City Tour Jakarta Reviews : Aussie Guest

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Vera T

“Could you help me do shopping in some malls in Jakarta?”

It was an ‘odd’ request from someone in Australia, Micole, asking me to ‘open’ a new tour : Jakarta Shopping Tour. At first, I don’t understand why people need my help to shop in the easiest and the most convenience place in the world? After hearing his explanation, then I know why shopping in Jakarta is not easy for him and accept his request to stroll around malls and department stores in Jakarta.

So, why? Because Micole knows something that it is ‘make sense’. Once I made shopping tour schedule and plan, I just realized that shopping in Jakarta is quite difficult if you don’t know where to go, how to go, and how much time that you need to go from one mall to another. It is quite frustrating if we just have one day and need to go from mall-to-mall in Jakarta.

But, we made it, yeayy!

We started shopping tour from one of the luxurious mall in Jakarta, Plaza Indonesia, then continue to visit Sarinah Plaza, the very first mall in Jakarta. Since it was a shopping tour, and yes we did shopping there. We found a lot choice of goods in different department stores in Jakarta. And, I personally started to make price comparison here and there, lol.

: Coconut Ice Drink with Sugar Syrup

: Banana with Vanilla Ice Cream

From Central Jakarta, we continue to the north part of Jakarta. Mall of Indonesia! One of the biggest malls in Jakarta, surrounded by apartments and offices, this mall become something you would not want to miss when visiting North Jakarta.

I found that Mall of Indonesia offers us a different vibe of shopping experience. The goods and foods are different with something that sold in central or southern mall in Jakarta. As a ‘shopping expert’, Micole told me, it was because the market is different, that’s why the mall sells different things too. This is for to fulfill market demands and consumers preferences surrounds it.

Me and my friend who helped me run this shopping tour, Yupa, cannot help our self to join Micole to do shopping in mall. I even don’t think it was a tour, because we did shopping and we like it, like every women does! Hahaa..

After one full day of shopping around Jakarta, then we finished our journey at Dapur Sunda restaurant. The foods are so authentic, serve a lot of local cuisine from Indonesia. I love it because the taste is very close with something that comes from my mom’s kitchen. And, Micole loves it too, he said : “Even the peanut sauce, they really made it.”

So, who else want to join us in Jakarta Shopping Tour? :p

Things You Should Bring For City Tour Jakarta – Part 1

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Yupa

As you know, Indonesia is a tropical country, with a sizzling hot weather in dry season and heavy rains in wet season. But, the climate is changing slowly. So, just in case, you must bring certain things that you might need when you are traveling in Jakarta. So, what are those things you need to prepare? Here are 5 things you should bring for city tour Jakarta :

1. Mineral Water

You will need to drink a lot because the weather will make you thirsty and sweat a lot. Aside from preventing dehydration, drinking a lot of mineral water could also provide a healthier body. You can bring your own bottle of mineral water or buy it in a minimarket or street vendors. But before you drink it, you need to look carefully for the expired date.

You can ‘steal’ it from your hotel!

2. Sunscreen

Ultraviolet radiation can be harmful for everyone, especially if you suddenly came to a different type of country with a different intensity of UV light. To avoid sunburn, maybe you can apply sunscreen first before you go out in Jakarta, but you need to make sure you use the one that match with your skin type. You can get one in a drugstore or minimarket.

3. Sunglasses

Sometime the sunlight in Jakarta can be really strong and hurting your vision. So, to protect your eyes from ultraviolet light, you might need a sunglasses.

Sun Glasses is a MUST!

4. Umbrella

This item is a must if you are doing a tour in Jakarta. Even it is on a dry season, rain can suddenly fall without a warning! In addition, you can still use it if the sunlight is too intense and dazzling.

5. Face Mask

Jakarta has a huge population, so there are so many vehicles running along the streets. Cars, motorbikes, bus, etc make the city full of pollutions. So, if you are allergic to dirty air or prone to asthma, you should wear a face mask when you are going to walk around in open air in Jakarta a lot.

