Entertainment in Indonesia
Many Indonesian cities - especially Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar - offer the short- or long-term resident an abundance of culture.
Going to the movies in Indonesia is very popular and cheap. Local movie showings are printed in the newspaper and cost about 3,500RP. Don't expect good sound quality or comfortable seats. Saturday night is the big "date night." All the couples, or pacaran, cruise the main boulevards on their motor scooters and have dinner, see a movie or two, and get wild at the local discos. A few popular discos are Rainbow (in the Mutiara Hotel on Jalan Malioboro) and Crazy Horse (in the Borobudur Plaza on Jalan Magelang) in Yogyakarta, The Parrots in Jakarta, and Peanuts at Kuta Beach on Bali. It's considered very fashionable to have a Western pacar (boyfriend or girlfriend). The cinemas are jam-packed and often the shows are sold out. So be sure to get there at least one hour before the show.
Other popular activities include visiting a pameran (art exhibit), participating in a bicycle race (look for a sign announcing sepeda gembira), visiting the ballet (especially the renowned Ramayana Ballet, performed at Yogyakarta's open-air theater on four consecutive full moon nights each month from May to October), or taking a batik cloth-dyeing (especially popular in the Sosro district of Yogyakarta), music, or dance class.
For alternative films, cultural, or art events, check the British Council in Wijojo center, The French Cultural Center, The Goethe Institut, or Erasmus Huls for a calendar of events. Most events are also advertised in the Jakarta Post or other tourist publications, such as Aikon, a free newspaper that can be obtained through almost all hotel lobbies and Hero grocery stores.
Shopping
There are a few huge Western-style supermarkets in Indonesia's more modern cities. Hero and Sarinah are two of the better-known stores, and feature an excellent stock of goods at reasonable prices. This is the best place to look if you crave food from home or need certain skin or hair care products. Every town of any size has at least one market featuring fresh fruit and vegetables, live fish and chickens, arts and crafts shops, clothing stores, and food stalls, or warungs. A few of the largest markets are those in Bukittingi on Sumatra and Yogyakarta on Java.
New books in English are expensive and difficult to find. Better are those sold at used bookstores in travelers' throughways such as Ubud and Bukittingi.
If you need to furnish your home try to go with an Indonesian friend. This way you can bargain down to the cheapest price. To get home, hire a becak to carry you and your purchases. Just hope it doesn't start to rain while you're shopping! One Westerner we know of completely outfitted her house for US$175, complete with collapsible clothing wardrobe, sleeping mattress, kerosene stove, kitchen table, couch mattress, a wok, and dishware.
