carlton68 Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 'i ve lived in bkk and jkt' lucky bastard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 i m happy enough to plod around jakarta The traffic would grind me down pretty quickly, but given that you've lived in BKK, I guess thats not an issue. As Carlton said, half your luck :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soppy Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 not there at the moment, in kl, but back for crimbo :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 Hurray! It's back. So i move it to the first page again. A question: a dutch friend told me that Tanamor and JJs are closed forever (not enough business). True? Or did he get it wrong and it was only closed for Ramadan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosal Posted December 31, 2004 Report Share Posted December 31, 2004 JJs ..... If it's true it will be a sad end for what has been for a long time the most pleasant place to hang around in town. I have some of the best memories of my life in this particular old Dutch house, confortably installed under the Chinese lanterns in the huge, beautiful and always buzzy Balinese backyard, sweating in the tropical heat, enjoyed till dawn the party atmosphere, chatting, over-drinking, eating nasi goreng or pizza (you remember the pizza stand ?), listening the (often good) music, watching the perpetual flow of beauties going in and out, playing billard or dancing with the countless easygoing stunners who used to go there a few years ago. Short times and hardcore whoring were then unknown in JKT, girlies level was REALLY high, with even some "model type" beauties, and most of them were not even interested by the existence of our walletts. BTW ..... who remember that JJ was in the 80s, just when it opened, THE trendiest place in town, packed with JKT's top socialites, celebrities, models, yuppies, Suharto's clan, ect .... they abandonned it after a few monthes (like it's usual with any trendy place in JKT, which very rarely last more than one year), and it became soon the place that we know, the most pleasant sanuk spot on the planet, till 2003 when it went really downhill. Sorry for the nostalgic tone ..... Anyway I heard that the JJ (and Tanamur) owner was more preoccupied with De Leila disco that he owns too, and which is packed to the walls everyday (and where waitresses are really pretty). Why don't we buy the place :: ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuman Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 I'll be reporting live (well maybe not quite) from the scene from monday onwards. :: It seems that a trip down to Tanah Abang is in the books, to get the scoop on the infamous JJ's. Stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosal Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 Have a safe trip .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Let us know how the nightlife is at the moment. I am getting hitched there in September and will need up to the minute intel to get the stag party rolling. Cheers PS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thai3 Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I cannot be arsed to read through all these pages but I thought this old post of Long Guns from the regional section might be informative, even though it's four years old it might still be usefull. Apologies if it's already been mentioned: Yeah, well, I?m kind of disappointed in this even before I start to write it as my personal circumstances meant that I really wasn?t up to exploring in the way that I intended so there really isn?t anything here that hasn?t been said before by more regular visitors and residents. However, I still want to write it to confirm my support for Indonesia, or more specifically a fairly small part of Java, as an excellent venue for the elusive sanuk. A few days before I left I traveled to Surin to celebrate the marriage of a certain Mr C Scrutinizer (incidentally, I really liked what I saw of Surin, nice town, quite lively in places, and the hotel (Thong Tarin) was excellent value ? especially as we checked in at about 5.00 am on the Saturday morning, left Sunday noon but were only charged for one night!) By the time I returned to Bangkok I was not feeling good and despite an entertaining delayed bachelor party I knew I had picked up some sort of flu bug. Monday I was doped up and poleaxed on the sofa, dragging myself out in the evening to shop for the trip (see related story regarding this!) and I really never felt right during the entire week. I ended up spending a lot more time in hotel rooms than I had planned, hardly had a drink all week and scarcely ate anything other than some breakfast. But I STILL had a great time. In part this may have been largely due to the fact that I was traveling solo again for the first time for quite a while. Since the missus caught me red-knobbed in Pattaya a year ago, my opportunities have been severely limited, though a handy conference in Jakarta last year enabled me to gain a very positive impression of the place and yearn to return throughout the next 9 months or so. Anyway, I booked my flight via http://www.Flights.com with Singapore Airlines for B9900 which seemed very reasonable. Not much of a delay between the two legs, 2 decent meals in each direction although the return flight wasn?t long enough for me to see the end of my chosen movie so I need to get the video out sometime. For those of you who aren?t familiar with economy class, Singapore-style, it should be noted that they serve champagne and each seat has its own screen with about 30 channels of video and a Nintendo games console. Great service, lovely staff. I don?t know if the flight was any cheaper this way but I liked being able to choose my flight details and