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[URL]http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/17/407526194/indonesian-military-chief-defends-virginity-tests-for-female-recruits?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150517[/URL]
Classic and Travel hotels -- first time visitor report
Indonesia newbie here, reporting on my first trip in Feb 2015. I have been visiting Thailand and a few other places many times over 30 years (and living in Pattaya for some time), so intevitably, I'll be comparing my experiences in Jakarta to Thailand.
On the first evening in Jakarta, I went to Travel Hotel. The entrance to the "club" is to the right of the main entrance to the hotel. Upon entry, they give you a tag with a number, and all incidentals (except for the girl) get billed to your tag. Don't lose it, you'll be punished. I find it easiest to tie it to my pants (it might slip off my wrist, but I'm not leaving without pants).
Warning: Mamasans are incredibly pushy. I was taken aback. They were ordering me around, telling me where to sit and bringing over girls before my eyes have even adjusted to the darkness, let alone had any time to look over either the venue layout or the girls. They point to girls and customers with annoying green laser pointers, and the pointed-out girl has to jump up immediately to go greet you. It feels extremely socially awkward to refuse a girl who comes up to you like that, but damn, I had no input or choice whatsoever. I was actually signaling "no" in every way I could, verbal and non-verbal. Despite my protests, the mamasan was pushing me to give her my tag to conclude the deal before I even knew what happened. I don't take kindly to being pushed around, so on the first visit, I was so shocked and disgusted that I left the place and didn't come back for a day.
I'm used to Thailand where people are non-confrontational, and you can take your sweet time to make your picks. Even in places with somewhat pushy pimps (soapy massages in Bangkok, low-end brothels in Malaysia or karaoke in China), they might be suggestive, but respect your body language and won't forcefully bind both you and the girl into a union within 10 seconds of you entering the venue.
Indonesian mamasans are a different breed. They absolutely don't respect your body language (including direct gestures or words) suggesting you'd like to take your time. Come prepared for this, or it might ruin your evening. You should actually completely ignore them and wave them away, like street touts or annoying wasps. They don't deserve any social consideration or attention, as they're giving you none. This feels strange at first, since you have entered their venue and at first feel obliged to at least try to get along.
Next day, I went to Classic hotel. Be warned that security will check your bags at entry, and if you have anything they dislike (like a camera or a larger bag), force you to put it in a "safe" area which is not locked at all, just a number tag. Maybe I'd go along with this in a safer country (like Thailand), but no way I'm leaving anything remotely valuable with a nightclub attendant in Jakarta in exchange for a number. They'll also charge you a 40 k rupiah for cover, which they make clear upon entry.
As opposed to Classic, Travel hotel has an advantage that they don't check you at the entrance, and there's also no entry fee.
The mamasans at Classic are pushy, but appear slightly more human-like than at Travel. Still the same spiel and green pointer routine, but they won't bring the girls over if you're actively telling them not to. It's still way too high pressure for my taste, unless you're very thick skinned, you can't just sip your drink and look at the girls for a while.
Now on to the good part. Girls sit on strongly lit sofas along two edges of the club. The lighting is harsh, their makeup is poor, and the distance is just enough that you can't see that well, so they don't look amazing out there -- much better in the room. Despite the pressure, I managed to actually take a cursory look at all the girls. Picked a tall one (170 cm), the mamasan did the laser pointer thing and she joined me. Paid mamasan upfront on the spot (350 k), and she went to do the paperwork, while my girl went off to pick her bag, or to the toilet, not sure. This took rather long (far longer than the time they allow you to look at girls), so I actually had more time to look over the choices and possibly regret. For a first-timer, the delay is also slightly disconcerting, since I don't know whether the pushy mama (whom I wouldn't be able to recognize in the darkness) just ran away with my cash never to be seen again. But no, eventually she comes back.
On to Fia, the tall girl from Java. 21 years old, no baby, an average face, but an absolute killer body, perfectly proportioned. You just don't find girls like that in Thailand anymore (at least not at anything near the comparable price).
Her service was acceptable in technical terms: she attempted some boilerplate small talk in her limited English, gave me a cursory shower, then on to a catbath, CBJ (I think close to a BBBJ but not quite), followed by pumping as I wished, with her being reasonably compliant with position changes. However, it all seemed pretty much off-a-checklist and clinical, with zero enthusiasm or an attempt at chemistry. In the shower, she didn't want me to touch her much, or get her hair or back wet. She allowed me to kiss her on the lips, but kept her mouth firmly closed. Technically allowed DATY (69), but was moving away. Not much eye contact. Seems like she was more concerned to make sure nothing unusual happens, rather than making any connection. Can't really blame her in any way, but I haven't had such an unsatisfying session in a long, long time (even the wham-bam shorties in low-end Asian brothels tend to come with more chemistry). Finished after about 30 min, with not much joy. Watching her shower was OK.
