Where to Spend Your Saturday Night

Saturday Night memang malam yang paling ditunggu-tunggu untuk menghabiskan waktu bersama teman-teman. Nightlife yang sedang berkembang pesat di Jakarta semakin menarik perhatian kita untuk mencoba setiap tempat-tempat baru. Mungkin sebagian dari kalian sering bingung dalam menentukan tempat yang cocok untuk melepas penat bareng teman-teman diantara banyaknya pilihan nightclub di Jakarta sekarang ini. And here are some places that we recommend  for your Saturday Night Party!

1.     Fable:

Nightclub ini berlokasi di Kawasan SCBD, Jl. Jendral Sudirman, Jakarta Selatan dan merupakan salah satu club favorit di Jakarta sekarang ini. Kalau kalian bosan dengan suasana party yang begitu-begitu saja, Fable sering mengadakan event yang seru belakangan ini, seperti Valentine’s day Party, Halloween Party, dan Campus Night. Mostly, musik yang diputar ber-genre Hip-hop dan RnB. Tentu saja, after midnight, beat musiknya semakin seru untuk turun ke dance floor. Crowd yang memenuhi dance floor juga sangat asik bagi kalian yang tidak mau hanya diam duduk di kursi, dance like the dance floor is yours! Dari segi luasnya, club ini cukup luas dengan dance floor yang tepat berada di tengah dan tidak jauh dari bar area. Rata-rata pengunjung yang datang ke Fable merupakan anak kuliahan (around 20 y.o.), so be friendly and hopefully kalian bisa memperluas pergaulan kalian disana.

2.     Domain:

Club yang berada di Senayan City ini memang memang sudah hits banget sejak 2009, Lokals! Untuk kamu yang senang bersosialisasi, Domain sangat cocok dijadikan tempat untuk teman-teman. Pengunjung yang datang ke Domain rata-rata merupakan anak kuliahan dan young executives (around 18-30 y.o.). Lagu-lagu yang diputar merupakan lagu-lagu yang berjejer di deretan TOP 40, jadi euphoria yang ada semakin seru. Namun sayangnya, Domain sangat sempit untuk ukuran club jika dibandingkan dengan club lain sehingga para pengunjung yang nge-dance di dance floor tidak jarang sering bersenggolan dengan pengunjung lain. Walaupun begitu tenang saja, nightclub ini merupakan tempat yang aman untuk clubbing. Untuk masuk ke club ini, kalian diharuskan untuk dress up karena club ini cukup strict dalam urusan pakaian. Put on your shoes and heels, get ready to the dance floor!

3.     X2/Equinox:

Kedua club ini berada dalam satu Club Complex tepatnya di Plaza Senayan Lantai 4 dan 5. X2/Equinox sering mengadakan event yang lumayan menarik dengan sexy dancer yang ikut meramaikan event. Dari segi soundsystem, kedua club ini sangat bagus. Musik yang diputar mostly bergenre House, Progressive, Hip-Hop, dan RnB. Dancefloor yang luas dan crowd didalamnya juga asik, makes X2/Equinox are good place where you can enjoy dancing.

4.     Prive

Club yang dulunya merupakan area IndoChine ini berada di FX Lifestyle X’nter Sudirman. Prive mengharuskan kalian untuk mengocek uang sebesar Rp150.000,00 per person sebagai FDC untuk bisa masuk ke club ini. Harga minumannya masih cukup affordable. Musik yang diputar cukup enak dengan genre RnB. Dancefloor-nya juga cukup luas to get the beat on the dancefloor.

5.     Immigrant:

Salah satu club yang bisa dibilang paling dikunjungi oleh para foreigner. Rata-rata pengunjung Immigrant berusia 25-40 tahun. Memang lebih tua dibandingkan dengan club lain yang ada di Jakarta. Immigrant berlokasi di Plaza Indonesia Lantai 6. Area club-nya cukup luas, namun kurang asik untuk dancing around. Dengan desain interior bergaya Classic NYC, tempat ini masih recommended enough untuk menghabiskan Saturday Night kalian.

It Takes Two To Tango, Romantic Restaurant in Town.

Candle light dinner is a must try for couples who are in love. Restaurant with a romantic atmosphere will certainly enhance your candle light dinner experience with your partner. Here's a restaurant recommendations that can be used as an alternative option to invite your loved one. Beside providing many good food, their restaurant ambiance will also make you feel that the love is in the air. Worth try!

Emelie French Restauran

For those who love French food, Emilie is a right place to go. This stand alone restaurant located in Senopati area is a fine dining restaurant with romantic French ambience and delightful French cuisine. Try their signature dishes like Le Barramundi, Le Cote de Boeuf, and Le Filet de Boeuf. But you have to make sure that you have an extra budget if you really wanna go there because the price is quite high. If you order à la carte, you should pay between Rp100k and Rp250k for an appetizer, and between Rp350k to Rp600k for a main dish. If you include the drinks, you'll end up paying around Rp1 million for your meal. However, Emelie is excellent when it comes to service, taste, presentation and atmosphere. 

