Be water my friend.

Surabaya

 "When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle it becomes the bottle..."

I heard this quote from Bruce Lee in the past but never did I realise that it would be the perfect metaphor to describe traffic in Indonesia (more specifically Bali & Java) and the basic principals you must abide by.

Yogyakarta

It's 15:00pm on a Saturday in Yogyakarta. Traffic is at a standstill on 'Jalan Laksda Adisucipto' heading west. I can't see any traffic lights in the distance. Perhaps there's been an accident? Surely traffic cannot be backed up this far from the lights.
I manoeuvre to the shoulder of the road and join the single file of scooter drivers slowly filtering through the columns of stationary vehicles. Eventually even the filtering line draws to a halt.
I stand up to take a look ahead. I still can't see the lights but it appears traffic has backed up by a kilometer.
The single file of scooters turns into two and eventually I find myself riding off road over the dry rocky ground. An 'ojek' emerges between two cars, passenger with one hand out, temporarily halting the line of traffic, allowing them space to enter. More scooters come filtering in through the right between cars, trying to edge their way into this two wheeled 'fast-lane' on the side of the road.

Eventually after about what seems like five minutes of constant motion at 10kmph I come across a four-way traffic light controlled intersection. As I approach the lights, the narrow column of scooters disperses and forms a large wide blob, covering the entire width of the three westbound lanes as well as what could best be described as the footpath.  The cars hang back and become enveloped in scooters from all sides, unable to move. Just like water, every space along the width of the road that can be occupied, has been occupied.
You're probably wondering how a basic traffic light intersection with no turning arrow operates when you have a kilometre of traffic waiting to proceed.
The solution - a traffic officer.
The light turns green and the mass of scooters edge their way forward up to the officer in the middle of the intersection, forming something resembling a peloton of road cyclists awaiting the starting gun.

The officer lowers his arm and we all take off like a swarm of bees. I'm directly in the middle.
The noise of internal combustion engines in unison fills the air alongside the familiar smell of exhaust fumes.
I glance at my mirrors. I'm surrounded on all sides.
Eventually the swarm thins out. I accelerate and make it onto a brief clearing and proceed down the road, eventually missing my turn-off and circling the area for twenty minutes as I usually do.

It's a miracle no collisions have occurred during my time on the roads here. Everyone just seems to have an intuitive understanding of where they are and what their limits are.

Surabaaya

I've seen many cases blind overtaking, undertaking, and lane weaving here which under New Zealand circumstances would be incredible dangerous. You know you've been in Indonesia for a while when you see a mother on a scooter with a baby slung over in front of her overtaking a truck whilst approaching a ridge - and it's not a big deal.

In New Zealand, despite the roads being more orderly, I feel as if the drivers here are more in-tune with their surroundings. From the outside, it may appear as if the traffic system operates as a huge chaotic mess of motorcycle exhaust fumes but once you spend some time navigating the busy urban streets, you begin to realise that everything just seems to work somehow. It's as if everybody were communicating with a telepathic-like non verbal communication where everybody is in tune with what is going on around them. Like water seeking the low ground via the path of least resistance, so too does the Indonesian scooter driver.

 It only takes one shot at navigating a multi-lane roundabout with about five exits to realise this.

Countdown timer at traffic lights - because it wasn't already like an urban race!