I have an indonesian girlfriend (normal friends as hang out together, nothing more) She only knew about jalan jaksa from television. I invited her to come over and have a drink together in one of the bars. She didnt really want to, but after some persuation she agreed to take a look. She barely dared to strawl the road (covering her face), but by no means she wanted to eat something in one of the restaurants. (I just could get her to eat something at the kaki lima) It seemed to me she was ashamed to be there???

She told me later jaksa has a very bad name amongst 'decent' jakartans and her family would not accept if she would be seen there.

Does jaksa really have such a bad name?? I find it the most pleasant and safe street in jakarta, why all this fuzz?? Do you have similar experiences?

most pleasant street in Jakarta??? Well that is you and kuku .. personally I think its okay but nothing to get excited about.

long time ago, very long time ago i heard that jalan jaksa has bad reputation. i heard about it from my crazy clubbing friend. she like to eat bule man and she eat only selected bule man.
she told me only poor bule who like to go and stay in jaksa to spend their little money on cheap beer in jaksa. sometime when she go out she told me she doesn't want to date bule jaksa.

its weird that girl is ashamed to be in Jalan Jaksa but she want to eat there anyway. Stereotyping is only valid for stuck up people and stuck up bitches..Duh!

is that girl is you emma??

For me its ok, no problemo. Same2 all streets in Jakarta, no big deal

jalan jaksa at day is nice
at nite people seems take it as nite life place
but i think if you feel fine then it is fine.

The first I came to Jakarta, the first time I heard of Jalan Jaksa, it was about "the place for poor bules"... And the first time I get there, it was on Idul Fitri 2005; it was the only place with bars open for

haha.. how that make snese? if its me, i wouldn't call own myself stuck up bitch right?

The place sure has its uses, however, I know some Indonesians who wouldn't be seen dead there. When I suggested one night to my German mate and his Indonesian wife that we go there for a drink, she looked at me as if I had shit under her pillow.

Its notoriously for some stuck up indo girls. They should come down step their foot back to the ground

In the West bourgeois types sometimes enjoy slumming it it prole holes. This idea hasn't manifested itself in Indonesia however.

I used to enjoy prole holes....Oops, just realised you meant working class areas!

i dont mind going for a date on jl.jaksa, as long as he is HAWT..

btw..i went to a dance club called "tanamur" in tanah abang a few times when i visited jakarta. they got very good musics..kinda a bit wild..but its great, i really liked it! hope its still there, i'd really love to go again...

LOLOLOL... reminds me of something or someone...

That's a gay venue, innit?

It's all over for the late lamented Tanamur I'm afraid chaps.

I think Dolphin hits the nail on the head here. A lot of locals can be quite slow to change their way of thinking on some things/people/places that have certain reputations and thus remain totally ignorant of reality. It goes back to the history of the place.

In the '70s and '80s, a pragmatic Jakarta administration "created" Jaksa as a little "sin city" for foreign tourists interested in things (weed, all-night Pubs with beer, girlies..) They sort of took a page from Bangkok, Saigon and other places.

However, in the past 30 years, dozens of areas/streets in Jakarta have far surpassed Jaksa in terms of vice (girls, drugs, rent-boys, banci) availability and Jaksa has actually gotten much more tame, more conservative.

HOWEVER, the reputations remain for the ignorant people. Most Indonesians (young or old, educated or backward) and the media STILL think Jaksa is nothing but a "den of sin" and forbid their kids to go there.

But they have no problem letting their kids go to these sleazy disco clubs in 4-star hotels or the hundreds of other sleazy places from Kemang to Kota... IT'S all about the reputation, WHICH IS NOT ACCURATE. So I agree with Dolphin, it's the same in hundreds of other places, it's just that those other places don't have the "bad" reputation.

I knew about jalan jaksa is from JakChat!

Jalan Jaksa was a memory for me, now
I didn't know at all about jalan jaksa and I never hear that also before..

when I had to start my days in jalan jaksa..I asked my friend to accampanied me there at night, we tried to find jalan jaksa before the day, we went arround and asked too much with the people frm Thamrin erea to Wahid Hasyim area, then finally we found jalan jaksa No. 11

there's nothing special in jalan jaksa, if you heard that jalan jaksa is a place for poor bule with the chiepest girls..we can say yes..but also we can say no!
almost two years I spent my days in jalan jaksa and it was nice enough..not all of bule that coming to jalan jaksa are poor bule..they were just transit before go to another city..
but well, jalan jaksa is only a name of the street in central jakarta..

I go with you, terra you can be whatever you want and wherever you're

listen mate you haven't lived 'til you've had a Pappa's curry

what you mean to say is, you know you're still alive after you've eaten a pappa's curry ...

pappa's curry nice. i like it :P

you mean, Papa's cafe ???

ohhh...I met alot of young girls there..was hangout start at 10am to wheneever they want..until she find a bule that can date with her I

yes pappas curry its nice n also cheap

i for one dont get the ideal behind snubbing a place because it is frequented by "working class" or the poorer of society.

i can guarentee you that:

1. i will definantly visit jalan jaksa

2. i am far from a "poor bule"

and 3, that any girl whos too stuck up to be seen there, is missing out...



i have had some of my most memorable nights in the seediest of places

I'd rather get stuck into a Pappa's curry than some of the birds who frequent the place. Absolute slap-fest it is.

he he...!

tsunami strikes? What kind of cryptic in-joking is this? Out with the juicy details!

