In Cooler Weeks, a Megacity Relearns How to Gather Outdoors

JAKARTA — For a season the outdoors belonged to no one. Through the worst of the heat the squares emptied by mid-morning and the night markets thinned, and a city famous for living in its streets retreated indoors to survive. This week, with the corridor of extreme heat finally easing, the tables have come back out. Vendors are relighting the grills; families are staying past dusk. "We lost half a year of the street," said market organizer Sri Wulandari, who runs a night bazaar in the old town. "You do not get that back by opening the stalls. You get it back one evening at a time, when people trust the air again." Sociologists tracking the megacity's public life describe a wary return rather than a rush — the summer taught people to check the forecast before they commit an evening outdoors. Culture here was never only in the museums; it lived on the pavement. Its recovery, residents say, is the truest measure that the season has turned.