Sangat Pedas

Red Square Jakarta - Review

September 19, 2011 by Remco | 1 Comment

Red Square is a Vodka Club concept with 3 locations in Indonesia. Red Square is located in the Arcadia building in the Senayan area of Jakarta. I’ve been their twice, one time on a wednesday night and once on a friday night. Both times with my friend Absolut so forgive me if I left out some details.

Anyway, Red Square Jakarta is fairly moderate in size and considering a large part of the club is taken by tables and comfy couches I guess the maximim capacity of around 400 people. I think interior and size wise Red Square can be compared with NuChina, but the crowd is definitely more mature. I guess the venue aims at upperclass people enjoying both comfort and a party.

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Nadine Alexandra for Miss Universe!

September 12, 2011 by Remco | 2 Comments

Nadine Alexandra for Miss UniverseYep, I’ve had complaints from the loyal followers of this blog and righteously so. The payoff of this blog clearly promises “geeks, GIRLS & gossip” and lately there hasn’t been a whole lot of girls on this blog. And at the same time there’s another somehow related problem, the national soccer team is pretty much letting Indonesia down and the kind people of Indonesia need someone they can cheer for. Someone representing their country and defending it’s honor.

Well, let me introduce ya’ll to Miss Universe Indonesia 2011 Nadine Alexandra Dewi Ames. WATCH AND AWE!

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Jakarta Mudik from above by helicopter [VIDEO]

August 31, 2011 by Remco | 3 Comments

Me in a Jakarta police helicopterClearly I’ve had some exciting weeks bu looking in the mirror it becomes clear that these weeks also have been pretty exhausting. Before Tokobagus really took off I ran a website/software development company and hoped that one day I could focus all my energy on just one project. Besides that it would enable me to strive for perfection I also thought it would be pretty easy and not very time consuming. I remember my first days in our Bali office joking with Arno that it was time for putting our feet on the table and enjoy life. Well, the first part hasn’t really come true.

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DailySocial Kicks Ass… Koprol’s Ass!

August 18, 2011 by Remco | 0 comments

Just three days ago I wrote a post about the seemingly lack of real fighting spirit in the Indonesian startup scene. The lack of discussions and the lack of telling it straight, like it is. Well, for starters it quickly became the most read post on SangatPedas, for whatever that’s worth and but it didn’t get the desired effect, up until yesterday. Continue Reading →

Indonesia celebrates 66 years of independence

August 18, 2011 by Remco | 1 Comment

August 17th 1945 is a day that the people of Indonesia celebrate the end of a long period of oppression and foreign occupation. After the bankruptcy of the Dutch East-India Company (VOC) Indonesia became a Dutch colony under the name Dutch East-India.

I’m Dutch and I know that Dutch people knowing and talking about this period often tend to downplay the situation with arguments like “We developed Indonesia” or “We brought Indonesia many technologies and lots of knowledge especially in agriculture” and so on. Now that might be true but conveniently some ‘details’ are left out. First, any colonisation and oppression is wrong and an act of war. Second, the war fought in f.i. Aceh was brutal at the cost of many lives of Indonesian and the establishment of concentration camps in Papua New Guinea are a dark page in both the Indonesian and Dutch history. One thing that’s still inexcusable is that in later history books used at schools in Holland there’s hardly any mention of the suffering we put on the people of Indonesia. On top of that the Dutch occupation was followed by a Japanese oppression which cost the lives of between 2,500,000 and 4,000,000 Indonesians.

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Club Triple 9 (999) Kemang Jakarta - Review

June 5, 2011 by Remco | 2 Comments

Club Triple 9 (999) in Kemang, formerly known as “Dizzy Lounge”, is located on the 3rd floor of the Kemang Arcade building in Kemang Raya. Triple 9 is undoubtably one of the best clubs in Kemang and even my favorite club in Jakarta.

The street Kemang Raya houses several popular clubs like NuChina and Second Floor that got his name of being located on the 2nd floor of the Arcade Building but now moved 600 meters and rebranded itself to SF. First thing I noticed when arriving at Club Tripple 9 is that everyone has to go up to the 3rd floor in a really small elevator, which makes me think what would happen if the place catches fire.

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IndoChine Jakarta Review

June 4, 2011 by Remco | 0 comments

IndoChine Jakarta is a restaurant/bar/beach club located on the 8th floor of the trendy FX Lifestyle X’enter in the Senayan area of Jakarta. IndoChine’s formula basically is serving some quality “nutriceutical” IndoChine food followed by a relaxed after dinner atmosphere.

IndoChine Jakarta is pretty huge and divided in an indoor area and huge roof terrace. The inside area is trendy, huge and… empty most of the times. I guess the location and the fact that it’s just so big doesn’t really appeal to people. However, the roof terrace is sheer genius if you ask me. IndoChine Jakarta brands the roof terrace as a beach club and considering it’s in the middle of one of the most crowded metropoles it’s probably the closest you can get to a beach club. The pool is nice but looks a little like an aquarium and can be annoying when you’re sitting next to it and someone decided to take a jump in it. IndoChine lacks an ocean view but how’s this view for an ocean replacement?

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Nu China Kemang - Jakarta Night Life Review

May 8, 2011 by Remco | 2 Comments

Nu China is according to the buzz “One of the most happening Clubs in Kemang” and others go even as far as saying “The most Happening in Kemang right now” and it should be the favorite spot for many cute girls. But how hot and happening is Nu China really?

After 4 months in Jakarta and the Stadium deception I decided it was time to finally check the place out. My first impression when I entered Nu China was that it’s in fact a pretty modest (small but cosy) sized club and dark with black ceiling and walls which in my opinion is an outdated concept.

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Are Indonesian startup entrepreneurs less original?

April 10, 2011 by Remco | 3 Comments

I’m not so much into responding to posts of other bloggers but in this case I would like to make an exception. Last week I read an post written by Funcrowds’ founder Andre Siregar titled “Startup Indonesia: kurang orisinal?“. He wrote this article based on the fact that 9 startup entrepreneurs pitched their business to several VC and all the startups were basically localized clones. What I didn’t like about Andre’s post is that it’s tendentious because he only asks the question without giving his own opinion and just quotes Ryo Umezawa, director of venture capitalists J-Seed Ventures. So I think Andre has raised an interesting question but failed to shed some light on that question or simply didn’t want to burn his fingers on answering that question.

So allow me to share my opinion on this topic, does the Indonesian startup scene lack originality?

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The Ayam Confusion - Indonesian for beginners

March 20, 2011 by Remco | 4 Comments

One thing is for sure, Indonesians like their chicken, with rice of course. Chicken is the number one food in Indonesia and the number of variations on chicken in the Indonesian kitchen are staggering.

Ayam Goreng, Ayam Bakar, Ayam Kuning, Ayam Katsu, Ayam Gulai Rebung, Ayam Masak Habang, Ayam Rebus Jamur, Ayam Goreng Tepung, Ayam Saus Bawang, Ayam Masak Bawang, Ayam Goreng Mentega, Ayam Kuluyuk, Ayam Bumbu Hijau, Ayam Kalio Padang, Ayam Besengek, Ayam Drumstick Pedas, Ayam Areh, Ayam Bumbu Poyah, Ayam Ungkep Wijen, Ayam Sumpu, Tum Ayam. Well, I really could go on for hours but you get my drift.

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