The room was good, clean and fresh, among better rooms I've been to in such establishments.
At the end, before we were about to go out, the girl asked for a tip. I wasn't about to volunteer one, but didn't want to make a scene either, so gave her 50 k. No complaints, nice thanks.
Total damage: 440 k. That's 40 k entry, 350 k session (one shot, up to 1 HR), 50 k tip, none of which are optional (I guess the tip can be refused if you're callous enough, but I'm not). That's only $34 USD or 1150 THB, a nice price.
Back to Travel hotel for another attempt. The mamasans were as annoying as the first time, but now I knew enough to ignore them. Similar setup to Classic, but the venue is smaller, with girls seated only along one side instead of two. The pesky mama actually pushed 5 girls on me (point with laser and up they jump) while I was only trying to look over the selection, which took not longer than 2 minutes. I refused them, not without discomfort, but once you know they're basically fully ignoring any of your wishes or signals, you can ignore them too, no need for common human kindness. Then picked a nice looking girl with a long face, and asked the mama. She actually brought 2 girls and wanted to push me into doing both for 550 k. An OK deal, but I clearly indicated I only wanted one (had to tell the mama 3 times until she accepted). Handed over 350 k, and this time the mama ran away with my number tag to do the paperwork. Bit uncomfortable since you get charged a silly sum if you lose it, but at least the girl stuck around, so it was OK.
The girl was a stunner from head to toe, a 24 year old from Java. Medium length hair, cute long face, perfect body, perfect legs, perfect feet. Definitely my spec, but again this became apparent in the room more than during the forced choosing process. I lived in Asia for many years, so I wouldn't call every girl in her 20's with acceptable body a stunner, but she surely was.
Service was only marginally better than the previous one. No mouth kissing (she turned away), perfunctory CBJ (no BBBJ), no eye contact. However, she seemed slightly more cheerful, and more willing to work at it. I got tired of screwing her (a session where the girl is non-responsive gets me soft after a while), so she finished me off with a long handjob while letting me admire her body and suck on various bits. Not bad overall. Gave her a 50 k tip, deserved this time.
Total damage: 400 k. That's 350 k session (one shot, up to 1 HR), 50 k tip. Only $30 USD or 1000 THB, won't break the bank.
Conclusions.
Would I visit Travel or Classic again? No, not really, unless I was in a bind.
I'm more of a service guy than a looks guy. For me it's also a major downside that there's no chance in hell of snapping a photo of the girl (always with permission, of course), so those looks are forgotten after a day and you can't even ojek about the session later (or even find her again in a few months unless your memory is stellar).
How does it compare to Thailand?
At $33 or so, the price is low, but service in Bangkok oilies (like Tulip) is 5 x better at about 2 x the price, albeit with uglier girls. I wouldn't even consider agogos in Thailand, too crappy these days, so if this is your scene, Jakarta will surely appeal. However, in Thailand there often seems to be more chemistry, the sex worker sessions can feel like a meeting of two people who don't mind being with each other, and there's at least some possibility of continuing the liaison for as long as you care for (even including marriage, stupid but many fell for it). In Jakarta spas like Travel / Classic, this is a non-option. Perhaps you could take a girl out, but it'll be heavily timed.
On the positive side, Indonesia has looks firmly on their side. Girls in Jakarta, while not necessarily better looking than Bangkok BTS girls, are clearly a class above the Issan girls in the nightlife industry.
Last, but not the least. I might be talking out of my ass, but I feel a dark foreboding in these places. Both the girl and the customer are non-actors, have little to no free choice and simply serve a purpose of making money for whoever controls the venues (mafia).
In almost all Thai venues, as a customer you can truly pick and choose at your pleasure, the world is your oyster. At Classic / Travel, you're only incidentally happen have some chance to choose (since the money is in your hand), but they'd much prefer you didn't.
In Thailand, sex workers in most venues have a choice of who they go with. Sure sometimes they may not like a customer much and still do it only for the money, but they could and do occasionally refuse. This holds even in low-end brothels for Thais or soapies, let alone the Farang bar / freelancer scene.
In Classic / Travel, I get a sense that the girls are not allowed to refuse at all, not even given an option to indicate pleasure or displeasure by smiling at you or looking away. The mama points with that laser, and they better jump up within 5 sec, or else. As a total newbie, I have no idea how things work behind the scenes, and won't rush into calling it sex slavery (they aren't in chains, and can technically go outside the venue outside working hours). However, it surely does not seem like proper choice either. In the best case scenario they have a binary choice -- either leave the job completely, or take the entire package. It could easily be worse than that. Does someone here with more Jakarta experience know more about how it works?
