Originally Posted by soblur (Post 15004099)

Anyone in Jakarta this weekend? Still deciding on a last minute trip down for some business stuff.

Originally Posted by lost99 (Post 15004956)

This is a post from another website, but i copied it here because i think it is important for bros going to Indo. It seems like immigration is doing checks inside certain hotels and detaining people without their passport. It is Indo law that a foreigner must carry their passport, and they have detained people for 6+ hrs from their hotel lobby for not carrying. Not sure if some Kopi money would help. but best to avoid being caught in this situation.

" I was leaving the Novotel on 26th July, 2016 around 11:45 pm (my usual time) on my way to Blok M. As I left the hotel I noticed a group of people with TV cameras out on the street in front of the hotel but I paid no attention to them and walked past. That's when several individuals claiming to be immigration officers approached me and asked for my passport, now I was still on Novotel property I didn't leave the hotel area when they approached me, as I didn't have my passport they told me I had to wait in the van that was parked on the street. While waiting they were manhandling several other tourists walking by on the street. We were taken to the immigration office in Kota and asked to wait there until the "boss" arrived. He did around 1:00 am and those who had their passports were processed first. There were about 45 individuals in the room, about 6 from the Novotel myself and 5 other Chinese (who had their passports). Others were from different hotels in the area......

In the office they were processing individuals at a very slow pace. Some of the others were from UK and other English speaking countries so we started to discuss among ourselves what was going on. Being held because we did have our passport and not being allowed to go and get it, really doesn't make any sense. Until one guy claimed that we would have to pay 250,000 IDR each as a fine to leave. But around 4:00 am they (immigration) decided that they would stop processing and that we would have to wait until the morning for when the "big boss" arrives. So once again we asked why can we not go and get our passports, no answer and at this point they (all of them) started to pretend that they can't speak English so they can't understand what we are asking.

At 9:00 am the next day some of the other individuals contacted their embassy and the embassies sent someone to help them out, but what the embassy individuals did was got to the hotels and bring the passports to the office. I contacted the Canadian embassy which was of no help whatsoever. On the trip by myself I was stuck as what to do. So I called the Novotel manager and he went to my room and sent the bellboy with my passport to the office. However the bellboy got the run around for about 3 hours (which I did not have any contact with him except by phone), after 3 hrs he called the manager who came down in person to speak with the whomever. He apparently made some progress as about 4 pm on Wednesday the "big boss. Stephen Gentes" came to speak with me to tell me that I would be processed later. Later was around 10:00 pm on Wednesday in which they checked / verified what they had to do and I was allowed to leave. The manager of the hotel really did help me out quite a bit and for that I am eternally grateful.

Someone asked about a bribe but I wasn't about to pay any bribes if that was ever a topic with me I would have called the hotel manager once again to intervene. But some of the other guys were telling me that they were told they had to pay 2. 5 M IDR to get released, he got this from his wife as she was discussing this with the officers. How true this is I don't know.

This is my very disappointing experience in Jakarta for July 2016, I have been coming here semi-annually for almost 10 years. Looks like I will have to choose BKK next time for my holidays."

Originally Posted by sixnine696900 (Post 15005158)

Bro,
It would be nice to post where you get to info from?

Cheers.

Originally Posted by sixnine696900 (Post 15004446)

bro,
From when to when?
Sunday night can lah...

Cheers.

Originally Posted by lost99 (Post 15004956)

This is a post from another website, but i copied it here because i think it is important for bros going to Indo. It seems like immigration is doing checks inside certain hotels and detaining people without their passport. It is Indo law that a foreigner must carry their passport, and they have detained people for 6+ hrs from their hotel lobby for not carrying. Not sure if some Kopi money would help. but best to avoid being caught in this situation......................................... ...........

Originally Posted by Setzer (Post 15012409)

I think it could be something random as 2 of my frens did encounter road block (in private car) after leaving Alexis (about 2 years back) and as they didn't carry their passports, was asked to pay kopi $$ of 1mil each after a local fren who was with them helped to negotiate.

But thanks for sharing such news... lets just all be more vigilant when going jakarta or any other countries.

