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Is Jakarta worth a visit?


Belem

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asiahand,

 

you're right of course. I meant safe as not getting robbed or things getting stolen (mostly in my case).

The drivers are of course a bunch of loonies bound to self-destruction. Can only compare it to thailand and would say they are even.

Then I think about the many accidents in europe last year involving tour busses. Best to stay at home.

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asiahand said:

Didn't i read somewhere lately that a Indonesian bus crashed on a windy stretch of hill road and there were some deaths.

 

I guess if you follow the papers there isn't a week that goes by without a bus accident where a handfull of people die and the driver vanishes from the scene.

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I read a blurb on the BBC site about the same crash last week in Indonesia. Par usual they still have not found the driver who crashed the vehicles. He probably b-lined for jungle greenery to escape repercussions.

 

Its a common story - bus/minivan collision :help: All in the minivan were dead on impact. :(

 

God save us all from Buddhist drivers, "one foot on the gas, the other in the afterlife." :bow:

 

However, there is no sense worrying. Its just the way it goes barreling down winding Asian highways... frankly I can't wait. I recently got in a taxi in Bangkok where the driver burped as the door closed. I got a nasty whiff of Sang Som, and he started screaming, "You go Pattaya, yeah? - Pattaya!!!"

 

I had to get out and hail another one. He was not going anywhere but into a telephone pole.

 

Best,

 

the_numbers

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Guys, to continue with nightlife in Jakarta, here is the grand list of the Jakarta bars, clubs and lounges :

 

No lack of venues or 1am closing time here :: :: !!!!

 

 

 

APHRODITE (Club Rasuna, Jl. Rasuna Said): Bar, restaurant within the Taman Rasuna health club. One of the more popular after-work spot for many of Jakarta?s expats and quite a few Indonesians girlies interested to meet westerners as well.

 

ARIOS (Hotel Ambhara. Block M): popular amongst yuppie Indonesians that?s inside the same hotel as the Stamford Arms pub. A different band every night, music varies from pop to top 40?s to retro 60?s to jazz. There?s also a small dancefloor.

 

BARBADOS (Jl. Kemang Raya, Kemang): Shaped like a Caribbean pirate ship, live entertainment from various talented rotating local bands. Very lively on week ends, mainly Indonesian crowd, many regulars girlies to meet.

 

BB?S (Jl. Sidoarjo Menteng): Cool three-floored venue in Menteng. One of Jakarta?s very best live music venues with a mixture of blues, jazz, reggae and classic 1970?s rock. Many regular girls, packed on week-ends.

 

THE BEAT (Jl. Kemang Raya, Kemang): Varied bar and restaurant with a string of live local bands playing a variety of Top 40?s, RnB, jazz and blues.

 

B?S BAR & LOUNGE ( Jl. Sudirman): Features a small sports-oriented bar, a larger cushier lounge with quality artwork and slick garage/down-tempo music. A great place to relax, grab a bite and have a couple of quiet drinks with friends in comfortable surroundings.

 

BLOWFISH (Menara Bank, 29th Floor, Kuningan): Pricey but excellent nouveau sushi restaurant below; slick hip cocktail lounge/wine bar above. The place where half the trendy up-market Indonesian crew go for early evenings prior to hitting Embassy after midnight. Model-type girlies, quite a few westerners go there as well, as some upmarket semi-pros.

 

BUGILS CAFE (Taman Ria Senayan) A small cozy pub extremely popular with the long-term expats of Jakarta. Has a pool table, big screen TV, good pub menu and some of the spunkiest and most fun-loving waitresses in town.

 

CINNABAR (Plaza Gani Djemat, Central Jakarta): L-shaped cocktail bar/restaurant. Great central location, nice after-work/early evening spot, popular amongst wealthy Jakartanese and upmarket girlies. Many beauties.

 

THE CLUB (Jl. Hasanuddin, Block M): The oldest bar in Block M, used to be located a few doors down. Great set of pool tables, some of the same antique bar girls that have been there for 20 years, only now they make money by giving back massages for a few bucks while you?re sipping a beer on your barstool.

