Local Shopping Mall in Jakarta ☆ ITC Permata Hijau

ITC stands for International Trade Center. Shortly after I moved out to Jakarta, people mentioned the name “ITC” and I had no idea what they were talking about. Many expats are introduced to mega malls for expats and well-to-do Indonesians such as Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia, Senayan City, Pacific Place, etc when they first arrive in Jakarta. It’s just easy to find them. Then once they get used to getting around, some might start wanting to experience more local shopping. You also realize that the prices are not always reasonable at those big nice clean shopping centers with a lot of import brands.

There are many ITC malls all over Jakarta. Ambassador Mall is one of the popular ITC’s and Permata Hijau seems to be another popular one. I learned about ITC Permata Hijau from my neighbor and I quite like it. I like digging treasures from stores. According to locals you negotiate prices at ITC, but I didn’t really get to negotiate prices when I bought clothes for my girls and myself. I got a few items on discount and the discount was a small amount. The prices are already good to begin with, so I didn’t think too much of it.

ITC is like a collection of independent stores and there are some stores that sell factory outlet items. If you want to shop there, you definitely want to make sure you have a couple of hours to spend. Otherwise, you’ll walk out with indigestion. I have found some very cute dresses for my girls for their birthdays like these.

I plan on posting more clothes from ITC for Wednesday Wardrobe column tomorrow (if I don’t fall asleep since I’m staying up late to post this one. Call me crazy!). Stay tuned!

There is one store I really like on the 3rd floor where I have found cute clothes with reasonable prices, but I didn’t take a photo there. I actually got a permission to take some pictures of the store and totally planned on shooting some photos after I shop, but I started browsing clothes first and got carried away. Typical me. Lesson learned.

This is one of the two stores I have found cute clothes for my girls. You have to invest your time in finding what you like, but you’ll find something cute here. There is another store that is the first store on your left right after you enter the mall from the main entrance. I forgot the name! The store has a few factory outlet items from Zara, Next, Gap, Gymboree, etc. You might find something you like, you might not.

Party Supply Stores




Those two stores are located close to Mom’s Shop, the clothing store, I wrote about above. I thought they have a pretty good amount of party supplies especially items you could use for good bags.

Bakeries




I have a weak spot for baked items. I have purchased pastries at both places and they are good, at last to my standard.

Tailor


I bought my husband’s jacket for Halloween costume here. I was looking for a white jacket, but I wasn’t willing to pay a lot for it. You would think that it’s easy to find a cheep jacket in Jakarta. The answer is NO! I looked at many stores and finally I found one displayed here. It was dirty from being displayed for a long time and the size was too small for my hubby, but I was determined to get it. I negotiated and got the price I wanted. The store owner was a sweet guy from Taiwan and he thought that I might be Taiwanese and could speak Chinese. I wish I could!!

Costume Rental and Party Service Store


I thought that the price I saw for “rental” for 3 days was the price for sale and later on found out that I was wrong. Bummer! To rent a costume for 3 days it costs Rp. 100,000 (about $11). I asked how much would the Snow White dress be for purchase instead of renting and I was told that it would be Rp. 180,000 (about $20). (Please don’t quote me on the price though. I think that’s what she said in Bahasa Indonesia.) I would buy one than rent for that price, but for people who don’t want to keep a dress and need one for a school play or a party, it makes more sense to rent.

I almost bought a belt from this store, but because I had already spent some money by then, I didn’t. I kind of regret it. I like what they have here. There are three other stores I have purchased clothes for myself. I wish I have their pictures. Maybe next time.

What do you think of a local shopping mall? It’s very different, isn’t it? You won’t have a fancy scenic shopping like you get to do at Plaza Indonesia or Pacific Place. It’s for those people who love bargain shopping. It’s totally me.