Just hyper-experiment the hell out of everything you do
Hello and welcome to Average Consumer! If you’re reading this, it’s probably because :
You’re subscribed to my other newsletter, Slouching Towards Blok M, and I thought you might enjoy this, or…
You’re a friend, an acquaintance, a former colleague, someone whose opinion I value and would like to run the idea that is this newsletter by, and honestly, it’s easier to just show instead of tell.
Whichever the case, I hope you stick around. I hope you bear with me. I might even dare myself to hope you find this entertaining/useful/interesting. But, you know, “no worries if not”, etc.
The idea is: Every week I’ll share a list of news, observations, and recommendations about things happening in the city. I will call this segment the Jakarta Dump for now (or just “The Dump” maybe?), not because I think this city is garbage (well, if it is then it is my garbage) but because the list will be put together with the same exact spirit that any photo dump on Instagram is put together: seemingly random, seemingly casual, but kinda more intentional than you think, bigger than the sum of its parts.
Most of these are things I’d notice and think about out in the wild. 2pm at the mall on a random Tuesday. In the blur of weekends spent at brunch and then coffee and then dinner and then a movie, maybe karaoke, who even knows. But parts of these will also come from my online doom scrolls and readings, because reading is great, and a lot of exciting things happen online.
One thing for sure is that when it comes to the city, we’re always being sold to and we’re always buying in. I’d like to think that Average Consumer lives amidst that rush; lurking, intrigued, occasionally disgusted, but always captivated, maybe even entranced.
I’ll have other segments in the future but for now I’m just going with it. Or as a certain former tech bro and former Education Minister put it: I’m just hyper-experimenting the hell out of this.
The Dump
Is Yandy Laurens’ Sore: Istri Dari Masa Depan (Sore: A Wife from the Future), the most polarizing film of the year? Everyone on my Instagram and Twitter feed either “cannot stop thinking about the movie” days after seeing it (mind you those are not sarcastic quotes but verbatim from multiple people’s glowing endorsements) or are using it as the new litmus test for friendship. DM to discuss, ahaha.
In other film news, genuinely obsessed that Jumbo is still showing in theaters by the time of writing this, approaching 4 months since its release.
Corkcicle now has a full-fledged flagship store at Plaza Senayan. Not new news necessarily, since it opened early June. But recent enough for it to still catch me by surprise whenever I walk past the space. It looks gorgeous, though I don’t currently need it enough to actually step inside. Maybe I should, one of these days. I’ve always liked the look of their stemless cup, which… cute, but Rp549,000 cute? Idk.
The new 50 Best Bars in Asia list is out this week. Modernhaus is at #12, The St. Regis Bar at #22, Carrots Bar is at #34, Cosmo Pony at #38. Here’s the full list. Here’s how the voting system works.
Genuinely wondering why my algorithm is recommending me this Batak Night at Helen’s (HW Group) next week?
“Glodok is about to be the new Blok M,” friend of the letter Paulista told me sometime ago, in reference to the ongoing MRT line expansion, which will inevitably send a new wave of Jakartans looking for the next viral thing to the neighborhood. The signs are already there. Perhaps it’s already happening. Viral Blok M bakery Little Salt Bread recently opened its Glodok outlet. Manual has a Glodok Playbook. As for me, I’ll be there this Saturday to catch Paulista herself moderate this talk between artist Metta Setiandi and activist Elisa Sutanudjaja about the neighborhood’s current transformation. The event will take place at Met Glodok, a weekend-only cafe run by Metta, who herself is a Glodok resident.
MRT update: As of earlier this month, they’ve completed the tunnel connecting Glodok and Kota stations. It won’t be another two years until we actually get to ride it and take it completely for granted, but for now the idea of going beyond Bundaran HI on an MRT might just make me cri.
Could Nitro Wisma Nugra be the best MRT-friendly work-from-cafe spot? Only if you don’t mind hours of tethering to your personal mobile data (aka their Wi-Fi sucks). Lovely space though. I like sturdy tables.
The oldest I felt this past couple of weeks was reading this Tempo piece about the death of Jalan Jaksa. I wanted to argue on impulse that I do have fond memories of nights out on that street from not that long ago but was promptly reminded that 2010 is 15 whole years ago.
Ok see you next week!
So excited for the upcoming posts!
we love a girl about town!