Jakarta

[QUOTE=SeanEZ;1671371]may be able to meet a "nice" girl who works in the mall, but I haven't seen any hot girls on malls.[/QUOTE]You haven't seen any hot chics in the malls? Are you serious? Whenever I hang out at Plaza Senayan or Grand Indonesia, I see plenty of attractive women better than anything the Kota places offer. It's the same with Thailand though. For a majority of these chics to be with a foreigner there's a whole shame and embarrassment factor they don't want to be involved in.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;1670984]Karel, I was wondering what outfits they wore. I missed it that Friday night. Too bad I didn't know about it.

I ended up stuck in my room with this girl that night. Damn it all.[/QUOTE]I feel really sorry for you.

[QUOTE=EgyMonger;1671656]You haven't seen any hot chics in the malls? Are you serious? Whenever I hang out at Plaza Senayan or Grand Indonesia, I see plenty of attractive women better than anything the Kota places offer. It's the same with Thailand though. For a majority of these chics to be with a foreigner there's a whole shame and embarrassment factor they don't want to be involved in.[/QUOTE]I didn't see anyone who caught my attention. I like them wearing nice jeans / dresses and on hill shoes. I saw a few well dressed hot girls Chinese maybe, and some other with foreigners whom I thought to have possibly been expats-dating from Singapore. Not sure about shame, the ones I've met seem to be proudly posting pics with white males on their facebook walls both in Jakarta and Manila. They love blue eyes. In the malls and streets to my surprise I was not at all impressed in Jakarta and especially Manila. You walk around a mall in NY / Miami / LA / Moscow / Minsk you see hot, IMHO.

I thought girls in Bangkok dress better and look after themselves, and heard really good things about girls in Vietnam but I haven't been yet.

Anyways I don't mean to turn this into an argument, everyone's taste is different and there are plenty of pretty girls in Jakarta to be found. Nightlife is great, girls are receptive, was one of my best Asia trips overall.

[QUOTE=EgyMonger;1671656]You haven't seen any hot chics in the malls? Are you serious? Whenever I hang out at Plaza Senayan or Grand Indonesia, I see plenty of attractive women better than anything the Kota places offer. It's the same with Thailand though. For a majority of these chics to be with a foreigner there's a whole shame and embarrassment factor they don't want to be involved in.[/QUOTE]The "shame" element is entirely relative and works both ways.

In precisely the same way that we cringe when we see a bule bloke strolling through Plaza Indonesia escorted by some girl who is quite obviously a dolly bird he picked up in a Falatehan bar the night before (or in the case of the eejits who marry them, 10 years before, and isn't the sight of faded tattoos on 40-year-old, smoke-lined, brown skin so appealing?) so a well-educated Indonesian woman who comes from a wealthy family will not want to walk around with a guy in a Bir Bintang tank top, shorts, flip-flops and a mullet hair-do, or a pot-bellied 50-year-old English First teacher in his shirt and slacks he bought in Hypermart (with obligatory hand phone pouch on his belt for quick access to his urgent callers) but if he's dressed in decent business attire and clearly has a good job she will have absolutely no problem hanging on his elbow.

It's horses for courses. Not complicated at all when you think about it, just like attitudes in the West.

P.S. I have identified the club in the picture below as X2, a haunt of regular girls and not a pick-up joint if I have read the reviews correctly. I might give her a miss, I haven't the time or energy to be dealing with clubbers.

[QUOTE=SeanEZ;1671876]I didn't see anyone who caught my attention. I like them wearing nice jeans / dresses and on hill shoes. I saw a few well dressed hot girls Chinese maybe, and some other with foreigners whom I thought to have possibly been expats-dating from Singapore.[/QUOTE]Please don't forget that Indonesia is over 90% Muslim! You simply won't see many "hot-dressed" Indonesian girls in public malls (other than the Chinese) unless it's Friday or Saturday evening and they are on their way to a club.

I have been coming to Jakarta for years. Plenty of Travel Hotel, Big Country when it was around, CJs, etc. , but never have been to Blok M.

