Jakarta

[QUOTE=IrishMongrel;2147805]Got to agree with you there. I travel a lot would never carry my original passport around with me when I am out and about. Way too much hassle if I were to lose it. Never leave it with a hotel front desk either, if they need it, they can photocopy it. The only place for your passport when you travel is under lock and key in your room safe.[/QUOTE]Have a guy said to me he carries all his money with him at all times too. He says so he knows where it is. I bet one day he won't know where it all is, but someone else will.

I have a saying "can't help dumb people".

[QUOTE=Smoothy;2147780] .......However, if you are Asian, you will almost certainly like it. All of my Asian friends think it's great. They care more about the hot young girls and cheap price and disregard the bad service. And the majority of posters here now seem to be Asian rather than Westerners.......[/QUOTE]I am under the impression that Asian men are much more easily satisfied sexually than Western men. Providers who are accustomed to sessioning Asian men will expect you to pump in one position, come and go in short order and that just won't do for me.

My 2 cents and experience. In the past, I have photo ID and copy of passport if just about town. Nowadays, the copy is digital. Less of a problem depending on your race and where you are travelling. If you are likely to get stopped, I would suggest carrying the original. In countries with national ID cards and whereby you are likely to get stopped, I would suggest carrying your passport. By law, some places require you to carry a national ID card. And if you are likely to get stopped and in an unfriendly country, it is not worth the risks.

[QUOTE=Wimble;2147962]My 2 cents and experience. In the past, I have photo ID and copy of passport if just about town. Nowadays, the copy is digital. Less of a problem depending on your race and where you are travelling. If you are likely to get stopped, I would suggest carrying the original. In countries with national ID cards and whereby you are likely to get stopped, I would suggest carrying your passport. By law, some places require you to carry a national ID card. And if you are likely to get stopped and in an unfriendly country, it is not worth the risks.[/QUOTE]I have copied the photo page of my passport and laminated it. I carry that with me at all times.

[QUOTE=Turgid;2147957]I am under the impression that Asian men are much more easily satisfied sexually than Western men. Providers who are accustomed to sessioning Asian men will expect you to pump in one position, come and go in short order and that just won't do for me.[/QUOTE]General to a great degree especially for the last few trips the service I've had at both has gotten better and better. At Maliboro I generally get girls from the spa or at the cheaper price small bar with a live band across the stairways. I must say girl service at Maliboro overall from my experience is a cut below. Now when I go to Classic Terminal / Hotel Travel I use my trusty Google Translate to let them know what I expect and I won't take them if their not agreeable. I generally will be frisky / groping them a bit to get a handle on their accomodative nature plus whether or not the clothing is hiding something I might not like. This seems to work for me and they don't seem to mind. I find Classic Terminal / Hotel Travel girls pretty honest so they won't agreed to something they won't do (unlike the prior KTV girls from Chong Ping who will say anything). Of course every once in awhile I'm seduced by a huge rack leading me to take a leap of faith. Lastly, I don't need or care for deep french kissing but I understand others might.

I go Indonesia very frequent on business. I bet those people criticizing about carrying passport are oblivious to of Indonesian law that requires foreigners to carry a valid ID document in Indonesia, like a KITAS or Passport. A photocopy or digital picture is useless, and if ever caught in a Police check or road check with that, you will be arrested. Nowadays not as easy to bribe cops as before, much more expensive because of politic pressure. So please, go ahead and risk it your own choice, but you will be the one regret if the day comes.

If you don't believe me, see the below video at 3:00 where foreigner arrested in cafe because no passport, despite a photo of it:

[URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq4ENrO2gkg&t=253s[/URL]

[QUOTE=ABCinLA;2148162]I must say girl service at Maliboro overall from my experience is a cut below. Now when I go to Classic Terminal / Hotel Travel I use my trusty Google Translate to let them know what I expect and I won't take them if their not agreeable. I generally will be frisky / groping them a bit to get a handle on their accomodative nature plus whether or not the clothing is hiding something I might not like. This seems to work for me and they don't seem to mind. I find Classic Terminal / Hotel Travel girls pretty honest so they won't agreed to something they won't do.[/QUOTE]If that works for you, why can't you do that same thing at Malioboro?

I think the service at Malioboro is not bad. It's not great, but it's not bad. I've been with over 100 girls at Malioboro. I can only remember two girls at Malioboro who I thought were as bad as the average Hotel Classic/Hotel Travel type of girl in bed. The rest were at least decent. There was one girl at Maliboro with big tits who gave me an awesome rim job. I repeated a few times with her. A few years later, she was working at Hotel Classic. She had gotten a little fat by then but still looked pretty good. Since I had never had a girl at Classic give me a decent rim job ever, I took her for old times sake. The strange thing was that in the room at Classic, she wasn't rimming me. At Malioboro she had gotten right down to business. I told her that her rimming talent was the main reason I took her and that I wanted that. She told me that they weren't supposed to do that at Classic, but she would since she knew me from before. I'm guessing either the girl just got lazy or the mamasans are actually telling the girls not to do certain things at Classic.

