sign in sign up
<<
Home , Sweet Tea

A chic and quiet slice of the city, at the travel: Kemang Icon by Alila.

A WEEKEND IN JAKARTA “Jakarta is not a city that renders its charms openly... enjoying Jakarta needs a touch of art,” writes Janet Boileau in the Insight Pocket Guides to Jakarta, about this chaotic, enthralling city of 13 million. GOURI MIRPURI fully agrees, and shares her pick of the Asian city she loves the most. >>

SilverKris [58] celebrating 60 years travel: indonesia

he art of loving Jakarta, to savour its tremendous energy Friday Evening and surprisingly chic sophistication, lies in the ability to Arrive and head for the uber-cool Kemang Icon enjoy its bustle from the right perspective. Time your trips by Alila (www.alilahotels.com/kemangicon), Tto avoid traffic jams, plan your movements in geographical Jakarta’s all-suite hip boutique hotel. Designed chunks so that you don’t have to criss-cross the city, practise by architect Sardjono Sani, the Icon is a design sabar (patience in Bahasa Indonesia) and enjoy the journey – sit junkie’s dream. According to travel magazine back in your vehicle, listen to good music and sip a chilled teh DestinAsian Oct/Nov 2006, it is “unabashedly botol (bottled sweet ) as you watch the theatre unfolding contemporary in a city not known for pushing outside your window. It feels like a movie being played out in the style envelope” while Time magazine real time as life unfolds on the streets. Jakartans have long declares it an “ideal setting for visitors”. understood that the destination will be a delight if you relax and The most desirable of the individually- enjoy the journey. designed rooms is the Infini Suite, on the hotel’s highest residential floor, which has been described by one interior magazine as the space the X-Men would choose if they needed a breakaway hideout. Kemang, where the Icon hotel is set, is one of Jakarta’s most upscale and trendsetting evening. Narrow pavements mean there’s neighbourhoods, so after you have changed little buffer between the cars and the shops into cool cottons, it’s time to explore. and cafes, contributing to the ‘in your face’ Once the Friday experience of being in Jakarta. Walk only if you afternoon prayers are over, LEFT AND can deal with the noisy honking as you weave the weekend begins and BELOW: The in and out around street hawkers while having Kemang takes on a party Illusion and your senses assaulted by a medley of sounds Infini Suites at atmosphere. The young Kemang Icon, the and smells. Otherwise hire a BlueBird taxi for modern all-glass building, is the patisserie-cum- Huize and restless, shoppers and city’s uber hip the day (Indonesian Rupiah 500,000/US$54 van Wely (Tel: 719 1975). High-society ladies love its classic diners, expats and locals – boutique hotel. for 12 hours), decidedly the best way to move European elegance as much as its handmade chocolates, OPPOSITE PAGE, they all flock to this stretch of FROM LEFT: around the city. truffles, sinfully decadent cakes and gourmet international trendy shops and constantly- Dharmawangsa Kemang’s list of interesting places is endless. cuisine. Indonesia Best Restaurant Guide 2006 recommends the changing . It is Hotel features I like to start my day at Aksara Bookstore which lobster tail and champignon, and for dessert, traditional Dutch award-winning a street carnival. The traffic ethnic interiors; has an excellent choice of books by local authors or New York cheesecake. crawls along as rubber- the historic Pinisi and Indie music, and then head to Koi Cafe and For good food in a lively outdoor setting, head to the newly neckers scan the restaurants schooners, a Gallery next door to enjoy their down-to-earth opened Kemang Food Festival. Try, in particular, culinary expert legacy of the and nightclubs for the most Bugis of South French bistro cuisine and Thai-inspired salads and restaurateur William Wongso’s inspired new creation, Miitem. trendy place to start their Sulawesi. along with local art exhibits. The restaurant, which goes by the same name, serves delicious Upstairs is the famous Bin House where squid-infused black noodles prepared in a variety of ways – from Indonesia’s much-respected designer Italian-inspired to Chinese and Indonesian creations. Josephine Komara (‘Obin’ to friends) displays Once back in the tranquillity of your hotel, set your alarm for her batik creations on gossamer silks and an early start the next day. traditional hand-spun fabrics. A few metres away is Edwin’s Gallery which has one of Saturday Morning the finest collections of antiquarian maps. If The city begins to stir with the morning call to prayer, and there you’re lucky, you might even catch one of his is an almost ethereal calm in the cool of the dawn, like the lull beautifully curated art exhibitions. preceding a storm. Before the cheerful selamat pagi (good Further along the main road, in an ultra- morning) changes all too quickly to selamat siang (good >>

SilverKris [60] celebrating 60 years travel: indonesia

Back in the tranquillity of your hotel, set your alarm for an early start the next day. The city stirs awake with the morning call to prayer, and there is an almost ethereal calm in the cool of the dawn, like the lull before a storm.

