[JayJuanGee]

(10-11-2013 07:55 PM)Seadog Wrote:  

(10-11-2013 06:10 AM)whozat Wrote:  

Moving to Jakarta for work at the end of the month.

Crazy excited to see this myself.

Any forum members living there?

I live there on and off, and for the amount of time I spend there I've seen surprisingly little of the city. Work and traffic largely dominates my life when I'm there, then the remainder of my time is off in god forsaken oil camps. If you work there, depending on where you live it can be hit or miss. I live in the south 3 km from CITOS, small house with 2 other coworkers provided by company. Leave for work 5km away at 7am with company shuttle. Get home usually around 7pm. I'm looking at between 15 minutes to 2 hours to go 5km to work, average around 45 mins.

What is the nature of your work? Where will you be working/living? Will work provide you a house? Housing is expensive here, 2k/month for something decent, and many places want two years cash upfront.

There is a bit of a difference between going here for a week and staying near Plaza Indonesia, going out every night, and living here.

On one hand you are rich here and have superstar status, you can go to the best bars, restraunts, and hotels in a city of 15M and think nothing of it. But on the other life is difficult and after two years here the bad is starting to outweigh the good at least for me. It's hard to have close friends, there's a fair bit of English, but not at the level to have good conversations or banter like you would with a native speaker. It's hard to have real hobbies because all anyone wants to do here is shop. There are some expat communities, but again the people are generally average, haven't met any great friends through it any more than you would by taking any other westerner at random and seeing if you're compatible.

You literally need to plan your day and activities around traffic. For instance with me, if I want to do something after work, like gym or rock climbing, I need to leave work right at 5, then plan on getting home at 9-10, I'll spend 90 minutes doing whatever, rest of the time in traffic. Taxis are cheap and plentiful though, so that's a plus. $20 for a 1-4 hour ride from the airport for instance.

The other thing like someone else said, you're almost like a hot woman here with the amount of attention you get. Most people want to befriend you, but it's usually to their own ends, to show you off, practice their English, I had one guy ask me if I could help him get a visa to the states etc. (I'm from Canada, but all the same in his mind) People view you as rich (and you are) but then they think about how that can benefit them.

It's good for a little while, but I think my issues here stem as much from the fact that i'm technically homeless living out of two bags with no real schedule, as it does from the day-to-day third world frustrations.

Seadog:

I would imagine that the standard of living would be worse in any SEA country, if a guy is trying to live off of the Local economy and off the Local income versus either having a job with foreign company or if your income he is coming from a 1st country and has income from that 1st world income, such as from either Canadian or US dollars.

[whozat]

My job is in the Medical profession. so expect the same wages as here in the UK.

I will be living in Kemang initially as its very close to work.

Was over a few weeks ago for 10 days, had a good time, but serious stomach upsets for the first week.

Awesome detailed description, thanks.

I will be planning on spending my weekends outside jakarta in bali /lombok.

Traffic was insane, i have been to s.e asia many times and never seen anything like it.

Went to red square - was tiny and very over rated, full of hookers.

Hopefully see you over there.

Any other tips?

Thanks Whozat

[Seadog]

Honestly it depends but generally yes. Right now what seems to be happening in a lot of the developing world is just that. It's developing. It's similar to what happened in the mid 19th century in the US. You have your Carnegies, Rockafellers, Vanderbilts etc who are making their mark, improving how goods are produced, distributed, and how labour is utilized, and making good money in the process. You have these moguls on one side, and people who think $10 a day is a huge wage willing to do all manner of dangerous work for it on the other. Average wage is around $2 a day I think? My buddy is dating a teacher who gets $300 a month.

Especially outside of the cities, you can live cheap though. Survive on $100 a month no problem.

[Cyclone]

Wow.. based on these posts, Jakarta seems to be a lot like (northern) Vietnam - chicks all over you just cause of foreign status, extremely direct with you, except that they seem DTF instead of being conservative as fuck like they are up there. Plus with the wages looking the way they do, have a remote gig out there seems to be the way to go.

My only Q is, in Vietnam chicks go for the tanner, dark hair, short Americans.
They were intimidated by tall blond dudes.
In JKT how would they treat the former? I have high hopes regardless (will be there 1 week in Jan)

.