Face Mask

Maybe you can avoid the fuss of bringing these item if you look at the weather forecast before you go out. Or you are already know when is the best time to visit Jakarta after doing little research about Jakarta Weather?

Well, it is up to you, but weather forecast or prediction cannot be right all the time. We are just humans after all. Better be prepared than be sorry, right? 😉

How To Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Yupa

As a foreigner, it doesn’t mean you can not buy things with a fair price and be afraid of being victim of a scam. You just only have to learn how to bargain like a pro. How exactly? I’ll tell you.

First of all, you need to know that Indonesia has many different kind of markets. Traditional market, modern market, or mix of both. In big malls, there usually a fixed price for everything. But, in semi-modern or even traditional market, you still can bargain for a cheaper price, especially when you want to buy a huge amount of products.

Types of market for you to show your haggling ability in Indonesia includes traditional market or usually called by locals as “pasar”, and trade centers like ITC, WTC, retail stores and etc. Chinatown is actually a good example. There are stores on every corner of the streets and it had trade centers nearby. If you are curious, you can check out the City Tour Jakarta Chinatown Tour.

How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Learn Basic Conversation in Bahasa

When you want to ask the price to the seller, ask it in Bahasa. You can start with “Pak/Bu, ini berapaan? (How much is this?)”. And continue with “Harganya bisa kurang, enggak? (Can you give me discount for this?)”.

How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Haggle The Price to 70 {9e84ad3adf7f6649419c3d34c511cc75d18ba3101b1ac61299241cdd2f2cd7ab} Lower

Second, haggle the price to 70 percent lower than the initial price. 70 percent?!

Don’t be surprised, it is actually quite common, and you will get the product at that price level, but of course it also depends on what you are buying. If you are afraid the seller will get angry if you do that, just say it jokingly with a smile on your face and you might want to persuade the seller with “Kasihlah Bu/Pak, buat penglaris.”

How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Memorize Numbers in Local Language

You might want to memorize numbers in Bahasa, so you can know the exact amount of the price and you can use it to mention the amount you are willing to pay for the product.

How to Bargain Like a Pro in Jakarta : Take a Local Friend to Go Shopping

If you don’t have time to learn Bahasa and feeling not comfortable enough to shop alone in an unfamiliar place, your last resort is take a local to accompany you to go shopping.

You can choose which item you want to buy and just give the rest to your local friend. But, you need to remember that not every local people have the ability to bargain price. So if you want to ask your local friend to shop with you, ask the one who use to shop like a pro!

Now, if you are ready to take on the challenge to show your new ability, it is time to shop. Where can you start? First stop, Jakarta Chinatown of course!

How To Make ‘Nasi Goreng’

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Yupa

If you have read about favorite Jakarta street food in previous posts, fried rice or ‘nasi goreng’ is not a new word for you. Nasi goreng is also already quite popular with foreigners who came to take a city tour Jakarta.

You can buy nasi goreng in a restaurant, street vendors or eat it in your local friend’s house and the price can differ depend on where you eat. If you buy it from mobile vendors that travel around the residential area, the price is usually IDR 10k per portion. Usually they make rounds at night, between 7 pm to 11 pm.

If you are hungry but the restaurants that sells nasi goreng already close and you don’t find any mobile vendors that still making their rounds, don’t worry. You can still cook it by yourself. It is quite simple to make. I’ll tell you how to make nasi goreng.

First, you will need these ingredients:
1) White rice 2) Vegetable oil 3) Egg 4) Garlic 5) Soy sauce 6) Vinegar 7) Fish sauce 8) Sweet soy sauce

9) Salt and pepper 10) Chili 11) Sliced scallions 12) Meatballs 13) Chicken stocks 14) Crackers 15) Pickles

Then, you can start cooking. This is how to do it:
1. Pour some vegetable oil into the wok, add sliced scallions, garlic and then stir it together
2. Add beaten egg, pour a tablespoon of soy sauce and fish sauce, then stir it together again
3. Pour a portion of white rice, add some meatballs, chili paste, salt and pepper before stir it again
4. Sprinkle the rice with some chicken stocks, a tablespoon of sweet soy sauce and stir it well until all the ingredients are blended nicely
5. Serve it on a plate, and garnish it with some pickles and fish or shrimp crackers

Here is the ‘how to make nasi goreng’ video :

There! Nasi goreng is ready in less than five minutes. Enjoy your meal 😉

Your home made nasi goreng ready to eat!

