[Prosal]

(08-08-2013 11:47 PM)lurker Wrote:  

Can you get around by motorbike in Jakarta even when the automobile traffic is gridlocked, like in Kuta/Denpasar, or is it just suicide to try?

It's suicidal, and you'll be struck in the traffic as well. Why would you want to get around anyway ?!? ..... there is absolutely nothing to do in JKT during the day except strolling around in the malls or lounging at your hotel's swimming pool. To reiterate, in JKT you want to stay in a place with a nice pool and near Plaza Senayan/FX/Senayan City Mall. Period.

[WanderingSoul]

That looks like BKK traffic and Saigon traffic all rolled up into one.

[truedat]

Quality, quality, quality girls here. Can be hotter than Thai and have more money and intelligence than Viet girls.

TD

[DirectDanger]

To give you an idea of what traffic in Jakarta is like...

[Northern]

Traffic in Jakarta today. The city is empty bc everyone went to his/her home town after Ramadan.
   

[DirectDanger]

Just wanted to point out what is going on with the Indonesian currency recently. In the past 2 years it has gone from around 8,500 per $1 to over 10,700. It has really taken a dive this week as has the Indonesian stock market.


If you look at the article Here on BusinessInsider.com you can see a chart of the current account deficit which shows it has not been this bad since before the 1997 asian crisis when the Rupiah plunged in value.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next year. Real estate prices in Jakarta have been going straight up in value over the past 5+ years. If the Indonesian central bank decides it must raise interest rates to combat the high inflation it has right now you could see the real estate prices crash.

What does this mean for us? Well it is all terrible news for the locals. But it could mean Indonesia becomes and even better value for us. We could see rent prices fall considerably.

[Prosal]

(08-20-2013 12:43 PM)DirectDanger Wrote:  

Just wanted to point out what is going on with the Indonesian currency recently. In the past 2 years it has gone from around 8,500 per $1 to over 10,700.

That is what I saw this morning. The rupiah has dropped to 14,600 for 1 € !!

[samsamsam]

(07-31-2013 03:50 AM)Prosal Wrote:  

(07-31-2013 03:30 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  

Prosal, how old are you? Many of us are in our twenties and early thirties. I imagine you must be in your fourties or fifties?

I could imagine many expats live in Jakarta without being seriously wealthy. Not everyone needs to stay at the Hyatt to enjoy themselves, especially not those of us in our twenties.

It's funny how I've read many many times here that a guy qualifies himself as a "Millionaire" (which I'm not) or as someone who earns "close to seven figures" (which I don't), without any comment from the other members, but as soon as I write that I like to spend my modest money on expensive goods or that I enjoy sometimes to treat myself in a luxurious place, someone jumps on me or reminds me later what a bragger I am.

Once more, I gave this tip to Akula for his 10 days trip and because in Paris he stayed at the Hyatt. OK, next time I'll refrain from giving tips. I am 50 yo.

FYI, here is the entrance of the building in Tashkent where I rent my apartment:

Please don't refrain from giving tips - your input is always appreciated! May I ask what you paid for that apartment in Tashkent? Is it a daily rental or monthly? Many thanks.

[DirectDanger]

Now it is 11,000 to 1$. It just keeps falling!

[booshala]

(08-09-2013 12:53 AM)Prosal Wrote:  

(08-08-2013 11:47 PM)lurker Wrote:  

Can you get around by motorbike in Jakarta even when the automobile traffic is gridlocked, like in Kuta/Denpasar, or is it just suicide to try?

It's suicidal, and you'll be struck in the traffic as well. Why would you want to get around anyway ?!? ..... there is absolutely nothing to do in JKT during the day except strolling around in the malls or lounging at your hotel's swimming pool. To reiterate, in JKT you want to stay in a place with a nice pool and near Plaza Senayan/FX/Senayan City Mall. Period.

Love the info on this thread, especially Prosal's as I think my tastes align pretty closely to yours. Any big brand hotels you would recommend, Prosal? I have top tier status with Hyatt but I did a google map search and its quite far from Jalan Sudirman. I could go Le Meridien or Intercon as I have status and points with those brands as well.

[Soma]

(08-21-2013 01:23 AM)booshala Wrote:  

(08-09-2013 12:53 AM)Prosal Wrote:  

(08-08-2013 11:47 PM)lurker Wrote:  

Can you get around by motorbike in Jakarta even when the automobile traffic is gridlocked, like in Kuta/Denpasar, or is it just suicide to try?