[chewyNY]

(10-10-2013 07:52 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

(10-10-2013 11:55 AM)chewyNY Wrote:  

Thx for this post, I'm gonna stay near Indo.PLaza...my tix is booked for Oct.23rd...which hotel did u use?

Sorry, I just got a Droid tablet, but which app is "CS"? I already installed the other apps, thx.

I love the Syrian/Moroccan look! lol

Hey man, how long are you going there for? I'll be in Indonesia from Nov 23 - Bali for the first few days, then most likely Jakarta for a week or so.

Hey what's up, I'm flying out Wed nite (23rd) from Phuket to Jkt...today I booked 4 nites @ Ibis Jakarta Arcadia Hotel for about $55/nite. Then prob off to Bandung.

I haven't done day-game in ages...any pointers for approaching @ the malls since that will prob. be the bulk of my time spent during the day.
Any gyms to lift weights or train Muay Thai? I'm gonna turn into a fat-c*nt from all the nasi, lol. Thx fellas.

[Mumbojumbo]

(10-16-2013 12:02 PM)Cyclone Wrote:  

Wow.. based on these posts, Jakarta seems to be a lot like (northern) Vietnam - chicks all over you just cause of foreign status, extremely direct with you, except that they seem DTF instead of being conservative as fuck like they are up there. Plus with the wages looking the way they do, have a remote gig out there seems to be the way to go.

My only Q is, in Vietnam chicks go for the tanner, dark hair, short Americans.
They were intimidated by tall blond dudes.
In JKT how would they treat the former? I have high hopes regardless (will be there 1 week in Jan)

.

From what I learned white skin (and cock) is what they want. Not sure they make much of a distinction between everything else.

Vietnam is waaay more conservative. Jakarta girls just want fun - bit like back home but there aren't many white guys in town so you'll be in for a treat with the right bunch of girls there.

[Mumbojumbo]

(10-21-2013 10:59 AM)chewyNY Wrote:  

[
I haven't done day-game in ages...any pointers for approaching @ the malls since that will prob. be the bulk of my time spent during the day.

It's straight out of daybang. Ask for a place

- to exchange money

- to add credit to your phone

- a specific store/ restaurant/ coffee shop etc.

Insist nicely to be taken there because everything is so confusing.

Drop your bait while walking there. Ask some questions.

Do GALNUC and number close.

Jakarta is THE place to do it. English is top and girls are the nicest I ever encountered. No giggling and arm crossing like in Korea or Japan.

[chewyNY]

(10-21-2013 11:13 AM)Mumbojumbo Wrote:  

(10-21-2013 10:59 AM)chewyNY Wrote:  

[
I haven't done day-game in ages...any pointers for approaching @ the malls since that will prob. be the bulk of my time spent during the day.

It's straight out of daybang. Ask for a place

- to exchange money

- to add credit to your phone

- a specific store/ restaurant/ coffee shop etc.

Insist nicely to be taken there because everything is so confusing.

Drop your bait while walking there. Ask some questions.

Do GALNUC and number close.

Jakarta is THE place to do it. English is top and girls are the nicest I ever encountered. No giggling and arm crossing like in Korea or Japan.

Awesome thx brotha...I'll report back next week hopefully w stories lol

[TNT]

(10-21-2013 12:22 PM)chewyNY Wrote:  

Awesome thx brotha...I'll report back next week hopefully w stories lol

Hi chewyNY, how did you go in Jakarta?

[travolta]

(10-11-2013 07:55 PM)Seadog Wrote:  

For instance with me, if I want to do something after work, like gym or rock climbing

Is there any outdoor climbing that can be done in Jakarta, or just indoor climbing? I'm probably going to be hitting up Indonesia in January or February. If there's outdoor climbing in Jakarta then it's a done deal..

[entertainme]

I'm hitting up Asia with a few buddies and told them about hitting up Jakarta, but they are telling me that they heard it's dangerous there...

Any truth to that or are they just pussies?

I'm down nonetheless keeps the tourism down and more chicks for the bold.

[wolfpack]

say... i hear that "white men getting all them 'birds' easy".. how is it for eastern asian?

now for me...

Im Korean-American (1.5 generation since i was born there, but most of my teen to adult life i lived in states)
currently a U.S army.

am i in serious disadvantage in jarkata if i am "look of korean"?

I

[Mumbojumbo]

(11-14-2013 08:12 PM)entertainme Wrote:  

I'm hitting up Asia with a few buddies and told them about hitting up Jakarta, but they are telling me that they heard it's dangerous there...