Originally Posted by lost99 (Post 15012774)

I dont like to carry a passport, but i think it is better than being held overnight or forced to pay a bribe. Usually The roadblocks are done by Police, and 100-200k for Kopi is enough. They always try scare you and ask for 1jt+ to start.

Originally Posted by TonyCheong2 (Post 15012797)

If you are afraid to lose your passport when travelling then you are better off staying at home.
It is no different than the responsibility of carrying your ID around in your own country. :)

Originally Posted by Setzer (Post 15014585)

For me it's different case, too fat so uncomfortable to fit the passport into my pockets. Otherwise, can try to bear with it, but end of night the passport will become "giam cai" ... lol :D

ID card smaller.. easier to fit into pockets.:p

Originally Posted by Siammy (Post 14970794)

Bingtang Mawar, Siera

Classic/Travel=local/low-class? I’d say that if Alexis, Marlioboro and Emporium are high-end, Classic, Travel and KC are mixed and mid-market. They aren’t local because there are always foreigners there, which is why bros feel safe and comfortable going there. They aren’t low-class cause there are bars in a class down from Classic/Travel.

To check out two of them, u can easily walk there from Travel. Just cross Mangga Besar, the main street in this part of Chinatown, turn left, and go past the gate to Lokasari Plaza. On or near the corner is Halomas Aloha, a local FS massage shop and bar (the girls are in the back). Turn right on Mangga Besar XXII (12) and u can see Bingtang Mawar on the left and Siera on the right. There is also a newer bar near Bingtang but I forgot the name.

I will give bros here hints on both bars. ;)

If u thought Classic was loud and smoky, then ur in for a shock. Go in the front door of Bingtang. There will be mamasans and some ladies sitting near the door. If a mamasan thinks ur looking for a cewek, she’ll come to u and probably suggest one of the CMIs by the door. Just give a look of disinterest and she’ll take u to the back of the bar and thru the door to the next room where more girls are waiting. Just give a look of hesitation and look like u want to see more. If ur lucky, she’ll open the door to the lavatory. That’s where often the best babes are hanging out. Sometimes they have absolute stunners here who’ll make ur jaw drop. They recently really jacked up the price and now ST is 425k, incl room. The girl will take u upstairs and over to the next bldg (hotel). Note that their customers are local, so they aren’t used to giving GFE. They’re used to being mechanical. This is a typical local bar – dark, smoky, unbelievably loud EDM w/DJ, no band, packed – but it doesn’t have sexy dancers.

Siera is just the opposite. Go in and often there’s hardly anyone in there. U will eventually meet the short, old man who’s been there for ages. He’ll ask u if u want a girl, and might try to fix u up with one of the CMIs there. Show him no interest. Say she’s way too old or something like that. He’ll start to size u up, and if he thinks ur a nice guy and can be trusted, he will escort u to a special place where the choice girls are. If u were wondering how a dead place like this could make money, now u’ll understand.

Note: There r other local bars with sexy SYT dancers who r much younger than at Classic. The other girls sit in a fishbowl at the back. These bars r where the mind-blowing SYTs r, not at Classic/Travel. Their prices also went up. ST is now 330k for girls in uniform and 390k for VIPs (FLs) in personal dress. This includes use of a tiny rm upstairs. These FLs might be able to leave whenever they want. One kept asking if she could go back with me to my hotel, but I can’t speak the Bahasa so I didn’t know what the deal was. She was really hot.

Originally Posted by Siammy (Post 14872361)

Ibis Hotel

Ibis is not a local brand. It is part of the same group as Mercure, Novotel and Pullman.

BTW, one of the newer Ibis is next to Grand Mercure Harmoni, so for those who like the location but are on a budget, Ibis should be cheaper. U can walk to Marlioboro from here. And u can still go next door to check out the eye candy – air stewardesses galore! :D

The same company owns the Mercure Kota, Grand Mercure and Ibis, but oddly, the Ibis is supervised by the Mercure, not the Grand Mercure.

