Temple Trees is like a girls’ dream space filled with cute and pretty items. It’s on the busy street in the center/south of Jakarta of Jalan Senopati where many stylish boutiques line up. Jalan Senopati is one of the streets in Jakarta I have always wanted to walk to discover the cool shops in the area. I haven’t because it’s not easy to walk on Jalan Senopati. Why? There is no pavement and motorcycles and cars can pass right by you.
This is the view you have when you first walk into Temple Trees. For this store, I would like to let the visual do much of talking. From now, I will only write a little to take you around.
There are even more stuff upstairs. The upper level is more children oriented. These wooden Christmas ornaments in the photos below were displayed on the foyer on the way to the upstairs.
There were many cute purses, stuff toys, wooden toys, pillow cases, decorative items, clothes, you name it. There were some very cute wall decals sold on the upper level, too.
There is also downstairs, but the space downstairs do not have many items for sale.
This is a new Thai restaurant. I didn’t know that Vietopia, a Vietnamese restaurant, was replaced by Yumm Thai until I visited Temple Trees in January, 2013. I need to go back and try the food at Yumm Thai. I had lunch at the previous restaurant, Vietopia, with my daughter when I was pregnant in 2011 because I craved Pho so much. Now it’s gone. I notice that you see many changes very quickly in a vibrant city of Jakarta. It’s not uncommon to discover that a restaurant closed or moved its location after not visiting for several months.
What do you think?
I first visited Temple Trees with my friend and a blogger in Jakarta, the Diplomatic Wife, in mid 2011. At that time, I had my camera with me, but when I asked one employee about taking photos, I was asked to contact the marketing department of Temple Trees, which is totally fine. I grabbed a business card, but I didn’t email for the longest time even though I really wanted to go back to take photos. It sounds easy to email, get a permission, go back and take photos to blog, but it is actually not in the reality when you have million other things to do. It’s a shame that I took so long to blog about Temple Trees! Temple Trees, thank you for letting me take photos of your gorgeous store!
One thing you would not understand unless you live in Jakarta is that the traffic in the city really limits your activity. You have to time when to go out, where to go and you can only take care of one errand in the morning or in the afternoon. During the first year of my stay in Jakarta, I used to get in my car and run errands in the afternoon as well, but after the second year, I stopped doing that and would only go out if my kids have activities. Otherwise, I stick around in my neighborhood because you end up spending so much time in the car in the afternoon. I’m fine though. I learned how to use my time wisely.
Temple Trees
Jalan Senopati No. 66
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan 12190
Indonesia
Phone: +62 21 7261211
Email: veronica@templetrees.net
templetrees@ymail.com
This is how it looks from the street. Look for the Yumm Thai sign. Temple Trees is almost across the street from Anomali Coffee on Jalan Senopati a very cool and hip Indonesian Coffee Shop. When you are in the area of Senopati, do check out Pak Manto’s Kripik as well! The chips are so delicious and addictive!
I always did all my visits in the afternoon after 2.3 pm and i will get back home only by 7 pm. During both my trips we brought our helper from Singapore so she can help my mil look after the children. My DIL had a car but i dint use his car i always take a taxi to go to shops. One tip my husband gave me , if you have two errand for the day just talk to the taxi driver to wait for you. By this way we can avoid further delay waiting for another cab home. Since the taxi fare is not that expensive after conversion it was still reasonable. That way i saved a lot of time to wait and get another taxi.
My apartment was at the sudhirman so it is quite center to all these shopping destinations. so kebayoran baru, taman angrek, grand indonesia, senayan, all not too far. still i used to spend minimum 2 hours on a cab everytime i go out. so i used to talk to the driver with my broken bahasa indonesia , Yes i know basics in Indonesian cos my previous 2 maids were from indonesia. I also did a lot of homework to learn bahasa indonesia at home.
I love Indonesia for their art and creativity. Also for their kindness which i rarely see here in singapore stores. To me Indonesians are quite close to my heart and quite friendly. In this region. sorry ladies, if you don’t agree with me. I have been to Thailand, Malaysia, Living in Singapore, lived in India for a very long time, HK, Newyork,Australia, but this country is what i love the most.
