Tips on travelling to Jakarta, Indonesia

[Horsepower]

My wife is going there for 4 days. Unfortunately, I can't be with her because it was a surprise assignment. Any tips, trivia etc.

Her provided allowance for 4 days is just a little over US$1,000. Is that enough or just enough for bare survival? How much should one have in his/her pocket in local currency for convenience?

Her Hotel (and food), chartered car, plane are all provided for already.

Thanks in advance.

[Mguy]

My wife is going there for 4 days. Unfortunately, I can't be with her because it was a surprise assignment. Any tips, trivia etc.

Her provided allowance for 4 days is just a little over US$1,000. Is that enough or just enough for bare survival? How much should one have in his/her pocket in local currency for convenience?

Her Hotel (and food), chartered car, plane are all provided for already.

Thanks in advance.

Jakarta is just like Manila, cheap. Nothing to go around though but I do suggest for her to stay in the hotel na lang. If she wants to buy native stuff, I would suggest Sarinah. And if she really wants to move around, I suggest her to be accompanied by a local. Try eating Padang style, the local way to serve food. If she needs to grab a cab, always use the Blue Bird. Don't get alarmed if the taxi fare reaches more that 100,000 INR since the exchange rate for USD is around 11,000 INR to a dollar. INR 1,000,000 is just 85 dollars.

Keep the $1,000 and open a dollar fund.

[ghosthunter]

My wife is going there for 4 days. Unfortunately, I can't be with her because it was a surprise assignment. Any tips, trivia etc.

Her provided allowance for 4 days is just a little over US$1,000. Is that enough or just enough for bare survival? How much should one have in his/her pocket in local currency for convenience?

Her Hotel (and food), chartered car, plane are all provided for already.

Thanks in advance.

Given the basics (food, hotel, transport, plane) are all covered, the $1000 allowance is more than enough.

Travel Info: Jakarta travel guide - Wikitravel

Personally, I have been to Jakarta on a business trip where our business partner in Jakarta provided us with the hotel and company car. Food is affordable if you prefer to dine out in the many restaurants although it might be a challenge if you cannot read the local language. Since we usually had a company representative with us when we are out in the city, we didn't have much language problems.

My main problem with Jakarta is the heat during the daytime. At least there are the numerous malls if you like to go shopping. Not that I bought anything since much of what I saw there is what you can also buy in the Philippines. While at the malls, you can enjoy the food variety at the food courts.

[yebo]

mura lang dun. an australian sirloin steak dinner will cost anywhere from IDR 300,000-400,000. e kung nasi goreng lang trip nya kainin nasa IDR30,000 lang. nasi goreng is indonesian fried rice with fried egg and chicken and beef satay, busog ka na dun.

exchange money at the airport or at shopping centers only. don't use the hotel money exchange as the rates can be as much as 20-25% less.

double check the amount on the rupiah bill when paying or getting change, especially the IRD 10000 and IDR 100000 magkamukha. laking tuwa nung bellboy sa akin nung akala ko IDR 20,000 lang binigay ko na tip e IDR 200,000 pala. di ko na binawi hiya ako haha.

don't use the atm. besides the high charges there are a lot of atm's that will charge you even if it does not give out any money because it can not complete the transaction.

huwag na siya magshopping, same lang din nasa greenhills at divisoria.

give a lot of allowance to traffic. pag 8am ang start ng day nya and the venue is far from the hotel then she better be out of the hotel very early. the traffic in jakarta is horrendous, much worse than manila.

