Vacation in Jakarta & Bandung, Indonesia. (done)

[Guardia]

Approximately 12 Hours from now, I'll be boarding KLM Dutch Airline to Jakarta, Indonesia for a family vacation. 2 nights in Jakarta, 2 nights in Bandung (typo, it's not Bali). I need anyone with experience there on what to buy, how to not get ripped off and tips etc.

U guys have 10 hours to help me if you want. Thanks in advance.

[CrimsonNuker]

Key-J lives in Jakarta. Nuff said

[Guardia]

I thought he went to USA to study?

[CrimsonNuker]

I thought he went to Canada to study?

Fixed.

He went back a couple of weeks ago

[Guardia]

Phone number plyzzz.. Hahaha.. I'll be buying a prepaid card for my cell to be able to communicate with each other when we're there. Kinda big groups around 30+ ppl. I'll pm him if he dont mind a stranger asking for his number. LOL!

[[SD]Twysta]

You're going for 4 days that far O_O ?

My grandparents go a month every year to Bali.
Everything is uber cheapppppppppp.

[Guardia]

Hey even though I'm from Malaysia and going to Indonesia, it's still a different country. It's not like every week we can find the time to go there. lolz..

Yeah, heard the stuffs there are cheaper, i'll have 1-2 mil rupiah to spend if not more. Even thought that's not that much but hope i can get plenty from it. Freaking friends wont stop bugging me asking for souvenirs. lolzz..

[Grimjaw]

You're going for 4 days that far O_O ?

My grandparents go a month every year to Bali.
Everything is uber cheapppppppppp.

Bali is great indeed. I heard stories from some friends who went there and came back really exited. There are so many great places to go see, especially the temples. The same goes for the local flora and fauna.

Definitely worth visiting.

[Jstar1]

make sure you watch what you eat. Stuff in developing countries are not clean all the time and its really easy to get a tapeworm or disease if you eat the wrong thing. So make sure you eat somewhere thats clean.

[Key-J]

J-TOWN REPRESENT!!!

Hahahaha,

Awesome that you are coming to Jakarta, yeah don't worry i'll give you my number. So it's a family vacation ey? What kinda tips do you need?...

What to do?
What to buy?
Where to go?
Where to avoid?
What to expect?

Well, being malay you kinda know what to expect im sure..

PM where you are staying. Give me a bit more details on what u want.

I thought he went to Canada to study?

Fixed.

He went back a couple of weeks ago

True, im here in Jakarta right now.

[dom]

Key-J left Jakarta an orthodox muslim that didn't even drink coffee, and went back as a bc stoner.

[Guardia]

I forgot where we'll be staying. I'll text u when i get there. Yeah, all those "what" questions with answers plz. :p

make sure you watch what you eat. Stuff in developing countries are not clean all the time and its really easy to get a tapeworm or disease if you eat the wrong thing. So make sure you eat somewhere thats clean.

I'm from Malaysia, we kinda like the same. I understand bout the cleanliness etc but it's not as bad as u heard though.

Key-J left Jakarta an orthodox muslim that didn't even drink coffee, and went back as a bc stoner.

lolz.. Muslim dont have any problem with coffee. :p Btw, what do u mean by "bc stoner"?

[Key-J]

Ok,

Well Your going to be staying for only a couple of nights, and your coming on a weekday with the family, so hitting the nightspots for clubbing might be out of the question?

Being Malaysian, you got all your pirated DvDs and Software and Games. So im sure you wont need it, but if you do want some then i suggest you check out Ratu Plaza. Its like a gold mine of anything tech, from Games, Software, Movies, Computer, Laptops to any random gadget you want.

If you guys want to go shopping for cheap but good things, nothing beats Manga Dua. It's on the outskirts of Jakarta, to the north in a place called Ancol. Its best to visit that by morning, cuz you can spend your whole day there.

You of course have all the malls of the CBD. Like Senayan, FX, EX, Grand Indonesia, Senayan City, Pacific Place, Plaza Indonesia. But those are probably like the malls that you have in Malaysia, and will carry the same price tag for sure.

Pasaraya is a bit different, although its a bit more expensive than Manga dua, you can still find some steals there, and its a good place for "Handicraf" items....

Hmmm.

What to expect? Nothing you shouldn't already know from Malaysians, they are pretty alike, and im sure you know how Farking friendly Indonesians are. It's crazy. If you need a taxi, i would use either. SilverBird. BlueBird. or Express Taxi. Those are the 3 most trusted, but if you need to use another one, it shouldn't be a problem.

Where not to go? Well, i dont know really i've never been like... Afraid of somewhere here. So i dono you should be fine..

Let me know if anything else..

Key-J left Jakarta an orthodox muslim that didn't even drink coffee, and went back as a bc stoner.

lol i'd find that funny, you know being that im Colombian and all. We love our Coffee XD

[Guardia]

Great. I'll be sure to write it down. Thanks man. Jakarta here i come! :p

[SidiousX]

You're going for 4 days that far O_O ?

My grandparents go a month every year to Bali.
Everything is uber cheapppppppppp.

Bali is great indeed. I heard stories from some friends who went there and came back really exited. There are so many great places to go see, especially the temples. The same goes for the local flora and fauna.

Definitely worth visiting.

Yeah or u can go visit Bali, then get back, divorce with ur wife, and go back to Bali to go and live there like my dad did

[Key-J]

Dude,

I feel so ditched.

No info, no contact .

Meany

[Guardia]

Sorry bro, when I was there we're too busy shopping. LOL!!

Here how it went..