Guys,

No response or assistance to my post, maybe as I am a first time poster it being my 1st trip here, but I have been a long time contributor to Australia and Bali as you will see.

Love some tips or details on any privates around Tangerang as there a few days, made contact with a few around Jakarta also as there a few days, but them coming to fruition will be the test as many want- yeah yeah but not so efficient when it comes to crunch time I find. Love a non full on WL ideally.

Your guidance appreciated.

Pedro.

[QUOTE=PedrosNeeds;2142724]Have a function in Tangerang that will require me to book a hotel close by.

Any advice on a good hotel, central to action or meeting ladies, not in to the lat night scene.

Might it be near a Mall or Shopping center where one may snag a gem and non WL?

Cheers.

Pedro.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=IndoSniper;2148168]I go Indonesia very frequent on business. I bet those people criticizing about carrying passport are oblivious to of Indonesian law that requires foreigners to carry a valid ID document in Indonesia, like a KITAS or Passport. A photocopy or digital picture is useless, and if ever caught in a Police check or road check with that, you will be arrested. [/QUOTE]Thanks for the advice. I believe that link has been posted here before. Crazy stuff. About 2 years ago, you posted for the first time asking for advice on Indonesia since it was your first visit. I'm curious, how many times have the police asked you for your passport in road blocks or raids in those very frequent visits of the last two years?

I'm not saying something crazy like that video is impossible, but in my opinion, it boils down to whether you think it's more of a risk losing your passport and having the trouble of having to get it replaced (it happened to me once, and it was not something I want to repeat) or the remote possibility of the police hauling you into jail for simply not carrying your passport everywhere you go. My bet would be that less than .001% of all Westerners visiting Jakarta have been hauled into jail for not carrying their passport. However, if everyone carried their passport at all times, I would bet the percentage of people losing their passport would be higher than that. It's also a pain in the ass having to carry that around all the time.

In the last 20 years, I've been asked by the police to see my passport in road blocks about 10 times. I've been caught in 2 raids of brothels as well. I've never been arrested. Most times I pay nothing, sometimes 100 k. One time I actually had my passport by mere coincidence since I had just arrived that day and they still wanted money. Rather than sit there for hours, I gave the guy 100 k. Is there a tiny chance that I would be caught up in "raid" like the one in that video you posted (which was targeting foreigners in an area where a bunch of Nigerians had overstayed their visas for years) and actually hauled to jail? I would say the chances are extremely low. Hanging out in any area where there are a bunch of Nigerians is never a good idea, it's why I avoid Jalan Jaksa altogether. If you are at Jalan Jaksa, you absolutely need to have your passport on you. But that's an exception. There is also a chance you could get blown up by a bomb in Jakarta since there have been bombs. But it's your call whether you should fear those bombs and not visit Jakarta or take a chance and visit.

On another note, did you ever find any good places to go in Tangerang? After you asked about information on places in Tangerang a couple of years ago, you never shared anything about your experiences.

I just carry a digital copy, a photo ID, cash and phone in Indonesia. Also business card. It is a country friendly to western businessmen. And I have been checked by LEO more than once. From what I heard, LEO would take you to your safe in some jurisdictions if required.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;2148352]Hanging out in any area where there are a bunch of Nigerians is never a good idea, it's why I avoid Jalan Jaksa altogether. If you are at Jalan Jaksa, you absolutely need to have your passport on you. But that's an exception. There is also a chance you could get blown up by a bomb in Jakarta since there have been bombs. But it's your call whether you should fear those bombs and not visit Jakarta or take a chance and visit.[/QUOTE]As a US person, my photo ID now is my passport card as the US driver's license has lost a lot of its clout since many States are issuing them with lesser scrutiny about being legally in the US. I still remember travelling to Canada and some of the Caribbean Islands on just a US driver's license.