 

D?S PLACE (Jl. Falatehan I, Block M): The most popular Block M bar at the moment. The downstairs is full of expat regulars during happy hour. Later on, during the nightly dance competition and lady?s lucky draw, the second floor overflows with bar chicks and westerners looking for company.

 

FLANAGAN?S (Sari Pan-Pacific Hotel, Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta): Traditional Irish pub, pub food and friendly waitresses. Popular with Indonesians who work nearby.

 

F-39 (Jl. Fatmawati, Cilandak): Open-air hideaway in South Jakarta with western food, pool table and internet facilities.

 

HARD ROCK CAFÉ (Sarinah Building, JL. Thamrin): Popular music and food venue. The main dining area is always packed with trendy well-to-do Indonesians of every age while the side-bar usually overflowing on early evenings with westerners and local gals both looking for some extra company.

 

JAMZ (Aston Hotel, Karet Semanggi): A local live music heaven. Not quite as packed as it used to be, but it still offers three rooms with varied musical genres. Attracts mainly Indonesian crowd, many regular girlies ..

 

JAYA PUB (Jaya Bldg, Jl. Thamrin): The former top Jakarta cabaret throughout the 80?s and early 90?s is still going strong. The funky old interior, pool tables, nightly live music with great steaks and assorted pub food too.

 

JJ (Jl. Tanah Abang Timur): The Tanamur?s sister-club next door ? features 2 floors, an very pleasant outdoor party garden, pool tables, plus plenty of smiling pros and semi-pros. A very popular hot spot for expats and foreign travelers. Was one of my all-time favorites, before it went downhill IMO.

 

LINTAS MELAWAI (Jl. Melawai, next door to Hotel Melawai, Block M): the final depository of all the drunken westerners and wayward girls left wandering around Block M from 2am to 5am.

 

MATABAR (Wisma Metropolitan II,16th Floor, Jl. Sudirman): A highflying skyscraper bar with a spectacular view of Jakarta and some pretty good RnB and hip-hop music spun by local DJs. Hugely popular with young middle to upper class Indonesians

 

KELTS IRISH PUB (Gran Mulia Hotel): Not a bad early evening spot to ride out the rush-hour. Has top 40?s local band providing light background music, some interesting semi-pros to be found, and some regulars in search of westerners too.

 

MANNA HOUSE (Taman Ria Senayan): Formerly known as Manna Lounge, this is where the other half of the trendy up-market Embassy crowd hangs out early to mid-evening. Occasionally hosts special music events with top international down-tempo DJ artists. Can get really really packed. Many absolute beauties.

 

MY BAR (Jl. Falatehan): My Bar is the new girlies bar in Falatehan. Open from 11am to 5am the next day - plenty of unwind time there. It features excellent International/Indian food, reasonably priced drinks and a mirrored disco dance floor.

 

NEWS CAFÉ (Jl. Kemang Raya 10, Kemang): Restaurant cabaret that?s cut back the live entertainment to weekends only now. Mostly local crowd only.

 

OSCARS (Jl. Falatehan Block M): Sleazy two-floor girlies pub. the lower floor has live music from local bands, while upstairs has a quiet restaurant area with pool tables

 

PARC (Wisma Iskandarsyah, Block M): Brand new lounge at the former location of Prego. Relaxed interior with lots of wooden panels, plants and greenery; owned by top Jakarta DJ Anton and his sister.

 

SATU LAGI (Hotel Kristal, Cilandak): A popular after-work and weekend watering-hole with many of the westerners who live in South Jakarta. Has good pub food and several big screen televisions. Really fires during major sporting events.

 

SCORE (Cilandak Town Square): A flashy one-stop multi-entertainment establishment. It?s predominantly an up-market billiard hall and restaurant, but also offers DJs and local live music acts. Mainly well-to-do trendy Indonesian crowd.