Any truth to that or are they just pussies?

I'm down nonetheless keeps the tourism down and more chicks for the bold.

You are kidding - right? Safer than most US cities. As long as you don't do something stupid (overly aggressive, bad neighborhoods, bar fights) you gonna be fine.

[Brodiaga]

Booked an apartment near Plaza Indonesia for Nov 29 - Dec 5. If anybody's staying in Jakarta on the same days, hit me up.

[JayJuanGee]

(11-17-2013 09:31 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

Booked an apartment near Plaza Indonesia for Nov 29 - Dec 5. If anybody's staying in Jakarta on the same days, hit me up.

did you use airbnb or something else to book?

[Brodiaga]

(11-18-2013 04:43 AM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  

(11-17-2013 09:31 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

Booked an apartment near Plaza Indonesia for Nov 29 - Dec 5. If anybody's staying in Jakarta on the same days, hit me up.

did you use airbnb or something else to book?

I used airbnb.

[baxiren]

Hi, as I have posted before, I had a great time in Jakarta. The only place wilder than Jakarta I know is Wan Chai (Hong Kong) on Sundays. Because it is full of Indonesian and Filipina maids! And they only have one day off.

In Jakarta you will find rich and poor girls, but the preference for tall white guys remains. Even in Bali, among a throng of blond surfers, I was able to pull easily.

I might not be the most indicated to reply the Asian guys queries, but I guess they would do alright (not as well as a white guys, though). The few Asians I have seen in Wan Chai had no problem scoring Indos.

My job allows me to live in any capital around the world (and some other big cities as well). I visited Jakarta to check out whether it would be possible to live there for 2 years. It isn`t! Despite all the attention you get from the girls, Jakarta is the worst city you would choose to live in Asia (among the ones I know, of course). It is dauntingly ugly in some parts, has no subway, traffic jam at any time and virtually nothing to do besides clubbing and shopping. The food is good, though.

[ChrisGambi]

A lot of guys say you cant do anything in jkk vs manila or bkk etc, can you elaborate? I think they all offer similar extracurricular activities.

[JayJuanGee]

(11-20-2013 04:33 AM)baxiren Wrote:  

Hi, as I have posted before, I had a great time in Jakarta. The only place wilder than Jakarta I know is Wan Chai (Hong Kong) on Sundays. Because it is full of Indonesian and Filipina maids! And they only have one day off.

In Jakarta you will find rich and poor girls, but the preference for tall white guys remains. Even in Bali, among a throng of blond surfers, I was able to pull easily.

I might not be the most indicated to reply the Asian guys queries, but I guess they would do alright (not as well as a white guys, though). The few Asians I have seen in Wan Chai had no problem scoring Indos.

My job allows me to live in any capital around the world (and some other big cities as well). I visited Jakarta to check out whether it would be possible to live there for 2 years. It isn`t! Despite all the attention you get from the girls, Jakarta is the worst city you would choose to live in Asia (among the ones I know, of course). It is dauntingly ugly in some parts, has no subway, traffic jam at any time and virtually nothing to do besides clubbing and shopping. The food is good, though.

Baxiren:

Since you have only posted a couple of times in this forum, we do NOT really know you too well, and I think guys here would appreciate finding out some more details about your experiences in Jakarta or anywhere else.. so we would be able to better understand how you come to certain conclusions. For example, how old are you and how long did you spend in various locations in Jakarta.. and when was that.. and from where are you coming or making such a comparison? Well, you would NOT necessarily need to answer exactly the questions that I have made in order for us to get some better ideas about the experiences that you are describing.

And, even providing a little more detail about your description of your experience(s) in the club in Hong Kong may be useful in terms of when, how many times and for how long did you have such experiences.

[Cyclone]

(11-20-2013 04:33 AM)baxiren Wrote:  

I visited Jakarta to check out whether it would be possible to live there for 2 years. It isn`t! Despite all the attention you get from the girls, Jakarta is the worst city you would choose to live in Asia

This depresses me to no end.

[rdp]

Jakarta is by far one of the nastiest cities I have ever visited. I was there in May and it was hot and humid as hell.
The pollution, the dirt, the poverty, not to mention the traffic is insane.
To be asia the people are maybe the least friendliest (my experience), and there is always the issue of being hussled.
I will mention I felt perfectly safe there anytime of the day and night. Being white you will get attention from girls, especially if you move outside Jakarta and Bali (truly overrated).

