[Irish]

There's plenty enough chat on Jakarta on the forum, but thought I would throw up my own datasheet in a new thread given it's pretty detailed and the last datasheet on the place surprisingly appears to be over a year old. Plus I will be back over for weekends reasonably often so I will tag on more info on this thread as I develop more intel on the place and as the scene changes over time.

Note previous well put together and still very much relevant datasheets by Soma: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-22595-...#pid414219, Brodiaga: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-30...#pid607931, and Doc_J: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-25...#pid488173 which you can read in conjunction with the below to hopefully give you the most complete Jakarta info on RVF. Note we all mention a lot of the same places, so you know they're solid


I have been there for 3 pretty recent manic weekends now and have more lined up in the pipeline. Currently my favourite city to party in SE Asia, it seems like every time I go I punch massively above my weight compared to the other SE Asian cities I have been to (tho naturally you punch above your weight most places in SE Asia anyway). From Singapore its a pretty easy 2 hr flight over (and you gain an hour on the way despite heading east) so possible to fly after work on a friday and still get a solid friday night out in the city. Although 3 weekends are not a whole heap of time to really get a good feel for the place I also have information from numerous contacts I have built up there and from chat with the chicks I have hooked up with also. However I not only welcome but encourage other RVFers with more experience of living in Jakarta to contribute below. As I know there are a few of you. I'm sure you will both agree and disagree with a lot of the below but please add your input below so we have the most well rounded and complete datasheet as possible in one thread.

Accomodation & getting about
First off however I have to say this place aesthetically is a bit of a dump. One big ugly concrete jungle and all you're gonna hear about it how bad the traffic is. I'll not go into detail on that as you'll hear enough about it from everyone else. Just set aside A LOT of time for getting from A to B, as B will be either 15 minutes or 2 hours away depending on the time of day. And sometimes even getting to B isn't even possible without crossing 6 lanes of traffic then climbing over a wall. When booking a weekend there always seems to be good options on airbnb even at short notice, just try and stay south/central to be near all the good bars/clubs where you plan to go. You can opt to get a prepaid SIM card at the airport but what I have found is a lot of places on airbnb will give you the option of a 'bolt' wifi. For those who dont know, this basically is like mobile wifi/dongle which you can take outside with you and tether onto the 3G, thus you have wifi wherever you go. It is usually its small enough to fit in your pocket and is included in the price of the rental (bar a deposit if you lose/damage it etc), so it saves the hassle & cost of sorting out a SIM but they tend to be a bit temperamental performance wise, so ask ahead.

To be honest, theres fuck all to do during the day. For this reason I would max out my partying at night (till 6 or 7am) knowing I had nothing really to see or do the next day bar meet a chick or two. Often you can find a decent condo on airbnb with a nice pool area/gym etc so you can chill with mates, a good book, or a chick or two. Best place I stayed so far was at the Thamrin Residence (near Thamrin City) which had an excellent pool area w jacuzzi. Ideally also try and stay within walking distance of one of the big name malls like Plaza Indonesia or Grand Indonesia as from what I could tell they're the only nice places to be and you dont want to be dicking around with cabs/traffic. Particularly if arranging to meet chicks. I found the malls surprisingly plush, Plaza Indonesia especially with some serious big name shops selling expensive gear. However, nice as the malls are, unfortunately it seems as soon as you set foot outside you are straight back into concrete shithole land. I wasnt able to see any particularly nice central surrounding areas in general, however i didnt do much exploring around during the day (as normally sleeping off the prior night 9am finish hangover). The southern suburb part of the city seemed to be nicer when I was there back at a chicks place however. But any RVFers who stay(ed) longer term in Jaks please feel free to contribute/expand here if you are aware of any nice areas during the day.

taxis, always get either bluebird or silverbird taxis. I dont know how shifty the other cabs are but I had this heavily stressed to me by regulars to Jakarta so never questioned it. Also, if you are a white dude there seems to be some sort of expectation that you will give a very generous tip. Like its expected, they even have the cheek to sulk if your tip isnt big enough. Note as well the shitty road layout means that often to get somewhere involves driving 2 miles in the wrong direction just to get to a U turn spot. So dont assume the cab driver is taking the piss.


Be near one of these places...

The white guy/ex pat factor

For a capital city, there are surprisingly few ex pat/white dudes kicking about the place say as compared to Manila/Bangkok etc. I normally would have assumed due to business etc there would be a fair number of caucasian folk but it was pretty rare for me to see ANY during the day. Given the place is a bit of a shithole you dont get many tourists as well which means as a white guy you are an especially rare breed. As a result you do get a bit of a stare down from the girls and the guys when you are about during the day. Nice when the girls check you out, not so nice when its the shifty looking dudes. At night more white dudes naturally come out to play and concentrate on certain bars/clubs but it really depends on where you go. Dragonfly club (see below) seems to have the highest concentration, and there's a fair few, but other clubs generally you still will be (and will feel like) a rare commodity as an expat. Which of course which you can and will work to your advantage.

