nowhereman

I'm here until Friday this week, so if there are any other activities, good restaurant recommendations, please send them my way!

Also, I can't decide what to do today (Sunday).... in terms of sight-seeing. Any suggestions?

PS: I tried Cilantro last night. Pretty good, but not as good as Dragonfly. Nice views. They said "welcome to the highest Asian restaurant in Jakarta". It's funny - they are on 46th floor and Citro, a French restaurant, is upstairs on the 48th floor.
As usual, sub zero temperatures in this restaurant, too.

oontiveros

Don't know where you are but go to the Four Seasons or Mulia Hotel for brunch. Sundays are great in terms of spread and value.

If you feel like it, take the advice I gave somewhere earlier and go to the Batavia Cafe for brunch or lunch/dinner. Lunch is nice as you can then walk around the neighbourhood and take a looksee at some old colonial Dutch architecture. Try walking by the river.

nowhereman

Thanks! Tried the Batavia Cafe. Really nice. Also checked out the Jakarta Museum and the Puppet Museum in that square. Thanks for your suggestions.

Went looking for the Fish market, but I suspect that we ended up in what seemed like a slum (along the canals behind the Batavia Hotel)... don't know how dangerous it could have been, but we came out unscathed. Those canals must be quite a health hazard - a far cry from the canals of Amsterdam. You have to smell them to know

oontiveros

yea that whole are seems to be safe...have walked it before...

yes the canal is putrid...I really think that whole area, if redeveloped, could be quite a nice entertainment Lan Kwai Fong type of place. Who knows what's in that canal though...smelled like tanning chemicals to me...

Well anyway, glad you like Batavia...nice place and good food.

GibSpmuh

Any tips for special happenings for the weekend of the 27th and 28th of August in jolly Jakarta? I'll be passing through town so happy to check out anything beyond the standard stuff listed in the guide books. I'll certainly keep my eye out on the nightlife locations as well (though no 'ayam' required for me fortunately ).

nowhereman

We got a local travel agent to issue tickets on Garuda from CGK to DPS, but they've made some spelling errors in the name. They say that it's no big deal and that there won't be any problem in traveling on these tickets "since these are local flights".
True or False? I'm (naturally) a bit nervous.

Little Dragon Kitty

Hmmm.. another Lan Kwai Fong? bleh.

I like that Taksu gallery you mentioned though... looks very cool with cool art (googled it).

StarG

nowhereman: No ID checks whatsoever is done for domestic flights. You can have a ticket issued as Brad Pitt if you remotely ressembles the actor. It will be a problem only if you plan to credit your miles to an FFP. Wrong gender ticket can be a problem as well.

nowhereman

Thanks, StarG.

Hmm... I'm relieved that I can board my flight. But this means that Osama Bin Laden can also board a flight under the name of Brad Pitt (ok, no chance he looks like Brad, but y'all get my drift)??? In this day and age, such basic lack of security is downright scary.

StarG

Yup.

tsastor

Just passed through Jakarta. The airport is really nice and clean once you pass security! ^ (Only criticism is the non-smoking signs are overlooked by some people.) While I spent an hour or so in terminal F waiting for a domestic Garuda flight I saw a sign that Citibank MC Gold customers can get into the Garuda lounge (for free?). Just started wondering if that applies to Diners Card holders as well, since Citi owns the Diners brand? Or can you buy a day pass to the Garuda lounge? So sorry I did not think of asking these questions while I was there!

Marquis790

Thanx to all who helped with my previous questions. While I will cover things a little more once I get a trip report done, here's some info from the top of my head. Background: first time visit through CGK, and as an American, I had heard bad things about Jakarta. I had a 10 hour layover and wanted to make the most of things.

First off, I now have a GREAT opinion of Jakarta. Not at all what I thought it would be. We arrived on Air Asia from Medan Saturday Aug 20 around 11am and left close to 9pm. We were lucky enough to have a local friend drive us around (his schedule worked out). So, we didn't travel to too many locales, just drove around a bit, then visited some of his friends and had a great feast (it was a 12th wedding anniversary and the couple was I'd say upper middle class) with lots of local dishes...Indonesian food is some of my favourite. From driving around though and talking with him, I learned several things that might be of immediate interest to those travelling through Jakarta.

