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FEATURED: Expat Arrivals See and Do in Jakarta

March 20, 2013

Somehow despite all the craziness of the past 3 weeks, I was able to give my article on time! Phew! (Hopefully without too many grammatical errors!) I was really excited to be asked by Candice of ExpatArrivals.com to do an article on Jakarta. I chose to do the See and Do in Jakarta, because I felt most comfortable about the topic.

Screen Shot 2013-03-20 at 4.19.24 PM

It was a great experience writing an article that didn’t require my photos, because I got to focus on giving us much helpful info as possible in a succinct manner. And how cool to be called a “Jakarta Expert?” Even though I feel like I still have so much to figure out about the Big Durian, even after 4 years of living here. If you want to read my recommendations on things to see and do in Jakarta, do go on and click on the link below!

See and Do in Jakarta

This is only based on my personal experience, but I am sure there is so much more to see and do! What do you think? Did I miss out on any other things to see and do in The Big Durian? Do let me know if you have other see and do tips to share! I would love to hear from you about your amazing experiences in Jakarta!

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4 Comments · jakarta good to know, What's Happening

Comments

  1. Lani says

    September 14, 2013 at 11:15 AM

    hi Diplo Wife! i wanna ask you about how would you compare Jakarta to Manila?

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      September 14, 2013 at 11:45 AM

      Jakarta is similar to Manila, i.e. weather, smiling people, big divide between rich and poor. However there are some differences for expats, and I am only talking about for expats here meaning for people who don’t speak the local dialect. There is a great divide in Jakarta if you are a local and an expat. The moment they hear your accent and English, the prices go up. And Expats cannot eat cheap because of the sanitary conditions of the food. So these are just my personal opinions, generalisations and experiences (other people will probably have a different experience and opinions).

      Jakarta has better highways and all the streets are beautiful treelined and green (not dotted with billboards), the city is not as cramped as Manila (there are gardens and landscape between buildings). One of the things I love about Jakarta is how fresh the seafood is in the city, even in cheaper restos.

      However I couldn’t walk in Jakarta because there are barely any sidewalks, more motorcycles and traffic much worse than Manila. Customer service is worse, prices are much higher and availability & dependability of stock of goods is horrible, it’s hard and expensive to find goods that are cheap and common in Manila. Diplomats also do not get the same tax free benefits in Jakarta. The water quality is much worse, and air pollution for me was worse, because people smoke everywhere even indoors. The language barrier was also very stressful in Jakarta so I really had to learn Bahasa, unlike Manila wherein expats cans survive with English alone. Jakarta is SO not dog friendly, because it’s against the religion. And there are calls to prayer several times a day from mosques all over the place so it is also quite noisy. Pork and alcohol is extremely expensive and it’s hard to get top quality or variety. English education is very expensive in Jakarta because you would need to send your children to International school. For example Kinder tuition is about $7000 without materials, uniform, schoolbus, fieldtrips and lunch money. And their field trips are more extravagant – kids go with their classmates to Bali for fieldtrips.

      The malls in Jakarta are something to behold. After living there, I am not so easily impressed because Indonesians do everything in such a grand style and scale. Manila malls and spaces are smaller in comparison. Indonesians are a gentle people though and they will rarely say no (not necessarily meaning they will do something) and there is very strict gun control so I definitely feel safer in Jakarta. I’ve lost my phone once or twice only for the waiter to run after me and return it.

      Cost of living for expats in Jakarta is very high, but they also earn more than in Manila. (I say they because we aren’t expats in a sense that my husband is not employed by a company in Jakarta since he is still earning Filipino diplo wages). I’ve heard of several Filipino pilots here who work in private planes of Indonesian families. The rich people here seem to be even beyond my imagination. They give away iPods in the 6 year olds birthday parties to all the kids attending the party.

      So there are definite pros and cons in both cities. So that’s all I can think of, off the top of my head unless you had any specific questions in mind.

