By Carrie Crozier
Wow – what a ride! Three years ago we started a whirlwind Jakarta adventure and ZAP, just like that – it’s over. We have many stories from our time in this amazing city – some funny, some funny now that time has passed, and many involving the beautiful friends we made along the way. Here I share some of the life lessons we figured out during our time in this crazy city called Jakarta!
Location, location, location!
The first step of success in Jakarta is finding the right place to live. Obviously, if you’re reading this, you’ve found Esti at EMC Relocations and are on the right track! Esti helped my family find our perfect home by listening to what we wanted and helping us determine our ideal location. For my family, the winner was Kemang. A walkable neighbourhood with local cafes and restaurants, a family-friendly vibe, close to our kids’ school, and near the SCBD (where my husband’s office was located). Check, check, check, and check!
From there, Esti showed us three beautiful locations that met our needs in terms of space, layout, and budget. We all (including my daughters) fell in love with the first showing and the rest is history. While Jakarta can feel overwhelming, once you have your home-base, the rest quickly falls into place.
I wrote about our first month in an early blog post for EMC here.
Plan Your Healthcare
Another necessary step for Jakarta success is to figure out your healthcare plan before there is an emergency. Make sure you check out which clinics or hospitals catering to expats are the closest to you, what you need to do to register with them, and what services they offer. In Kemang, we had easy access to Good Practice Clinic, SOS Medika Klinik Cipete, and JWCC (Jakarta Women Children Clinic). There are many choices and it can be confusing, so it’s worth checking out a couple of different options. Personally, as a Mom of two young kids, I Ioved the convenience of Good Practice. I could WhatsApp the office during business hours and secure a same-day appointment, usually within the hour. Their office is very kid-friendly and the doctors were great at making my kiddos feel at ease. SOS was wonderful for my peace of mind with its 24/7 emergency room hours and quick appointment times. From our home, JWCC was a little bit of a trek but a great option when we wanted to see a pediatric specialist.
Contrary to what you may have heard, you can get great healthcare in Jakarta. The difference between Jakarta and what you may be used to, if coming from most western countries, is that you need to know where to look and be open to getting second opinions. If you would like some extra insight, check out this EMC podcast episode ‘Jakarta Healthcare Options’.
Make Connection A Priority
When you first arrive in Jakarta, your “to-do” list may seem impossibly long. Despite this, I highly recommend that you start building your new social circle immediately. When the adrenaline of the move wears off, or when things start to feel frustrating (no matter how well-prepared you are, this will inevitably happen!), having a sympathetic ear and a friendly face will make a big difference. A lot of newcomer advice is passed via word of mouth as well. You may find that after one coffee morning, you’ll be hooked up to the relevant WhatsApp groups and maybe even checked a couple of tasks off your list!
Expat Associations In Jakarta
How do you go about finding your tribe in Jakarta as an expat? For starters, you should absolutely join an expat association – join all the expat associations! – and see where you feel the most comfortable. There are so many different groups in Jakarta and each brings something different to the table. Learn about the top expat groups in Jakarta by listening to this EMC podcast episode about ‘Expat Associations in Jakarta’.
Many of the expat groups exist to provide a space for expats to meet and support each other, as well as a chance to support the local community via funds raised through activities and events. My personal Jakarta journey brought me to ANZA (Australia and New Zealand Association) and the BWA (British Women’s Association). I am so grateful to both groups; thanks to them I was able to get out of the house and shake off that loneliness that can come from a relocation. After a few months, I joined the ANZA committee and found a lot of personal fulfillment paying it forward to newcomers. Eventually I started getting involved in organizing new activities and events, but those early events helped me feel connected and grounded in a way that I really needed, even when it was as simple as a cup of coffee and a chat with someone else who understood.
International Schools
If you’ve come to Jakarta with kids, international schools are another excellent way to meet other families. My kids went to the Nord Anglia School of Jakarta (NAS) and our family’s experience was magical.
EMC recorded a podcast about the school, ‘Collaboration With NAS’, where we met with the school principal and other parents to discuss the school’s mission and their family’s experiences. I chalk a lot of our positive experience up to the engaging staff and helpful class parents. Thanks to them, we quickly found a lovely circle of parents with kids the same age. We may have been from all over the globe but a 4 year old is a 4 year old, no matter what language they speak, and that was very comforting, especially early on.