Saturday Evening When you emerge, the traffic will mostly be struggling home, heading south. So, head north. The ‘old money’ Dutch enclave of Menteng, with its tree-lined streets and beautifully preserved colonial bungalows, is still invigorating Vishnu Charan foot massage or ABOVE: The utterly an elite residential district. Prabusana hot oil head massage. charming Dapur Babah which Make your way to Jalan Surabaya Antique It is dusk by now. The sweet strains of the combines culture afternoon), take on the massive treasure trove of Pasaraya Grande pepper relish). For salad, order a plate of Market, a string of stalls built over the canal, call to evening prayer emanate from the Sunda with inventive in Blok M, a 20-minute drive away. The trick here is to head straight Jakarta (a crisp, vinegary version of which sells wood-carvings, ceramics, Batak Kelapa mosque, the birds gather noisily in the cuisine. OPPOSITE PAGE: Dragonfly, up to Level 4 for batik or Level 5 for handicrafts from around the gado-gado, a central Javanese salad of raw calendars (Bataks are an ethnic group in trees, and the ‘tock-tock’ of the street vendor Jakarta’s club archipelago. Housing everything from Sumatran ikat and Yogya mixed vegetables and fried beancurd in a Sumatra), brassware, old record players, beating his wooden sticks draws the hungry to du jour with its silver to Balinese wood-carving and gems from Kalimantan, even a sauce). LPs – goods from all over the country, and bowls of steaming-hot mie . sleek lighting and communal tables. single floor can overwhelm with its vast array of goods. When you Jakartans are movie mad. EX Entertainment beyond. There are some good buys for the want to take a break, enjoy the excellent Sulawesi at Cafe Centre, right next to Pasaraya, is the ritziest keen shopper, but it can be disconcerting to Saturday Night Toraja, located among the artefacts on Level 5. of movie theatres and a true haven when the see ‘instant antiques’ being created on the Instead of fighting the traffic home, Choices for lunch abound in the chaotic Blok M area, sun bears down and the traffic starts to snarl. pavement – with a bit of shoe polish here, a linger in Menteng. For dinner, head to and one might as well join the madness. There is a food Splurge on an early afternoon show in the patina of paint there. the romantic Lara Djonggrang (www. court in the basement of Pasaraya where you can sample Premier Class which offers super-luxury sofas, After a bout of vigorous bargaining, tuguhotels.com) for Imperial Indonesian the ubiquitous (fried chicken) and cappuccinos and blankets for you to curl recuperate in the cozy and immaculate cuisine in a gorgeous old house filled with (noodles with beef balls in a clear broth), best enjoyed with a up in to watch an Indonesian movie (seldom Spa Ayurveda at No. 47 (Tel: 391 1125), a antiques, each room designed to evoke a bowl of tangy Sundanese sayur asam soup and lalapan (raw with subtitles), a popular Bollywood filem or a favourite of Menteng-ites. Sip a cup of different response. The bar is constructed vegetables dipped in freshly ground fiery , a hot chilli Hollywood blockbuster. home-made tea while enjoying an around a spectacular 18th century >>

