Jakarta is surprisingly cosmopolitan. However, many expats don’t see this side or choose to explore it. Often they go to the same bars and hang-out with the same people they would back home. I would never accuse my fellow expat rockstars of doing this though, as I know they are always wiling to sample new things and try new experiences.
For those who want something different on their nights out in Jakarta, then I suggest you try the Arab nightclubs – Delilah and Tiga Kuda.
Delilah on Gatot Subroto is a huge club situated near the Planet Hollywood restaurant and consists of two floors, pool tables, a big dance floor and a stage. The music, as you’d expect, is mainly middle eastern dance tunes with the live band playing Arabic music. This in itself is a cultural experience as you watch how the men and women shake their thing to the music.
However, I suspect that most frequenters of this site are not going to bars for the music and ambience alone. When an expat rockstar has a night out, women are usually an essential part of the evening’s entertainment.
Despite its position as the capital of the world’s largest Muslim population, Jakarta has always been famed for its raucous nightlife. However, most expats, whether here long-term or short-term, rarely venture from the confines of Blok M or the hotel bars. But, fellow expat rockstars there is a much wilder scene to be explored in the maze of flashing neon and run-down side streets of North Jakarta.
The area around Mangga Besar may look dilapidated but it is the area of the old China Town and where many of Jakarta’s Chinese businessmen like to hold their business meetings or simply go and unwind.
The amount of signs hanging from hotels offering spas or karaoke lounges should give some clue as to what type of services are on offer up here, but that is only part of the story. If you want to see naked women dancing, and by that I mean good looking women and not the low-quality girls in D’s Place on the Blok, then you need to head up North on a weekend.
Located in one of Jakarta’s swanker shopping malls and (oddly) above a bowling alley and pool hall is one of Jakarta’s best bar/lounges, the Mojito Lounge. The Mojito Lounge is a small lounge and bar with a great selection of cigars, comfortable couches and a wile menu of different types of Mojito’s (hence the name).
The first time I went to the Mojito Lounge I was invited by a local lady friend because she knew I liked smoking cigars. At first I was like “you want to hang out at a bar in a shopping mall?” but I figured why not go ahead and check it out.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was ten drop-dead beautiful Indonesian girls all wearing white dresses sitting around.
A haunt of the wealthier resident expats, visiting businessmen, middle class girls and girls who work in the oldest profession, the bars in the five-star hotels are buzzing and busy most weekends. These bars are not for the expat rockstars on a tight budget, as drinks prices and in some cases prices for the girls are much higher than elsewhere. However, they are the place to come if you want to meet some of the better looking or higher class girls or impress visitors from out of town.
There is a mix of office girls out for a good time, some married rich girls out for a bit of fun and ladies looking for payment for their services. The more aggressive the come-on the more likely she is of the latter variety. However, each to their own, this is Asia after all. But the reason I myself like these bars every now and then is that you can drop lucky and meet a girl who is independently wealthy and has her own driver, apartment etc and treats you as a sexual plaything – which after all is the ultimate aim for any self-respecting man. So happy hunting.
The Three Best Jakarta Hotel Bars for Meeting Local Women are…
I have long been convinced of the fact that the three greatest books in the English language are the complete works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Her Majesty’s Stationery Office’s Highway Code and invariably societies that read these books tend to be more successful, peaceful, safe and healthier than those which do not, it goes without saying that the vast majority of Indonesians are cheerfully innocent of any contact whatsoever with these magisterial tomes.
The streets of Jakarta swarm with busses and motorcyclists that don’t believe the rules of the road apply to them but woe betide a car driver who crashes into one of them; from nowhere will suddenly emerge a street mob intent in exacting retribution on the driver seen as being at fault.
Indonesian people are on the whole the friendliest and most laid back people you could want to meet but every so often, well, just let us contemplate that one of the few phrases in Indonesian ever to make it into English is “running amok”, so it pays to take care.
Every once in awhile you gotta hit up the Blok. Blok M that is. To me Blok M is like Taco Bell: you know you’re gonna regret it, but every once in a while you gotta get some. I try to stay at some of the more unknown joints in Jakarta. Places more akin to the ERS maxim which is: drink, party and play, but do it big time. However, that’s not to say that Blok M doesn’t offer fun for all you readers who hold highly the principles of the Expat Rock Star.
Me and Mr. Smith had been drinking for a good portion of the night (him scotch and me bourbon) and the snap decision was made to hit up the old Blok (quite like the decision for going to Taco Bell hits you). So we caught a Blue Bird from the Shangri La and headed out on the hope something spectacular was gonna happen (I was hoping to get into a knife fight).
A common question on expat blogs and websites across south-east Asia is “where to meet girls from outside the bar and club scene?” And a common answer to this is malls, with many tips being written on how to be a mall hunter. However, I have often found that these places do not present the best opportunities, unless you happen to live in Indonesia that is.
The “bule” effect (bule essentially means white or foreign) means that every time you venture into a mall or supermarket away from the centre of town you will achieve something akin to rockstar status. The smiles, laughs and shouts of “hello Mr” can easily be turned into something much more physical if you know what you are doing. [CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
Big Suites, a 6 Foot Tall Japanese Chick and BATS is Filled Wall to Wall With Girls
I should have written this article a while ago. I’ve logged enough nights there that I’m a Golden Circle member (an invitation only benefits club they have). When I first met Mr. Smith he told me enough about Jakarta that I HAD to go check it out. So when it was time to go to Jakarta I asked him where should I stay.
He gave a few options, the Mulia, the Ritz Carlton, the Shangri La, all hotels with comparable prestige, comfort and prices. Ultimately I made my choice by researching the clubs located at the hotels. After reading a few articles on BATS the decision was made to stay at the Shang. [CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
