Jakarta, Indonesia: 3 days
September 2012
I moved to Singapore at the end of May, 2012. I had been wanting to relocate for a while, and after countless emails and interviews for jobs in New York, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore, I finally landed a job as a digital manager at an advertising agency. I had my interview over Skype in the first week of May, gave my two-week notice the week after, packed up all of my bags, and was off for Asia within the same month. My life dream was to travel the world, and this would be the start of my adventure.
In a whirlwind of moving, starting my new job, finding an apartment, and acclimatizing to the intense humidity of Singapore, traveling took a backseat for three months, which I spent dreaming up where I wanted to go. A bit overwhelmed, I couldn’t decide where to start.
Finally, Tony, a coworker who had become my “work husband” within the first few months, asked me if I wanted to check out Jakarta. I quickly agreed to go so I could avoid the stress of planning.
Jakarta, Indonesia
The Wednesday before we were leaving, I spotted a news article about riots in Jakarta protesting the release of the anti-Islamic movie, “The Innocence of Muslims”. The movie was produced by an Egyptian born U.S. resident. Due to the offensive content in the film, angry Muslims all around the world were holding protests. Jakarta was one city where the protests had turned into violent riots which became so aggressive, that the U.S. Embassy had to be shut down as Molotov cocktails flew towards it’s doors:
http://thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/18/film-protest-turns-violent.html
When I saw that article, the first thing I wanted to do was cancel our trip. I didn’t have a lot of experience with traveling, I didn’t speak the language, I didn’t know the city, AND the Embassy was closed – I felt like I had a giant target on my forehead. To make things worse, when I did a quick map search on the location of our hotel, and it was less than a mile away from the Embassy. In a panic, I ran over to Tony’s desk and asked what we should do. He calmly turned to me and said, “It’s fine, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal”. Tony, how can you NOT be afraid of Molotov cocktails??
After a 48-hour stretch of anxiety, we mutually agreed that we should go. One of the reasons I changed my mind was because of a conversation that I had with Amanda, a coworker from Jakarta:
Me: Should I be worried about the Embassy being closed and all of the anti-American sentiment in Indonesia right now?
Amanda: Nah. Indonesians are always rioting about something every week.
She was right, there wasn’t a Molotov cocktail sighting the entire weekend.
Tony and I were still extremely careful when we were in Jakarta. My coworkers had given me a few pointers here and there, which didn’t really help to ease my nerves. One coworker mentioned that I should only take Silverbird or Bluebird taxis, as some of the other companies had a reputation of taking tourists to an unknown destination, robbing them, and dumping them in the middle of nowhere. Another coworker mentioned that he had heard a horror story from a friend who had gone to the largest and most popular club in Jakarta, Stadium.
The Stadium nightclub boasts a 1.5 acre real estate (larger than a football field). It has a 5,000 person capacity, and is well known for selling drugs over the bar, especially ecstasy. It’s very common for people to enter the club on a Thursday night and party all the way through Monday morning.
My coworker told me that someone had spiked his friend’s drink the moment he arrived at the club (which if you look on TripAdvisor, seems to happen quite often). The next thing he knew, he woke up naked and beaten in a gutter with all of his belongings been stolen. I firmly told Tony that we wouldn’t be paying Stadium a visit.
The city:
Jakarta. A city with the worst traffic I’ve ever seen. LA, you have nothing on this city. You can’t even call it stop-and-go traffic, the cars literally do not move at all. It’s like getting caught in a mall parking lot during Black Friday. There were young teenagers standing amid the hundreds of cars, directing traffic for the reward of small tips from drivers.
Traffic jams in Jakarta
I recently heard that the government implemented a law to help with the terrible traffic problem. Drivers who are commuting to the city need at least three people in the car. This is to encourage carpooling, which ideally would reduce the number of cars on the road. However, a few people have started full-time jobs as a “car sharers”. They hop into cars to help the driver meet the quota, and are dropped off once the driver has entered the city. They shuffle back and forth between cars until they make their daily wage.
The accommodation:
Favehotel, Jakarta
We stayed at Favehotel, a small boutique hotel close to central Jakarta. The hotel was located on a street called Wahid Hasyim, which would prove to be a challenge for me to articulate to every taxi driver. I found myself saying “Wahid Hasyim” six or seven times before they would say, “Oh! Wahid Hasyim” in the exact same pronunciation.
The area surrounding the hotel wasn’t particularly welcoming. The roads were ripped open by giant tree roots that had been battling their concrete caskets for years. There were street food stalls lined up against the walls of buildings selling everything from chicken skewers to plates of fried noodles. Everyone stared as we passed by and we felt incredibly out of place, almost as if we were in the wrong part of town. I crossed my fingers that we had made the right choice to take our trip. The inside of the hotel was a stark contrast to the surrounding area. It was decorated in hot pink, modern white couches and a giant rainbow mosaic against the back wall.
Favehotel, Jakarta
The people:
I felt a bit uneasy around the people in Jakarta as their eyes were glued to me everywhere we went. This was probably subconscious since I was prepared for any Molotov cocktails flying my way.
