I spent some time walking around Blok M. My main goal was to buy new clothes for Eid. Buying baju Lebaran is a long-standing tradition for us. We wear new clothes on the day of Eid to symbolize a clean slate, a fresh start, and a return to purity after a full month of fasting.
Blok M is a practical place to get this done. It has been a massive commercial and transit hub in South Jakarta since the 1980s. Between the underground mall, the surrounding shopping blocks, and the terminal itself, it has always been a focal point for the city's crowds.
The anticipation for mudik is obvious. Mudik is our annual mass migration, the time when millions of people leave Jakarta to return to their hometowns and villages for Eid. It is strictly about family, reconnecting with our roots and spending the holiday with our parents and relatives. Seeing everyone prep for this journey makes the current noise of the city feel temporary. In just a few days, Jakarta will empty out.
Despite walking around the shopping blocks all afternoon, the only photos I took were at the very end of the day. I stopped at the Blok M terminal just as the sun was going down. The sky turned a vivid mix of deep purple and bright orange, sitting right behind the terminal's curved orange railings and the waiting buses.
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