[QUOTE=Turgid;2148151]I have copied the photo page of my passport and laminated it. I carry that with me at all times.[/QUOTE]

I should clarify, I am not encouraging not following the local rules or laws. IMHO, it is only for the passport that the risk of losing it out weighs the trouble of not having it on you in Indonesia. Likewise, I had mine stolen. Unlike Smoothy, I don't drive in Indonesia. Not worth the hassle if I get into an accident. Different risks reward analysis.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;2148352]I'm not saying something crazy like that video is impossible, but in my opinion, it boils down to whether you think it's more of a risk losing your passport and having the trouble of having to get it replaced (it happened to me once, and it was not something I want to repeat) or the remote possibility of the police hauling you into jail for simply not carrying your passport everywhere you go. My bet would be that less than .001% of all Westerners visiting Jakarta have been hauled into jail for not carrying their passport. However, if everyone carried their passport at all times, I would bet the percentage of people losing their passport would be higher than that. It's also a pain in the ass having to carry that around all the time.[/QUOTE]

I never carry my passport in Jakarta or any other place other than when I have to pass immigration-the hassle of loss is too high.

For safety I carry a credit card sized copy of front and main ID page, printed on high quality photo paper, and laminated in plastic.

When I travel, I always have that card in my wallet. Shockingly several times I have used it to check into a hotel and even to change money when traveling in a variety of places. I'm actually surprised that it has worked but I continue to carry it. If for no other reason than if I'm found unconscious from a traffic accident, or that 12th shot of Hibiki, at least someone will know which embassy to notify. Surely, not a guarantee for all situations, but a cheap thing that has proven helpful.

Additionally, I keep a pdf of my passport (password protected) on my phone as further back-up.

[QUOTE=Wimble;2148419]I should clarify, I am not encouraging not following the local rules or laws. IMHO, it is only for the passport that the risk of losing it out weighs the trouble of not having it on you in Indonesia. Likewise, I had mine stolen. Unlike Smoothy, I don't drive in Indonesia. Not worth the hassle if I get into an accident. Different risks reward analysis.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=OffshoreSwell;2147553] I may be naive here but do these men not have any vision for their country?. [/QUOTE]The vision they have of their country is of them running it and making ever more money in the process.

In a democracy, such as it is, in a country like Indonesia that means persuading voters to vote for you. And right now, as with everywhere around the world, conservatism wins votes, only aging liberals like us in our middle-class urban redoubts are still holding out for individual freedoms.

It's all a function of rising prosperity, the middle classes in Indonesia are newly-minted and you don't get more conservative people than a housewife on her first step up the social ladder. She is living in a nice little "cluster" home in some suburb in Depok or Bekasi, she has a Honda Accord parked in the carport, her husband has a decent job in a bank or the government, she has started wearing the jilbab and her kids are at private school.

Now years ago, women like her wouldn't have given a fiddler's fart about drugs, booze and "pornografi" or "free sex", they simply didn't impinge on her life. Decades ago the only people drinking alcohol were bules, Chinese, Christians and deadbeat "preman", no one she need worry about. But then she realized her little darlings were now hanging out in Seven-11 and drinking beer in the evening, that was soon knocked on the head. Drug use was the same, no one she knew took anything stronger than cigarettes and coffee, now shabu-shabu is being handed around at school functions, time for a drug panic.

Same with pornography, no one ever saw any, now their kids are accessing it on their phones, bang! Internet censorship. Equally in the past their husbands wouldn't dare play around as everyone in the kampung would know about it, now Tinder is on his phone and he seems to be spending a lot of evenings with colleagues in business meetings in North Jakarta, time to shut down the red-light districts.

Whipping up a moral panic is the quickest way to get votes and as you won't be affected (particularly as you have just outlawed criticism of the House of Representatives, so no one will dare report on your shenanigans) passing ever more restrictive laws is a cost-free vote winner.

We are living in our cocoon in Jakarta so we don't realise how quickly the rest of the country is changing, but go out to Central and West Java and look at the girls and women dressed from top to toe in very conservative Islamic dress in a way that was simply unimaginable 20 years ago but which is now taken for granted. Try to buy a beer in these places where once it was freely available in corner shops and supermarkets.

I think Jakarta, like Bali, will hold out to a large degree, Batak areas in Sumatra also (although Christian "ibu-ibu" are every bit as conservative as their Muslim sisters), there is simply too much money and vested interests involved, but the scene here will become ever more cramped and the free-wheeling days of old are gone and they ain't coming back.

[QUOTE=SteelBaton;2148669]I never carry my passport in Jakarta or any other place other than when I have to pass immigration-the hassle of loss is too high.
Additionally, I keep a pdf of my passport (password protected) on my phone as further back-up.[/QUOTE]Excellent idea, that I hadn't thought of. Personally I carry my US Passport Card with my cash and credit cards in a money clip. The passport card isn't a substitute for regular passport except for a handful of nations. But, it is an official US govt. Form of ID. But, I will still do a PDF and keep it on my mobile devices.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;2147780]LAGuy5 obviously still has his panties in a wad since I disagreed with him when he said everyone should carry their passport around with them at all times. (which I still think is a dumb move)
[/QUOTE]You won't stop will you? What an asshole.