Jakarta

Jakarta is one of the most amazing places I used to be. For most of you fellow readers the city has nothing on offer- its just a dirty huge city. Most of you might watched the movie "the dark knight"- jakarta is more or less the same- you never know what happens next and its not easy at all to draw a line between good or bad. This might be the fact why Jakarta is so exciting. On the other hand living conditions like air pollution, flooding and all day traffic jam could be kind of exhausting after a while- nevertheless Jakarta's beauty could be seen during night time. Especially on weekends the hedonist crowds escaping their daily business- even so they don't do anything besides shopping.
Places to stay:
Since my first stay over in Jakarta I use to return to the very same place as always, namely to Alila Jakarta. This is not really a posh place, compared to the other options available in Jakarta, but indeed value for money and nearby famous club Stadium.
Please be careful when choosing your place to stay as traffic jam in Jakarta is highly time consuming- so choose your place to stay near the place where you have to go daily on business. For long term you might check out "Kemang" area- but you have to be Bule! This area is also very popular for dining and bars at night.

Nightlife:
First thing to keep in mind- besides this is a mainly muslim country everything you might wanna see or you might wanna experience is possible!
To prepare yourself for an exciting weekend in Jakarta- relax before leaving for dinner or the first bar as the party starts late in most places. There are several options:
Last time a very cute person took me to a very nice italian restaurant and I was really impressed by the quality of the food. Bars are plentiful- so check out Kemang area, or look forward the re opening of the Mandarin Oriental. Other options would be Blowfish or Dragonfly- these a places "in between", kind of restaurant, club and bar. If these places are out of your budget or you just seeking for something down to earth head for any street hawker- i can strictly recommend the night "Warungs" on Jl.Pecenongan.
Last bar before leaving for your first club should be Red Square. This is Jakarta's first russian vodka bar located in Senayan area- right across the parking lot for the entrance to X2, where you might go later on.
There are many clubs around- so I will name just a few as I simply just spend the time until I will head to Stadium.
For example go for Embassy, Retro, X2 and there is even a queer venue called Heaven.
To be honest I am seeking for real hedonist nightlife. Therefore I head to Stadium Jakarta- one of the most famous clubs in town. Most people will tell you they won't go there, but this is indeed the place to go! I guess the place is run by the indonesian army and it is full of everything a "dark night" has on offer: prostitutes, drug addicts, queer, business people, some western people and for sure a huge crowd of people seeking for entertainment for the whole weekend as this is a 24/7 place.
The dance floor is on level 4- on the other floor you can drink, sing and fuck. Nightlife in Jakarta is up to you!

Transport:
To and from the airport i would strictly recommend to take a taxi- they are cheap and reliable! If you are a first timer go for Blue Bird. Outside of the arrivals hall there are several companies waiting for costumers. Just ask for Blue Bird and tell the guy where you wanna go- he will organize a taxi for you and will hand you over a paper with the taxi number for your record. Please have small change ready as you have to pay the toll fee. If there is no traffic jam or flood you should be able to reach most places in jakarta within one hour.
During the day i would recommend to use the Trans Jakarta bus service whenever it is possible- as it is cheap and often much more faster than a car during the rush hours- which is more or less the whole day!
At night be careful when using a taxi and ask for using the meter.