A complete guide to Whoosh, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway. Station guides, buying tickets, what to expect onboard, and how to get to the stations. The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway is the first high-speed railway in Southeast Asia, with a top travel speed of 350 km/h. After years of construction delays and cost blowouts, the railway officially […]
Guesthouse Review: RedDoorz @ Kebon Kacang, Jakarta – indonesia
Hotel Name: RedDoorz @ Kebon Kacang. Address: Jl. Kebon Kacang IV No. 43A, Tanah Abang, Jakarta, Indonesia. I stayed at RedDoorz @ Kebon Kacang Jakarta, Indonesia. I booked online at the rate of 10.32 USD per night, which was one of the cheapest private rooms I could find in Jakarta. Kebon Kacang is in Central […]
Hotel Review: Star Hotel Jaksa, Jakarta – Indonesia
Hotel Name: Star Hotel Jaksa. Address: Kebon Sirih Barat Dalam I Gg. 7 No. 04, RW 02, Kebon Sirih, Menteng, Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia. I stayed at Star Hotel Jaksa RedPartner in Jakarta, Indonesia. I booked it online at the rate of 163,421 IDR ($10.68 USD) per night, and I booked it for its price and […]
Hotel Review: RedDoorz Plus @ Thamrin, Jakarta – Indonesia
Hotel Name: RedDoorz Plus @ Thamrin. Address: Jl Blora No 23 RT.2 / RW.6, Menteng, Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia. I stayed at RedDoorz Plus @ Thamrin in Jakarta, Indonesia. I booked online at the rate of 242,355 IDR ($15.89 USD) per night, and I booked it for its price and lacation in Jakarta. RedDoorz Plus @ […]
Jalan Jaksa – The slow demise of Jakarta’s backpacker street
On my first trip to Indonesia in 2009 I travelled from Medan to Bali by ferry, bus, train, and plane. Midway through that trip I arrived in Jakarta with a copy of Lonely Planet Indonesia in hand. The Book directed me to Jalan Jaksa – the backpacker street of Jakarta. I don’t remember where I […]
Notes on Jakarta – Metros, moto apps, an airport train, and a giant seawall
Jakarta has been making headlines in 2019, and not always in a good way. In August the Indonesian government announced that it was planning to move the capital of Indonesia to a location in the jungles of Borneo. This news, coupled with high-profile reports that the city is sinking, has led news agencies around the […]
Notes on Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta in Central Java makes for a handy base to explore the surrounding region. The city is nearby to the world heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan, as well as the perpetually-smoking Gunung Merapi volcano. It’s also a great place to just hang out for a few days. There are plenty of interesting sites, and […]
Kopi Joss – The charcoal coffee of Yogyakarta
When I’m on the road I’m always on the lookout for interesting cafes and new coffee experiences. On my trip to Yogyakarta I found an unusual brew called Jopi Joss: charcoal coffee. [Kopi Joss – it tastes better than it looks.] Kopi Joss preparation starts off in the usual Javanese style, with loose coffee grinds […]
Notes on Pangandaran, Indonesia – An alternative beach destination to Bali
[Pangandaran Beach, Java – Indonesia] Up until a few days before I arrived I had never heard of Pangandaran. This fishing village on the south coast of West Java is a popular beach resort (if you can describe it as that) for domestic visitors, but like much of Indonesia beyond Bali, it is not on […]
Notes on Kota (Old Jakarta)
Kota (Old Jakarta) is the area around the old port area of Jakarta. [Remnants of Old Jakarta] The remaining heritage buildings here are remnants from the Dutch colonial era when the city was known as Batavia. [Jakarta History Museum] Like seemingly every big colonial city in the region Batavia was an “x of the east” […]
