survivingjakarta

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Behind The Lavish Pantai Indah Kapuk

For most people that lives in Jakarta, or spend most of their time in the city, the name Pantai Indah Kapuk, or mostly known as PIK, must be quite familiar. When you think of PIK, you would think of the endless number of lavish cafes, restaurants, bars, mansions, and over the top buildings. Some wouldn’t even know that in Pantai Indah Kapuk, there’s a potential tourist spot for those that are interested in nature. The area was formerly known literally as a swamp, and as a photogenic spot, the mangrove forest conservation site.

It’s ironic to think that a place that is now known for its over the top lavish lifestyle, was once a swamp and forest that was used as a shrimp farm. And the fact that the change happened not so while ago, made it way more astounding. This is because, this place truly did not have a history. I always thought that the compound of lavish buildings was built since the 60s rapidly but steadily, but I was wrong. The whole land was purchased by a property company and turned magically overnight with over the top decor with low amount of research when it comes to art conceptualization. Of course this is only my opinion.

Other than that, it is fascinating that, right after how PIK became what it is now, suddenly its neighbors suffer flood problems every year. Even the Jakarta Governor, Mr. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama had shared in an interview that PIK area was supposed to be a swamp area that usually prevented the spread of water from the sea towards Jakarta. Since, now it has magically turned into a hedonist hang out place / office compound for people nearby, the flood got out of control, and even effected some of Jakarta’s main districts (e.g. Thamrin). That was embarrassing. 

According to a friend of mine that had lived in the Pantai Indah Kapuk area since 1999, some Chinese Indonesian minority preferred to move there due to the horrifying racial riot that happened a year prior. They thought of the area as a safe place to live in, because if anything happened, they can just hop on to a ship and take off.

According to this friend of mine, back then the whole place was a swamp except the neighborhood he lived in. The Mangrove forest was the popular tourist site for locals back then until around a few years ago. According to some of my friends that grew up near the area remembered that they used to take pictures in the forest since it was one of those rare photo shoot venue, due to how it doesn’t even look like Jakarta. It’s first competition was the Water Boom swimming arena that was opened around the early 2000s, then the Cordoba Shopping Houses were created, and came hundreds of businesses.

Some might think that due to this overwhelming success that happened in this whole area, The Mangrove Forest should get some benefits in terms of visitor. But unfortunately the fact is completely the opposite. Due to the high rise of not only visitors but also traffic in the area, the forest seemed to be completely forgotten. It simply could not compete with the lavish entertainment places nearby, and it is slowly dying as a business. 

I am very much aware that Indonesian preservation of potential tourism venues in the field of arts, culture, history, or wildlife, are struggling and trying their best. I could see that since one of my hobbies are visiting museums in Jakarta. There are progress, but slow, and not enough. But in the case of Pantai Indah Kapuk’s Mangrove Forest, the clock is ticking. I can’t help but feel that the wealthy property company that are behind PIK are deliberately sabotaging the forest, since it would be just another land for them to built something on.

However, as a person that goes to PIK almost every weekend and spend some times there, I do think that preserving this Mangrove Forest should be something that not only the government, but also this massive property corporation, need to look upon. Its potential as a short quick getaway from the busy Jakarta city, should be something that would be beneficial financially, if it is properly supported. PIK is only filled with restaurants, bars, and late entertainment that could be replaced elsewhere across the city, and it is getting boring to see the same old thing in my opinion. What the area needs is just a proper tourist site, and this Mangrove Forest site should be viewed as something that are harder to find elsewhere.

If any of you are interested in visiting the Mangrove Forest, here is the Google Maps URL Link: 

https://goo.gl/maps/sVZ3EmL7wx32

[survivingjakarta]

Me and my friends got the opportunity to have one day where we got to escape Jakarta. It was really fun, and such a recommended short getaway for people living in Jabodetabek Area.

We visited Taman Safari Indonesia Cisarua Bogor, which was located about two hours drive away from Jakarta. We used Waze to guide us after we found ourself stuck in traffic once we got out of the Cisarua High Way. For those of you that are traveling with bigger cars, go ahead and go through the alternative route that Waze/ Google Maps usually would give, but if you have smaller cars, please be cautious since the road is horrible and full of small rocks that would be disastrous  to your tires.