[Horsepower]

mura lang dun. an australian sirloin steak dinner will cost anywhere from IDR 300,000-400,000. e kung nasi goreng lang trip nya kainin nasa IDR30,000 lang. nasi goreng is indonesian fried rice with fried egg and chicken and beef satay, busog ka na dun.

exchange money at the airport or at shopping centers only. don't use the hotel money exchange as the rates can be as much as 20-25% less.

double check the amount on the rupiah bill when paying or getting change, especially the IRD 10000 and IDR 100000 magkamukha. laking tuwa nung bellboy sa akin nung akala ko IDR 20,000 lang binigay ko na tip e IDR 200,000 pala. di ko na binawi hiya ako haha.

don't use the atm. besides the high charges there are a lot of atm's that will charge you even if it does not give out any money because it can not complete the transaction.

huwag na siya magshopping, same lang din nasa greenhills at divisoria.

give a lot of allowance to traffic. pag 8am ang start ng day nya and the venue is far from the hotel then she better be out of the hotel very early. the traffic in jakarta is horrendous, much worse than manila.

Wow, mura yun ha. I'll tell her to try the steaks there.

Kaya pala specified na yung hotels sa menu malapit sa venue. Now I get it. Sobrang traffic pala. Thank you Yebo. Sobrang OC pa naman nun sa punctuality. I'll tell her to keep these tips esp on local currency in mind.

I have long read the ATM policies of our local banks (BPI and BDO) and kahit balance inquiry lang may charge agad in dollars pa! Citibank N.A. lang ang alam kong wala even sa non Citibank ATMs locally, walang transaction charge. Anyone knows why?

[Horsepower]

Jakarta is just like Manila, cheap. Nothing to go around though but I do suggest for her to stay in the hotel na lang. If she wants to buy native stuff, I would suggest Sarinah. And if she really wants to move around, I suggest her to be accompanied by a local. Try eating Padang style, the local way to serve food. If she needs to grab a cab, always use the Blue Bird. Don't get alarmed if the taxi fare reaches more that 100,000 INR since the exchange rate for USD is around 11,000 INR to a dollar. INR 1,000,000 is just 85 dollars.

Keep the $1,000 and open a dollar fund.

Thank you for the helpful tips, MGuy! I will relay this to her so she can remember the blue bird if we ever go there together. If I correctly understood the menu given to her, the car is on standby to transport her around. I'm not sure if it's a taxi though kasi Mercedes Benz ang nasa checklist (MB ba ang taxi dun?).

Given the basics (food, hotel, transport, plane) are all covered, the $1000 allowance is more than enough.

Travel Info: Jakarta travel guide - Wikitravel

Personally, I have been to Jakarta on a business trip where our business partner in Jakarta provided us with the hotel and company car. Food is affordable if you prefer to dine out in the many restaurants although it might be a challenge if you cannot read the local language. Since we usually had a company representative with us when we are out in the city, we didn't have much language problems.

My main problem with Jakarta is the heat during the daytime. At least there are the numerous malls if you like to go shopping. Not that I bought anything since much of what I saw there is what you can also buy in the Philippines. While at the malls, you can enjoy the food variety at the food courts.

Thank you GH. Meron na pala Wiki for travelling. hehe.

I will tell her about the convenience of having a local guide them around. Can street locals there speak English like here in the PH? Looking at Google Images of Jakarta, it's interesting that their slums are like the ones in PH.

[Retz]

My wife is going there for 4 days. Unfortunately, I can't be with her because it was a surprise assignment. Any tips, trivia etc.

Her provided allowance for 4 days is just a little over US$1,000. Is that enough or just enough for bare survival? How much should one have in his/her pocket in local currency for convenience?

Her Hotel (and food), chartered car, plane are all provided for already.

Thanks in advance.

$250 a day pocket money is more than enough na sir. Ung food sa hotel breakfast lang?

[Horsepower]

$250 a day pocket money is more than enough na sir. Ung food sa hotel breakfast lang?

I'm not sure Retz. I reckon whole day affairs yun so meals other than breakfast would be at the venue or baka provided ng host country. In any case, baka para dun yung allowance nya.

[chua_riwap]

yung immigration/customs sa airport.
he-he! dami corrupt.

[Retz]

I'm not sure Retz. I reckon whole day affairs yun so meals other than breakfast would be at the venue or baka provided ng host country. In any case, baka para dun yung allowance nya.

Ah okay sir. Kung provided ang food pati accomodation more than enough na yan. Pwede pang shopping.