Buying Souvenirs in Jakarta

A few tips for souvenir purchase in Jakarta:

(1) Jalan Surabaya: antiques, if you want to buy original/once played wayang puppets here’s the place. Put on a game face, though, and brush up on your negotiation skills. Rule of thumb: bargain first for half from the seller’s price. I once browsed around the line of antique shops there in search of a pair of used, original wayang puppets -- the ones made of real hide not synthetic -- and found a 3-foot Shinta wayang that showed some wear-and-tear from being used in performances but still looked gorgeous. Just like I wanted. Soon the salespeople surrounded me and told me the price. It was Rp150,000 (about US$16). I bravely practiced my negotiation skills and bargained for half (calmly gesturing that it's a beautiful piece but I wanted a lower price for it and slowing moving away to the next shop). Finally, we agreed on Rp 90,000 (about US$10). The salespeople started offering me to look at other items in their shop but I said thanks I got what I wanted and said goodbye.

(2) Pasaraya Grande Blok M: a huge dept.-like building, 5th floor, all the souvenirs you want. Cons: pricey. Pros: AC building, no sweat ☺, and look for discount sections all over the floor, you can get cute souvenirs like wayang puppet bookmarks, batik, or ethnic jewelry for a real steal. They can go as low as Rp10,000 (about US$ 1) per item. In this dept.-store-like places, all the price tags are definite. You can't negotiate with them, but you can ask the shop attendants to show you the on-sale sections.