In the past 2 days, after a month of living in Jakarta, I finally got to explore a little bit in the south Jakarta and window shop instead of going around to buy boring necessities. I have taken some pictures of stores and malls to show to you. I’m very excited since I love seeing new stores and discovering my future favorite stores. Inspirations are everywhere in Jakarta which I am trying to absorb as much as I can.
I have gone to the area called Kemang, which is in South Jakarta. I love exploring Kemang as it is a neat little district that has many cool, hip, and modern looking stores, restaurants and cafes. I passed these stores as I was looking for other stores, so I decided to stop by.
The first store I walked in was “Pantry Magic“. The store sells kitchen items which reminded me a lot of Crate & Barrel. You can find anything you need in a kitchen and they are very stylish, too. The prices are about the same as in the States.
On the second floor, there is a modern furniture store called “nook”. Unfortunately the store was not open yet for the day. It looked more like a show room surrounded by glass walls. The furniture pieces are absolutely adorable. I need to go back there when the store is open, but I’m assuming that the prices are steep and out of our range, which is usually the case. You think that it’s cheap to shop for furniture in Indonesia, right? I find that it’s not the case (maybe they are cheaper compared to stores in the States, but still not cheap), especially in Jakarta. Maybe there are places where the prices are more reasonable, but so far I haven’t encountered those places yet.
Location
Jl. Kemang Raya 14B, Jakarta 12730, Indonesia
It’s close to McDonald Kemang. The building for Pantry Magic and nook is located on the other side of the Jalan Kemang Raya. (If you come from the north, McDonald is on the right and Pantry Magic and nook is on the left.)
Pantry Magic
Click here for more information.
When I saw the title I thought you were going to talk about Sony’s Nook, the reading device 🙂
Happy window shopping!
I thought of it, too! Since we didn’t know if we would be able to use it here, we decided to wait. 🙂 I like this “nook” a lot!
We have this shop in Singapore!!! I thought it was a unique shop in the entire world though… never thought it could be found in Jakarta too…
We love to just go there and browse the kitchen stuff 🙂
By the way furniture are even cheaper in Jogjakarta (Even cheaper than Danni) but the difference is that with Danni his customer service is excellent, if the wood cracks or you experience any problems, he repairs for free while you are in Jakarta. We buy from Dunia, who have export quality furniture because they have a store in Geneva. But they don’t use all solid old teak. It’s a mix between solid old teak and teak block. Here’s their website:
http://dunia-teak-furniture.com/
Ah, I want to go to Jogja! I feel that the order made prices in Jakarta by the places that many expats use are set up for expats. Is Danni different? The prices may not be expensive compared to the furniture sold in the U.S. or Europe, but they are not cheap (in my standard). You know me, I love IKEA! Dunia’s furniture looks pretty, but they seem to be more on the high end. I couldn’t find the pricing on their site. I wonder if they are more affordable than many fancy furniture places in Kemang?
Hi Kaho,
Danni is definitely different! You get such great quality at such great prices. It was funny because I was complaining to him how everything was so expensive here and he said “except me” LOL! I had to laugh because it was so true. With Danni I do not expect IKEA prices because I get solid antique teak, whereas IKEA uses light wood. However for solid antique teak, his prices cannot be beat. Except for those who do lower quality products – i.e. I met with this furni maker whose prices were a little lower (a lot of our friends order from him) but the entire furniture would not be solid. Some would be mixed with plywood and when we looked at our friend’s furniture the style was old intricate style and the hinges and handles weren’t very good. When I opened a door, one handle actually came off! With Danni, I can also come up with ingenious space saving double duty designs and he is up for the challenge. And he speaks great english so there is no risk of miscommunication.
As for Dunia, we got our L shaped couch at 50 or 70% off during their ramadan sale at about 3.6M and their decor items are insanely cheap as well. (I got set of 3 solid teak picture frames for 150k idr total). But their regular items are such great deals as well. Just remember it’s not all solid like Danni and there is no customer service because it would be such a hassle to return your furni to Jogja just to get it fixed. Danni does it for free.
Jogja is a definite must do in Indonesia because of borobodur and the shopping. Let me know if ever so I can give you tips. I love to buy pure silk batik (in one solid color!), indonesian handicrafts/home decor and paintings there. The prices are insane! So make sure to get extra weight coming back home to Jakarta! =P
You can email my contact Arfie (dunia3@indosat.net.id) and say that I referred you. They reply pretty quickly and can give quotations for all the items you are interested in. They also let you know when some items are on sale.
Wow, you rock! Thanks for all the information!!
Hi Kaho, I guess by this time you already know that Kemang is an area where many expats in Jakarta stay, so you should expect the price of everything is much higher there compared to the one in other areas of Jakarta or outside Jakarta.
Yes, you’ll find many cheap Javanese traditional furnitures/ things in Yogyakarta. You might as well check Bandung since it’s not quite far from Jakarta. For an introduction on Sundanese culture and traditional products (which are as good as Javanese ones) you can visit Saung Angklung Mang Udjo. Many traditional Sundanese furnitures and products are created outside Bandung like in a region of Garut (Tony Bourdain of No Reservations visited there).
Indonesia is a really big country to explore, beside Yogyakarta and Bandung, I found Bali and Bukittinggi are also interesting places to visit and see their beautiful traditional/cultural products. But well I’m sure many other places in that country are worth to visit as well.
