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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Olympic Hotel, Mangga Besar, Jakarta

If you wanna be right at the “center of action” in the “Big Mangga’ then it can only mean one thing: the infamous Lokasari “entertainment” complex.

This is where the rot started all those years ago: definitely as far back as the 70s and possibly even before. It’s skuzzy, decrepit, rusting and wanton. A lot like an old and battered Skoda left out to rust at a scrap yard, really.

At Lokasari, the venue of choice must be the infamous Atlanta (click for my short review).

Since those days things have changed a lot of course, and there are now a multitude of gaudy looking spas in the Mangga Besar area, many bizarrely paying homage to ancient Greek, Roman and even Egyptian architecture – evidence perhaps that sleaze and culture can be adroitly mixed.

Located just behind the Lokasari complex - it’s actually sort of attached onto it really – is the three-star Olympic Hotel – which thanks to some refurbishment is in pretty reasonable shape.

Olympic Hotel, Mangga Besar, Jakarta

For some reason there seem to be quite a few Olympic hotels in Indonesia (why’s that?), my favorite being the Olympic Hotel in Surabaya, a wonderfully gaudy edifice that looks as out of place as a burqua on Kuta beach, Bali.

Olympic Hotel Surabaya


As for Jakarta’s Olympic Hotel, it has 107 rooms and plenty of entertainment facilities including karaoke and a spa.

Have fun! 

Olympic Hotel
Jl Mangga Besar VII Kompl THR Lokasari Bl A-63,
Taman Sari,
Jakarta
Telp: (021) 624 6666

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