Jakarta newbie report (aka Malioboro for dummies)
After researching this thread and parsing through all the info people gave, I decided to concentrate on Malioboro on my first trip to Jakarta. Wasn't in the mood for the pick-up scene at Block-M or the hotel bars. My main goal was just to enjoy the company of Indonesian girls so the 350k girls at Malioboro sounded like a great deal.
There's been quite a few posts about Malioboro, but I found some of them confusing. Some people confuse Malio Club with the spa. Most posters on here are Jakarta vets and so they leave out details that might be helpful to a total newbie who doesn't speak the language. Since I've visited the establishment a few times on my trip, I thought I'd spell everything out in great detail for the newbies who might be reading this thread.
[b]1.) How to get there. [/b]
The easiest way is just to write down the name and address and give it to your cab driver. Problem is, it seems some drivers don't know where it is, even with the address. I spent a good 25 minutes circling the area in a cab in the pouring rain until I finally spotted it. The building is very easy to miss as there's no large sign and it's basically just one big drive way.
The address is: Jalan Gajah Mada no. 13.
Jalan Gajah Mada is the major street in that area. It's the one the TransJakarta Bus goes down and that section of the street is split down the middle by a small river.
Here's the Google Maps page:
[url]http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=malioboro+Jakarta,+Indonesia&hl=en&cid=9015512149854227476.[/url]
If you look at the map, Malioboro is on the west side of the street just a bit south from Gajah Mada Plaza. You can always just tell your cab to go to Gajah Mada Plaza and walk a bit south from there. The TransJakarta Bus has a stop called Sawah Besar that's at the Gajah Mada Plaza, so if you're comfortable taking the TransJakarta, that's a convenient way to go, as well.
The building itself is just a big box with a driveway on the left. There's a large HSBC sign on the building next to it, so that's a decent landmark if you need one.
[b]2.) Entrance procedure. [/b]
Right when you walk down the driveway there's an entrance with some security guards and a metal detector. The first few times they just waved me through, but later at both the Spa and the Club, they made me check my camera at the reception desk. I see people on the phone and texting all the time in there, so I'm guessing they don't care about phones. Don't stress if they ask you to check your camera or something at the front desk. It's all very professional.
When you enter the ground floor, there's a reception area with a lot of employees milling around. Go up to the reception desk and they'll give you a wrist band thing with a number and a key. They'll inform you of the cover charge of 120k (which I believe gets waived if you take a girl) that you're supposed to pay at the end. I'm going to skip the whole sauna and locker part because you don't need to do any of that if you just want to go up and see the girls.
So check in downstairs and get your wrist band and then go up the elevator to the second floor.
Once you get out you see what looks like another reception desk with some well-labeled doors around it. To the left is the "Wine Bar". Straight ahead is the "Theater". To the right is the "Resto & Lounge". I have no idea what the Theater is since I didn't come across it on reports I've read and didn't bother checking it out.
[b]3.) Resto & Lounge. The main room with 800k local girls and higher priced imports. [/b]
This is the main room of the spa. People have described it as a big high school cafeteria and the description seems to fit. It's a big boxy room with a bunch of small tables and chairs. On the left side as you enter, you can see all the girls sitting in their groups. They're usually eating, chatting, killing time. The other tables on the right are where the guys sit. Some of the tables might have a little reserved card on them so ask a waiter where you should sit. Also on the right side of the room there is also a strangely out of place go-go platform. You'll see a bunch of waiters running around and the mamasans and papasans are dressed in black.
Once you sit down and sometimes even before you order a drink, the mamasans will start coming over to ask if you want to see their girls. Just tell them you want to wait till later and they won't really bug you much after. A waiter will be by shortly and if you order a drink or food, they'll bring you a receipt to sign. You sign slips for everything inside (food, drinks, girls) and then pay it all when you leave.
At some point, when you're ready, you can ask for a lineup. The various mamasans and papasans all look after different groups of girls. I never actually took a girl from the main room, but the prices I've seen reported are 800k for the local girls and up to almost 2 million for the exotic imports. Once a lineup is requested, the mamasan / papasan will call their girls over. They'll come over and line up in front of the customer for him to get a good look. If the customer doesn't like, they might bring over another group or turn it over to another mamasan / papasan to do lineups for their groups. The mamasans / papasans don't seem that competitive with each other and all seem to be working together to get you the girl you want.