immediately know if there were still available seats. I booked the hotels through http://www.asiatravel.com and again I don?t know if this was the cheapest way or not but the prices seemed very good for the quality of hotel and they were very efficient ? I booked through the internet about 15 minutes before I left for the airport and all arrangements had been made before I arrived. In Jakarta I was in the Boulevard Park Plaza, in Slipi district, near the Taman Anggrek shopping mall. I paid R315,000 net per night including 2 buffet breakfasts (at the time about $27 or B1200). I planned to spend 2 nights here on the rampage before hooking up with a delightful lady I met the year before and take her to show me Bandung for 3 nights, then the last night back in Jakarta. By the time I got to the hotel all I wanted to do was take some medicine and sleep so the first night just sort of disappeared. Incidentally, the taxi chap from the airport asked for $15 ? R150,000. I eventually gave him R60,000 which I was sure was generous and indeed proved to be so as when I left, the metered Bluebird taxi (the ones everyone recommends) clocked up about B40,000 plus a few thousand for tolls. Next day I mooched around the mall in the afternoon and then headed off to Blok M. Sat in the Sportsman picking at my food, watching meaningless boxing, generally feeling sorry for myself and then strolled up to Oskar?s where I had spent a couple of very entertaining hours last year. As I said elsewhere, the girls in Jakarta do have a fine nose for new blood, or at least someone who isn?t a regular, and as soon as I walked in to a packed and buzzing bar my spirits were lifted by the attention I was getting from all corners. Good live band, very happy atmosphere and a succession of interesting looking girls circling me, bumping into me, tentatively holding arms, hands, whatever. I had spotted one girl who appealed strongly, probably as much because she was a bit less forward than some apart from her other very obvious charms. Two friends had made a determined move and were trying to fend off any competition and, to be fair, one of them had my attention until she asked me to buy her a drink and when I declined, ordered one anyway and sent the bill to another bule she had been talking to. One of the things I had enjoyed about my previous visit was never being asked for a drink so I wasn?t too happy with this opening and when she suggested we might spend the night together I made my excuses and left, all of 3 feet backwards where my initial fancy was waiting. This was much more like it, slim, fit, funny, immediately affectionate and one of the horniest dancers I?ve seen. Her outfit was the sort that might have put me off in Thailand, with the thought of breakfast the next morning, but here I was a free man and didn?t give a monkeys what anyone else might be going to think. We had a drink and headed round to Lintas Melawai which was very busy and full of promise but any time I developed ?naughty eyes? (her phrase) she would just slide all the way down my body and regain my attention! Back at the hotel she turned out to be exactly what I needed, very energetic and enthusiastic and a gentle and caring masseuse and nurse too ? she even had her own jar of Vick!! My only real concern was that when I said I would be going to Bandung she appointed herself as my tourguide ? it was her ?hometown? ? and she didn?t quite seem to register my lack of enthusiasm for this idea. Good breakfast, back to bed for more treatment and then in the early afternoon my ?real? tourguide called to say she was on her way to the hotel with a friend to take me to the station to buy tickets for the next day! I left my nurse sleeping and left some money in her bag and hoped she might leave while I was out. She did, which wasn?t that surprising as I didn?t go back for about 7 hours! I was so happy to see my chum from last year again, and, if anything, she seemed even lovelier than I remembered. We went off to the station but it turned out that all advance tickets (they only sell 50% before the day of the journey) were sold but she said not to worry as she would come back to the station in the morning and queue up for me!! She did say that she didn?t think she could join me (she works in a travel agent, though this is quite flexible as it?s a family business, and studies in the evenings) but would meet me when I got back. I was a bit saddened by this but figured it would give me a better chance to get to know the scene in Bandung. When I did get back she called to invite me to a friend?s party at the Meridien, which sounded a great prospect but I really needed to sleep, fever and aches were still causing problems, so I said I would have a sleep and call her later. Then my nurse phoned and asked if she could come back to the hotel and I thought well, that would be very easy from my point of view, so I agreed ? not my best idea of the week! When she did come round, dressed in a very thin, bright white, very low cut outfit, she had already had a few drinks and unfortunately soon started to show some strange obsessive tendencies. She kept going on about how much she liked me and couldn?t understand why she felt so strongly after such a short time and how she really wanted to take me to Bandung. Coming from a very attractive 19 year old (who had claimed 23) this was all very flattering and I enjoyed the bits where she ?demonstrated? how much she liked me but it did seem that she knew my other friend and she was making the occasional scarcely veiled threats and derogatory comments about her. Come the morning I was expecting a call or even a visit about the trains but was trying to avoid pissing off my nurse even more so left the phone off the hook. Eventually I was wondering if I was ever going to get her out of the room and was contemplating