The pricing for the entrance of the Safari was a tad expensive for us, but we traveled a long way, so we didn’t want to let our broke-ness ruin our day. It was Rp. 150.000 per person, or 30$ for International Tourists. I don’t know why International tourists usually have to pay twice, but I’m sorry on the behalf of Indonesian tourism system.

I would recommend you to bring the vegetables you have at home or buy them before the entrance of the Safari to save you a lot of money. (Suitably : Carrots)

Aside from that, me and my friends were concerned about how the animals was treated and if they got proper medication. Most of them were unresponsive and looked high. One of my friend even said that they put some “meds” in the bananas that the elephants ate.

[survivingjakarta]

Indonesian Beauty Trends Over The Decades

1910s

Kartini’s well known trumpet call on behalf of Javanese women starts the twentieth-century gender discourse off a high note. Prior to her death, she became an inspiration to a lot of women, and empower women to the notion that women needed education, and to be smart was beautiful.

Key Attributes :

Low Bun, Flower ornaments in bun, thin eyebrow, no make up look, bronzed look, earrings

Icons: Raden Adjeng Kartini

1920s

The Jazz age managed to gain a tremendous popularity in south east Asia, including the Dutch East Indies. With more knowledge of the outside world, women also discover western trends that seemed to be popular for the upper class.

Key Attributes:

Hair Accessories, Short Bob, Neck Accessories, Darker Lips, Natural Clean Make Up Look

Icons: Oei Hui Lan & Petronella Johanna Antoinette Folynski-Peeters 

1930s

With the rise of the cinema, and the amount of theaters in Batavia, the people started to watch movie stars. Both western and local movie stars was deemed as the panicle of beauty in the 1930s.

Key Attributes :

Natural hair with no accessories, sharp natural eyebrows, natural lipstick, no earrings, pearl necklace

Icons: Miss Roekiah

1940s

Generally the 1940s is a big decade in Indonesian history. It is the time of reform nationalism before and prior of the Independence in the 1945. Therefore the beauty trend of this age is more subtle, and women rather show sexiness with traditional attire of kebaya. This is mostly influenced by Bung Karno’s wives, along with other influential women of the decades, which mostly are movie stars.

Key Attributes:

Messy Bun with front quiff, big bright eyes, sexy natural full lips, clean fresh face innocent look, no accessories other than veil

Icons: Inggit Garnasih, Ratna Sari Dewi, Djoewariah

1950s

After the reformation, Indonesia’s people were back focusing on the silver screen, since in this very decade, Usmar Ismail started to make films. In this decade, a few of legendary films were made including, Tiga Dara, which was probably the best film to see if we would want to observe Indonesian Beauty Trends at the time.

Key Attributes:

Medium perm hair, earrings, red bold lipstick, classic pin up inspired, full natural brows

Icons: Chitra Dewi, Indriati Iskak, Mieke Wijaya (Tiga Dara), Nurnaningsih

   1960s

A very interesting decade in Indonesia, since the swinging sixties pop influence most beauty industry in the world, yet being ‘Americanized’ was deemed as something that was frowned upon by the government, due to American’s suspicion of Soekarno regarding the Cold War. This is a very politically obscure decade in Indonesian history, and it shows in the way women presented themselves.

Key Attributes:

More visible make up, nude lips, bouffant hair, fringe, hair accessories

Icons: Titiek Puspa, Lilis Suryani, Dara Puspita    

1970s

Soekarno has stepped down as president, meaning it is time once again to embrace the western influence trend in full force.

Key Attributes:

Cat eye liner, nude lips, full make up, very western influenced

Icons: Suzzanna, Titiek Sandhora, Tanty Yosepha    

1980s

Like the rest of the world, the 80s was the decade of big hair and colorful make up. In Indonesia this was unavoidable, since politically Soeharto was very much very open to foreign influences during this time. The 80s was also known as the beginning of the nationwide sex revolution, that were very much visible in the films of the time especially in the Warkop series.

