I’m suspicious of the passing of time
Jakarta cinephiles, Plaza Senayan lobby, Joyland.
I am typing this at Fillmore. It’s a nice Saturday afternoon, only one other customer in sight from where I’m sitting. Maybe two more upstairs.
It’s been a month since the August protests and things are mostly “normal” now. Most remaining traces of the collective frustration that had culminated with people taking to the streets have been painted over and rebuilt by this point. The city government said “we are soooo back” with its “Jaga Jakarta” campaign, which saw everything from a swift clean-up of the affected areas and public facilities to the more corny ceremonial bullshit. The malls are packed. Social calendars are filling up.
I don’t hate it. I’m leaning into it. Leaning in is easy. One cup of Kurasu’s signature matcha latte and mmmm life feels good. But the feeling usually lasts only as long as it takes to dry up my cup, which is,… 15 minutes, give or take. Once the last sip of that bittersweet liquid leaves my tongue… well.
I’m suspicious of the passing of time, afraid of its ability to dilute my own memory and rage. I wonder if all I did was drive by the scene of the crime to gawk and snap a few pics. I think not, but maybe to some extent. Whatever the case, now more than ever, I would like to remember better.
Hope you have a great week!
More of a catch-up list for now:
Are you even a cINepHiLe if you didn’t post a screenshot of your Jakarta World Cinema ticket purchases this week? I posted to Close Friends, which I like to think doesn’t count, lol. That’s enough “ticket war” for the year for me, and I didn’t even do the buying. 🤭 I did sit next to a friend who did the thumb workout of scrolling through BCA’s wonky film ticketing page. Who even knew you could get film tickets on the BCA app?
I went to see Materialists last weekend expecting the Prabowo ad would be playing before movie. Pleasantly surprised that it didn’t.
Joyland is back, kind of. A month after cancelling its 2025 festival, organizers have now put together a new, stripped down format of the beloved event, calling it Joyland Sessions instead of “Festival”. Taking place over two days in November — a change from the usual three-day affair — the event’s roster is smaller, tighter, but enough to get people cheering in distress. Just a little something to take the edge off after the let-down that was Pestapora Festival’s Freeport-shaped mess earlier this month, which saw artists pull from the event (on the day of and one day prior to their scheduled performances).
Between the opening of Mata Karanjang in Blok M last year, Bakusayang in Senopati (Ciranjang, specifically), and Bunga Papaya’s new outlet on Wolter Monginsidi, I don’t think it would be a reach to say Manadonese food is having a moment. Or at least, a Jaksel moment. I love this for my people.
For years, when I still lived with family in Jakarta Pusat, Martabak Bandung Raya was one of the very few places I saw worthy of venturing all the way to the Deep South (i.e. Fatmawati) for. It’s my favorite martabak in the city, I think, second maybe to Martabak Favourite in Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur. So I was pretty bummed to hear that it was among the restaurants affected by the fires that burned down the food court next to Cipete Raya MRT Station on Sunday, September 7. Good thing they’ve now set up new shop (online deliveries only), as have a few other tenants of the food court, such as Nasi Uduk Cipete 21 and Kaybun Dimsum.
Not to be too Cipete-centric (there’s Info Cipete for that), but I can’t help it if Nicolas Saputra and I apparently live in the same neighborhood? Haha. I tried Bima Yamgor, the fried chicken place that went viral after a Nicsap shoutout in a recent interview. Happy to report it did not disappoint. Have been back twice since, at 14.00 and 20.00 on a weekday, respectively. Both times the place was packed.
Tenants at Blok M District/Plaza 2, an area within the Blok M complex (viral tenants include Secte Ayam Pop), left their spots earlier this month when rent soared to Rp7,000,000 for some tenants (exceeding normal rates that range between Rp300,000 to Rp1,500,000). A blame game ensued between MRT Jakarta, which runs the Blok M complex, and Kopema, the cooperative that manages the kiosks.
Bali-based affordable eyewear brand Sunset Eyewear is in Jakarta until October 12. A small pop-up booth, but if you’re in the market for affordable glasses and lenses, it’s worth checking out. I got three pairs from them in 2021.
This week in mall art: I love the literal glow up this installation gave the Plaza Senayan lobby.
In case anyone finds this useful: if you’re ever thinking of attending Kamisan, I find this to be the best drop-off point.
The irony of publishing a post titled “Showing up keeps things alive” and immediately going MIA after is not lost on me. Haha. Thank you, thank you for reading.