      Reply
  2. Amelia says

    October 23, 2013 at 8:01 AM

    Your article’s given me some great first ideas of what to do when I’m there. I can’t wait to get to know the city for myself. A little nervous but also so excited. Thank you for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      October 23, 2013 at 3:34 PM

      Hi Amelia, I am glad you are getting ideas. It’s so exciting moving to a new place! Are you shipping all your household effects or getting them all in Jakarta? Is your firm handling negotiations with your landlord or are you doing it yourself. This is my experience renting in Jakarta, but we did negotiations ourselves so it was very hard and also our main problem was we had a dog. This narrowed are choices to one unit and made negotiating with our landlord a special kind of hell. =p

      Reply

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Welcome

Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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GOOD TO KNOW GUIDE

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM @UNDIPLOMATICWIFE

HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport? We are very lucky th HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport?

We are very lucky that the Geneva Airport is very near because it is located 4 km northwest of the city centre. It takes us less than 15mins by car & is easier to get to than airports outside the city.

BUT also means that many of the Geneva residents suffer from AIRCRAFT NOISE POLLUTION. 

In some parts of Geneva, like Vernier, Meyrin, Bellevue, Versoix, etc will have the airplane pass on top of you or very near you. This is something to consider when you are MOVING TO GENEVA & looking for a home.

When we were in @bioparcgeneve recently, it felt like airplane after airplane was going overhead every few mins. The poor animals were screaming each time.

A  report by the European Environment Agency(EEA) in 2017 said that 12% or 73,500 Geneva residents have their hearing disturbed by aircraft noise. Probably the figures have risen with the natural increase population & travel?

“The EEA describes noise as a pervasive pollutant that directly affects the health and well-being of humans and wildlife. Populations exposed to high noise levels can exhibit stress reactions, sleep-stage changes, and clinical symptoms like hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. All of these can contribute to premature mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) reckons that humans exposed to noise levels above 40 decibels at night experience adverse health effects.

Across Europe it is estimated that noise contributed to at least 900,000 additional cases of hypertension in 2011.” - @le_news_ch 

DID YOU KNOW that owners of homes affected by the noise can request for soundproofing to be paid for by GVA? 

Check if your home meets the conditions for FREE SOUNDPROOFING c/o Genève Aéroport here:

https://www.gva.ch/en/Site/Geneve-Aeroport/Questions-Reponses-FAQ/Bruit#

SAVE or SHARE this now with someone you know who might be moving to Geneva or is already suffering from aircraft #noisepollution. 

#UDWinGeneva #UDWgenevagoodtoknow #expatingeneva #diplofamily #expatlife #genevaswitzerland #expatingeneva #filipinoingeneva #pinoyingeneva #movingtogeneva #movingtoswitzerland #movingtogeneva #genevaexpats #switzerlandexpatlife #geneva #genevaswitzerland
MERCADONA HAUL Whenever we go to Spain, we love t MERCADONA HAUL

Whenever we go to Spain, we love to go to @mercadona. It might be small but has a good affordable selection. It’s my thrifty Spanish MIL’s favorite.

We were so lucky that we had a @mercadona right beside our hotel Marina Badalona. Very convenient.
Our favorite things to bring home are:

☕️ frozen porras (bigger than churros)

🐑 baby lamb chops (the only lamb I eat coz it’s not malangsa & all you need to do is fry till crispy in olive oil with S&P) it’s called Chuletas Cabrito but TD calls it lechal 

🐽 chicharon or crispy pork rinds

🥔 Homemade potato chips. The best potato chips for me are from Spain. I don’t know how it’s so much yummier! The olive oil???

🎣 canned Sardines & tuna for me and Yaya B

TIPS:

🧊 For frozen items, we usually ask the hotel before we buy if they can put it in their freezer until we fly.

✍️ I usually bring different sizes ZIPLOCK BAGS, MASKING TAPE & MARKER when we travel so we can put everything in, label with our name and room number.

📸 then I take a photo so we can just show it to the staff and they can easily find it in their freezer.

✈️ When it’s time to pack, I placed our beach towels around the frozen packages coz I know they will SWEAT & I don’t want our other things to get wet 💦 

What  grocery do you usually like to shop for when in Spain? Where do you buy them?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries #udwtraveltips #udwtraveltip #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW C FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW Calisthenics Park 

📍Chem. des Tuileries 140, 1293 Bellevue

After the lovely BIOPARC we headed across to this chill park with ample PARKING that had so many things for kids & anyone who wants to move & work out:

⚽️ The kids wanted to kick around a football so we borrowed a ball from @boxup.app (they also have pumps, 🏓, 🏐, 🏀, etc) just download the app & turn on your Bluetooth & follow instructions! Return after 3hrs.