As for locals like me, I just find the models of furniture I like in the internet and then go to local furniture workshop with the picture and it’s guaranteed the price is much cheaper even compared to Ikea haha… But of course the problem for expats is about language and find the workshop you can trust.
Well I’m Indonesian living abroad and sometimes just feel homesick. Finding blogs like yours can at least reduce my homesick. Btw I visited several cities of Japan years ago, and I fond of Japanese culture. So, nice to meet you/your blog.
Thank you so much for leaving me a comment, Bugs! I agree that local workshop does give good prices, but I feel that the prices I hear from those who made furniture here are a bit more than IKEA in my experience just because most workshops use teak wood which hikes up the prices. It makes sense because teak is a good quality wood. Just like you said, for expats it’s hard to find a workshop that they can trust. The local workshops who already have foreign customers do have expat prices because they can charge them. For me the hard part of it is that just like making a tailored dress, it is a commitment. I just have to commit myself to find a workshop, style of furniture and just try it. Thanks for the tip!! Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Bali are definitely on the top of my list of places to visit. I have wanted to visit Bali since I was in high school. I haven’t had a chance to go, but I will. I cannot wait to go there! Thanks for visiting my blog! I really appreciate it!
Hi Kaho, thanks to you too for giving me an update about my country through your positive views….:)
Well actually in a local workshop we can choose for the type of wood we like to use for the furniture, I think they have some options. But I can imagine that in Jakarta, especially for expats, they will recommend you to have expensive teak wood. I ordered my furniture from a workshop in Bandung, cheap wood but still better than Ikea’s materials, that’s why I can tell you they’re even cheaper than furniture sold in Ikea near by my apartment where I live now….:)
I need to go to Bandung!! Another reason to travel there! Thanks! 🙂
Hi Kaho,
Reading some of your articles I can be pretty sure that you’ll love so much Bandung that make you want to go back again and again once you visit it 😀 for several reasons:
1. Architecture
Bandung has many beautiful tropical houses, colonial buildings. Even universities like ITB and UPI (IKIP Bandung) display beautiful architecture of mix European-local tradition from the colonial era. In Dago areas and above you’ll find many houses with beautiful tropical architecture).
2. Factory outlets, mainly in Jalan Dago and Jalan Riau, where you can find cheap branded clothes. Some of them high end imitations and some are originals. Many factory outlets like Rumah Mode also have beautiful tropical architecture. Don’t forget to go to Lavie baby shop or “anak kecil”, factory outlets specialized for baby and children clothes. You’ll find Zara kids, etc there for your daughter with much cheaper price. You can find their addresses in the internet. Don’t go to Cihampelas, the quality of clothes there are not so good, and Pasar Baru just like Tanah Abang in Jakarta.
3. Food. Many delicious European and locals (Sundanese, Javanese, Minang, etc foods) with prices much less expensive than in Jakarta. The most famous ones are Kampung Daun http://kampungdaun.net/ and Sapu Lidi http://www.sapulidisawah.com/menu.php
There are many Japanese food restaurants as well, here a Malaysian blog on Japanese restaurants in Bandung:
http://teikakawashi1.blogspot.com/2010/01/holiday-in-bandung-part-iii.html
Malaysians love to go to Bandung (and of course Jakartans as well) for holiday.
I suggest you to go there (if you can) not during the week end, it’s full with people from Jakarta and Malaysia.
They even sell cheap sushi in a mobile box:http://qisthasnoeman.blogspot.com/2011/02/sushi-boon.html
Brownies, cakes, and bakery are plenty. The most famous ones:
Kartika Sari, Amanda Brownies, and Holland Bakery
just google them, if you’re lucky you’ll be stumbled upon English blogs who have reviews on them…:)
I’m not a Sundanese, and though my parents live in Bandung but we’re Javanese of other city origin, but I love Bandung so much…:)
I forgot to mention, the food in Kampung Daun is as expensive as in Kemang restaurants, but the architecture and its ambience is very beautiful. Go google it to have some ideas…:)
I’ve just come to Jakarta in Feb and live in South Jakarta. I have been concerned about “Kemang” calld as Daikan-yama of Jakarta…and also “PANTRY MAGIC” only saw from a car.
I’m looking formward your next diary, and hope someday see you around Kemang!
you still stay here in Jakarta? you have such a nice blog, love reading it, and the pictures are just awesome. Keep writing 🙂
-stanley dirgapradja, South Jakarta, Indonesia
We are still in Jakarta, but right now we’re on leave. Thanks for the comment!
I want to buy baby chair. Do you know where can buy In Jakarta?
I think some people find a good furniture maker and make a copy of the style they want or buy second hand. Do you know Upper Crust? It’s a list serve for expats and Indonesians living in Jakarta and you can receive classified information by email. Their contact email is mary.a.wiley@uppercrustjakarta.com.
I’m curious to find out what blog system you have been utilizing?
I’m having some small security issues with my latest site and I’d like to find
something more safeguarded. Do you have any solutions?
I use wordpress and so far it has been fine when I was using the wordpress.com and now I use wordpress.org. I have not tried other platforms, so I don’t have a point of contrast, but I think many people are very happy with wordpress.
woooww the interior design of nook pantry is so beautifull