The food:
Indonesian chicken dish
We looked up an award winning local restaurant on TripAdvisor called Kedai Tiga Nyonya. The restaurant was empty when we got there, which was surprising since the reviews showed that it was supposed to be quite popular. We ordered spring rolls, string beans, a traditional chicken dish, and mee goreng (an Indonesian fried noodle dish), all of which was only average.
Cafe Batavia
Cafe Batavia
My favorite restaurant was a bit more touristy, and was called Cafe Batavia. Cafe Batavia is located in a 200-year old colonial style building, the second oldest building in Jakarta. The ambiance was beautiful – high ceilings, old paintings plastered across the walls, and a great view of the colonial architecture of the Jakarta History Museum – it was a lovely experience. The setting was much better than the food, which wasn’t all that local. We had dim sum, Hong Kong style noodles, and another plate of mee goreng.
Dim sum, mee goreng, and Hong Kong style noodles
The sights:
Since there weren’t too many things to see in Jakarta, we spent our time checking out the bar scene and getting massages recommended by TripAdvisor.
Transvestite performer
The first night, we went to a gay bar that had popular reviews. When we got there, it was almost empty and no one was dancing or interacting with each other. It was a bit of a strange experience. After a while, the music cut out and a man got on stage to announce that the performance would be starting. What performance? Tony and I threw each other sideways glances. All of a sudden, loud house music came blasting through the speakers, and two transvestites strut confidently onto the stage. They were wearing American flag outfits, which was ironic given the anti-American protests going on. They jumped onto the bar and started to dance with each other seductively. That was only the tame performance of the night.
An interesting bar dance…
After a while, they hopped off the bar, and the music suddenly changed again. Two short little men wearing nothing but shiny gold g-strings walked out onto the stage. Their bodies were covered in a thick layer of oil and glitter. The two of them got onto the bar and started to dance around. The performance got raunchy very quickly, and they started to give each other lap dances in sexual positions, rubbing up against each other’s oiled up bodies. Super awkward. I kept trying to catch Tony’s eye to gauge his comfort level, because I was feeling extremely uncomfortable. I had only been to one gay bar prior to that night, and part of me thought that I would be insensitive if I said anything. Both of us sat in silence for five minutes. Finally, Tony looked at me and said, “I can’t handle this anymore. Can we get out of here? It’s really weird”. I casually responded, “Yea, let’s go somewhere else”, but inside, I breathed a giant sigh of relief.
Tony & I
The second night, we went to a bar that was located in the middle of a shopping mall. The stores had already closed, and we had to roam through dark and empty corridors to find the place. Tony and I perched on seats next to the bar and started to people watch. A girl approached me and said, “Hey, my friend thinks you’re really cute”, and walked away. Ten minutes later, she brought her friend back to meet me. Hilariously enough, it was a petite little girl who was so drunk that she was incapacitated and had to be held up by a friend on each side. Great introduction!
Outside of the nightlife, we decided to go for massages, since it was much cheaper than in Singapore. The first place we went to had very good reviews, and was down the street from our hotel. As we walked towards the area, we saw a giant sign with the name of the massage parlor plastered across the front. However, as we got closer, we couldn’t seem to find the building itself. I looked to the left and saw a long alleyway, which was poorly lit by a lone, flickering light at the end. Talk about a perfect setting for a horror movie. Just like in the movies, the obvious choice is not to go down the dark alley. I sucked it up and we figured that as long as we stuck together, it would be alright. We followed the signs to Bersih Sehat (the massage place).
Once we arrived, the host guided us to a room at the back. It looked like an old hospital, the walls painted a sterile white color. There were about seven massage beds covered in white sheets and pillows on each side of the room, which happened to look a lot like stretchers. There were pale blue curtains around each bed, and dim, flickering lights attempted to brighten up the room. The host led us to two beds in the corner. After a few minutes, a small old lady came to prepare hot cloths and lotions. I turned to catch a glimpse of her. She had to be around 70 years old, wearing thick round glasses, and was teeny in stature. Her white hair was pulled tightly back into a a bun and she shuffled around the table, moving the towels around. I assumed she was preparing everything for the massage therapist, so I laid down to wait. Turns out she was the massage therapist. Before I knew it, she was standing on my back using her feet as hands. I guess not too many people can say they’ve had a 70-year old lady stand on their back. On the other side of the curtain, I could hear Tony’s massage therapist clearing her throat by making a gross “huuuuuuuck” sound. Probably wouldn’t recommend this place.
Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa
Our second massage was at the Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa. This place was amazing. It had a specialty in traditional Javanese massage, and the entire place was decorated in Balinese furniture. My therapist was tiny, probably shorter than 5’0. She couldn’t have been older than 20, but sometimes you can’t tell with Asians. She guided me to a large private room, which had scented oils burning and soft music playing in the background. It was so peaceful and relaxing that I almost fell asleep. There was a shower and bathtub at the back of the room and every scented lotion and shampoo you could possibly think of. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who is planning to go to Jakarta!
The transit:
Street peddler selling gorilla masks
We were finally ready to leave Jakarta, and braved the terrible traffic on the road to the airport. The strangest thing we saw on the road was a street peddler selling gorilla masks to passing cars. Not entirely sure when you would need that!
I wish I could have seen… Stadium, if I was a bit braver!
Goodbye Jakarta!
Finding Oysters 