It's suicidal, and you'll be struck in the traffic as well. Why would you want to get around anyway ?!? ..... there is absolutely nothing to do in JKT during the day except strolling around in the malls or lounging at your hotel's swimming pool. To reiterate, in JKT you want to stay in a place with a nice pool and near Plaza Senayan/FX/Senayan City Mall. Period.

Love the info on this thread, especially Prosal's as I think my tastes align pretty closely to yours. Any big brand hotels you would recommend, Prosal? I have top tier status with Hyatt but I did a google map search and its quite far from Jalan Sudirman. I could go Le Meridien or Intercon as I have status and points with those brands as well.

The Grand Hyatt is at the North end of Sudirman and connected to Plaza Indonesia - definitely a good location. There's decent restaurants in Plaza Indonesia, a cheap and delicious food court on the top floor, Immigrant club (as mentioned in OP) and the Cork & Screw wine bar is great for first dates then straight to your room.

[Prosal]

(08-21-2013 01:23 AM)booshala Wrote:  

Any big brand hotels you would recommend, Prosal? I have top tier status with Hyatt but I did a google map search and its quite far from Jalan Sudirman. I could go Le Meridien or Intercon as I have status and points with those brands as well.

Meridien is a bit worn down, plus there's no nice mall nearby.

Grand Hyatt is great and pool is gorgeous (the most gorgeous urban pool I have ever seen), but Plaza Indonesia is nothing special. It is not a very busy mall. Your best choice would IMO be Mulia. The hotel is really nice (the pool is highly enjoyable), and it's just a three minute taxi ride to Plaza Senayan, FX and Senayan City, definitely the best malls in town for daygame (and with good nightlife venues). There is a very popular hookers/semi-pros music bar with a great atmosphere at the Mulia BTW lol. As a side note, the italian restaurant (Il Mare) is really good.

http://www.hotelmulia.com/

[ChrisGambi]

Is this the senayan or the splendor?

[booshala]

Thanks for the great hotel tips, Soma and Prosal. I'm leaning towards the Hyatt to use points and get the upgrades and free food with my status but the Mulia looks great.

[Seadog]

+1 for the Mulia. Whenever I pass through that's generally where I stay, haven't gone out a whole lot there, I'm always just passing through, and it's usually after 30+ hours of travel. As far as traffic goes, when planning things I basically use a rule of thumb for walking speed, but then you can't even really walk or bike, because there are so few sidewalks/so many motorbikes. A friend of mine who lives there tries to go to the gym regularly after work, that is literally the only thing he does after work, leaves at 5, dives to gym, regular work out, will be home around 10.

I had to go across town for a shot at a certain hospital, left before lunch, got there, 30 mins at hospital, home after dinner. Missed a flight last week because the taxi I arranged the night before was 2.5 hours late in the morning. Especailly for things like flights, going 35km to the airport could literally take 4 hours, so if you have an important flight, you better figure on leaving 5-6 hours before your flight. Then if there isn't traffic you're stuck in an airport for hours. I can only imagine how much this costs Indonesia in wasted fuel/time/lost productivity.

[Cattle Rustler]

Are there helicopter taxis in Big Durian? Seems like a good business to get into.

[Soma]

(08-25-2013 12:31 AM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Are there helicopter taxis in Big Durian? Seems like a good business to get into.

Actually, yes.

[Vicious]

DD's info on the deprecation of the Indonesian currency is extremely interesting. Having lost almost half its value to the dollar and euro prices as a result must be in deep turmoil. The property market is likely up for grabs for anyone with foreign capital.

[Northern]

(08-26-2013 01:15 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

DD's info on the deprecation of the Indonesian currency is extremely interesting. Having lost almost half its value to the dollar and euro prices as a result must be in deep turmoil. The property market is likely up for grabs for anyone with foreign capital.

If you look at 5 or 10 years chart, the current plunge does not seem special.

[Brodiaga]

The more i read about Jakarta the more i doubt that getting laid is worth the hassle. I am considering going to Indonesia this winter for 2-3 weeks, maybe combining the trip with a few days in Bangkok or Manila. I wonder if i'ts worth flying directly to Bali/Denpasar from either Manila or BKK and bypassing JKT altogether? Is it much harder to pull Indonesian girls in Bali compared to JKT? Or, maybe there are some other cities closer to Bali that I can visit instead?