I think I may have claimed to be having a Tsunami in my underwear during one Pappa's expedition. Probably just the beer goggles though.

if Tsunami in your underwear..it's mean local Tsunami

[

No I used to hang out there in the Early 90,s Was a long way from being a Gay hang-out

I lived in Jakarta for 4 years 1991-1995, Frequented every known watering hole ,Never heard of Jalan Jaksa back then

Diyu, it's really hard to believe that you "Frequented every known watering hole ,Never heard of Jalan Jaksa back then"

If you did 'frequent every watering hole' in the early 90s, you surely would have been to Angie's or The Borneo or Pappa's cafe. Maybe you were taken there and just didn't know what the name of the street was at the time. Jaksa is located less than a mile from Tanamur....

BTW Tanamur went downhill from the late 90s onward and did indeed have a big Gay/Banci element move in, before finally - mercifully - dying a slow death.

I dug this up from the JP Archive... It's any interesting perspective on Jaksa that few people understand. Does anyone know who this writer, Bryant, is?? I guess he doesn't know or understand that Simon was just having a bit fun with his wording, but nonetheless an fresh perspective by this fella.
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Individuals forming community
Friday, August 05, 2005

Simon Pitchforth's article on Jl. Jaksa (The Jakarta Post's Sunday edition, July 24) did little more than perpetuate the stereotypical perceptions of this celebrated and notorious street. His whimsical portrayals of Jaksa inhabitants indicate that he has spent little time talking to them and much time judging them. Since his idea of fun is to bring his own friends and completely take over a small restaurant, I can only assume he prefers judging people to meeting them.

Not all the visitors to Jaksa are tie-dyed hippies. Not all the expats are "on the slide". The ladies are definitely not all "dentally challenged". Their smiles are wide and bright, despite their often tragic histories.

The "overly-optimistic blowpipe salesman" also happens to be a kind, gentle, intelligent, well-respected man who is always ready to help a friend or a stranger. If it weren't for draconian customs laws, he would sell dozens of his well-crafted blowpipes at the reasonable price he asks.

There is also a man on Jl. Jaksa who is some kind of parking attendant. He is quirky, possibly autistic, and can speak just about any language you can throw at him. I have met a former professor who now dedicates his life to picking up litter, a former hit-man who now teaches at a primary school, a foreign millionaire who lives in squalor alongside the railway tracks, and many other characters who are drawn to Jl. Jaksa for one reason: it is the only place in Jakarta where individuality is truly celebrated.

Unity in diversity sounds good on a coat of arms or a coin, but where is it really practiced in Indonesia? Community with conformity would be a more fitting motto in most cases. The sense of community in Indonesia is strong, and should be celebrated. But in this post-Soeharto era, with the nation fumbling towards freedom and democracy, it is time to also celebrate the diversity within the community. Not just the diversity of races and religions, but of ideas and lifestyles.

The majority of conflict in Indonesia is sparked by one group opposing another, and there are so many groups (and groups within groups) that is impossible to memorize all the initials used in a single edition of The Jakarta Post.

The large groups shout while the smaller groups whisper in darkened rooms behind closed doors. The voice of the individual with an independent viewpoint is barely heard, rarely heeded, and more than likely to get the individual in trouble with the herds.

The characters who inhabit Jl. Jaksa are not wearing it down. They are propping up the last bastion of independence against the forces that rail against it. They are people who took their freedom instead of waiting for some authority to grant it with forms filed in triplicate.

They are individuals working together to form a community, as opposed to a community working to absorb individuals.

BRAD BRYANT Melbourne-Australia

Yeah! I remember this letter. I was very proud. This guy protests too much me thinks. I reckon he married a Jaksa hag.

Don't get steamed up Brad, I love Jaksa really

very good comment from Brad in The Jakarta Post. It just about strikes the nail on it's head. JJ is just ahead in time and a perfect example of how people can be together in peace no matter what religion, colour, race or sexual preference they might have.

not so sure about the peace bit but they are indeed together

Roy's Hair,
Do you know this Brad Bryant? He seems to know his way around the street a bit, so it would seem he's probably a "regular", but I've never met him as far as know... perhaps someone does.

never met the guy. I'm sure he's a lovely bloke. He claims to live in Melbourne though. Bit far to come for a beer.

I like Jalan Jaksa coz of the cheap beer and food. Other than that, it's just an ordinary street with hookers in every corner.

LoL

I just got back from jakarta and singapore, and its true my husband didnt want to go there.To Jaksa or blok m I mean. The closest I got was pondok indah and then we visited some friends out near cinere, where they have built a very nice mosque.
Found a FAB pakistani restaurant -kinda near JIS? Well you drive past jis anyway..Its called aneka bubur. It has THE best curry ever.
I cant believe how much jakarta is changed.Its great now!
Atrium is totally full of "bule" -they look the dodgy ones to me-I don't think they are staying long ..ahem.
I am seriously considering a possible move to jakarta.I think it is loads more liveable than before. Senen is really much quieter( kalilio). Pasar baru has heaps more bikes, but still ok for living. NO worries!!!
LOL at the busway though.

hey! you came to jakarta and you didn't drop into jaksa?! shame on you! jakarta has certainly changed in many ways over the past few years. those of us living here all the time probably don't notice it as much because of the incremental way that change happens.

most of the blame/credit for this can be laid a the feet of bang yos (governor sutioso), who has railroaded through many infrastructure projects. also there has been a high-rise building boom over the past 2 years especially, which has altered the jakarta skyline somewhat (presuming the smog lifts and you can actually see anything).

plus theres a law about seatbelts!! wtf? haha

yep. and laws about smoking, too.

Whats the law now?
Ha - I find those cigarette ads very funny actually( you know they don't show any here in oz)
I remember one and some guys are doing capoiera and then huffing off to smoke sampoerna I guess.