Shocked by my first Jakarta nightlife experience
After some rum in the hostel bar I went to the famous club "Basque" where I met the local guy Alfian via CouchSurfing. In the beginning I didn't know exactly what to think about the meeting, because men on CouchSurfing sometimes have wrong intentions of such meetings.
It turned out that he was a cool guy but I was shocked by the atmosphere in this club. Old, ugly men stood there at the side with pretty young Indonesian women. There's no doubt that cash is flowing there. I knew that from Thailand, but I was surprised to see that from a muslim country like Indonesia. My mood worsened in the packed club that played the usual shitty western pop music.
Leaving the hostel life behind
After my first 3 days in Jakarta, I wasn't really impressed by the city but it all changed after I left the hostel lifestyle and from then on only lodged in airbnbs. I followed the advice of my local buddy Alfian and so my reign as a "prince" started. At least some of my friends were calling my like that because of the lifestyle I was leading there.
Not much green spaces but many mosques
I moved quite a lot from one apartment to another. The most beautiful apartment was the in Thamrin Residence, which even had a pool, whirlpool, sauna and gym. Most of the times, the apartment was located high up and I could overlook the panorama of Jakarta which sometimes offered beautiful cloud formations. The city itself looks pretty ugly to be honest. Due to the huge population almost every place is overbuilt and there are hardly any green areas, so that the locals usually gather in one of the huge shopping centres. Five times a day I heard the muezzine calling the Muslims to prayer in the mosques, of which innumerous exist in the city. Sometimes I could not sleep because of this shouting.
Everywhere in the city you can also see the canals that the Dutch built. Today they are unfortunately completely littered and stink
Western style nightlife
There are various nightlife districts in Jakarta like the SCBD in South Jakarta, which is preferred by the rich young teenagers. And there is Kuningan with clubs like Basque or Blowfish, which is preferred by the 25+ generation. It surprised me how westernized the attitude towards life already is here. However, it is clear to me that I mainly met the Indonesians who are open-minded to the western lifestyle whereas there are many Indonesians that are very sceptical to this kinda lifestyle and are more devoted to religion.
Alcohol is only sold in very few places in Jakarta, only in 1-2 stores in shopping malls and is it also extremely overpriced due to the Muslim alcohol tax. A cocktail in a bar also costs around 15 € and even low-quality wine is nearly unaffordable.
Photoshoot with young Indonesian school girls
While I was waiting for a friend, young Indonesian students shouted to me: "Mister, Mister, photo, photo". As a "bule", this is how the Indonesians call foreigners (especially with European background), you still get a lot of attention even in such a mega city like Jakarta and despite how international it already is. Now I had at last my photo with the young shy Muslim girls.
Another such moment I experienced when I was having coffee with other buddies from Couchsurfing in Starbucks. A pretty woman I had never seen before recognized me and told me via message that we were in the same place. I felt a bit like a star here haha
Being my most decadent self in the biggest muslim country
I never smoked before in my life. In Indonesia, smoking is part of everyday life for many of the inhabitants. A box often doesn't even cost $2. I started because of young Indonesian models who were smoking their mint-flavoured cigarettes while meeting me. They persuaded me to try it out.
In Indonesia I experienced probably the most decadent period of my life including one night stands, late night booty calls or bizarre sexual fantasies. Who would have thought that in the country with the most Muslims, who for religious reasons must be prudish and conservative. I could have met a new woman every day, but in fact I prefer quality over quantity.
One time a pretty Indonesian woman with Dutch roots wrote me that she wanted to do something and if she could come by. It was already after midnight and I had never met her before! One week later an Indonesian nude model came to me in the middle of the night despite only knowing me from pictures. She didn't even know where I come from.
Every prince needs a bromance
Besides all the female acquaintances, my buddy Alfian was the actual reason why I stayed so long in Jakarta. I met him nearly every day in my 2 weeks that I spent in Jakarta. It was a real bromance! We are both engineers, FC Barcelona fans and share similar interests. I loved to spend the Jakarta nights, sitting with him on the balcony and having a smoke while listening to metal music. Since the city never really rests at any time of the day, nobody complains about loud music.
The end of the prince
Actually I had planned to see more of the island Java and climb up some volcanoes, but I didn't have time for that and after 2 weeks in Jakarta I flew directly to Bali. My time as a prince ended. What a pity! Even if the city may not be beautiful, the people of Jakarta are even more so. One of the most friendly people I have met. I already dream of being a prince again.
