[QUOTE=BuildingMyBento;21378076]Although I can't help you with the VIP question, I'll try the other two-

If you have more specific questions, and/or know which part of the city you are staying in, please let us know.[/QUOTE


im glad i found this!
we (family with 3kids 11,9,5 yrs) are thinking about changing our weeks holiday over new yrs from saigon to jakarta..

are there any nice beaches nearby-we heard about thousand islands nearby but seems very expensive to stay there(is camping poss) and there is little info av...any other options?

also,what else is there interesting for kids within a few hrs?

thanks!!!:D

While Indonesia is a fantastic family vacation, I would not recommend Jakarta at all. There isn't much for children to do here. It's loud, crowded, with some of SE Asia's worst traffic. New Years is rainy season, very unpredictable; could be flooding.

Thousand islands are VERY overpriced; especially on weekends when many Jakartians would go. Your money would stretch much farther on many of the other islands.

thanks
can you advise somewhere if to go if we flew into jakarta?

Within Indo, Bali, Lombok, Danu Toba, Komodo would be some of the more interesting trips for children. All would require a domestic flight from CGK.

I'm always happy to incorporate Jakarta in my travel plans, but I'd hesitate to recommend the place for a family holiday. It's not particularly kid-friendly - not in any bad way, just not so much for visiting kids to do. Once you've exhausted the museum and (perhaps) Ancol and Taman mini, you're down to hunting out the aircon and traipsing round malls.

A decent day trip or overnighter might be Bogor. Friends rave about some resorts a few hours' drive from Jakarta, but I have no idea what that's about.

One of the few positives about Jakarta in the Christmas-New Years period is that traffic is generally lighter due to people taking holidays (second only to Lebaran I'd say for quieting the capital down). Generally it makes traffic only somewhat painful as opposed to being completely terrible.

As mentioned above, apart from Monas and the National Museum, Ancol, Taman Mini and perhaps the Kota area, there's not that much to see or do that doesn't involve shopping malls in Jakarta.

Certainly there's no beaches particularly close to Jakarta that I'd recommend either. If you're open to a drive of a couple of hours then I didn't mind staying at http://www.oceanqueenresort.com/index.html before. The rooms are a bit on the basic side but the prices are good, especially if going in a group. The sea can be a little rough for swimming there, but the water is clean, which is a nice bonus.

Otherwise, in addition to the other suggestions above I'd add Yogyakarta as worth a visit if Borobudur or Prambanan are of interest to the kids - though it's a bit of a distance if you wanted to go to the beach from there too.

Just be careful on New Year's Eve if trying to go somewhere. Traffic basically stops near major attractions later at night. Especially in front of the Hyatt traffic circle.

If your kids like animals, I recommend Taman Safari (there are roaming wildlife, petting zoo, rides and shows). However, your 11 year old is most likely too big for most rides. The children's rides are limited to max of 8 years or 30kg. There is also a night safari that operates on Saturdays only.
I visited Taman Safari past July and it was around 70min drive from Taman Safari to South Jakarta.

Jakarta have plenty of great great night life and culinary places are bountiful as well....

hi all,
i will be in jakarta from next wednesday night to saturday for a business trip staying in crowne plaza jakarta.can anybody provide some recommendation nice food say$40-60 usd range? would prefer local cuisines and places for dinner.
thanks.

I'm loathe to recommend trendy/modern Indonesian restaurants (I eat everywhere else), but there are two casual chains that are generally clean-looking and palatable:

Dapur Sunda (serving regional Sundanese food - eg. fresh vegetables and spicy sambal). They get two extra points because their sinks always have soap, and they have non-smoking areas (whether or not those are enforced is another issue). The closest one to the Crowne Plaza is in Pacific Place, but you should ask your concierge for clearer directions.

Garuda (serving regional Padangese food - spicy), where many small plates are put on your table, and whatever it appears that you've eaten, you get charged for...

-
There are Japanese and Middle Eastern restaurants in the Crowne Plaza, as an aside. The hotel location, it's not great. It's not geographically far from the CBD by any means, but the traffic is a mess. It's close to a shopping center (Plaza Semanggi), where you can get foreign goods in the basement hypermarket, but after staying there once, it was enough.

Whenever I have guests I bring them here. Located not too far from your hotel, depending on traffic, 20 minutes to 6 hours away:)

http://www.harum-manis.com

Sorry, computer issues. Didn't mean to post twice.

hi,
will there be long queues at blue lines on a friday night and is it better to prebook transfer with blue lines or the hotel?
I will be departing from CGK at 8.35 pm on a Saturday. What time do I have to calculate for transfer from center to airport by cab?

Your advice is very much appreciated,

Do you mean bluebird taxi for blue line?

What time do you plan to queue on a Friday night? Where from? From CGK? If from the CGK airport, go straight to the blue bird counter desk and request a blue bird taxi from there.

City center to airport takes around 30min when traffic is smooth. But beware that the trip might take around 2 hours in traffic jam exacerbated by rain (it is now the beginning of rainy season in Jakarta, although the past week has been quite clear).
I usually take taxiku (yellow cab) to the airport but I'm not sure whether or not it's advisable for a non-local. Unlike other taxi companies, the advantage of taxiku is that they bear the toll costs to airport.