club. I can’t believe it’s the seventh challenge already!