Key Attributes:

Colorful Make up, Big Hair, Colorful accessories

Icons: Meriam Bellina, Nurul Arifin, Eva Anas

1990s

The 90s is the decade of sinetron, and basically, everything is on the television. In this era, the beauty standard was more and more influenced by western trend as MTV Indonesia appeared in 1995. The most iconic Indonesian cultural phenomenon of the 90s is “Topi Tersayang” or “Saras 008”

Key Attributes:

Natural make up, trendy hair, limited amount of accessories, choker

Icons: Paramita Rusadi, Lydia Kandaou

2000s

The Noughties was the time when most Indonesian people were introduced to a lot of new technologies such as the internet and cellphones. With this technologies came cultural and social developments, including subcultures. The most notable subculture that emerged during this era is the Alay Subculture. The exact classification is unclear, yet in this case, it is categorized as a fleeting trend that did not last and seemed as weird after or during the decade itself.

Key Attributes:

More visible make up, shiny lip gloss trend, colorful hair, hair accessories, glasses accessories, punk look, school girl look

Icons: Agnes Monica

2010s

Beauty-wise 2010s is the decade of ‘Kardashian-ism’ all around the globe. This trend also appear in Indonesia, yet not as big as the rest of the world. While in the opposite influence of the eastern world, came the K-Pop trend that bring us almost the opposite look. But naturally, as a country that has been in the middle for so many decades, Indonesian has a very special talent of mixing trends together.

Key Attributes:

Dramatic yet natural lips, thick natural looking eyebrows, clear bright complexion, ombre hair

Icons: Dian Sastrowardoyo, Raisa Andriana,  Beauty Bloggers

[survivingjakarta]

[survivingjakarta]

SINEMATEK & INDONESIAN DYING HISTORICAL PICTURES

The title might seemed to exaggerate a little, but the fact is, Indonesian historical pictures (cinema) are dying due to the lack of care of its preservation. Recently, there is an announcement that Tiga Dara (Indonesian for Three Maidens), a 1957 Indonesian musical comedy film, would be re-released after its restoration and conversion to 4K digital. Obviously, this is an amazing achievement when it comes to Indonesian film restoration, but it is not enough. 

Even the opening passage of Sinematek’s wikipedia page tells the full story of how the Indonesian Film Archive system is dying to be saved.

Sinematek Indonesia, or Sinematek for short, is a film archive located in Jakarta. Established in 1975 by Misbach Yusa Biranand Asrul Sani, the archive was the first in Southeast Asia and remains the only one in Indonesia. It is home to roughly 2,700 films, mostly Indonesian, and also houses numerous reference works. Since 2001 it has been underfunded.

The interest towards Indonesian cinema itself is worrying, even though more big budget hollywood like films were introduced. Some Jakarta people does not even regard it as an entertainment option, as they “don’t watch Indo films”. With the worryingly lack of interest from its people, of course there are not any rooms in trying to say that proper archiving, restoration, and redistribution are important. These films showed how Indonesia was back then and how different they were compared to us. A lot of old Indonesian films even dare to go a little bit provocative, which show how that they were more free and open-minded compared to the now bigotry that is the Indonesian censorship system.

The lack of interest in Indonesian cinema is also joined by another contributing factor when it comes to the lack of care for Sinematek, which is the lack of interest in History. It is unknown how along the way, the Indonesian school system managed to make the word “History” as something that students would yawn upon. There was even a brilliant remarks of how “people should learn less about the past and focus on the future”. This remarks acted as an excuse for people to not care about history, which is a very unfortunate loss of intellectual property in a way. As Churchill once said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. People are supposed to learn from history, since it acts as a public domain of knowledge that is accessible to anyone who wish to learn them. Some people take this for granted, because they believe that they do not need this knowledge since they do not wish to have a life with such challenges to enquire these kind of wisdom. 

In this case, Sinematek suffers from two factors of Jakarta (Or Indonesian) people’s lack of interest and care in their cinema and their history. The place is heaven for those who are looking for long forgotten archive of films from the 1950s. The place should be a tourist attraction, since it also let you watch whichever old films you want with such cheap price. They are so under-budgeted, that they are desperate to keep those films alive. Film preservation is not an easy task, since it needs a lot of tools and a certain temperature to make sure they do not go bad. The people that are working there would be able to share stories of how they tried their best to make sure some celluloid would still be watchable, and most of them are very much underpaid. 

