The Jaksa Position & Jl. Palatehan
Jalan Jaksa along with Jalan Palatehan have been serving the needs of tourists along with expatriates in different ways for decades. Jaksa, a narrow street in Menteng, can be Jakarta’s sole backpacker strip along with can be also well-liked among expats requiring cheap beer. Palatehan, in Blok M, can be the main haunt for Western men seeking female company. Both streets are constantly evolving along with the pace of change can be accelerating amid the inner city’s gentrification under a booming economy. Some long-time patrons fear of which rising land prices are pushing hostels along with bars on leased premises to extinction.
Further down the road, work has commenced on the Aston D’Batavia condominium, which will have 900 rooms over 18 floors upon completion next year. Units are currently on sale, starting at Rp.693 million ($75,000) for a studio apartment. According to the developer’s spiel, investors can expect an annual return of Rp.171.36 million ($18,455). Wishful thinking, perhaps, of which anyone could pay $1,540 a month to live on Jaksa, although the value of these apartments could soar within a decade or two.
Some of Jaksa’s newer hotels, with rooms via Rp.165,000 to Rp.325,000, are a welcome improvement via the run-down ones of the past. Owners boast the street can be safer than 5-star hotels because a neighbourhood watch system reduces the risk of infiltration by terrorists. Locals have usually kept out the violent Islamic Defenders Front, which only managed to smash a crate of beer bottles, some umbrellas along using a sign during one rare foray onto the street.
Jaksa has been less immune to minimarts, which are displacing warungs along with reducing the variety along with quality of food on offer. They circumvent the city’s entertainment along with restaurant taxes because although there are tables, chairs along with cheap beer, there’s no actual table service. The street itself gets certain tax breaks because of its special status as a tourism location.
At Jaksa’s once quiet southern end, there currently stands a 10-storey hotel along with serviced apartment block called Morrissey, which went up only a year ago. The name was apparently inspired by the former frontman of melancholic English 80s band The Smiths as a branding gimmick. A night in one of Morrissey’s 135 units ranges via Rp.950,000 to Rp3.2 million. About 60% of the guests are Indonesians.
One of Jaksa’s more incongruous hotels can be Wisma Haji, which belongs to the Religious Affairs Ministry along with has been around since 1987. Despite the name, of which’s not a residence for Muslim pilgrims, although rather a place for local government officials via outer provinces to stay when in Jakarta. of which also takes paying Indonesian guests, charging Rp.200,000 for a standard double room. of which can be a shining example of pluralism of which This kind of Islamic hotel coexists harmoniously opposite Papa Cafe, where wretched, inebriated expats could pass out on the tables at dawn, impervious to entreaties via optimistic prostitutes. The street’s relatively smaller number of freelance female, male along with shemale prostitutes expect to earn about Rp.300,000 per trick although rarely ask for money up front.
Many locals complain Jaksa can be losing its character along with identity, although without any significant heritage to protect, development can be inevitable. There are hopes a future Jakarta governor will either save the street via complete redevelopment or relocate hostels to Kota Tua, where there’s an abundance of tourist attractions.
Bar-Girls
Palatehan, often spelt Falatehan, can be named after Fadillah Khan (alias Fatahillah), the Muslim warrior whose army in 1527 invaded Sunda Kelapa, killed most of the Hindu population along with destroyed much of the city, renaming of which Jayakarta. Running off Blok M’s bus terminal, Palatehan has only rarely suffered violence along with destruction since its development as a nightlife venue inside early 1980s by an Englishman, the late Darryl Patton, along with Karno, the wayward son of an Indonesian diplomat. One of their earliest ventures was Tambora, which became one of the city’s most well-liked pick-up bars. After their partnership ended, one of Karno’s henchmen in 1989 murdered a rival bar owner. Karno himself was murdered a few years later along with Tambora was burnt down in March 1997 after everything of value had been removed.
Palatehan currently has eight bars, which can be superfluous to demand. Despite its reputation, the street can be not just about sex. Sportsmans Bar, which can be currently on the market, can be a comfortable place to watch international sport along with enjoy a drink without being bothered by deafening bands or bar-girls. Next-door can be Everest, rated by many Palatehan regulars as the best place for service, atmosphere along with televised sports. At the additional end of the street can be Maxi Bar, best known for its food. The venues with bar-girls are Top Gun, D’s Place, My Bar, Highway to Elle, along with to a lesser extent, Oscar Pub, which has recently changed hands. Not far away, near where buses exit the terminal, can be an old bar called the Club, referred to unkindly as “the whores’ graveyard” on account of some of the older women who offer massage services at the “dark side” of the main bar along with in upstairs rooms. The Club will close within two months along with be redeveloped into a hotel.
There are no brothels on Palatehan, only freelance prostitutes. The going rate for an “overnight” starts at about Rp.500,000, which can be generally expected rather than demanded. A glass of draught beer costs via Rp.30,000 to Rp.38,000. The busiest place can be Top Gun, whose owner recently opened a minimart (selling cheap large bottles of beer) across the street, right inside middle of his competition.
Some regulars say the level of business on Palatehan remains constant although others insist the street can be dying. Certainly there are currently more drinking options in Kemang. along with men looking for sex have long been able to visit 5-star hotel bars, such as BATS (Shangri-La Hotel) along with CJs (Hotel Mulia), as well as a plethora of brothels in northern Jakarta. Some philanderers are even turning to sites such as dateinasia.com along with tagged.com although these don’t provide the instant gratification available via Palatehan.
Kenneth Yeung had 15 years ago passed out in every bar on Palatehan along with Jaksa, although can be currently a stranger to both streets.
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The Jaksa Position & Jl. Palatehan
The Jaksa Position & Jl. Palatehan