Being generally fairly cheap to stay/eat etc there is a bit of cash flying around the place as you will see from the various high end shops in the high end malls. This also translates to some fairly punchy drink prices in the more flashy clubs so be careful as you can spend a lot on a night out. Just as well the night life is quality tho so you do get bang for your buck. Literally.

When to go and not to go
DO NOT go during the month of Ramadan. I have not been but apparently the whole place shuts down and all my sources advise me to avoid, those who want to keep the party going all head off to Bali who will have a lot of parties organised especially to cater for this. (see bottom for a link to my Bali-Seminyak datasheet)

Note as a result of the above, a surprising amount of the chicks between the Seminyak and Jakarta high end party scene know eachother and will often travel between the two so dont be surprised to run into chicks you met in Jakarta in Bali and visa versa. A lot of chicks I've rattled as well turn up as mutual friends with other chicks I've banged on my facebook too, which can make things interesting. I imagine if you lived there you would need to play it reasonably tactical as a result.

Also not a dealbreaker but best avoid the rainy season (nov - march) as well as it being pretty wet there can be some flooding etc causing traffic to be a bit more of a bitch

Girls
Indo chicks are my personal favourite of all the SE Asians. I love their look which looks to me almost like a fusion between arabic, chinese and South American. Lovely caramel skin and generally find a high proportion of 9s and 10s than the average. There is a higher proportion of rich well to do party chicks kicking about Jakarta and seem more 'westernised' than a lot of Filipina/Thai/Vietnamese i've met. So tend to have more personality and less conservative when comes to some no-strings-attached-hooking-up. Which is nice. But again with their more westernised nature, you also have the downside of them being more bitchy and you can get shot down hard. But they are definitely more susceptible to being gamed (and gaming you themselves) so if your game is tight, when it hits it HITS. These type of chicks are ideal for me as I prefer the more socialite/party chicks as tend to be more fun and more experienced/adventurous when it comes to hooking up. You dont get so much the shy nice conservative obedient SE Asian girl type here. These chicks like their parties, bottles and, on occasion, drugs. As expected there are plenty enough bottle rats and chicks looking freebie drinks, but they are not only much hotter than similar types ive experienced in other cities, they are more fun and dont take the piss nearly as much as their counterparts (say for example here in Singapore). Of course naturally the type of chick you generally get will vary greatly dependent on the type of venue you normally go to. But this is what I found frequenting the places I generally like (being the higher end bar/clubs) as compared to similar style venues in other cities ive been in.


General look & standard of the higher-end fluff you typically get


The more common darker skinned slutty type who tend more to hunt for white guys


Typical look of the younger types. Bless...


Nightlife

Based on my knowledge and party/game style from my weekends there, I have not been out midweek so can only advise on the Friday/Saturday situation

   
For good logistics you will want to focus your accommodation search roughly in and around this area...

CLUBS/LIVELY BARS
Dragonfly
My current favourite. Been 3 times, two Fridays and a Saturday night. However I noticed the place busier and the talent MUCH better on both the friday nights. If you like to rock the bottles/tables with your friends this is the place to do it. The layout of the club is quite open and hence ideal logistically for this where most tables will tend to generally be in a fairly open area merging in with the other table crowd or regular crowd depending on its location. In additon to a 'proper' table you also have the option of having a bottle at one off the communal tables next to the dancefloor area. You are bunched in next to everyone else and theres good human traffic passing back and forth (particularly the dancefloor side). Ideal for getting some chat going with people around you and pulling girls off the dancefloor or passing by. Drink prices were pretty punchy from memory but had such good nights in here and the talent is off the scale. Note this place is full of expat/white dudes however, way more so than any other Jaks club ive been to. However, this also means it is also full of chicks looking to hook up with white dudes. So, typical for the type of venue, you are going to get a lot of your gold diggers and freelance hooker types, but there's more than enough legit chicks to go round as well. And the fluff is superb, at one point i had no idea who to hit on next there were that many options. Your competition aint that stiff either, mostly well dressed gamma types and older dudes there on business with easily swoopable bottle rat girls. There's definitely a few players swinging about the place also but given there's more than enough ass to go around nobody's cutting anyone's grass and everyone's all quite friendly. If anything you'll probably pick up a couple of solid wingmen to deal with the overstock of chicks you'll end up with. Given the quality, quantity and friendliness of the chicks I recommend you really swing for the fence here. Dont settle for a 7.5. I hear Wednesday is also a big night here.