Luna negra

Luna Negra is a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine that located in Bapindo Plaza Building, Sudirman. With an old New York City setting, red brick walls and perfect dim lights, Luna Negra will make you feel a warm and romantic atmosphere. It  will certainly be able to make you and your partner willing to spend a lot of time here, accompanied with delicious meals with authentic Italian flavors. The menu features mostly home-made pasta and authentic Italian pizzas. The prices vary a lot, but on average, it is Rp100k for a pizza and slightly less for pasta which is around Rp60k to Rp80k. This restaurant also provide variety of tempting wine to complete your candle light dinner moment. This restaurant is definitely one of the good option for a romantic dinner with your lover. Just don’t forget to reserve, especially during the weekend because this restaurant usually pretty crowded.

Segarra Seaside Escape

This restaurant, which is located in North Jakarta, has a direct view to the sea. Accompanied by evening sea breezes, spacious open air and dim lights, a romantic atmosphere can be felt if you dine here. I recommend you to reserve the outdoor area rather than the semi outdoor area because the sunset view or night view of the sea just makes everything feels more romantic. The menu offered here is also very suitable for seafood lovers. But if you do not feel like eating seafood, then do not worry because Segarra Seaside Escape also provides other international menus such as pasta, steak and some other Asian menus. The price here considered pretty high because minimum purchase in here is Rp500k. However, this restaurant is very suitable for those of you who want to escape for a moment from the hassle of the city and enter a romantic night-sea atmosphere together with your loved ones.

So, are you ready to plan a memorable candle light dinner with your lover, Lokals? J

Stuck and Immovable, List of Things That are Trapped in my Head

by Raditya Nacho Pradana

This past few weeks have been a blessing for me, I got a new job (an intership program actually, Is it classified as a job people?)  I turned 20 last July, I had a girlfriend (it’s so important I even have to write it down) my last GPA was surprisingly decent, I am feeling like I am in my prime and happier than ever (not sure whether i am really happy, or  just becoming more enthusiastic and optimistic towards life, well either way, i think both are good things), anyway  I want to share you some things that have been in my head for quite a while, there are this beautiful cult movies, funky and soul reaching music, food that keeps me curious, and a book that blows my mind. Ok, let’s start from movies:

Dazed and Confused (1993 Movie)

This movie reminds me of my Higschool, SMA Pangudi Luhur, and all of the wacky, silly, crazy, fun and inspirational things we have done, Higschool is that period of time that you wish could stay forever, and i am grateful because when I look back at my Highschol time, I have no regret whatsoever for things that i have done.

Dazed and Confused is about School's breaking up for the summer of '76 in States. The seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll someday become the seniors. No one's looking much farther ahead than that. This has a free-wheeling, 'day-in-the-life-of' structure which allows writer/director Richard Linklater (Mind you, Linklater is also famous for his series of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and recently Before Midnight umm and oh yeah School of Rock) in his second feature, to eavesdrop on an ensemble cast without much in the way of dramatic plot. The movie is plotless but fun at the same time, and really gives you that nostalgic feeling everytime you watched it. Go download it through torrent! Err i mean go buy the original DVD!

From the Ritz to the Rubble by Arctic Monkeys (2011 – 2012)

The song was just perfect, fast paced and yet funky, the song’s taken from the Suck It and See album, and in my opinion the best song in that album, competing fiercely with Fake Tales of San Fransisco and When the Sun Goes Down. The lyrics are golden

Got too deep but how deep is too deep?

Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate

I said a thousand million things that I could never say this morning

Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?

This town's a different town today

This town's a different town to what it was last night

You couldn't have done that on a Sunday

Basically the songs ramble about going out and other stuff, have it a go listen to it now!

Ramen

There is this Ikkudo Ichi Ramen, Everybody talk about this Ramen Place like it is the only decent Ramen Place in Jakarta, and everytime they talk about it the more curious i become, too bad this Ikkudo is way too far from where i live, it takes much effort and motivation to finally go there, soon maybe, from what i have heard, Ikkudo Ichi allows us to choose the thickness and density of the noodle, you could choose between hard, soft, and medium, then you could also personalise your broth and oil, you have option to choose the level of intensity whether you want it to be light or maximum, the ramen comes with quite a cheap price, only 39K for their signature dish which is Tori Kara - chicken ramen with special red sauce, topped with boiled eggs, wakame, and sesame seeds, my friend also told me that beside ramen, the hero of the restaurant is a grilled beef, eventhough it comes with a quite expensive price – around 59K for 5 slice of beef. All this stories from my friend only make the wants of trying this food grow even stronger.

Room by Emma Donnoghue

This book is captivating, beautifully written by Emma Donoghue, it is built on two intense bounds: the limited point of view of the narrator, a 5-year-old boy named Jack; and the confines of Jack’s physical world, an 11-by-11-foot room where he lives with his mother. We enter the book strongly planted within these restrictions. We know only what Jack knows, and the drama is isntant, as is our sense of disorientation over why these characters are in this place. This one of a kind book, very rare i have seen book that can utilise a child narrator this good before, go give it a read, and feel different after you read this book.

Yeah, that’s it, four things that are stranded in my head, hoping to pop them all before the end of this month, Ciao!