I stayed in Central Jakarta, close to the Grand Indonesia mall and the Plaza Indonesia mall. This area is kind of like the greenbelt area of Makati. and I just walked everywhere in that area.

It's worth a visit. I cant' really give great advice about finding a good value on an apartment. I rented on Air nb and my budget is in the 1500 per month range, so I usually get a place with a roof top pool that's in the best location I can find.

I did notice that food and massages seem cheaper there. I think you could find a place for 500.00 if you don't mind walking a little bit futher. Taxis's are very cheap here. Yes, the traffic is very bad though. As far as I know it's fine to walk in the nicer areas of Jakarta based on my trip, I wasn't having any issues.

I think you should check it out. You might like it I see less foreigners here than Manila and Bangkok for sure. Plenty of pretty girls walking around all over the place in those malls that I spoke about.

I'll be back out there for a couple of more weeks in early November if any one wants to grab a beer or a cup of coffee message me.

ty

LOLOLOL @ live game in Jakarta

Any form if gambling is BIG No No here except Online..

The closest to play live NLH is maybe S'pore or Philippines

PS. I am from Jakarta - Indonesia

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The traffic was terrible indeed. I guess JKT and MNL are 2 of the worst ones when it comes to traffic, but bear in mind that Jakarta doesn't have any kind of rail transport to help with it nor will it have any time soon...

Yes, Jakarta is very pedestrian-unfriendly. To compare with Manila again, here it's already like you shouldn't try to walk in some parts but in Jakarta it was way worse imo. I love to explore the surroundings of my stay by foot, though. There are uncovered holes (of sewage or w/e) that you have to watch out for. I flew to Bali after 2 or 3 weeks in JKT and same **** there of course, so there during a late night, walking on a dark street and texting on my phone I fell into one of these holes. It was at least chest deep. On my way falling in I hit my side/back on the concrete edge, fractured one rib and broke one (as we later got confirmed). Hospitalised in a good hospital for 3 days and nights for a big bill. My insurance paid me later but they wouldn't even start with the painkilling (was in torture, hard to breathe etc.) until my friend paid them a big deposit of cash.

Sorry, didn't stay in apartments in JKT so can't answer about that.


Btw I had good 4G mobile internet with Bolt that I got already in JKT airport when landing and used both in JKT and Bali. That was almost a year ago already.

Agreed with pedestrian-unfriendly part

The Traffic mess/jam only happens on 3 occasion :
1. Rush hour in the morning when people go to work
2. Rush hour in the afternoon when people get back from work
3. Etc : like rain or if there's an accident in the road

Bali in many parts is much better, I dunno which part do you stay..and why the hell you textwalking in dark street?in any part of the world that's doesn't seem safe too

Apartment or boarding house completely safe and cost around $450-600 in the nicest area,but you can find lower than that in some good area too


Internet is good in some area of the coverage

Cheers

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Indonia is a possibility for my partner and I to try and stay for a year or so, also supporting us by grinding small stakes poker. Jakarta sounds a bit hectic, do you know what Cirebon's like? From the guide book we bought it sounds like less traffic and a bit more relaxed, also Pandangaran?

Would decent internet be available in these places? Thanks for any info. I'll buy you a beer if we make it there.

hi,
you can still access all pokersites from indonesia, right?
thx

I agree with you on Jakarta,but still its the best city if you want to stay,its the capital and you can find anything here (in terms of entertainment, business etc)Cirebon its like 4-5hrs drive,relative (not so) small town but its okay too (you can find good internet access)pangandaran, I never been there,it small town next to the sea I think..



If I may suggest, you better stay in Bali (jimbaran or ubud area) or Bandung(in the cold area)

PS. Please do check about bisa thingy here..you cant stay 1 year with tourist visa.. You need social/working visa to do that..

Check the website : www.imigrasi.go.id/

I will PM you if I can find more info on that



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I guess you can,haven't try all poker network but mostly can..unless the poker site blocked Indonesia IP

I play on FTP and Stars

PS. Although theres some website that being banned because it contains word like sex,porn or gambling things

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you can check the provider for Coverage on their website,such as :

http://www.firstmedia.com/page/fastnet-package

https://myrepublic.co.id/harga-internet-dan-tv-kabel/

http://www.mncplaymedia.com/ultra_speed/

http://www.indihome.co.id/internet-fiber

http://www.biznethome.net/en/#

and etc


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Thanks. I was thinking about Bali but would it not be way more expensive? We're on a tight budget, we'll have about £6000, the coastal town you mentioned sounds alright.

Thanks for the links to the networks. Will check out later.

Good,let me know if theres anything I can do/help..Cirebon is decent my friend stays there.. Everything's in 10minutes or so away..so good luck..

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3rd to time I try this. Jakarta ended badly.

Left hotel for airport in bluebird cab from bluebird rank at 445am. 5 minutes in we get stopped by police in north Jakarta wanting to see id. Show passport they say I don't have correct stamp from police. This is bad, terrorism, blah blah you have to pay fine10 million rupiah. I'm on a desolate stretch in north Jakarta, just me, some cars zooming past, the radians these 4 guys who seemed like cops but didn't have the brown uniform. These shakedowns go ahead all the time in north Jakarta. I thought pay the small fine and be on with it.