Is it any good these days? What are the costs, best bars? Does anyone have any good recent advice?

The archives talk a bit about what guys did and success in a particular bar, but could some.

One provide a current assessment of where to go, or even if to go.

Any other Travel Hotel options out there in other parts of this sprawl? I will be coming here a lot in the next few months and would be grateful for one-the-ground opinions.

Thanks.

[QUOTE=Biz99;1672183]I have been coming to Jakarta for years. Plenty of Travel Hotel, Big Country when it was around, CJs, etc. , but never have been to Blok M.

Is it any good these days? What are the costs, best bars? Does anyone have any good recent advice?

The archives talk a bit about what guys did and success in a particular bar, but could some.

One provide a current assessment of where to go, or even if to go.

Any other Travel Hotel options out there in other parts of this sprawl? I will be coming here a lot in the next few months and would be grateful for one-the-ground opinions.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]Hi.

Aside from the obvious RTFF, as far as Blok M goes, it is losing its shine, slowly but surely, in the humble opinion of one whom has lived a couple of kilometers away for 11 years and still visits regularly.

3 main options bar wise. And remember the expression "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", alcohol intake by the punters helps a lot of Blok M girls get a gig.

D-s Place -- As of late has been discussed here a lot. If you want to shoot your load, go no further. Head into the VIP room and someone will sort you out, or hang around the Dancers and do a deal with one of them to either go into the VIP room or meet you someplace else. For freelancers, the's is not you best choice as most are a bit past their use by date. The's starts a bit earlier than the other bars.

TopGun -- Hit and miss but by and large you can find someone to your taste. TG has a reasonable atmosphere as they always have a live band.

MyBar -- Only really comes alive from about 1. 30 am onwards and of course is busier later in the week and weekends. A serious pick up joint, IMHO Saturday night is best as its the end of e working week for many freelance girls whom actually have jobs and still will go there. But there is a lot of crap that goes with Mybar also, aggressive local guys, drugs, occasional violence. Don't want to put anyone off but if its busy and you are lurching around bumping into people, keep your wits about you.

Blok M is still worth a visit especially if you like a bit of a hunt, but if you are well cashed up and just want minimum fuss, just do Bats or CJ's or Malioboro for example.

Thats my 5 cents worth on Blok M.

[QUOTE=Menteng;1668977]Looking forward to it![/QUOTE]Of course Eddie was sorely missed. Who knows what stories he could have told.

For my first ever visit to Jakarta in mid February I am looking at staying two nights at Favehotel Pasar Baru which I believe is in central Jakarta and while I have RTFF, I am still struggling getting a handle on Jakarta geographically and where is the best area / hotel to stay in.

1. Is the hotel gal friendly?

2. What are the closet clubs or bars that would be worth a visit in the nearby area?

3. How far in taxi time in the evening would it be areas such as CJ's or Bats, Blok M or clubs such Malioboro?

4. Is there anyone on this forum who could recommend it as a hotel to stay?

Any information to any of my above queries would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks in advance.

Fave is in north Jakarta basically in the red light district. Nothing charming about that area, but you can walk to Hotel Classic from that Fave Hotel. It's far from Blok M, Bats or CJs, but close to Malioboro. If you are not so interested in bringing back free lancers from Blok M, and want to spend most of your time in brothels like Malio and Classic, it's great. It's cheap as hell, so if that's your price range, that's as good a choice as any.

Hi,

I have an option of stopping over in Jakarta or Manila on route to Tokyo, two places I haven't visited in SEA. I eliminated Macau as the options (saunas) seemed expensive assuming 3-4 sessions over 3 days. I have 3-4 days to explore options and really don't want to waste time.

1) From reading threads on both cities Jakarta seems to have more options. Bats, CJ, Maliboro, Alexis, Travel etc.

2) Novotel in North Jakarta seems ideally placed. Any other options in 4-5 stars around 100 $?

Jakarta seems similar to mongering options in BKK. Would appreciate inputs and any insights from members who have explored both destinations.