calling security. She had started to demonstrate her physical strength and apparent kick boxing expertise but eventually the power of the baht triumphed. I hadn?t been able to get out to get some more money and the hotel rate was appalling so I produced B2000 and the exchange rates page from the morning paper and managed to convince her that she should get to the bank quickly. Definitely too much money but I was struggling for an alternative. A quick phone call to my tourguide who was waiting at the station with my ticket for a train due to leave in about 40 minutes! Checked out VERY quickly and made the train with a few minutes to spare, sadly having to travel alone but with the promise of much pleasure on my return. I had no rupiah at this point and she was about R100,000 out of pocket for taxis and tickets and the money she gave me for refreshments ? what a girl, I had only ?known? her for a day and a few e-mails which had stopped about 6 months ago. The train journey to Bandung is tremendous, comfortable, very roomy seats and a beautiful 3 hour trip through the mountains and villages, all for R32,000 - $3! Took a very friendly taxi to the Savoy Homann hotel ? what a bargain this was! I had an executive deluxe room in the very nice old colonial hotel which is based around a nice garden where the excellent buffet breakfast can be eaten. This was close to the best hotel room I have ever stayed in, separate living area with sofas and a desk and a luxurious bedroom and bathroom where everything was just right, lovely décor and furnishings, everything on remote control, huge balcony, all for $25 incl 2 breakfasts. All that was needed was someone to eat the other one so after a few hours sleep I eventually headed to the North Sea Café at about midnight. I since learned that this wasn?t a good idea and that early is definitely better so it would be unfair for me to judge it too harshly I terms of the talent but by this time it was not of the highest quality, though there was still plenty of it. I did like the bar though, quite a few bule residents mingling with the girls and a very entertaining band who welcomed guest vocals from many of the crowd. There was a real party atmosphere and the girls were friendly enough but there was nobody who inspired me to lower my standards sufficiently. I did wonder if this was the normal level, that visiting Bandung to look for beautiful women might be as sensible as doing the same in, say, Buriram, when they are all working in Bangkok. At about 2.00 am I wandered over to Caesar?s disco, quite a bizarre set up as it is built above a massive disused (?) ballroom and it really feels like the whole building is empty until you finally reach the source of the beats. The disco itself has a fine sound and lighting system, very spacious, constant techno soundtrack, kind of reminiscent of the Marine in Pattaya except for one missing ingredient ? the women!! The place was about 10% full (this was Friday night) and the only action on the dance floor was some rather elephantine stepping by a group of blokes. I sat around for a while hoping for a late rush (it was closing at 3) and eventually walked back alone to the hotel. Nice place to feel sorry for yourself anyway! Next day I went for a lengthy wander towards the university area and had a really nice day in shopping malls and cafes, hardly encountering another white face all day. Lots of smiley friendly people and a lot of very fine looking women, though far more reserved than you might expect in Thailand. I was already wishing I could spend a week or so there really getting to know the place, I think it has a lot of potential for finding student girls in need of a bit of help with their fees. There was a lot of strutting about from the local force with their billy clubs, just kind of letting people know they were around ? Gus Dur?s threatened state of emergency hadn?t materialized but his impeachment did seem likely to be brought forward to the Monday and Bandung?s students seem to have earned a reputation as being very politically aware and active. It was hard to see where any trouble would come from as nobody seemed to want him to stay around. Anyway, I spent too long in in internet café and then wandered back to the hotel, took some more medicine and crashed out again. Very irritating as I didn?t wake up until 12.30 am and had no real idea where I was going so I just walked in the opposite direction to the previous night. Not much going on until I heard some bass pumping out from somewhere but it was hard to work out where from. Eventually I tracked it down to the top floor of a big bank building where I found ?Fame Station? Nice place, but an (otherwise) entirely local, and seemingly quite wealthy crowd. Friendly enough but any real breakthroughs were not just going to happen and would need rather more effort than I was capable of producing at that time. When it was winding down towards 2.30 someone recommended Studio East so I took a taxi over there, I really have no idea where I was but the journey back seemed to take us through a backpacker type area, Kao Sarn Road type of place, though all was dark and quiet. Studio was big, busy and full of life, a sprinkling of bules but not much very obvious interest in this one who felt a strong desire to sleep alone again anyway and get my strength back for Jakarta which is exactly what I did. Another nice journey back and my tourguide was waiting at the station for me and we headed back to the same hotel. I had doubts about this as I thought nursie might come to pay a visit but I explained to the desk staff that they hadn?t seen me again if anyone should ask and checked into another Executive Deluxe place, mainly because of it?s very large bathtub which I had plans to fill. An old (male) friend was arriving in Jakarta and I had arranged