You can also add variations to your nasi goreng dish. For example, you can change meatballs with seafood, beef or mutton as you like. Or, if you feel buy a-ready-to-eat fried rice is better, then our Jakarta Food Tour might suits well on you. We are happy to take you to eat the best fried rice in town, find out more here

Is Jakarta Worth Visiting?

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Vera T

I can not help myself to start this article with skeptical question (Is Jakarta Worth Visiting?), but let me explain. The reason why you choose to visit Indonesia, one of the Asian country which has the sun shines almost everyday, maybe has million reason listed itself. But, for choosing Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, to travel, I might say there should be an extraordinary reason behind.

Emerging Jakarta

See More →

Monas Jakarta (National Monument Jakarta)

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Yupa

National Monument Jakarta or Monas Jakarta, do you now what it is? Have you been there once? If yes, maybe you think you have seen it all, but wait a second. Have you been to it’s park in different times? You will get distinctive experiences. I’ll explain a little bit so you could choose what you want to experience at certain times you prefer to go Monas Jakarta.

1. Visiting Monas Jakarta At Weekdays (Monday to Friday)

Quiet, fresh and clean.

Those are the three words that describe Monas Jakarta at weekdays, especially in the morning. For you who want to exercise, breath fresh air, see green landscape, and clear your mind, come to Monas Jakarta Park in the morning. Certainly you will not have any difficulty to find a quiet place just to daydream, since the area is occupying 88 acres of land.

Monas Jakarta At Weekdays

2. Monas Jakarta When ‘Car Free Days’ is held

Crowded, happy and adore.

What to adore? If you come to Monas Jakarta Park when there is ‘Car Free Day’ in Sunday, you will see many adorable children running around you.

The atmosphere would be exciting and appear a bit chaotic, the bonus is Monas Jakarta Park would filled by young generation that are dating, searching for a partner initiate their flirting, and enjoy eating chicken porridge while standing. Special for singles, just go to the part of the park near IRTI parking area, there are deers from Bogor where you can pour your love on. *LOL*

One Of The Deer In Monas Park

3. Monas Jakarta At Night

This is it! There is no right word to describe the atmosphere and crowds at Monas Jakarta at night.

When the night falls, Monas Tower would ‘lit’, colorful lights and white spotlight that shine the gold at the top make this National Monument Jakarta looked fantastic.

Not to mention, usually you will see a lot of street vendors and seller. The Monas Park would be busy like a night market. Starting from clothing vendor, accessories, souvenirs, food, drink, to herbal medicines have opened their stalls in Monas Jakarta Park. Actually street vendors are not allowed to do business inside the Monas Jakarta Park, but really says otherwise. We only could just ‘know’ and ‘enjoy’.

The View At Monas Before The Night Falls

So, did you find the right time to visit Monas Jakarta (Park) in your city tour jakarta plan? To answer this question, its all has to start with another question, which is, “What is your purpose?”. Keep the answer in your mind. 🙂

Choose Your Favourite Mall in Jakarta

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Yupa

Have you visited the big mall in Jakarta that I reviewed last time? Well, you haven’t seen all. This time I will tell you more about mall in Jakarta, especially where you can buy stuff with more affordable price and more alternative of food choice. Here are some favourite mall in Jakarta.

1. The Plaza Semanggi, Experience Dining In The Sky.

The Plaza Semanggi is located in central part of Jakarta, specifically at Jalan Sudirman, some kind of business areas with many office buildings around it. Like other mall in Jakarta, this mall also offer a lot of choice from fashion, food, electronic products, furniture and etc. But what special is you can experience how it feel to dine in the top of the building where you can see a bird eye view of Sudirman area. There are restaurants in sky dining area, and to get there you need to ride a specific elevator that leads there.