[DirectDanger]

Yes there is that much difference between Bali and Jakarta when it comes to girls. They are not even comparable.

I am not suggesting you should go to Jakarta over Bali. Bali is way more enjoyable of a place, but the quality and quantity of girls in Jakarta is dramatically higher than Bali.

[Seadog]

The other option is some of the tier two cities that see even fewer tourists. Medan (side trip for jungle trekking if your into it), Bandung (huge student population), Balikpapan (rich oil hub), Manado (good diving nearby), Surabaya etc.

All offer basically everything Jakarta does in terms of comforts, without such insane traffic (still not flowing though), and your status as a foreigner is higher, because they see compartively fewer.

[Northern]

(08-26-2013 09:41 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

The more i read about Jakarta the more i doubt that getting laid is worth the hassle. I am considering going to Indonesia this winter for 2-3 weeks, maybe combining the trip with a few days in Bangkok or Manila. I wonder if i'ts worth flying directly to Bali/Denpasar from either Manila or BKK and bypassing JKT altogether? Is it much harder to pull Indonesian girls in Bali compared to JKT? Or, maybe there are some other cities closer to Bali that I can visit instead?

It is more difficult to pull in Bali unless you run into a tourist from Jakarta (it happened to me and I then hanged out with her for a week or so).
You can go to second-tier cities in Java (they have like 3 million people!). Surabaya is only one hour by plane (around $50) from Bali.

[enfuego]

I recently got back from a 12 day trip to Indonesia. This thread was super helpful, so I thought I'd share my experiences.

Jakarta: stayed at the grand Hyatt on plaza Indonesia. The hotel is great and I basically played the same game every day: line up girls on DIA, invite them to the Starbucks in plaza Indonesia, then back up to my room to "charge my phone". Closed one girl, lots of LMR from a second.

If unsuccessful from the date, I hit up X2, until I discovered that Immigrant is part of plaza Indonesia. Picked up successfully at both places. Coming from New York, I thought the clubs were expensive for the third world.

Other places: Stadium was pretty divey, but worth visiting for the hype. Same with BATS, for slightly different reasons. I actually enjoyed the cover band there quite a bit. Potato Head Garage is recommended for the food but is pricey.

Jogya: pretty dead at night. Would recommend for the culture but not much else ( was there midweek).

Bali: I spent three days in Bali, split between Ubud and Seminyak. Ubud is nice for sightseeing but not for what this forum is about IMHO. Stayed at the W in Seminyak - almost all couples, lots of Chinese and Korean. went out in Kuta. Sky Garden is an infamous place worth hitting. Lots of young Aussies, some reasonably fit, but other nationalities too. I later bounced to the Hard Rock Cafe, which has more of an Asian crowd, but was too late. I ended up at another bar in Seminyak called Rumours, where I shored successfully for the first time.

Surabaya: spent one night here on a layover. Stayed at the Sheraton - excellent value if on points. Great dinner at House of Sampoerna, which is a historical cigarette factory and strangely has a very nice but affordable restaurant. Went looking for chicas at Colours, which had a very unfavorable girl/guy mix, but a great band. After it closed, I went to a late night club at the Majapahit. It was the local version of Stadium - even darker if possible and just as drugged out. As I had an early am flight, I ultimately called it a night.

In summary, I really liked Indonesia and thought the people were very friendly and the food decent. The logisitics in cities is generally awful as has been reported. Date In Asia was a good source for Jakarta and women I met there were of good quality, albeit inferior to what I met in clubs. Surprisingly, there were some professional (career-wise) women on the site - I went on one coffee date with a girl who had the bloomberg app installed on her iPhone so she could check her stock portfolio. I didn't day game at all and was rolling solo throughout.

[JayJuanGee]

(10-30-2013 12:02 PM)enfuego Wrote:  

I didn't day game at all and was rolling solo throughout.

Thanks for the report, Enfuego.

I would have liked to have heard what your experiences in the Malls were (especially in Jakarta), but apparently, you did NOT attempt or attend those venues? Or if you passed through the malls, did you see any talent, therein?

I believe some guys have said that the talent is better at night and in the clubs and they cannot find the good looking girls during the day, yet I still continue to ponder whether there may be good places to find decent girls, during the day that may be a little higher than the online quality?