For nightclubs, partying and girls you will have fun.

-rdp

[JayJuanGee]

(11-22-2013 07:41 AM)rdp Wrote:  

Jakarta is by far one of the nastiest cities I have ever visited. I was there in May and it was hot and humid as hell.
The pollution, the dirt, the poverty, not to mention the traffic is insane.
To be asia the people are maybe the least friendliest (my experience), and there is always the issue of being hussled.
I will mention I felt perfectly safe there anytime of the day and night. Being white you will get attention from girls, especially if you move outside Jakarta and Bali (truly overrated).

For nightclubs, partying and girls you will have fun.

-rdp

RDP:

What cities or locations are you recommending outside of Jakarta and Bali. My understanding is that guys go to cities b/c there is a lot more bang for the buck.. .meaning that is where the young girls go. If you go to the country-side and the small towns, then you are just going to get a bunch of old people and very low ratio of attractive girls.. relatively speaking.. or harder to find the attractive young girls. What is your thinking regarding going to places outside of the places that attract the young cute talent?

[Cyclone]

^ well I think the problem with going to the "countryside" would be that girls would be more conservative, and would probably want to marry your ass rather than bang you.

So during the day, there's really nothing to do in JKT? And Bali is overrated? I'm going to both of these places for 1 week each to get a sample of the lifestyle.
.

[JayJuanGee]

(11-22-2013 11:46 AM)Cyclone Wrote:  

So during the day, there's really nothing to do in JKT?
.

Aren't there malls, and eating places, and gyms in Jakarta? And, yes, can't a guy have daytime dates, too and potentially be banging girls, here and there during the day?

Surely, i have heard various stories about traffic being a major hindrance in being able to do much of anything in Jakarta, but if a guy is somewhat creative, he should be able to figure out some ways to keep himself entertained - maybe short-term rather than long-term?

[rdp]

JayJuanGee: thats right. Young people will always head for the bigger cities in search of a "better" and more exciting life and more opportunities.
This is true for all places around the world I guess. But heading outside the big cities and major tourist destination, you often will be seen as more exotic and "different", competition will be lower also. You will also meet another "kind" of people and girls. Young and attractive girls are found everywhere.
I am not talking about small shitty village towns with a head chief or some small city with one cinema.

I stayed somes night in Jalan Jaksa, Jakarta (this is Jakartas answer to Ko San Road Bangkok) , girls would flock to this place at night time in search for a bully (foreigner) to make a quick buck or two.

If you want to learn to surf or are into java culture ,Bali is good. But for party and girls... the place is full of loud drunk aussies and other tourist...no thank you. It is much more expensive also because of all the tourists. The island is beautiful tough.

For me Yogjakarta was good. It still sees alot of tourist, but a different kind. Most of them come here using it as a base for exploring the awsome temples of Borobudur (worth a visit) or trek the active volcanos.They come in couples and are always in a rush (one of the three first question you will be asked from girls are "how long are you here for). The city is full of young Indonesian people, the place is full of galleries and art and also considered one of the best places to see javanese culture and experience it.
I always steer clear of nightclubs, spots and bars where "all" tourists" flock, 'cause these are the kind of places that often attracts the "wrong" people and girls.
My travels is not just about girls, I love seeing new places, trekking, beaches, im into history, i love street art, culture and coffee.

Cyclone got a good point; girls tend to be alittle more conservative (or just more careful), but for being an islamic nation the people are very liberal. its nothing like neighbouring Malaysia i.e.
Dont get me wrong ; Bali is beautiful and fun, but I found it overrated. I had high expetations 'cause all the hype from travellers.
Jakarta is full of things to do during the day, but this is no Bangkok.
There are plenty of good malls (for gaming, shopping, chilling) , some museums, churches, one of the biggest mosques is found here. There are big green parks and markets you can go explore and enjoy and meet people. Sample street food. Ancol is a big park you can go swim and even dive with sharks.
Go to a gym or play golf if you like. Go meet other travellers for a bintang beer or java coffee in Jalan Jaksan. The list goes on.
The place is perfectly safe. Traffic is a bitch (sometimes just better to walk, but the metro system is good) and the language barrier can at times be a "problem".

-rdp