Jakarta After Dark - Dance

Jakarta's best venues are spread all over town, hidden away inside skyscrapers, rather than an easy entertainment district. The city's clubs and bars also open, close and reopen at a dizzying rate.

Lush surroundings are increasingly the rule. New additions to the Jakarta night scene appear locked in an interior decor contest to produce the most opulently extravagant and artfully lit surroundings. And while weekends are the busiest time, Wednesday is an established midweek night out, a chance to de-stress in a city of 12 million.

And the patrons, they can simply be called the beautiful people. Jakarta's clubs are places to be spotted, and Indonesia's uber-glamorous night clubbers are as hip and elegant as any on the planet. Here's a quick spin around some of the city's highlights.

 Embassy

Embassy
East End Building Unit 704 - Taman Ria Senayan
Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto Jakarta 10720

For music Lovers, there is plenty on offer. Truly clubbers head to Embassy in Taman Ria, a custom-build that plays host to the hippest international DJs on the dance music circuit. Arrive after midnight on Fridays or Saturdays for some devilishly deep grooves and the chance to mingle with the mobile-phone brigade.

Centro

Centro
Centro in south Jakarta, a branch of the once-famous Singapore club, also plays host to big name spinners, who rocket through the amazing sunken dance floor with regularity. This club, located on Jl. Dharmawangsa IX (Next to CityWalk), has surely won its own people since its opening a couple of years ago.

The only thing some people could find annoying about this club is that they have very strict door guard. You don't dress well, you don't get in. So, if you want to go to Centro, make sure you dress up very well and respect all their rules.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly
23 Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto, Jakarta, 12930
Phone: (0)21 520 6789

If music comes second to a chance to mingle with a champagne-sipping crowd in artful surroundings, then Dragonfly will be to your tastes. It oozes style and has been the city's hippest bar-restaurant-club for a couple of years. The dance floor here is well lit and friendly, but there are often long queues to get in.

The visitor is more mellow and features chunky grooves. Its lengthy bar runs from the entrance to the large Taman Ria Lake at the back. Here, one can sip drinks with the young crowd who flock in.

Blowfish

Blowfish
For a multi-room, cavernous club experience, try Blowfish. With its House and R&B tracks, it's a neon-lit pleasure-dome - think MTV studio stage meets Starfish Enterprise, packed with young BMW drivers. Inside, a quieter wine bar offers sumptuous white leather furnishings amid what must be 1,000 bottles of wine.

 Nu China

Nu China

Another popular disco bar is Nu China on south Jakarta's famous Kemang strip. A small, stylish darkened lounge bar, Nu China serves a fine cocktail. For a more kitsch and theatrical experience, head to the Soviet-themed Red Square, which is perhaps the most densely packed club in town an done of the friendliest. However, finding the rest rooms presents a major challenge - alternatively, just keep dancing.

Jl. Kemang Raya no.24 Jakarta Selatan, Phone (021) 7193854
Operating Hours:
Sunday, Munday, Tuesday, Thursday : 17.00—02.00
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday : 17.00—03.00

Relevant Topic:

• Jakarta Sights and Attractions
• Jakarta - The City With A Million Charms

Pasola - Sumba Island

The Pasola is held each year on the island of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. The name comes from the word ola or hola, meaning "spear". Two opposing teams vie to throw spears while racing on small horses. The contest is held in an open field, witnessed by local people and both domestic and foreign tourists.

The Pasola is part of a series of Sumbanese ritual related to the animist belief Marapu. The critical ceremony is the Nyale, the gathering of sea worms; this is followed by the Pasola.

Slaughtering chickens and making ketupat (rice cooked in woven coconut leaves) are other essential aspects of this series of rituals, held in several locations on Sumba, including Wanukaka. These auguries foretell the fate of those who will take part in the Pasila. If a chicken continues to bleed from its intestines or if any of the cooked ketupat are reddish or brownish, these are held to b bead signs, indicating that family members taking part in the Pasola may be injured or even killed.

In the evening, community leaders observe the appearance of the full moon and pray facing in the direction of the full moon. From this, they can determine the precise position of the moon and the presence of waves along the coast, indicating that Nyale season has come. When conditions are right, sea worms - nyale - appear in great numbers, making hem easy to catch, so the villagers assemble and start hunting the nyale.

The annual appearance of the nyale is then celebrated through the Pasola ceremony. The Nyale and Pasola rituals are based on several local folk tales. One was about three brothers from Waiwuang village who went to sea for many months. One of he wives was sure they had died, and so she remarried. When the fishermen returned (still alive), her husband felt insulted. But the problem was amicably resolved by setting several requirements for the woman and her new husband; one was that they had to offer a bunch of live sea worms. So every year, the people of Sumba hunt nyale, and follow this with the Pasola celebration.

Hundred of participants, from many villages throughout Sumba, are involved in the Pasola. The games start when the prefix pa is added, giving the words pa-hola. The spectators are always very excited when watching the spears flying, and they have to take care not to be hit themselves if one goes astray.

Spectators, including the womenfolk related to the competing teams, cheer on the competitors; the cheering itself is another major attraction of the ceremony. The contest has no set rules; basically, each player has the right to focus on anyone from the opposite team and try to unhorse him. Players can only attack from his horse. However, even those who have been unhorsed stay in the Pasola until it ends, provided they have the stamina. These days, the competitions last for about three hours, though in the past they continued much longer.

As well as being skilled at throwing a spear while riding a horse, a Pasola participant needs to be mentally prepared for possible injury or even death. Although there is no genuine hostility involved, the Pasola is a serious sport. The more people injured, the better the spectators like it; the blood is believed to make the soil fertile, bringing abundant harvest later in the year. Thus, some blood must always be spilled in each year's Pasola.