Jakarta's favorite past-time

Shopping...

My Ah ha moment in Plaza Senayan!

And what sort of City guest would I be if I didn't participate...wouldn't that be considered rude. Besides, if you recall from my previous post on Indonesian malls, I promised to tackle them one by one. So here goes!

First off, my initial week of arrival I was introduced to Mall Ambassador - which is close to my neighborhood (or village as I like to call it). Mall Ambassador is a cross between an L.A. swap-meat and NY Chinatown - if you get my point. Counterfeit heaven from handbags to Cd's; Geek center on 2-3 levels and cheap, cheap apparel and housewares shopping - EVERYTHING is negotiable if you can speak Bahasa Indonesian, if not just key in the price you would like to pay on a calculator and the silent game of negotiation begins.

Dress shop - Souju - in Ambassador Mall

In Geek Center, you can find the latest electronics equipment from America to China. Funny thing is, I took my At&T Samsung to this center to get unlocked for international use, they took off the back cover and said, "oh, made in China-not good, no unlock". Wow, really. Does America know that other Asian countries are not fancy on Chinese made electronics? Do your homework before shopping in Geek center or take a translator with you. If they find you are not Indonesian or don't speak Bahasa, bells rings and dollar signs start dancing in their heads. You can and will get ripped off! But if you can play the game, a good deal is inevitable.

Men and Womenswear. Children's department on the 4th floor.
This mall is very organized, really.

In the basement of this 6 story - 2 building center is Wal-Mart's sister - Carrefour. Nuff said! And yes, to my Target fans I found it's equivalent too - Lotte Mart - located in another area but I travel here often for the selection, cleanliness, atmosphere and location.

On my way to Carrefour.
So crowded that you just want to get in and get out.

*Please note, if your shoe size is larger than an 8-9 (US) or clothing size larger than a small frame 9 (US) fashion shopping will be very disappointing. So check out these:

Grand Indonesia Shopping town - where the posh live, shop, dine and entertain. This place deserves it's on blog post (coming soon), it is that amazing. I have been there three times already and have not even seen a fourth of this small city of shopping and entertainment. All I know, Mango is on the first floor by the front doors of the West wing and Forever 21, Body shop are directly above on the second floor - so I think this explains why I didn't get any further than the front area on my first visit.

Visit number two took me to Ranch Market - a fantastic grocery store with all my American food goodies (like Vanilla Almond Special K), but EXPENSIVE. Explanation from the meat butcher when buying a $20 (180,000 rph) pack of Oscar Mayer cold cuts - "shipped all the way from America, Miss". Umm hmm, right.

Senayan City - Servicescape makes a difference.
The lighting and interior definitely give you a more enjoyable
shopping experience.

Plaza Senayan and Senayan City - 2 malls, similar names, same area. Plaza Senayan is strictly Upscale shopping - from Roberto Cavalli to Ferragamo, about 4 floors. Not to mention, Jaguar has a shop inside at the entrance and Mercedes Benz keeps shop in the main floor lobby area.

Debenhams in the house!

Senayan City touches the shopping needs of varying consumers from luxury to mid-market; mass market to local boutiques. It is here I did yet another day of shopping damage, a beautiful, nude, asymmetircal dress, with side ruching by Hunter and Field in Debenhams and a sexy pair of platform sandals from Marie Claire (pretty sure this is not synonymous with the magazine).

Well now that I am finally getting out to enjoy the sights (shopping) of Jakarta, keep your eye on this space. There is more to come.

Ciao!

-All photos taken by my handy iPhone