With this lengthly blogpost, personally I would suggest this place, if you want to have a historical experience of watching old films with your friends or look at film scripts from the 1940s. And frankly, rather than spending millions of Rupiahs in strolling around the shopping centers of Jakarta, visiting this place would be a little refreshing change of phase. And besides, if things continue to get this bad for Sinematek, I fear that they would not be here for very long. It’s like walking around the past, and the perfect go to place for any history buffs like myself.

More Readings Regarding This Topic:

http://cinemapoetica.com/sinematek-and-film-preservation-in-indonesia/

If you are interested in visiting Sinematek please let them know with a phone call beforehand. 

They are usually open during the weekdays from 10 AM to 3 PM

Contacts:

Gedung Pusat Perfilman H. Usmar Ismail Kavling C No. 22, JL HR. Rasuna Said

perfilman.perpusnas.go.id

(021) 5268455

[survivingjakarta]

Map of Batavia, 1840

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SOME LIFE SAVING APPS YOU WOULD NEED IF YOU’RE IN JAKARTA

GRAB / GOJEK / UBER

The traffic problem in Jakarta is probably one of the most annoying thing about being in this city. I personally saw a couple of western tourist freaked out because they missed the flight due to of the insane traffic. Like seriously when I say, it’s insane I am super serious because sometimes it could get to 4km/hour around Senayan / Sudirman areas.

The best way to not get swollen by the craziness of the traffic, is to get yourself an Ojek as a ‘go-to’ means of transportation. Ojek is basically motorcycle taxi that often know the way around Jakarta like a pro. With apps like Grab/ Gojek / Uber, you could get these riders with the best price and the best guarantee of your safety.

Three of these competing apps does not only have Ojeks, but also ‘Uber Car’ kind of services (Duh, one of em is THE UBER). So if you see that the traffic is kinda alright and you feel like you wanna be in a car so that you wouldn’t have to go through the heat and the pollution, go ahead and order the car services.

Also, one of the best things about Grab and GoJek, is that they are not only a transportation app, but they also double as a food delivery app. GoJek’s GoFood includes basically all culinary specialities in Jakarta. And they would deliver them to your doorsteps.

Tips:

What you can do is compare prices when it comes to these three apps. They basically corporate brands that compete with each other to give us the best services, therefore we should utilise this competitiveness, by simply getting the best price.

Give your rider/driver cash instead of credit, because they would appreciate it more.

When you rate these rider/driver, get them four stars or more if you felt like your ride was alright. It was said that if they were given under three stars, they would get called up by their superiors.

2. WAZE / Google Maps

Well, if you live in any city with traffic problems you might be familiar with this two GPS apps. And why do I not include Apple Maps? Because honestly, they are clueless when it comes to Jakarta’s ‘jalan tikus’ (alternative roads that only known by some locals). You are safe with these two GPS, because they are so developed in most areas of Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok, and Bekasi).

Personally, I use Waze because most of their reports are based on user’s reports. For example, if there’s a flood or an accident in a certain highway, the app would show reports that were made and approved (liked) by users. So it’s more of a community, that reports and ensure people to stay out of problems when it comes to the traffic.

Google maps however, I’m not that big fan of. But, it’s a crowd popular around here, since it detects traffic accurately and gives us an alternative route that’s pretty safe and trustworthy. I guess what makes it better than it competition, is that they take reports from the officials other than user observation. Some people find that more trustworthy, but I don’t know about you but I trust the people more than I trust the officials #JustAJakartaThing.

3. Path

If you’re only in Jakarta for just a vacay, I don’t think this app is necessary. But if you are going to stay here for long which involves a lot interaction and networking with people, this app is annoyingly popular. When you make an Jakartan acquaintance, one of the first thing they would ask you is “do you have path?”.

Path is basically just like facebook, but it is only accessible through smartphone, and more detailed. While facebook just asks you what you have on your mind, Path basically asks what do you listen, watch, read, go to, etc. It is basically like the annoying girlfriend you (hopefully) never had. It is the place where most Jakarta people go to when they are show off their social life or their hobbies. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but hey just like the rest of social media, it should be used with caution.