Originally Posted by FoalEagle (Post 15017608)

Bro - which one has the air stewardesses galore??? :D

Originally Posted by FoalEagle (Post 15017608)

Bro - which one has the air stewardesses galore??? :D

Originally Posted by lost99 (Post 15004956)

This is a post from another website, but i copied it here because i think it is important for bros going to Indo. It seems like immigration is doing checks inside certain hotels and detaining people without their passport. It is Indo law that a foreigner must carry their passport, and they have detained people for 6+ hrs from their hotel lobby for not carrying. Not sure if some Kopi money would help. but best to avoid being caught in this situation.

" I was leaving the Novotel on 26th July, 2016 around 11:45 pm (my usual time) on my way to Blok M. As I left the hotel I noticed a group of people with TV cameras out on the street in front of the hotel but I paid no attention to them and walked past. That's when several individuals claiming to be immigration officers approached me and asked for my passport, now I was still on Novotel property I didn't leave the hotel area when they approached me, as I didn't have my passport they told me I had to wait in the van that was parked on the street. While waiting they were manhandling several other tourists walking by on the street. We were taken to the immigration office in Kota and asked to wait there until the "boss" arrived. He did around 1:00 am and those who had their passports were processed first. There were about 45 individuals in the room, about 6 from the Novotel myself and 5 other Chinese (who had their passports). Others were from different hotels in the area......

In the office they were processing individuals at a very slow pace. Some of the others were from UK and other English speaking countries so we started to discuss among ourselves what was going on. Being held because we did have our passport and not being allowed to go and get it, really doesn't make any sense. Until one guy claimed that we would have to pay 250,000 IDR each as a fine to leave. But around 4:00 am they (immigration) decided that they would stop processing and that we would have to wait until the morning for when the "big boss" arrives. So once again we asked why can we not go and get our passports, no answer and at this point they (all of them) started to pretend that they can't speak English so they can't understand what we are asking.

At 9:00 am the next day some of the other individuals contacted their embassy and the embassies sent someone to help them out, but what the embassy individuals did was got to the hotels and bring the passports to the office. I contacted the Canadian embassy which was of no help whatsoever. On the trip by myself I was stuck as what to do. So I called the Novotel manager and he went to my room and sent the bellboy with my passport to the office. However the bellboy got the run around for about 3 hours (which I did not have any contact with him except by phone), after 3 hrs he called the manager who came down in person to speak with the whomever. He apparently made some progress as about 4 pm on Wednesday the "big boss. Stephen Gentes" came to speak with me to tell me that I would be processed later. Later was around 10:00 pm on Wednesday in which they checked / verified what they had to do and I was allowed to leave. The manager of the hotel really did help me out quite a bit and for that I am eternally grateful.

Someone asked about a bribe but I wasn't about to pay any bribes if that was ever a topic with me I would have called the hotel manager once again to intervene. But some of the other guys were telling me that they were told they had to pay 2. 5 M IDR to get released, he got this from his wife as she was discussing this with the officers. How true this is I don't know.

This is my very disappointing experience in Jakarta for July 2016, I have been coming here semi-annually for almost 10 years. Looks like I will have to choose BKK next time for my holidays."

Originally Posted by Pink_Flyod (Post 15025355)

I don't think this is true lah... in view of President Jokowi effort to promote Indonesia as both business and tourist destination and with effort to visa free visitation from 104 countries...

I never bring passport whenever I go out in Indonesia for the past decades and I never have problem... no immigration check. They only check on PRC gals and if that is the boss did not have good relationship.

Originally Posted by lost99 (Post 15025411)

EDIT: i think here is proof:
http://indonesiaexpat.biz/other/info...n-expatriates/

http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/l...igration-raid/

Originally Posted by Wdydx (Post 15025765)

This is a terrible news to us. To carry the original passport is risking to lose it somewhere while cheonging. But looks we have no choice in the future. WTF...:mad:

Originally Posted by bluesky12 (Post 14950397)

Yes bro, but some girls do not do FJ. If they do, 3mil+ is about the right price. Is that the most expensive option out there in Jkarta already beside screwing runaway models? I would love to try more premium goods if there is any :p

Originally Posted by akizer (Post 15024739)

Hi all, will be staying in Fairmont Senayan Sentral. First time in Jakarta. Can bros here recommend where to go for massage?

Originally Posted by sixnine696900 (Post 15029726)

bro,
you can try fortune spa, there is a spa at Mulia hotel too

Cheers.