👟 Outdoor gym - this was a huge hit with the kids

⚽️ football - this too!

🏀 basketball court

🏓 Ping-pong 

🏐 Beach volleyball court

🤸🏻 Monkey bars

🛝 small playground

Thanks for the wonderful afternoon guys @lidia_otilia_botezatu! 
How lucky are we to have these beautiful, clean open spaces. And the free rental gear is AMAZING! so convenient.

This is in Geneva, about 15mins drive from where we live.

SAVE THIS on your list of PARKS to visit!

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. It’s not as close as the bioparc but bring earplugs/earphones if you are sensitive.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
BIOPARC GENÈVE Yesterday was a holiday in Switze BIOPARC GENÈVE

Yesterday was a holiday in Switzerland (except for Geneva). It was raining & miserable so I wanted to take @diplobaby out for a few hours. Thankfully midafternoon it stopped raining.

We met with our friends @lidia_otilia_botezatu in @bioparcgeneve and had a lovely time in this volunteer run zoo.

TIPS💡

🆓 It’s free for families on your FIRST visit!

🦢 you walk inside animal enclosures so wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty/stepping on poop. We wore boots & happy we did

🅿️ there’s parking inside on wood chips, if it’s full there’s another pavement parking (free up to 4hrs) across the roundabout 

🦔 Do not feed or touch the animals no matter how cute they are

🗺️ There are 2 routes (purple & blue) and 1-1.5hrs #diplshould be enough 

❎ Park closes at 4pm

SAVE THIS NOW if your looking for a fun & not too you can do in well und2hrs. It’s nice that you can go inside unlike most zoos so it’s quite unique.

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. @diplobaby who is super noise sensitive did not mind as much as I thought he would because he was so entertained by the animals.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
MARINA BADALONA HOTEL At first we were going to MARINA BADALONA HOTEL 

At first we were going to stay in the heart of Barcelona, where we stayed 8 years ago (I didn’t even know that @diplobaby was already in my tummy at 2 weeks old) but the “hotel” is now expensive with no amenities & small rooms. So TD found a hotel in #badalona - a 20min taxi ride from Barcelona city center - that was so fabulous & slightly less expensive.

SAVE THIS NOW for future trips to Barcelona

WHY I LOVED marinabadalona
🤍 All white interiors was so beautiful & calming
🤍 Gorgeous view of the Marina 
🤍 Everything was so aesthetic, even where you tap your card to enter the room
🤍 Massive bed
🤍 Electric curtains
🤍 Lots of closet space & hangers
🤍 2 TVs
🤍 Refrigerator
🤍 White/cream Nespresso & kettle
🤍 Architecture & interior design is sooooo me!
🤍 Small rooftop pool with unbelievable views (need to do a separate post)
🤍 5min walk to the beach
🤍 Gorg esplanade
🤍 Yummy restos beside
🤍 Mercadona right beside - so convenient!

FEW RECOS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
✌️ Loved the textured wall paper, but it’s difficult to keep clean inside the bathroom
✌️ The bathroom surface area was a bit small & our stuff kept falling off the sink
✌️ Not a single chair in the family room so when we had room service we had to eat standing
✌️ No salt & pepper with room service so we called to ask & were told we would be charged for them taking it up. After TD clarified that there was no S&P with our meal, they said they would bring it up. The person brought a small bowl of of salt & pepper combined. The salt was for DiploBaby’s salmon, but he can’t eat pepper, I wanted both for my pesto. Had to run down in my slippers & the resto staff were very apologetic coz who serves a mixed S&P ever? They gave me individually packaged ones which I really appreciated.
✌️ Since the hotel has a pool & is by the beach, I wish there was a place to hang & dry swim suits. Our suits & watershoes did not dry in the tub.

All in all the value we got from staying in this hotel was so high compared to a more expensive hotel in Barcelona. No hotel stay is perfect.

Now, would I stay there again? YES PLEASE! Would you?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries
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