Hi, Padmaja! Thanks for visiting! I thought you might like this store. I think it’s possible to run errands in the afternoon. I choose not to. I have my own car, so that helps me save time, too. I just find it much more efficient to do it in the morning.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Indonesia!! I find Indonesians friendly, too. I agree with you about Indonesians’ being creative and talented. I love my life in Jakarta despite the traffic. You don’t realize how much traffic can affect your life unless you live in a city, which was my point. It’s different from visiting or living temporarily. I had a whole different perspective on life in Jakarta and felt refreshed after I had come home from living temporarily in Singapore last April in 2012 after I had my baby.
I love all the colors! I haven’t been to that part of Jakarta yet. The crazy traffic has admittedly been a bit intimidating every time I have been out in the city. It seemed that you could only ever go and do one thing a day because the traffic was so intense. I suppose the train line has been abandoned again? Or are they trying to get that up and running ever?
I’ll have to find that area the next time I wander through 🙂
Hi, Joy! Thanks for your comment. I agree with you about being able to do one thing a day. I never thought that the traffic thing would be so intense until the 2nd year of our life in Jakarta although I must say that having a driver here is a life saver. I’m not sure about the train or metro or monorail plans for this city. I really hope that Jakarta will follow the trail of Bangkok or KL by having better public transportation. Their metro systems are pretty impressive. Do check Senopati! I love it. Make sure you buy Pak Manto’s Kripik as well. Delicious!
What a colourful find! Love their servewares and handmade soft toys, I’m sure to spend hours in there, lol. I wonder if they ship internationally too.
That’s a good question because they have an online store. They might?
Very very…nice pictures…
Thank you!!
Timing your trips! So very true for the infamous Jakarta traffic! The anxious when getting late and stuck in traffic is the least a mom wants to experience with a little one in school. I am glad now that Miss D is older and we have more activities and freedom for mom!
Love the stores and your pics are so pretty and colourful.
The great thing about Indonesians is that even if you’re late they totally understand. Saying “traffic” is like a magic in Jakarta which would not work in other cities I have lived in the same way! True. Having a little one definitely makes a difference.
Thanks for the compliment! Temple Trees is really pretty.
Definitely impossible to enter that stunning shop and not spend money. Love the vibrant green glass bowls btw.
I bet that green glass bowls are expensive… Well, I don’t know if it’s still expensive compared to the prices in Europe. They are imported from Europe, so they might be. The store is an eye candy.
Hey, thanks for stopping by and letting me know you found my place 🙂
Wow, you take gr8 photos on many many things.
And such adorable kids you have. I will come back soon.
Take care!
Thanks for stopping by, too! Your photos are beautiful!!
Paradise!!
Isn’t it?!
Wow, the bracelets you make and sell on etsy are soooooo cute!!!! I heart them!
theluckyelephant.etsy.com
The shop is so vibrant! Another addition to my must-visit list. 🙂
Yes. Definitely! I think you’ll love it. Also, Le Souq and Tan Living should be on your list!
Everything’s so colorful! I imagine my future house would be full of trinkets and pieces like those in Temple Trees 😛 How expensive are the items?
The glassware and dinnerware is from Spain and they were pricy as you can imagine, but the items from Indonesia or South Asia were not bad. I would say reasonable for hand crafted items?
I’ve been wanting to visit this store ages ago… Now after read your blog and seen the pictures, I have to go now! Cant wait… Thanks!
Glad this inspired you to go visit!
Lovely stuff! Glad I found your blog. I live in KL so this isn’t too far away for us… Things to add to my lists of places to go next!
http://www.mumonthemove.blogspot.com
You live in KL! That’s a cool city! We visited KL in December, 2011. We loved it! Thanks for coming to visit!
Hi kaho, I totally agree with you. The traffic can ruin a lot of things in Jakarta. Especially anyone rushing to hospital in emergency.
Many pregnant women worry about labor and traffic and I thought a lot about that, too. I have not heard any stories as many expats end up giving birth in Singapore or their home countries anyways, but I’m sure there are cases where women end up giving birth in a car on the way to the hospital…
I LOVE THIS SHOP TOO!
we plan to write about it but..you know. works, kids, errands, etc. you’re right. it’s hard to keep up with the to-do-list. the traffic is getting crazieeer.. you know what, it took me nearly 3 hours to get home last night. 🙁
3 hours!!!??? Oh no! I remember that ramadan traffic is worse than usual traffic. I’m sorry it took that long to get home. I would love to see your post about Temple Trees! I love your photos. Your angles are great.