There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in
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Grand Manhattan Club Borobudur Hotel

Borobudur Hotel is one of few hotels in Jakarta with any character and is located on very expansive grounds right in the center of the city, just opposite this chap, and also very close to the Jakarta Cathedral and Istiqlal Mosque.

 The hotel is home to the Grand Manhattan Club, a pretty undistinguished bar where a small percentage of Jakarta’s one percent plot their devilish schemes, sink imported whiskies, and check out the few hookers that have wound up here.

 The main attraction of the bar is the live music (every night Mondays thru Saturdays) as very few revelers come here just to admire the retro décor. 

All in all, it’s very much a hit and miss affair at the Grand Manhattan Club. You could end up having a fairly average night singing along to some old favorites that the band is playing, or, by contrast, you could get lucky and be in there when the flight crew of Air Asia just drops by…. :)

 Grand Manhattan Club
Borobudur Hotel, 1st -3rd Fl
Jl. Lapangan Banteng Selatan 1
Jakarta
Telp (021) 384 2223

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