Housing in jakarta

[matts1w]

Cheery, You might be surprised and I would encourage you to not believe everything you read here. Jakarta continually gets a bum rap on ISR, so I thought I would offer up the other side of the story. Despite Mr. C4ke's disdain for Jakarta, please know that many of us here do not share his feelings. Five minutes of research will tell anyone that Jakarta's traffic is probably the worst in the world, it is hot every single day, and infrastructure is very substandard. It is not a western city in Asia like Singapore, Hong Kong. In fact, Jakarta is a mess and has made pretty much every mistake a giant city could make. That being said, many of us absolutely love our lives in Jakarta and even find the city beautiful in its own unique way. The number of teachers at JIS who have been around for a while will attest to that.

JIS is an amazing community. The kids are great, and I am fortunate to get to work with and learn so much from my colleagues. Of course we have problems like any school, but it really is the best job I have ever had. The Indonesian people are friendly, very proud, and warm. Jakarta is incredibly safe, at least compared to where I come from in Florida. The neighborhoods surrounding JIS (Pondok Indah, Cipete, Cilandak, Kemang, etc…) are nothing like wherever Mr. C4ke was stationed and the vibe totally different from places like Mumbai. For example, I live in Kemang. My house is awesome, and the back yard is simply paradise. I have a beautiful garden and swimming pool, and there is nothing I enjoy more than laying around in the sun and enjoying the outdoors. At night, within a ten minute walk (That’s right; I said walk) of my front door is every sort of restaurant, pub, and club one can imagine- 24 hour dim sum, live music, a TGI Fridays (haha), homemade pasta, an Irish pub, etc... The same walking time gets me to western grocery stores, a new mall complete with an “executive” movie theater, gym, liquor store, and other amenities.

For what it is worth, beer and booze is available literally everywhere. With a few easily found connections, liters of spirits (Smirnoff, Bacardi, etc…) are about $16 USD, which isn’t too bad. Sadly, wine is ridiculously expensive as bottle of Jacob’s Creek will set you back about $16 dollars, too. Imported beer such as Kilkenny is everywhere too, but expensive. Local beers Heiniken, Bintang, Anker, etc… isn’t too badly priced served in almost every restaurant. If you want to dare the street food bring a beer with you. No one cares. The point is one will not need to suffer a happy-hour-free-existence in Jakarta.

I absolutely believe there is a certain mindset that will never be happy in Jakarta. That is not a bad thing, it just is what it is. Jakarta is certainly not for everyone. Maybe I am a bit twisted, but life here is pretty good: a proud, progressive school, beautiful home, a fun neighborhood, great friends, amazing travel, and potential to save for the future. Last time I checked, those were the exact reasons I decided to give this overseas thing a try.

[Mr.C4ke]

As the previous poster has confirmed, if you want to experience authenticity you will be disappointed in JKT, unless you are looking for an authentic expat lifestyle, complete with the all the trapping.

When I live in a foreign country, and I've lived in four now, I like to get a feel for the country via the locals on the street. I usually manage to do this by hanging around the coffee shops enjoying a sheesha or drinking a local bottle of spirit with a great menu of local food, again with the local average Joe. That's why I live abroad, for something different. I search for some degree of authenticity, which doesn't include going to foreign food restaurants, western grocery stores or foreign theme pubs.

My problem with JKT was that I did not find that local meeting place, be it bar or coffee shop. The 'warung' or curry restaurant was the nearest I got to something local, authentic, not imported to cater for western or foreign tastes. Unfortunately these are not a place to 'hangout'. If not walking around the mall, local Muslims sat on the curb around motorbikes selling instance coffee out of plastic cups, drinking and smoking cigarettes. That was the shock, no equivalent to the Burmese 'teahouse', English 'Pub' or Egyptian 'ahwa/coffe shop'.

I am not knocking the expat lifestyle that many enjoy in JKT. "You can get anything in Kemang and servants (maids, drivers) are so cheap here" is a phrase I heard from many a content expat as he or she tried to convince me that life there was good. I'm sure for them it was. Again, each to his own.

I will finish on a positive note, the coffee in Indonesia is amazing, both in terms of choice and quality (JJ Royal Toraja ended up being my absolute favourite) and I did pick up a penchant for batik shirts, left with far too many!

So matts1w if you visit BKK from JKT I'm expecting you to bring me some oleh oleh! ;)

[matts1w]

I agree with you 100%, Mr. C4ke. The experiences you mention are not readily available in Jakarta. As you know since you lived here, nothing in Jakarta comes easy, but with some time they do come. I have lived in Jakarta for five years, and am just barely starting to understand the complexities of my neighborhood, let alone Jakarta itself. There is so much more going on besides instant coffee on the street next to motorbikes, and the hurdles to climb are much higher than in cities like Bangkok for a number of reasons- economic, religious, etc... I think we can both agree the millions and millions of Farang who have visited Bangkok have absolutely enabled such "authentic experiences" there. Heck, Bangkok is the number one tourist destination in the world- something like 15 million a year. Nothing wrong with that, just pointing out that it certainly creates a different vibe than few Bule who visit Jakarta for business. Westerners eating great street food is the norm there, but when I buy some Satay on the street, jump on a bus, or even ride my motorbike it is a fascinating event to some, even in Kemang. It is usually greeted with a few cell phone pictures and some giggles, but always ends with smiles, a few sentences exchanged in broken English and even worse Bahasa, and a handshake or two. Sometimes later as one is recognized more and more it is followed by an invitation to see a local band play or a morning fishing...but not often. Honestly, those moments are very authentic, maybe even more so than Sheesha in Cairo. Jakarta will get there eventually, at least I hope it will. Best of luck to you. Peace.