Eventually, I raised my hand and started volunteering with the school, paying it forward to the new families who arrived (seeing a trend here? lol). One of the biggest tips I can give is that if you have the time and capacity, get involved where you can. I truly believe those roles, though sometimes stressful when just getting started, helped me feel valued and connected, and thus overall happier, with my Jakarta life. My school experience was specific to NAS but there are many excellent international schools in Jakarta. Picking the right one might seem overwhelming but luckily EMC Relocations does offer a School Search service to help you narrow down the options and make the right choice for your family.
Activities In Jakarta
If you’re sporty – or even if you’re not! – pick up a new sport or physical activity while you’re in Jakarta. There are tennis clubs, padel clubs, squash clubs, golf groups, hiking groups, gyms, running groups, and more. In Jakarta, many families opt for hiring maids and nannies, which takes a huge load of household work off your shoulders. I used my extra freedom to discover a new love for racket sports, trail running, and daily HIT training. A summary of my Jakarta life wouldn’t be complete without a shout out to F45 Kemang, a local gym that is very community-oriented. If you live in Kemang, don’t be surprised to find yourself working out with other parents, teachers, neighbours, and even your amazing real estate agent (as happened with Esti and I!). This healthy lifestyle made a huge impact on my physical health, which as we all know, has major roll-over benefits for your mental health as well.
Finding activities is fairly easy – some are organized through expat associations and others are organized independently, which is another reason to put yourself out there! Many cool activities are shared via word of mouth or virtual word of mouth (ie. Jakarta-based WhatsApp groups). I also need to make this clear – not all activities require physical effort! South Jakarta is teeming with interesting things to do. I learned to play Bridge with the ANZA Bridge Club and there are also clubs for Canasta and Mahjong. I sang weekly with an amazing group, the South Jakarta Community Choir. In the course of my three years in Jakarta, I tried my hand at: weaving, pottery, knitting, jamu-making, dumpling-making, wreath-making, floral arrangement, paella-making, and… I’m certain there are more things, but that’s all I can currently recall! The important part of all those activities, even if I don’t plan on starting my own Flower Shop, was the fun time spent with other people, trying out something new and staying connected.
What’s With All The Cats?
Finally, a life lesson we learned the hard way (well, more like the soft and cuddly way) – don’t rescue a cat unless you intend to keep it! If you’ve already arrived in Jakarta, you will have noticed that there are cats EVERYWHERE. Some are indoor pets, some are outdoor pets, and the vast majority are living on the streets, eating everything and anything they can find. Early on in our stay, we encountered a little kitten on the side of the road. Although a new pet wasn’t part of our family gameplan, I thought if we took the kitten home for a clean up and medical care, there would be tons of families looking to adopt a gorgeous, healthy little kitten. WRONG!
Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that for that one adorable little kitten, there were at least 10 others. A good example – when I went to post about our little rescue, at the time there were two litters of kittens that had been left in various driveways and needed homes. Long story short, our family gained a new family member – Mr. Gracie!
All joking aside, the cat overpopulation in Jakarta is a very real issue. Indonesians generally like cats and will treat them kindly, allowing them to relax in their space and feeding them. The quality of life for most of these cats is still unfortunately not very high, even if they do have regular access to food. If you’d like to help, there are great vets in South Jakarta – my top two were Animal Clinic Jakarta and Groovy Vetcare , but do ask around as there are tons of independent vets that will do home visits, arrange for sterilization services, and make recommendations for deworming pills. These small steps will allow the cats to lead a healthier life, even while living on the streets.
Fun cat fact – have you noticed how some cats seem to be missing sections of their tails, or have a “broken” or bent tail? This isn’t an injury – it’s actually a genetic trait that has been encouraged in Indonesia because cats with shorter or bent tails were favored for breeding. One explanation is that it was thought that the cat would be better at catching mice and rats if it had a shorter or bent tail. (I could easily write a whole article about Indonesian cats as well, but I’ll save that for another day!)
Wrap-up
It’s probably pretty clear based on how I write about my time in Jakarta but I truly loved living in Jakarta as an expat. A big part of that was how connected and welcomed I felt, plus the bonus of seeing my kids thrive and confidently flex their social muscles as well. You can create your ideal life there too – hopefully the topics covered in this blog give you a crash course on the basics – Home, Healthcare & School. If you’re already living in Jakarta and have your own tips to share, comment below!
Up next: Given my fondness for Jakarta, writing a concise wrap-up of my time there proved very challenging – mostly the concise part! That’s why we’ve created a Part 2 of this blog for next month, where I’ll focus more on the cultural and daily life side of Jakarta. See you soon!