to hook up with him in the afternoon for an evening out. First though my tourguide and I had a lot of catching up to do ?.. We eventually met up with my friend in O?Reilly?s bar in the Hyatt at about 9.30 pm which he had raved about on a previous visit. Tonight (Sunday) it was dead, the band had the night off and the streets were generally very quiet as many of the locals seemed a little nervous about some trouble kicking off. The army had been parading when I had traveled from the station though I was amused that when Gus had asked for support from various military leaders one by one the net result seemed to be that the tanks were turned round to face the palace. A couple of church bombings by religious nutters seemed to be the extent of any unrest. He assures me that a couple of nights later the place was heaving and it certainly sounds like it?s worth checking out. Even the Hard Rock was no more than a third full and the band were struggling to get the sparse crowd moving and the totty level was surprisingly low. By now I was pleased I had brought my own company though moving onto Tanamur reassured me that I certainly wouldn?t have been lonely otherwise. It was still very early, only around midnight, but the crowd was starting to grow slowly and there were already some very striking girls there, and some very entertaining dancing. My (male) friend quickly acquired a couple of companions and left and my truelove and I headed off to J-Js to see some of her friends (this was where I had met her last year). Again it was lacking the stunning occupants from last year but being there was still fun. If this had been my first night out in Jakarta I would have been horrified and wondered what all the fuss was about but I would confidently recommend any of these places on any other night. I felt like the number of young taxi touts had grown a lot from last year which is a pain and takes a little of the edge off not being hassled to buy drinks anywhere but overall I was happy to be there, I never felt like the enthusiasm from my previous trip had been misplaced. A totally wonderful night followed ? this girl would create severe problems for me if I had met her in Thailand ? and we parted very reluctantly at the airport. I was relieved to have the forthcoming Japanese jaunt to help stave off the waves of regret. Someone somewhere in this section was asking for a comparison between the girls here and the Thais. Based on my own extensive research (not sure if a sample of 2 is statistically significant or not!) I can say that the following is true of 100% of the Indonesian girls I have been with: They have beautiful faces and very slim, but strong, firm bodies with unusually large breasts. Generally I prefer ?the smaller girl? but somehow this seemed a very interesting combination. They never mention money, ask for drinks or anything else. They are very good at maintaining the ?girlfriend? illusion. They thoroughly enjoy their ?work?, are enthusiastic and accomplished oral practitioners ? and swallow with a smile. Like I said, I am sure that some of my enjoyment of the place arises from the knowledge that I am a free man there but I also feel sure that even if I was running wild in Thailand I would still be drawn to Jakarta on a regular basis. I am not totally bored by the go-go scene ? had an extremely entertaining night in Nana last night ? but I do prefer the totally freelance/?regular girl? circuits in Jakarta. Given the opportunity I will also return for an extended look at Bandung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuman Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Ok a quick update after 10 days in the city (but not much in terms of nightlife as of yet): JJ's: still open, and still as miserable as it has been for a few years. CJ's: Well the new band, called "Shiok Crew" , is definitely better than the previous one... But too bad they had to bring in that obnoxious tw*t who used to perform at Java Jimmy's bar at JW Marriott Surabaya. Anyone know who I'm talking about? Well he's on stage at CJ's now. Otherwise, it's the same as ever with the same regular set of "girlies on game" night after night, plus non-P4P -girls, plus everything in between. Untitled Bar @ JW Marriott: Didn't think much of the band, and the night I went there weren't many people in. Didn't like the attitude of the staff either, if I'm at a bar at a 5-star hotel paying according prices I expect to be served as such, and not be played around with. A few girls entertaining mainly older gentlemen. I left early. Blue Oasis Entertainment: Still empty, still going on until 5am every single night. Can't figure this place out. Would be great if only the customers actually started turning up. Retro: Still great, as good as ever, with fashion-shows and other special occassions in addition to the regular nightclub-activities. Stadium: Wow, has this place regained the popularity it seemed to have lost for a while? Absolutely packed already at around midnight. The soundsystem is still lacking also, I could stand right in front of the main speaker and still be able to carry a conversation. This doesn't bode well to a venue of such proportions. The minuses aside, Stadium is my favourite "afterhours" (as much as they excist in Jakarta) -spot over the likes of Millenium and Mille's which play dogfood for music. For pulling pros there's the karaoke and the bar at the entrance to the main disco-area, for pulling non-pros... Take your pick. Jaya Pub: :: I go there for the late-night dining and to enjoy the great band which puts anything the ritzy hotel-bars have to offer in shame. Ok this wasn't very informative I know, more to come later... although I might hop to Bali for a short retreat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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