SilverKris [62] celebrating 60 years travel: indonesia

It is dusk by now. The sweet strains through the empty streets ABOVE, LEFT that are closed to traffic TO RIGHT: Bin of the Sunda Kelapa mosque call the House’s pristine faithful to prayer, the birds gather and totally pedestrianised. collection; an Your destination is the interior detail at noisily for the night high in the trees, 12th century port of Sunda the lavish Lara Djonggrang and the ‘tock-tock’ of the street Kelapa to see colourful restaurant; Olivia vendor draws the hungry to bowls wooden Pinisi schooners, Wongso, one built by the Bugis of South of the owners of steaming-hot mie bakso. of Miitem; Spa Sulawesi, being loaded and Ayurveda is a Chinese temple from Central Java, while the rustic walls are communal tables lit from below – is always unloaded. These ships have favourite haunt; adorned with paintings of 15th century Afghan artist Bizat. In raging as the DJs churn out an eclectic clubby plied the waterways of the the historic Cafe Batavia offers the quaint room, Ibu Yayuk, who during the day plies the mix of disco, funky house, ’80s and R&B to archipelago for hundreds food with style; streets selling jamu (traditional tonics), prepares invigorating keep heads bopping and hearts beating. of years, laden with spices diners swear by with herbs and spices for customers to sample. and other products, and the squid-infused black noodles at After dinner, stop by the Dharmawangsa Hotel (www.the- Sunday Morning are a reminder of what Miitem. RIGHT: dharmawangsa.com) in Kebayoran Baru, a favourite of locals You can’t leave a city without knowing attracted the Dutch to the Lara Djonggrang and expatriates who gather on the meticulously manicured something of its history. So spend your last Spice Islands. serves Imperial Indonesian lawns for their sinfully good chocolate martinis. Wander day exploring Old Batavia and Jakarta’s Dutch Then it’s time for cuisine in regal through the Balinese-style gardens and stunning award- colonial legacy. It helps that there’s little traffic Sunday lunch and you surroundings. winning ethnic interiors. on this day. Go past the historical landmark of have three splendid Jakarta really comes alive at midnight, and if you are a return Hotel Indonesia (where the book The Year of choices: The swanky Cafe Batavia in Taman visitor to this city, you may have planned to visit Tanamur, that Living Dangerously was set) and the dramatic Fatahillah (Tel: 691 5531; www.cafebatavia. most happening nightclub of the 1980s and 1990s. Instead, Welcome Statue (from the era of Sukarno’s com) will keep you in the historical frame catch the buzz at the hottest address in town now, Dragonfly Nationalist fever). Along the main Jl Thamrin, of mind. As you wait for lunch (eclectic in Graha BIP (Jl Gatot Subroto; Tel: 520 2913). This ultra-sleek see Jakartans enjoying their Sunday morning Indonesian and international items are on bar and lounge – featuring onyx lighting, vintage wood and exercise as they walk, jog, ride bicycles or skate offer), sip a Borneo Sunset at the >> >>

SilverKris [64] celebrating 60 years travel: indonesia

Churchill Bar which had made Newsweek’s ‘The World’s Best Bars’ list. A little further away is Oasis Restaurant (Jl Raden Saleh 47; Tel: 315 0646) which has been serving spectacular for more than 30 years. Rijsttafel literally means ‘rice table’ in Dutch and refers to an elaborate meal of rice accompanied by as many as a dozen side dishes and more. Enjoy the attention of over a dozen waitresses per table in a setting reminiscent of a 1930s Hollywood film set. Completely taking the city by surprise is the charmingly eccentric Dapur Babah (Jalan Veteran 1; Tel: 385 5653) which gets my vote as Jakarta’s most stylish and ingenious bar and restaurant. It serves Peranakan (Babah), Javanese and Dutch cuisines in cosy rooms overflowing with antiques and old photos. Each room celebrates the rich culture which emerged from the coming together of the Chinese immigrant and the native Javanese. The menu can be overwhelming, so go for the samplers. One last ‘spa out’ before you head back? Martha Tilaar (Tel: 526 1125) has spent years perfecting the use FROM TOP: A of traditional herbs, spices and ‘royal’ recipes nondescript exterior, but for enhancing beauty. One of their main Cafe Batavia centres is in Graha Irama on Jl Rasuna Said. has much The ultimate luxury is the Lulur Candidis which to offer; the elegant uses herbs to exfoliate and soften the skin. Bin House And with that final flourish it’ll be time to showcases say goodbye, except you’ll most likely be silks and traditional saying, Sampai Berjumpa Lagi… or until we fabrics. meet again.

FAST FACTS CURRENCY Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) US$1 = 9,233IDR

VISA Requirements vary. Check with the nearest Indonesian embassy or log on to www.kbrisingapura.com.

BEST TIME TO VISIT It’s best to go during the dry season which is from May to September.

GETTING THERE Singapore Airlines flies 8 times daily from Singapore to Jakarta.

MORE INFORMATION [www.indonesiatourism.com]

SilverKris [66] celebrating 60 years