The Mall

I never thought of myself as a mall person, but when is it so hot and polluted it is nice to go somewhere where you can do it all – relax, go to the movies, eat lunch and hang out. There are an abundance of malls in Jakarta, ranging from those with tiny stores piled with bootleg CDs to the totally over-the-top with designer stores. At Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, there are the usual range of designer shops as well as an artificial woodland area with a set of cobbled rustic streets with restaurants selling various cuisines, and also a funfair. It does seem that it might be better to plant some real trees in Jakarta and maybe try to sort out some of the urban planning issues, but this might not be very likely to happen in the near future. It’s also pretty strange to go to these places when many people in Jakarta live in poverty. There is certainly a stark contrast between the rich and poor here.