February Update
Blok M update, February 2004
Status report
What a month January was! The new year came in with a bang, and the portents are that it will just keep on getting better and better. The opening of the new bar on the Blok is eagerly awaited, and of course the Reveller will be there to give you the nitty gritty - the facts, background and penetrating comment that you won’t find anywhere else.
Bad weather is the worst news for the Blok - it’s been a wet and dreary January, and it looks set to continue. The rains quite literally put a damper on things; guys think twice before setting out on a soggy journey, girls stay home to patch leaking ceilings and dry out their belongings after a heavy downpour floods the house.
Bar wars
The Reveller hears from reliable sources that Lintas Melawai is definitely staying open. And yes, it’s now got its full staff back, the cloakroom has reopened, and the bottles seem to be returning to the bar shelves. Now this may be good news for the late-night reveller, but it’s not so good for the owners of the new bar that’s opening - they were, quite literally, banking on LM closing down and taking over the late-night disco traffic, so they’ll have their work cut out attracting girls and guys from LM if they’re to succeed.
The Reveller has taken a straw poll among the guys in D’s Place, and everyone agrees that no matter how good it is, what the new place lacks is a hotel next door - and for many of them this is the killer advantage of Lintas Melawai. The late night reveller often takes a girl on the spur of the moment - it’s a bit like impulse shopping - and knowing that no matter how far gone he is it’s only a few steps from the LM doorway to the Melawai Hotel, is a very big plus indeed.
Home sweet home
The Reveller is now safely ensconced in his new house and stoically dealing with the inevitable leaking roof, predictable piss-poor plumbing, lethal electrical outlets - all those endearing little details that make renting a place in Jakarta such an adventure. So now he’s poised for action, ready for even more forays into the depths of Blok M.
But as he takes a well-earned breather and looks out of the front door on his first evening in the new place, he sees three vaguely familiar faces passing the gate - can it be? yes it is! three of the girls from Lintas Melawai, barely recognizable without their glad rags and war paint. Apparently a lot of the Blok M girls live down the Reveller’s street - so now he’s caught between the Scylla of Blok M and the Charybdis of Jalan Fatmawati.
The handphone has finally come of age in Blok M. Gone is the time of innocence when it was merely a dernier cri fashion accoutrement, a novelty plaything - it’s now a girl’s most deadly weapon, an essential part of her survival kit.
The Reveller learns the awesome power of this deceptively innocent looking little gadget one night in D’s Place. Cornered by a girl who’s long been trying to nail him down and pursuing him with the tenacity of a pedigree bloodhound, the Reveller uses his tried and trusted escape route and slinks off to Lintas Melawai. Imagine his amazement when she not only enters the tenebrous disco precisely ten minutes later, but makes a beeline for the exact spot in the corner by the DJ’s lair where the unsuspecting Reveller is killing a Carlsberg and savouring a quiet cigar as he enjoys the dancing.
When asked how on earth she tracked him down so quickly the Sweet Young Thing puts on that expression of surprised innocence that Indonesian girls have perfected to a T, and replies - “I call my friends”. Gentlemen, beware. Those four small words could spell disaster for your amatory multitasking, your concurrent dalliances, your playing the field.
Fishy business
Now the Reveller likes his fish. Fish to eat, fish to look at, fish to catch, fish tout simple. So on a recent visit to Bangka (where many of the Sweet Young Things live) the Reveller is intrigued to learn that the latest craze among the Blok M girls is keeping pet fish. The main embellishment for the home is no longer a monster television set that commandeers half the room, an industrial-strength sound system, ornately framed photographs of the family, or even the ubiquitous garishly tinted dried flowers in their painted pots - it’s an aquarium.
But the fish are something special. Not your humble goldfish, not your gaudy multi-hued tropical varieties, these are the aristos of the fish-collectors world - the much sought-after (and cripplingly expensive) Lo-Han. The girls buy them for about Rp 200,000 when they’re knee-high to a minnow, lovingly nurture them until they’re fully-grown specimens that can be worth up to Rp five million on the open market, then sell them at a handsome profit.
As a cottage industry it’s really quite a winner - the fish are robust and cheap to keep, and as long as they’re well looked after the risk of your investment dying on you is fairly low. The Reveller rather naughtily reflects that some of the owners have quite a bit in common with their charges - blank, bored expressions when no-one pays them any attention, listless random movements punctuated by mad dashes round the tank - and when disturbed, a silent, reproachful stare. But when you tap the glass to attract their attention, they wiggle sexily and chase your finger eagerly as you move it up and down.
Better safe than soirée
The words on security in last month’s diary stirred up quite a bit of interest, so the Reveller has assembled a comprehensive collection of tips and advice and put them in the FAQs. Old hands will know this stuff already, but newbies and casual visitors might like to have a shufti - so click here to read the new Security page in the FAQs.
Another question that pops up from time to time is about health and safety down the Blok, so there’s a new Health and Safety page in the FAQs. So if you’re wanting to know about the perils, pitfalls and risks of letting rip in Blok M - and what to do if things go wrong - click here to read it.
Epilogue
As he watches a new generation of girls, and a goodly number of new guys, joining the Blok M community, the Reveller remarks to one of the local legends - a guy who’s lived in Indonesia for more than a quarter of a century - that the place has somehow retained its character, its raw edge, and is quite unique in a world gone plastic. His friend agrees that although things have inevitably changed and the girls are a lot more street-wise than they used to be, Blok M still has the feel of the old Jakarta about it. And long may it last!