There are also ‘Balai Sarbini’ here, a concert hall that often use an Indonesian Idol’s stage that broadcasted in one of the private TV Station in Jakarta. You can reach this mall by ‘metromini’ 640 or Transjakarta Bus.

The Plaza Semanggi opening hour : 10.00 am – 10.00 pm.

Sky Dining in The Plaza Semanggi. Source : The Jakarta Post

2. Thamrin City Shopping Mall, Batik At An Affordable Price.

Thamrin City Shopping Mall also located in Central Jakarta. What is different about this mall is known as ‘sentra batik’ means batik trade centre in Jakarta. You can buy batik products for affordable price in Thamrin City. In addition, you can buy another products like clothes, accessories or anything at cheaper price in a large amount because most of the seller offering a wholesale products. You also can haggle the price, but for insurance, you need to bring a native who understand the language and the culture better to accompany you if you are indeed shopping for business.

Thamrin City opening hour : 9.00 am – 9.00 pm.

Thamrin City Mall. Source : Tempo

3. International Trade Center (ITC)

Beside malls, there are also places called ITC in Jakarta. Places with names started with ‘ITC’ are spread around Jakarta, depends on it’s location, one could called ITC Pulogadung because it’s located at Pulogadung, ITC Kuningan for its position in Kuningan, and so on. In ITC, you can almost find any kinds of things. Starting from grocery, fashion, mainly electronics. There are a lot of people go to ITC to buy cellphones, computer or tablets. There are a lot of wholesale products and you can also haggle the price here.

ITC opening hour : varies between 08-11.00 am to 09-11.00 pm.

ITC Roxy Mas. Source : Viva News

It is true that every mall in Jakarta has different ‘taste’ and selling point, depends on which part of Jakarta the mall is located. And, while you do a city tour Jakarta, which one you prefer? A classy mall with branded stores, or a ‘humble’ mall with cheaper product. Hmm…hard choice I guess..

Doing City Tour Jakarta on Big Mall Jakarta

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Yupa

Jakarta as the capital city of Indonesia certainly has a lot to offer. With increasing population, Jakarta has become a potential marketing target since people from all of Indonesia is residing there. Developers built more malls in almost every part of Jakarta making going shopping in Jakarta more convenient. This time we will take you to do a city tour Jakarta on big mall Jakarta..

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, A Mall For A Start

If you are staying in the center part of Jakarta, you can visit one of the big mall in Jakarta, called Grand Indonesia Shopping Town which located in the heart of Jakarta. It is near Bundaran HI, and you can reach the mall by riding Transjakarta Bus or Commuter Line train.

View of Grand Indonesia Shopping Town From Bundaran HI

What is great about this mall is it had Galeri Indonesia Kaya inside of it where tourists from outside Indonesia can learn some things about Indonesian culture. It also had a Dancing Fountain Shows that plays at a certain time.

Galeri Indonesia Kaya

The Dancing Fountain

Grand Indonesia opening hours : 10:00 am – 10:00 pm.

To The West, Central Park Mall

If you strolling around or doing city tour Jakarta around western part, Central Park mall will be a good choice for you. The access is easy and it surrounded by two more malls around it for alternative. It is a huge mall in a mixed use complex for office, apartments and a hotel. It features a musical fountain at the park area.

Central Park Mall

The Central Park Mall can be reached by Transjakarta Bus that runs at Corridor IX and the shelter’s name is Mall Taman Anggrek, the other mall beside Central Park Mall which has an ice skating rink inside of it.

Central Park Mall opening hours : 10:00 am – 10:00 pm.

Popular Mall in South Jakarta

One of the most popular mall for Jakarta’s residents is Pondok Indah Mall. It is located in South Jakarta and it is near real-estates complex. Hence, this mall targeting high income customers and people who are looking for prestige. There are upscale designers boutiques and fine dining inside this big mall in Jakarta. You can reach Pondok Indah Mall by public transports such as Transjakarta Bus and Metromini Number 72.