4.  Secure VPN (or anything alike)

Recently in Indonesia, there’s a problem when you are trying to open a few website or app, because they are banned by the government. I am not going to explain about this issue because it’s too annoying to talk about. However, I should inform you that to this day website such as Netflix and 4Chan are banned by the country. But there’s a solution to this, if you really want to catch up on your favorite Netflix series.

Even though it is not free, but you can use this VPN service in more than 1 devices (i.e. your phone & your computer). Simply just purchase one of the three package that the app offer you, and then go ahead and open the apps and websites that are blocked.

5. WiFi Map

If you can’t be bothered asking cafe waitresses for the wifi password, then this app is the app for you. This app would include some passwords and username of the available wifi nearby, and it is completely free. It is important to utilize wifi services in Jakarta, since it would save you from purchasing more and more data from your phone provider.

This app is not that popular in Jakarta, yet some people that uses it would really help you out when it comes to wifi. There are plenty of similar apps like this, but this is the one that I am currently using. Please be mindful when it comes to using someone else’s wifi and keep in mind that they are paying for their wifi.

6. Google Translate

It is preferable that when you are visiting a foreign country, you should be able to converse with the locals, even at a minimum level. This would not only help you out in terms of networking, but also would save you from unwanted troubles. I think this should be a no brainer for most people that often travels. Even though Google Translate has become a long running joke due to its often funny mistranslations, it is better than nothing.

It is very important that people realize that not everyone speaks english, especially in Jakarta, where the national language is of course, Indonesian. And the good thing about Google Translate app is that they would be able to speak for you, which would save you from embarrassing yourself with mispronunciations or being laughed at.

7. Happy Fresh  

Too lazy to buy groceries? That’s alright, there are plenty of apps made especially for lazy people in Jakarta. Happy Fresh is an app that is similar to GoJek because it would basically shop groceries for you. Yet, if you want a guaranteed quality product, I would suggest using Happy Fresh instead of GoJek. This is because Happy Fresh is an app that is clearly owned or handled by the people with connection to the supermarkets that are provided in the app. I can make this statement because I’ve seen how Happy Fresh people work while I was grocery shopping myself.

Basically, with Happy Fresh, the people that are going to select the things that you buy would be the employee of the supermarket, so they would get the best of the best of the product. This is obvious because they would want you to shop at that supermarket again. GoJek is different, because it is simply an errand kind of system.

8. Tokopedia / Elevenia / OLX / Buka Lapak

All of these apps are basically online shops, and all of them sells pretty much anything you would ever wanted (kinda). This is great because you can get stuff you would want in a cheap price since you know, it’s an online shop. Some of the things that can be found in this website are really rare but yet incredible useful (i.e. portable air conditioner, travel organizer, usb charger, and anything really). And sometimes, the items can be delivered ASAP via GoJek’s GoKilat, so it’s really great when you are desperate to get your hands on some things.

All these apps were made to make living in Jakarta easier, and we should benefit through that. In a place where the heat, the traffic, and the language barrier seems to be a huge problem for some tourists, these apps can really save your trip.

[survivingjakarta]

ME VS INDONESIAN OBSESSION WITH “THE BRANDED IDENTITY”

I grew up with television and internet. But ever since I was little, I never really understand the fascination with having branded things. Probably because my parents never really mentioned it when I was little. When I was around 10 years old, I went with with my mother to one of her shopping trips looking for make up products in one of Jakarta’s biggest shopping centers. I glanced at a highlight concealer looking thing and I asked my mother to buy it for me. She did, and it became the first make up product that I ever have. About a decade later when I was a teenager, I realized that that concealer was an expensive one, and most especially a branded one. By around this age, I already understand about the ambition of having branded stuff, since it was a symbol of wealth and excess, according to my upmost adoration towards Nicole Richie and Paris Hitlon at the height of their fame around the mid 2000s.