They see I'm going to the airport and want 10 million rupiah. I can't believe they're serious. Really aggressive about how I've done the wrong thing, I'm a threat to Indonesia, etc. there's back and forth for 5 minutes as I play dumb, tell them I have come to Indonesia many times, show them the 400k rupiah I have in my pocket and pull out $50 saying I'm going home they are t having any of it.

He eventually said $500 US. I'm telling him, showing him I don't have the money. He say you can't pay we go to station you miss flight blah blah. The problem is I have $1900 on me. If these guys make me empty my pockets they're going to take it all. Under no circumstances am I getting on a bike with these guys ill end up in a canal or lose all my cash. So I can't call a potential bluff at 445am on a desolate stretch and I'm truly at their mercy.

Every time I say I can't pay they say go to station and the main guy pulls out money to pay the cab driver, aggressively telling him to get out of here. The cab driver is likely in on it, but I need him to get away from these guys.

We get it to $400 and this took a lot of back and forth. I said I had to look in my bag in the taxi, which gave me the chance to fumble around and make out I was finding every last dollar.

I pay them and we are off. We pass some more cops further down the roAd and I dive for the floor. I start asking the cab driver how many dollars they gave him. He says he had topay fine 500k rupiah.

I figure let it go and get the **** out. As we are coming to the terminal I pull out the 1500 in my bag and told him I had to pay so they didn't get the rest. He was literally wide eyed. It hen say I know you got dollars how many did you get. He says no I had to pay fine and pulls out 50k note, obviously inconsistent with paying 500k as he said before.

I stick out my hand and he can't look me in the face as he shook it.

I'm not sure how I could hAve played this hand differently. Under no circumstances could I go somewhere where I'd have empty my pockets, and I could never Teton a bike Togo anywhere with them.

I played it pretty cool but was truly intimidated. From speaking town Indonesian on the plane it seems they were gangsters not cops. I'm not sure what I could have done on a desolate stretch at 430am up against 4 thugs.

In summary, before this happened I though bangkok was far more enjoyable than Jakarta. I'm not a sea noob, have come to arrangements with police before, am street aware, but I think I was set up even though I did everything right ( take bluebird cab on the bluebird rank in front of the hotel.

It's really soured my opinion of an already difficult city to navigate.

Really sorry to hear what you have experienced in Jakarta..I am almost sure thats not the police..I mean, if you didn't do any crime,police got nothing to do with foreigners, except immigration officer..

Some like other country have corrupt police, but form the explanation you gave, its more like a thug..I am pretty sure they been watching and targeting you there..

Btw when this happened? Why do you stay in northern Jakarta? It's the toughest part in Jakarta..(also where so call red district area located)

Hope it doesn't make you eager to go back to Indonesia.. Many part of Indonesia for vacation/holiday spot outside Jakarta

Cheers

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I've been to a nightly 10-20 game held in a large karaoke complex before. Liquid Molly, lines of K, joints, etc... Being passed around like candy and female companionship abound. Can only imagine what goes on behind some of the other doors in that place. Pretty ****ing sweet. 200+ sq mt with baccarat running in the back room also.

This is exactly why you shouldn't carry large sums of money around with you. Someone likely noticed how much cash you had and tipped them off.

Fwiw I think you played it perfectly lol69, didnt risk anything and still gave it a shot

Very frightening story lol69, thanks for sharing. Glad everything turned out ok (minus the money).

I had no clue which parts of Jakarta and good/bad so will definitely take this into consideration if I go there.

North Jakarta is where all the trouble and fun is.

at the money changer i changed $250, $100 and $100 each day. the money was in the room safe the entire time. no-one could possibly know i was carrying a relatively large amount of money.

i'm an experienced traveller. i wear a cheap digital watch when in these countries, i dress better at night but i only wear shirt, jeans, sneakers. i look good but i dress to fit in and not be conspicuous in anyway. during the day i'll wear an old frayed shirt or cheap t-shirt.

believe me, i have carried similar amounts around cambodia and i do nothing to indicate i have a relatively large amount of cash on me because i know it could be a matter of life or death if the wrong people know.

maybe someone was tracking my movements though and saw the kind of establishments i was visiting and figured i had cash.

the reason for carrying a lot of cash is for my safety should i ever get involved in situation that requires money to solve, i get injured and the hospital wants an upfront payment (even though i'm insured).

looking back on what happened in the last 24 hours i could have been in a canal somewhere if they got sniff of me having $2k on me at that moment. when i got to the terminal and waved the rest of my money at the cab driver he was literally wide eyed.

i'm not going back to jakarta any time soon if ever. in a city where i would see less than 10 farangs/bules when out and about exploring the city i really stand out. in bangkok you blend in.

precisely.

sometimes the key is to know when to throw away a losing hand.