Sometimes some girls will get on the go-go stage and do a little dancing. The dancing's not very good. The good ol' go-go shuffle and checking themselves out in the mirror. Not very inspiring, but they did go topless.
I didn't feel that the 800k local girls in this room were any different from the 350k girls in the other room. The imported non-Asians were kind of meh. One thing I will say is I saw some very endowed Asian girls in this room. Not sure what ethnicity they were. Maybe Chinese? There were definitely some very hot girls in the room as a whole, but I wasn't willing to pay the premium. Others might, though.
[b]4.) Wine Bar. The room with 350k local girls. [/b]
This room is even more poorly laid out than the main room. It's a long dark narrow room with couch booths on both ends. In the middle is a stage where they have some lounge-singer type bands sometimes. When you enter the room, you directly face the middle stage. On the left are the booths where the girls are. On the right are the booths where the guys sit. There aren't that many booths for the guys, but this place never seemed very crowded.
The room is darker than the main room and the layout makes checking the girls out without a lineup really difficult. However, with as cozy as the room is, whenever another guy asks for a lineup you can get a good look as they walk by. The number of girls vary by how busy they are. The times I've been there, I would estimate the number ranged between 20 and 40 girls total. I personally felt the selection was very good. There aren't a ton of stunners there, but there were always plenty of girls I thought were very cute. Personal tastes may vary!
All the girls in this room are 350k, but if you're picky they can even bring in a lineup from the other room where the price would be more.
[b]5.) After selection. [/b]
Once you select a girl she comes over and sits next to you. I suppose this is where you make chit chat if you can speak Indonesian. Being linguistically impaired, I usually just spent a few minutes to finish my beer or have a cig and then tell the girl when I'm ready to go.
The mamasan will write up a receipt with the price for you to sign.
Once all is ready, the girl will go check to see which room is free. I've been there when all the rooms were full. The mamasan asked if I wanted to upgrade to a VIP room (extra 50k) , but I said I would just wait.
When the room is ready, the girl will grab her stuff and then lead you to the room. The rooms themselves are very clean and new. They're a bit small and cozy, but it felt nicer than many other rooms used for these kind of activities I've encountered in other countries.
What happens in the room itself depends on the girl you pick. Usual course of events is shower then sex. Neither of the girls I picked ever even made an attempt at a massage even though I'm pretty sure the mamasans described them as massage girls in the lineup.
Once you're done, the girl will lead you back out to the second floor where this all started. At this point you can go to the Resto and order food or a drink or whatever. I usually just leave after the deed is done.
[b]6.) Checking out. [/b]
To get back to the first floor lobby where you entered, you can take the elevator down or walk down the stairs to the sauna area and turn right. You should see a little doorway out to the reception.
You give them your wrist band and they tally up your bill. They'll ask if you want to pay with cash or charge. And then they'll give you a nice itemized receipt of all the drinks and what not. I think for the 350k girls, the receipt shows 150k for the massage and the 200k for the girl is kept off the main receipt and added in later. Malioboro adds a couple of service fees in, but it's all shown on the receipt.
Just as an example, I went in and had a beer and a 350k girl and the total at checkout was 433k. I believe that breaks down to 350k for the girl. 45k for the beer, and some service fees but the door fee was waived.
Once you pay they give you a little laminated "exit pass" that you hand over to the doorman and he lets you out.
I was really impressed with how professional everything was and blown away by the itemized receipt at the end. Definitely the least shady massage parlor / brothel I've ever been to.
Visiting next week-4th to the 7th of October.
Hi All,
Yeah, I know it is short notice but would like to meet up fellow mongerers if keen for all the 3 nights (and the days as well) and seriously have some fun. Please advise if anyone keen. The more the merrier!
LOL.
Andy
Lookig for advice on Jakarta
I will be in Jakarta staying at the Mandarin Orient for two weeks in the near future and am looking on advice for places to go or services to us and bring girls in, websites would be great.
Thanks