X-2
Tho I personally prefer DragonFly this is a favourite of the majority of RVFers I have spoken to who have plenty experience in Jakarta. So should be top of your list to check out. A much larger venue with a younger and less white crowd than DF. The place appears to be an amalgamation of 3 different clubs into the one place. We mainly focused on the largest room upstairs (called Equinox from memory) but there is a smaller bar on the same level next to it which is quieter and perfect for moving/isolating a chick you met to get a drink "so you can hear her properly" (or whatever your plausible deniability line of choice is). There is definitely more volume of people & chicks here tho the quality aint on the scale of Dragon Fly in my opinion, but I'm sure there are guys here who may disagree. I would say you get less of the high end indo party girl types and more cute younger ones, so depends on your tastes. (Note I'm mid 30s tho so would recommend the older dudes hit DF and the younger pre-30s go X2). I also noticed chicks here would be in larger groups, often mixed, and are more local with a fairly sizeable chinese representation. Although this is only going on one night so could've been a slightly different from the norm crowd.

Red Square
Russian style vodka bar across the road from X2, again only been in here once and wasn't overly impressed. Apparently used to be the place to go but has clearly since descended into hookerville. The plenty of old fat poorly dressed white dudes with young local chicks is a dead giveaway for this. Still there's a catwalk where chicks will strut up and down wearing very little. Its a good show if not much else

Blowfish
Spent not too long in here, seemed very young and chinese and I was literally the only white guy. Not that it seemed like a dodgy place but not really my bag. Didn't really spend long enough here to give the place a good audit but if you like your young chinese chicks and hard house music give this place a whirl.

Immigrant
Cannot comment as I have not been. Place was shut the last couple times ive been over but now re opened. However this place is another main player on the club scene so worth noting & checking out. It is on my list for when I go over on my next raid, I will report back here on how I get on.

Colosseum
Not done a proper night here but another big venue based further north of the city. Gets buzzing around the normal club time but also goes on pretty late as I understand. Potentially a viable after-party alternative to Millies (below) just not as drug heavy. I've been once but spent all night at the KTV with 9 mental Korean dudes (that's another story). Again is on the agenda for next time, will report back


BARS/MORE CHILLED
Skyebar
cracking bar with great views of Jakarta which you should go up to for at least one or two pregame drinks/cocktails. Unfortunately seems very touristy and couply. Don't come here if you are looking to pick up a lot of ass, as its very chilled venue plus is also very very dark so hard to see what your getting. but if you get sat next to a group of decent looking girls you're in like flynn. A little pricey from memory but its a very nice bar and worth checking out for a cheeky pre game mojito

Cloud
Similar to Skyebar, a chilled rooftop bar with a cracking view. I prefer skybar for the view and vibe but Cloud a bit more happening and more likely to getting chatting to randoms (and hence picking up) but it is also seemingly more toursty. But again, wouldnt go there if I was looking to score some chicks. But both Skyebar and Cloud would be good for a midweek date I imagine

AkiraBack
Throwing this one in here as a curveball as seems to be just a restaurant per google search there is a sizeable bar attached onto it to which we went along for opening night. Was a special event, invite only with TV crews there, local celebrities and an all night free bar (I only got on the list as the chick I was seeing was DJing). So it was not exactly representative of what a normal night there would be like. But its worth throwing up here as seemed to have an awesome vibe on the night and I think it's trying to establish itself on the scene. Had an absolutely blinding night tho as you would expect from a free bar all evening, I was suitably pissed and also made out with a local celebrity actress while my chick was busy/distracted on the decks. The perfect crime. So I am certainly keen to go back, but will need to report back here again when I have a 'proper/normal' night there. But potentially one to watch.


AFTERPARTY/POST 3AM
Millies
Based in the north of the city this appears to be the 'new stadium' - A place famous for drugs and dodgy dealings before it finally got shut down 4 months ago after an off duty police officer died of an overdose. Milies seems to have taken up the reins as the 'afterparty' venue where you get your pills. Been there a few times, tho rarely by choice. It sure has a shifty feel about it but not as bad as stadium was, you'll naturally be on your guard there a little but I never got any hassle. Tho most people are spaced out their nut there is still options for picking up chicks as a lot go there from the likes of DF/X2 to keep the party going. Tho majority will be on the drug hunt anyway and unlikely to be as open to hooking up as the other clubs. But there are still possibilities, plus any chick pullable from there is likely to be up for ANYTHING


As mentioned in a previous datasheet by Soma http://www.jakarta100bars.com/ still remains an excellent, and honest, resource for researching Jakarta nightlife. But of course you won't get the value add focus on where the best chicks go & your best options to get laid angle unique to a RVF datasheets

Also check out: http://beatmag.com/jak/ for what's on for the dates you are planning to be there. (Also mentioned in a previous DS but I understand is widely used by general party folk also)

That's all for now, comments & opinions more than welcome

Cheers