On a hipster trail

At the end of each week, the capital’s hipsters head to the bottom of the city map. Rusmailia Lenggogeni spikes her hair up, and traces a day-long trail of South Jakarta, the capital’s coolest quarter

You know the type. Skinny jeans, Ray-ban Wayfarers, ironic t-shirts and trilby hats. A penchant for asymmetrical haircuts, and deliberately mixing vintage clothing with obscure brands. Jakarta’s hipsters tend to work in advertising, the film industry or the media. They’re writers, designers, artists, filmmakers or DJs. Possibly they own a clothing line, a boutique, a café, or are in a band – sometimes, all of the above. If one thing unites them, it’s a combined smugness and self-seriousness which can drive the rest of us wild.

But love them or hate them, hipsters make it their business to find the coolest places to be, well before the hype reaches the rest of us – who, some might say, then proceed to ruin them. In Indonesia’s capital city, nowhere is more saturated with hipster-friendly spots than South Jakarta. So we got laced up, gelled up, and set off on our own hipster trail, to uncover some of the most edgy and slightly offbeat gems in the city’s mighty south.

The bookstore Aksara is ground zero of hipsterdom, and makes the perfect place to start in the early afternoon. Check out a cool magazine or two, and see what this week’s hipsters are wearing. Locally, the term ‘anak Aksara’ has at times been used to replace ‘hipster’ in conversation. Inside you’ll find the motherload: well-selected local and English language books and magazines, heavy on art and design, comics, stationery, CDs, vinyl records, and trendy knickknacks. Aksara has many branches, but the first store in Kemang remains the hipsters’ favorite hangout.

Even the staff here are trendy young things, busy uploading edgy playlists onto the sound system.

The Kemang branch also hosts a fashion boutique stocking hand-picked foreign brands, an outlet of the already-established 707. Have brunch at the upstairs Casa, a restaurant that is decorated to look like a home – if your home looks like a spread from Wallpaper magazine, that is.

Next up, go get yourself that emo (softcore punk) haircut at Talents Salon for ladies, and Cutbox Barbershop for gents. The first is popular with trendy young celebrities and socialites. The latter, very small and tucked discreetly in a sleepy part of Kemang with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sign, off ers the ever-popular wispy and spiky cut, as well as dreadlocks and varieties of extreme coloring. Next, pick up a Lomo camera at Lomography embassy store to capture your new look – and then document the night’s activities.

Popping in for a DVD movie next from Subtitles will help guarantee you some intellectual discussions later on. At first glance, the basement location of this DVD rental store isn’t extra appealing – but inside, you’re in hipster movie heaven, with independent, foreign and cult movies galore.

Works by famous or obscure auteurs are displayed here by genre, sometimes side by side their Hollywood counterparts.

Subtitles also rents out comfortable rooms with plush sofas for up to six people for private viewing.

Head over to Ruangrupa to immerse yourself in contemporary art. Located in the leafy, middle class, residential area of Tebet and affectionately called Ruru by those in the know, this former home currently houses the funkiest art gallery in the city. Run by a non-profit artists initiative, it houses frequent exhibitions by young artists, while a shop on the premises also sells limited-edition items made by invited artists.

If you like a bit of camp with your dinner, Sing! is the place to go feast. The tables of this restaurant face several television screens playing the karaoke video of your choice, so you can munch your pasta and serenade your dinner companions with a so-bad-it’ship-now ’80s song. Then grab after-dinner drinks at 365 Eco Bar, purportedly the first eco-friendly lounge in the country. To find it, look for the giant flip clock on the front wall. Inside, the small lounge is all sleek and modern, with an industrial interior design, and cool cats propped on bar stools made from used Coke crates – all set to chillout tunes and a backdrop of quirky graffiti. Or for a more mature crowd, cat-walk along to the Shy Rooftop, situated atop the oh-so-cool glass Papilion building. Hipsters, models, designers and anyone on the rich-list head here for drinks – and to take pictures of themselves with their Blackberrys, promptly posted on Facebook.

Once this proves too much excitement, remember that hipsters also take their coff ee very seriously. No foreign franchises for them. Instead, they get their evening caff eine fix from Tornado Coffee or Coffeewar, two local shops in Kemang, where they talk endlessly about literature or the foreign movie du jour. This is when that DVD you bought comes in handy. These cafes occasionally hold performances from indie musicians, or even a book sale. Regulars include a famous local actor and other city movie types, who are on a first-name basis with the baristas, keeping things casual amid these intimate settings.

Newly awakened, your next stop should be a midnight screening of the latest blockbuster (just for irony’s sake, mind you) at Pondok Indah Mall, a favorite with yummy mummies and affluent youngsters. Or catching the current indie darling band playing a gig at Rossi, an unassuming shophouse located in a long strip of road full of stores selling tiles, curtains, and household items. Its second floor is at times used for live gigs by indie bands. Ask around locally first though – these underground events are still the city’s best-kept secret. Look for familiar faces from Aksara while you’re there.

End the day at late-night snack spot Aneka Bubur, one of the few places here open 24 hours a day. Maybe they love looking at carpets while eating supper (who knows), but whether it’s after clubbing or a gig at Rossi, hipsters flock to this nondescript, decidedly uncool restaurant-cum-carpet store owned by Pakistani immigrants for late night munchies of naan bread, curry, and congee. Then it’s off home to bed. Even the cool kids need their beauty sleep.

CONTACTS

Lomography Embassy Store
17 Jln Bumi, Mayestik, Kebayoran, tel: (0)21-739-5302 www.lomonesia.co.id

SHY Rooftop
5th floor, The Papilion, 45AA Jln Kemang Raya, tel: (0)21 719 9921, www.thepapilion.com

Ruangrupa
6 Jln Tebet Timur Dalam Raya, tel: 021-8304220 www.ruangrupa.org

Salon Talents
18-A Jln Kemang Raya, tel: (0)21-7194807

Cutbox Barbershop
14 Jln Kemang Utara

Tornado Coff ee
7/66 Jln Kemang Utara, tel: (0)21 719 5056

Coff eewar
15A Jln Kemang Timur Raya

Aksara
8B Jln Kemang Raya, tel: (0)21 719 9288, www.aksara.com

707
Tel: (0)21 718 0051, www.sevenohseven.blogspot.com

Casa
8B Kemang Raya, South Jakarta, Indonesia tel: (0)21 719 9289

365 Eco Bar
6 Jln Kemang Raya, tel: (0)21 719 1032, www.ecobar.co.id

Subtitles
City Walk, Basement #29-30, Dharmawangsa Square, 6-9 Jln Dharmawangsa, tel: (0)21 7278 8336, www.subtitlesgroup.com

Pondok Indah Mall
Jln Metro Pondok Indah

Aneka Bubur
123 Jln Radio Dalam Ujung, tel: (0)21 720 2224

Rossi
30 Jln RS Fatmawati, tel: (0)21 9266 5972

Sing!
f/X Mall, Level 3, Jln Jenderal Sudirman, Pintu Satu Senayan, tel: (0)21 2555 4228