Cheers

[QUOTE=OsakaGin11;1673881]For my first ever visit to Jakarta in mid February I am looking at staying two nights at Favehotel Pasar Baru which I believe is in central Jakarta and while I have RTFF, I am still struggling getting a handle on Jakarta geographically and where is the best area / hotel to stay in.

1. Is the hotel gal friendly?

2. What are the closet clubs or bars that would be worth a visit in the nearby area?

3. How far in taxi time in the evening would it be areas such as CJ's or Bats, Blok M or clubs such Malioboro?

4. Is there anyone on this forum who could recommend it as a hotel to stay?

Any information to any of my above queries would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]I generally agree with what Smoothy said although probably would say it is close to, not in, the various red light districts in North Jakarta. It is near Classic, fairly convenient to Malioboro, Travel, the places near Lokasari Plaza, as well as the Penjay establishments, but quite a distance from Block M, which may not be as important late at night when the traffic is light (maybe 20 to 30 minutes then), but could be a problem at other times. I'm guessing CJ's would take just a little less time than getting to Blok M although I haven't visited it so don't know exactly. BATS would be a little closer but still not so close.

Myself I would spend a bit more and stay at one of the two Mercure's, the one in Kota being the less expensive. They are both in or at least near North Jakarta (the Kota one being perhaps 1/2 to 1 mile further north than the Mercure Harmoni), and pretty much at the geographical center of the various places you might visit in North Jakarta. Also, while still a distance from Blok M, they are both on the main road that is a straight shoot to Blok M. So, if you are really looking to save some money, the Fave, which I have never stayed at but have walked by, would be acceptable, but if saving money is not the primary concern, you might want to consider one of the two Mercure's that I have mentioned both because they are likely more comfortable, and also because they are IMHO at better locations. I am sure though others may have other suggestions.

I don't know about gal friendliness, but generally the P4P places in North Jakarta are on-site places, whereas CJs, BATS and most of the Blok M places are take out. So although it would be best to stay at a gal friendly hotel, which most in Jakarta are, if you spend most of your time in North Jakarta it may not matter so much.

I stayed in Millenium hotel which is considered central, it's slightly north of Plaza Indonesia, so it's equidistant to North and Senayan (Blok M / CJ's). Very nice hotel, no problem brining girls, less than 50 dollars per night. Harris in Plaza FX in Senayan also girl friendly, got a room on top floor 47 or 57 can't remember, great views. I never checked with these hotels if they were girlfriendly head of my arrival and I never had any problems; I assume all hotels are that way.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;1673955]Fave is in north Jakarta basically in the red light district. Nothing charming about that area, but you can walk to Hotel Classic from that Fave Hotel. It's far from Blok M, Bats or CJs, but close to Malioboro. If you are not so interested in bringing back free lancers from Blok M, and want to spend most of your time in brothels like Malio and Classic, it's great. It's cheap as hell, so if that's your price range, that's as good a choice as any.[/QUOTE]Thanks very much to Messers Smoothy, LA Guy and Sean EZ for your very helpful advice and information. I can assure you its very much appreciated.

[QUOTE=OsakaGin11;1674063]Thanks very much to Messers Smoothy, LA Guy and Sean EZ for your very helpful advice and information. I can assure you its very much appreciated.[/QUOTE]I stayed overnight at the Fave, Pasar Baru but ONLY because I had a very early train to catch from Gambir Station. I seem to remember that the breakfast was served in the garage basement (could have been another Fave). I don't think the staff could speak much English, so you may face an issue as a first timer.

I would follow Smoothy/LA Guy's advice and look for something similar on a major thoroughfare. From the Fave you'll end up spending more money on taksis and motorbike taksi than you would if you'd chosen somewhere more strategic for 100 k more. If you are going to be walking about or sightseeing why not look at one of the 15 or so hotels on Jl. Wahid Hasyim in Menteng they provide a much better location if you are doing daytime mongering dates, BAts/CJs and English is more commonly used in these hotels