[Cheery Littlebottom]

Dear Matts1w
OK, let me level with you. I am a veteran of 4 pretty darn good international schools in an incredibly varied series of locations...............and I am absurdly excited to be going to Jakarta!
I am just trying to be cool on this forum by sounding all circumspect and reasonable, but the truth is I want to jump up and down with excitement every time I think of our next post - both the city and the school.
I think Jakarta will be totally great. We're going to brave that awful traffic and get out of town whenever we can, we're going to try hard to make local friends, we'll throw ourselves into everything JIS has to offer. We hope to graduate our kids from there. We want to dive, see the orang-utans over there in Borneo, go back to Flores and Rinca and Komodo, eat noodles on the street, work hard, save hard and embrace it all.
Folks, I am nearly 50 and I feel like a child about this move. I have put up with some pretty serious shit in several of our posts and we've come out smiling. I LOVE Indonesia and whilst I am sure there will be frustrations, I say "bring it on!"
As far as I can see, JIS is completely where we want to be and I am grateful and bubbling over with enthusiasm to be part of it.
XX

[exnewyorker]

Cheery,
congrats on your new job (an country)!! I love your enthusiasm and it sounds like you are going to do just fine there! I'm pretty stoked about my new school and location too :) It's nice to hear some positive vibes on this forum!

Ex-New Yorker

[lantana]

Yes, congratulations Cheery Bottom (and Ex-New Yorker)! Your enthusiasm and honesty are very appreciated.

[Yantantether]

JIS is a reputable school.
JKT itself though is something else and I like others hated the place!
You won't be finding much greenery, rubbish everywhere yes. Beer is available but is expensive compared to other SEA countries. Service charge and tax at restaurants bumps bills up considerably. Make sure you do NOT end up near any mosques as they are loud and constant from 4 am! There are great places to visit but it takes time, flights and money to get there. As for the traffic.....I'm sure you know all about that!

Wish I could be more positive but perhaps you will see things differently and love it!

[zanyplum]

I was always told, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Not sure how this negative comment is at all helpful??

[Mr.C4ke]

Should one consider the comment itself as 'negative' just because the opinion expressed within it is a negative one?

As now seen on many user driven web sites, posts are judged as per their usefulness/helpfulness rather than their level of positivity/negativity.

The OP appears extremely upbeat about her new post, to an extremely well respected school. Some members, including myself, have merely wanted to point out personal experiences of living in the city of the said school. If a post sang the praises of JKT, would it be necessarily be 'helpful'?

Did you find this reply helpful? *****

[Yantantether]

zanyplum: I'm sorry if I stepped on your over sensitive toes but this is a forum that seeks opinions -amongst other things-of those with personal experience of schools, places, situations etc. As far as I can see that's what my post contained. There is no personal attack on anyone or malice in anything I said.

The OP asked about JIS AND Jakarta. I gave positive feedback on JIS in my opening sentence as I know it's a very good school. I didn't have much positive to say about JKT as I personally disliked the place, my opinion that's all. I also discussed a few facts (not opinions) such as rubbish, traffic, noise and prices. Most who have experience of JKT would probably agree with those points, though not necessarily with my overall opinion of the city. They are probably not things the OP wants to hear but they are relevant and may be of some use to them in adjusting to their new home.

Finally I wish them all the best and sincerely hope it works out for them. I'd much prefer to give positive feedback when posting but in the real world this isn't always possible unfortunately.

Good luck CLB!

[Cheery Littlebottom]

People, people,....it's ALL useful!
Over the years, I have come to loathe where I am whilst many people love it. I get the Muezzin at 4am here too, the traffic is not just heavy but murderously dangerous (locals will literally barge you off the road if you presume to be in their way.) I have seen nasty cities before (trash, pollution, poverty etc) and lived in some of them. I even read the article on the BBC yesterday about roadside tyre repair shops in Jakarta putting nails in the road to drum up business!
It all depends on your attitude. Am I looking forward to my 1.5 hour trip to get to [insert destination of choice here] ? No, not necessarily. Am I looking forward to a fantastic education for my kids? Absolutely!
Will Yantantether put me off going? No, but I do appreciate his chiming in. Forwarned is forearmed.
I think this site is great because we can gossip at one another and put over personal points of view and I think we should post what we feel moved to say. Perception is reality. It's important that we post as much as we can so that people looking for answers can get a rounded impression - not just the glowingly positive or the direly negative.
I do love Indonesia, warts and all. I know that my housing is very good, and where I will be working is very nice too. I'll be paid well, I will have holidays where I can afford to travel, my kids will be in a good school. I will be able to afford a decent, comfortable car in which I can sit in traffic LOL. My feelings regarding Jakarta will essentially be a "luxury problem." It's a bit like complaining you have to travel American Airlines instead of Emirates! A privileged person's conceit!
Best to all. XXXXX

[Cheery Littlebottom]

But let's not get into airlines, it was just an example ok? :-)

[zanyplum]

Sorry! I didn't mean for my comment to read so sassy! ;-) I guess if you ask for feedback, you'll get all kinds. My bad! One of my coworkers is going to JIS next year and she's psyched!

[superteacher]

;;;