First day

Arrived in Jakarta around 9pm. Got our bus waiting. Traffic was hell. LOL! I never experience bad traffic as bad as in Jakarta. It's like doubled or tripled the traffic jam we had here in KL. Maybe the amount of ppl with cars and the population of Jakarta itself made it that way. But it's ok. Went to have Nasi Padang for dinner, kinda nice. Almost the same as we had here. Then we headed for our hotel Ibis Tamarin. Searched for 7 Eleven to get some drinks, no where to be found but I found Circle K instead. :p

Second day

After breakfast we headed for Tanah Abang. It's like a heaven for female. 95% of the item on sale there are for girls. And it's freaking cheap too. If I were a girl, I might went crazy there. Hahaha.. After lunch, we went to Manga Dua. Was amazed at the size of the shopping complex and the amount of stores there. Bought a Swiss Army watch there. I know I cant get the same price in KL. Glad I bought it. At night, we went to Hard Rock Cafe. My bro is crazy for Hard Rock's shirts etc. Idk how much he spent there but it's a lot. LOLz.. My mom got the chance to take pictures with Kris Dayanti. zzz.. Stopped by Starbucks and bought their "Stock Clearance Mug for souvenir. Well it have "Jakarta" on the mug. :p

Third day

Went straight to Bandung after breakfast. Traffic was hell, lolzz.. Slept all the way until we reached Bandung. I must say, Bandung is more calm as expected. Stop for lunch and straight to Hotel Grand Serela. Nice place. After that we went to a shopping complex in the middle of Bandung I think. I forgot the name. I was shocked when we first got out of our bus. Ppl selling shirts, souvenirs stormed at us. We can barely walk.. It was a new experience for us. The bargaining didnt start there as my bro who already went there couple of times asked us to wait as the prices will be way lower later. Inside the complex, I was amazed at the amount of ppl there. Totally doubled the amount of ppl in a shopping complex here in KL. Bought a "Telekung" for my girl. My mom bought 10-20 of them to sell it back in KL. :p Kinda weird actually when the complex was ready to close at 6:30pm. Too early I think. Most complex in KL closes at 9-10pm. Ppl still storming at us when we're waiting for our bus. And when we got on, they still chased us offering cheaper price for their souvenirs. We were bargaining from inside the bus and they were running, chasing for us since the traffic kinda bad at that time. When we stopped at a traffic light. Some of my relatives bought the souvenirs and more ppl came to sell their item. It was crazy. Too bad the traffic clear after that and they just cant keep up.

After that we went to Rumah Mode. I was like WOW! High quality shirts, pants etc at freaking low price. We shopped till we dropped. Hahaha.. We went from one factory outlet to the other. Spent some time there till we're back at our room. Slept like a baby. I was so tired..

Fourth day

We went straight to factory outlet town since everyone still have millions of rupiah to spend. LOL! Instant millionaire. RM350+ turned to 1 million rupiah. That's Million as in 100k times 10. Hahaha.. We went to "solution", "heritage" and other factory outlet stores. It's like a shopping town. We shopped there till night and went to have dinner at a unique place. I forgot the name but we took around 1 hour to get there. It was like on top of a hill with beautiful surroundings. There were like a build in diner inside a forest with river, small waterfall etc. It was so nice. Foods was great too.

Fifth day

Went straight to Jakarta Airport after breakfast. Hello traffic again. :p Paid 150K rupiah for tax per person and we say bye2 to Indonesia...

Conclusion

It was a great trip. Actually it was a shopping trip. If I were to go for the second time. I'll know what to do. I'll bring more money, bring more bags and I'll go straight to Bandung. :p I've set my target to have my honeymoon in Bandung. Seriously a nice place to go. As in Jakarta, kinda ok but too crowded for me. One more thing, Toyota cars were all over the place. It's like Toyota owned Indonesia or something. Hehehe.. Thanks Key-J for the heads up. I really dont have much time to text u and my phone line kinda act a bit crazy when i activated the international roaming. It ate my credit like hell. lolz.. I'll post some pictures later.

[Key-J]

Sorry i missed this man,

and im glad you had a great trip. Yeah, everything you said sounds about right. and yup, you have to give it up to bandung for their prices and options.

Well yeha, im glad you had a good trip, and come back soon

[Zypher]

u get any pussie?

[woutR]

I get mortified when I'm in tourist marketplaces where people swarm you with offers ("special price for you my friend!")
I just get so uncomfortable, it's strange for me to see that there's actually a lot of people that like to bargain with the sellers.
When I enter the shop there's already 5 people swarming me and if you only so much as nod that you like something it's wrapped into paper and they scream for their money. When I enter the shop it's 30 euro and when I leave it's 5. It's terrible, or well it is for me.
Nice to see you had fun though.

[user]

Approximately 12 Hours from now, I'll be boarding KLM Dutch Airline to Jakarta, Indonesia for a family vacation. 2 nights in Jakarta, 2 nights in Bandung (typo, it's not Bali). I need anyone with experience there on what to buy, how to not get ripped off and tips etc.

U guys have 10 hours to help me if you want. Thanks in advance.

isn't Jakarta the place that just got hit by terrorists?

[Guardia]

Approximately 12 Hours from now, I'll be boarding KLM Dutch Airline to Jakarta, Indonesia for a family vacation. 2 nights in Jakarta, 2 nights in Bandung (typo, it's not Bali). I need anyone with experience there on what to buy, how to not get ripped off and tips etc.

U guys have 10 hours to help me if you want. Thanks in advance.

isn't Jakarta the place that just got hit by terrorists?

Yup, the post was made on Jun 07, a month ago.