 

SALSA (Jl. Kemang Raya): Latin music restaurant/dance club that offers Latin dance lessons from Cuban instructors in the daytime to aspiring Shakira and Christine Aguilera wannabes. Can get really packed on weekend, a great early evening venue, many girlies on week-ends..

 

STANFORD ARMS (Hotel Ambhara, Block M): The most authentic British pub in town, popular happy hour/early evening drink spot amongst Jakarta?s working westerners.

 

STAR DELI CAFÉ (Jl. Kemang Selatan Raya No. 5, Kemang): Bar on the southern outskirts of Kemang with a few pool tables, lots of 1950?s movie star photos and a handful of waitresses in sexy mini-skirts. Decent sandwich and burger menu, a great place to spend a happy hour with lots of legs to look at.

 

SPORTSMAN (Jl. Falatehan, Block M): The top sport?s bar in Block M, big screen televisions and pool tables upstairs and downstairs. Probably has the most consistently good food of all the Block M pubs;

 

ZOOM (28th Floor, Wisma Nusantara, Jl. Thamrin): Cozy sky-top restaurant and lounge with very slick local jazz acts.

 

 

 

......and some the hotels best live music venues :

 

 

B.A.T.S. (Hotel Shangri-La): This basement bar is one of Jakarta?s most popular expat night spots. Expensive long flagons of beer, a pretty tasty adjoining continental restaurant, adequate dance floor and upstairs pool room. Not a sleazy venue, although there?s always plenty of classy pros hanging around, mixed with a few ?nice chicks? as well.

 

BURGUNDY (Hotel Grand Hyatt): A super classy wine and cigar bar featuring cool jazz amongst a lot of glass and minimalist surroundings. The crowd?s an even mix of mature westerners and Indonesians who enjoy the finer things in life. Many classy girlies, some semi-pros too.

 

CJ?s (Hotel Mulia, Senayan): Super popular club with huge stage. Usually host fusion hip-hop/rap/RnB outfits that work a lot of entertaining dance moves into their performance. A far more Indonesian crowd than BATS or the Tiga Puluh, and less well-lit as well. Gets so packed on weekends that its hard to get a drink. The best in town IMO, many many girlies, pros, semi-pros and regulars.

 

STIX (Park Lane Hotel, Kuningan): Hotel basement restaurant with excellent steaks that consistently imports great Latin bands . Some semi-pros, and regulars partying on Thusdays and Friday nights

 

THE TAVERN (Hotel Hyatt Aryaduta): Formerly one of Jakarta?s major players in the 80?s and early 90?s ? the Tavern has mellowed into a more laid-back fun-pub catering to mainly Indonesians and a handful of western travelers. Features Monday jazz and top 40?s and pop from Tuesday through Sunday. Also serves fantastic hot rock steaks.

 

TIGA PULUH BAR (Hotel Le Meridien): One of Jakarta?s top mid-evening spots with a central stage. No real dance floor, everyone just dance where they stand, which translates into lots of leggy beauties prancing on top of the bar as well. Countless pros and semi-pros, some regulars. Really packed on week ends.

 

UNTITLED BAR (Hotel Marriott): Quieter and more relaxed live music venue which is exactly the reason why its becoming more popular amongst Jakarta?s resident expats.

 

 

??and, as a reminder, some great after-hours trendy discos

 

Musro (Hotel Borobudur)

 

Gran Mahattan (Hotel Borobudur)

 

A2 Club (Alila Hotel)

 

Retro (Crown Plaza Hotel) (one of my personal favorite spot on Wednesdays and Fridays)

 

Centro (Darmawangsa Building) (currently the best with Embassy)

 

Embassy (Taman Ria Senayan)

 

Stadium (Jl Hayam. Wuruk)

 

1001 (Jl Hayam. Wuruk)

 

 

:: :: ::

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I haven'nt followed this thread at all but judging by the length of it,Jakarta must definetly be worth a visit!

I do believe the lovely porn goddess,Jade Marcella :p hails from these parts so if she is a guide to the stock available it must be good!

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