1. The weekends have less road congestion than weekdays, so it turned out good that we travelled on a Saturday.
2. Air Asia is a strictly point-to-point carrier and doesn't open counters for specific flights until 2 hours before, and closes them 45 minutes before departure time. This meant we couldn't through-check out luggage from MES to DPS (our destination after CGK), and we couldn't do an early check-in for DPS until 2 hours before the flight. So, we had to lug our luggage around. Luckily, we could put it in our friend's car, but fair warning for those without such accomodations.
3. Indonesia, as of 8/15, increased all domestic departure taxes. The ones that affected us, and that I could get prices for, were: Medan 15,000 Rp -> 25,000 Rp per person; Jakarta 20,000 Rp -> 30,000 Rp. We did our domestic flying on 8/20, so this affected us. International departure taxes remain the same (MES 75,000, CGK/DPS 100,000 Rp).
4. The first complete map in 100 years was just completed for Jakarta this year or late last year (can't remember, but very recently). It's a thick book and was contracted out to I think a German Company, that used mostly aerial photography to create an accurate map of Jakarta, which, for those that don't know, is BIG (16 million people weekends, 18 million weekdays according to our friend).
5. Safety: Relative. I didn't feel unsafe, though our friend says there are some places he gets concerned about driving through, and sometimes, there is no other direct option. A lot of slums near the airport were torn down and mangroves and swampland planted instead, but slums still exist, though not as visibly. Our friend works at the Australian embassy and he survived the Sept 2004 bombing by Jimaal Islamiyah with only minor cuts and bruises. They had bulletproof windows, which blew out through their brackets in one piece. Most of the injuries inside were due to light fixtures falling down. Over a dozen Indonesian security guards outside were killed, but nobody inside. He says the embassy gets bomb threats almost every day and they get concerned when there ISN'T a bomb threat. For what it's worth. BTW, several malls in Medan checked my backpack, but not my partner's purse. I didn't go through Jakarta malls.
6. Compared to Sumatra, Jakarta is fairly clean and the driving at least sane. I don't have the road name in front of me, but the Jakarta "rodeo drive" of houses is worth a look for visitors (and near I think the first large mall in Jakarta, if memory serves me right). The houses are neo-classical PALACES. Anyone looking to retire to Jakarta should know the largest ones (easily 10,000 square feet) are only about 3.5 billion Rp (almost $350,000 USD). Lots for the money, but probably not as much as in Sumatra. I was told by our friend that most of the cost is the land (like 75% of the cost in many cases for the really expensive houses). Truly a sight to see.
7. Domestic terminal 1 in CGK had no working ATMs on my visit and the bank there was closed (Saturday), and no money changers in the domestic terminal, so plan ahead. Our friend drove us to a bank before returning us to the airport. Inflation while we were in Indonesia: 8/11 9860 Rp: $1USD and 8/20 10,050 Rp: $1USD, then 8/23 9980 Rp: $1USD.
8. For anyone travelling Air Asia, they were great with timeliness and cleanliness, and even had great leather seats. I'd recommend row 2, as row 1 is often used by the flight staff and there is no overhead stowage in rows 1 and 2 (safety equipment). Since everyone pushes, you don't want to have to go behind you to get your bags when departing, so Row 1 isn't the best, though great leg room. I'd say, understand what you are buying, and if schedule is most important, go with Garuda. Otherwise, considering specific BIG limitations of Air Asia, I'd still recommend them highly for those that understand the restrictions. And certainly, buy tickets ahead of time. 3 days of apprehension cost me nearly $20 USD per person for the 3 flights from KUL-MES-CGK-DPS that I purchased through Air Asia. I couldn't get the online purchase engine to work for Merpati or Lion Air when buying tickets in July, so I had to buy with Air Asia, since I didn't want to wait until I got to Indonesia to buy my tickets.
9. Domestic terminal in CGK does ask for Passport when checking in, though no further security check for tickets, so presumably, one could check in, then go outside, give the ticket to someone, and they could pass through security without a problem. In Medan, our Indonesian friend checked us in with his ticketing friend (he used to work at Polonia Airport...as an aside, Medan is building a new airport. He said about 1 year it will be ready, so I'm told. And domestic Medan terminal better than international), so no passport check until my partner asked if they needed our passports, then as an afterthought, the ticketing agent said yes. Certainly, if someone has friends at the airport, no security. In Medan, this meant no customs check for our bags because of our friend. I only mention Medan here because perhaps the same is true in Jakarta, if someone has friends?!

Overall, a great short visit and I definitely want to return. So, I started by not wanting to go through CGK at all (thought it would be too congested and dangerous), but little smog (visible from the airplane, but fairly okay in the city, though I got a headache after 2 hours on the ground). Overall, I'd say a very "liveable city" in that few tourist attractions, but a great city in its own right. Hope this helps someone! I'll post a link to my trip report when I finally get it up, which'll have more specifics on flight times and other cities.

Marquis790

Rejuvenated

I spent two years residing in this city during 3rd and 4th grade of elementary school and attended school there. From time to time these days, I also return to pay a visit since some of my relatives still reside there.

My favorite shopping areas tend to be:

Block M
Pasar Baru

Favorite Beach:

Ancol

oontiveros

Marquis790, glad you liked Jakarta and the experience was good. Were the "palaces" in Pondok Indah? Those houses are huge...

One thing though, as to your point 7, the FX fluctuations are just that, FX fluctuations...not inflation, which is about 7% or so per annum.

tsastor

No info about CGK lounges?