South Bridge of Pondok Indah Mall

Pondok Indah Mall opening hours : 10:00 am – 10:00 pm

So, which big mall in Jakarta you wanna visit on your City Tour Jakarta activity? Tell us on comment below :p

City Tour Jakarta Reviews : German Guest

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Vera T

It was nice Saturday when I met Allegra and her two friends, Patrick and Lisa, from Germany. Before meeting me, they often came to Indonesia, but they had no chance to explore wonderful part of Jakarta. So, as their request, I helped them plan a City Tour Jakarta and guided them while strolling around the city.

City Sightseeing at Syahbandar Tower

What I learned from them, they enjoyed to see how people do their daily works, as a fisherman, as a seller at local market, as a pork butcher, et cetera. Patrick, the only male guest who joined Jakarta Walking Tour, said he wants to know ‘the process’. For example, a fish which sold on the supermarket, he wanted to know where are the fish came from, how to catch the fish, how long fisherman sailing ship to catch the fish, and every process before the fish touch down the supermarket. He wanted to know from the very beginning.

He says, “When I know exactly from where and how the fish or the goods can be seen in front of me, I can start to appreciate small things. Because, then I realized that even the fish is so small, it comes from somebody hard works”.

At Fisherman Boat

So, he was very happy when I tailored him to go to North Jakarta to meet some fisherman and strolled around fish market. He finally can meet fisherman in person, not in whisper only. Hahaa.. It was something that he cannot found on his country, Germany.

They also felt happy when I took them to local market. I encouraged them to eat anything they never seen before. Guava, a tropical fruit, they do not know what it is like before. Patrick said, he had drink guava juice before, but he did not know what it is really like. Lisa and Allegra, do not know Guava at all, that was their first time taste Guava.

Sunda Kelapa Harbour

In city tour Jakarta, I also treated them with some local snack in the market, such as lemper ayam (chicken filled glutinous rice), gorengan (fried foods), candied orange, cakwe (fried breadstick), coconut milk popsicles, et cetera. They all felt happy to eat something that they never taste before. It was a surprise for their tongue! 😀

So, the day when they joined City Tour Jakarta, I as a local guide feel very grateful. I was happy to meet such humble friends from Germany who dare to face ‘the reality of Jakarta’ (got stuck in traffic, jostled in the public bus), want to try something new, and have a big curiosity about what happen in Jakarta. Lisa, Allegra, Patrick, I must thank you!

Source : http://goo.gl/NhzQ4q

Vihara Dharma Bhakti, Time To Pray

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Yupa

Vihara Dharma Bhakti or Jin De Yuan Temple is one of the oldest temple in Jakarta.

It was built in 1650 by a Chinese Liutenant, Kwee Hun, dedicated to goddess Kwan Im. Vihara Dharma Bhakti is located in Petak Sembilan or Glodok, Jakarta’s Chinatown. It became a place for Chinese descendants of Jakarta to worship their gods. Praying for ancestors, asking for forgiveness or wishing for luck became a routine for year after year. If someone take a city tour Jakarta and stroll around Jakarta Chinatown and see this beautiful temple, no matter what their religion, it will be such a waste if they not spend a little time to stop and look around. They can learn many things in this temple.

Dharma Bhakti Temple’s Entrance

If you get inside Vihara Dharma Bhakti, you will find many Chinese god statues, which has specific “wisdom” each, for example, if you see people pray in front of God of Prosperity, that means they want to have a good fortune.

A Visitor Practicing a Ritual to Worship A God

It is said that this temple was once burned in Colonial era, left with just tables and altar. Rebuilt in 1755, thus established a temple that attract many visitor and loved by the worshipers.

A Picture Of A Dragon On The Wall

Sadly, this temple was engulf in fire once again recently, on 2nd of March 2015 and what’s left is only Kwan Im Statue 🙁

The police is still investigating the cause of the fire. Until further notice, we just have to wait patiently. Maybe right now all we can see just ashes in there, but don’t lose hope that Vihara Dharma Bhakti would be rebuilt more beautifully some day. All that we can do is just pray. Hoping that we could meet there in another day 🙂

Jakarta Walking Tour

Look Jakarta closer through walking

Tag: City Tour Jakarta