When I was a teenage girl, I was like Sansa Stark during the first season of Game Of Thrones, so ambitious and wanted to go some place and be someone adored. Because of my determination  or stupidness, I got the chance to finally went to US, the capital of wealth, excess, consumerism, and prestige. When I got there, what I realized was that, the celebrated United States of A, was mediocre, and unlike what the media seemed to display on the television screen. But, there was branded things and I got my hands on them, and I was happy but that’s it. When I got home, I went to Uni and experienced the life of Indonesian Uni student life. At this stage is when I realize that this obsession with Branded everything is SO MEDIOCRE.

I went to a university where most of the students use branded clothing and bags. I blended amazingly well because of my interest in fashion and all things trendy. But what they never knew was that what I wore and use was probably only 10% of a budget of what they wore. But luckily, in the film department where I was, the people was a bit like me, and not as flashy. I was even considered as the flashiest one. So, I’m right in the middle, which is perfect. In uni, I befriend a guy who was very brand oriented and he celebrate all things branded and expensive. By spending a summer hanging out almost 24/7 with him, I realized that who I am was the absolute opposite of what he was.

During my second year of Uni, I guess I finally accept truly who I was, without any censor or fabrication. I was (and still am) a girl who grew up in a slum area in the outskirts of Jakarta, who just got lucky because my parents made a good amount of money that enabled me to climb up the social ranks. And after I embrace that fact, I find a reason why I am not in the place in my life where I should get or even want to be a girl with the branded handbag. I do not live in a safest environment where people don’t care what I wear, I live in Jakarta where the social gape is worrying. And even though I know, I should not care what people think, the least that I can do is try to draw attention to myself to avoid harm.

While I do still indulge in some corporate branded things, but I find it very important for me not to find pride in the brand part of the object. And aside from that, I am now rather cautious about where my money goes. For example, I was seconds away from spending around Rp.600k (Around 60US$) on a Kylie Jenner lip kit one night, then I remembered that she already has wealth 10 times of what I have, and I guess I don’t want to be stupid and getting this trendy lip kit by donating my money to the Kardashians enterprise, I would rather spend it on 6 matte lip gloss that was made by a local fresh graduate that lives about 5 km away from my apartment. And that matte lip gloss was one of the proudest brand that I own, because not only that I did not make stupid decision with my money, but I also support a local business rather than contributing to a multi billion dollar enterprise that does not need my money.

At this point, I’m not even sure if I got my point across by writing this lengthly blog post that I’m sure no one would read. But I do hope that my opinion got told about this worrying trend that I think is not going away, but rather getting worse. What I see is that people pretend to have the money they don’t have, to get to the level of admiration from people that they don’t even like. And the social media craze make this matter even worse, because that level of admiration is now being measured by ‘likes’, ‘thumbs ups’, ‘subscribers’, and all that other nonsense. But I guess that’s a whole other rant for a whole other day.

If you read this throughly until the end, I truly appreciate it and I thank you very much.

[survivingjakarta]

1940s - One of the busiest ports of the Pacific is that of Batavia (now Jakarta), metropolis of the island of Java, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia). The bulk of our rubber and tin supplies pass through this port.

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Cafe Batavia Interior on Flickr.

Via Flickr: Color version of an old shot from Cafe Batavia in Old Jakarta, Indonesia. B&W can be found here. Hit L to view this in the lightbox. Thanks for your comments and faves, critique welcome! artflakes • twitter • facebook • tumblr • 500px • blog All Rights Reserved, no reproduction without prior permission. © Alexander Ipfelkofer

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[squarefocus] Tales of The Unforgotten: The Javan ‘Tiger’ being shot entering Batavia, 1724

An illustration of a tiger being shot on Batavia (Jakarta). This drawing showed how there was so many tigers population at that time which forced them to enter the city. The picture was taken from the book: Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën (The East-Indies Old and New), part IV, first book, p. 238. by Francois Valentijn. François Valentijn (17 April 1666 – 1727) was a Dutch minister, naturalist and author of the book Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën (“Old and New East-India”) describes the history of the Dutch East India Company and the countries of the Far East. Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën (1724–26) itself is a massive work of five parts published in eight volumes and containing over one thousand engraved illustrations and some of the most accurate maps of the Indies of the time. In total, Valentijn lived in the East Indies 16 years.

Source: nationaalarchief.nl

[survivingjakarta]

1935 Java Indonesia - Wayang Wong Dancer