The Horticulturalist

Hey folks,

been a super long time since I posted here, I've been living in the USA since 2008 and there's a possibility of us moving to Jakarta next year so I'm trying to amass as much information as possible. I gather my US electronics won't work without a converter plug or something similar, but what about British electronics?

Really what I'm wondering is if things like slow cookers and Electric Pressure Cookers (like the Instant Pot) are readily available there, and if yes, would the purchase price be similar or significantly more? I know some of my Indian Australian friends can't easily get the Instant Pot brand of pressure cooker so I thought if it would work, I'd just get one in the UK if we moved. Got to get my priorities straight! 😂

And not related to electronics, but what about vegetables like green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini? Are they hard to come by? Lest you think I've totally lost the plot, I run a website business with recipes geared toward a US based audience so just musing about what produce overlap there will be...

Thanks so much!

Davita

Hi Horticulturist...from Mississippi...wow long intro already.
The electrical power in Indonesia is the same as UK..... 240VAC/50 hertz. so all equipment that operates from that, or all electronic stuff that transforms down like chargers, etc. will work. You will need different plugs but they are plentiful and cheap here.To use a USA pot or otherwise will need a large transformer which...unless talking about an electric toothbrush you really like, IMO isn't worth the effort. Chinese made electrical pots, rice cookers, etc are cheap in Indonesia. Quality imported products from UK etc may be more expensive as they are seen as luxury items.
Most kitchen equipment like frigs, water dispenser, cookers etc is available and plentiful in Indonesia. The only thing I'd think about is a good Ozzie or Weber BBQ...they are pricey here.
Indonesia is a very agricultural country and most vegetables are found in markets and really cheap. Imported products are available in the western type supermarkets but the price is higher. Especially hard to find, and pay for, is decent cheese. Every time we go West Coast be bring back a suitcase of cheese from Costco.
Fire any questions and I'll attempt answers.

The Horticulturalist

Thanks so much Davita, all very helpful details!

No cheese eh? That might be a deal breaker!

We have a gas weber Genesis with bottled propane (I think it's propane..) will that sort of thing work or is it usually just charcoal grills? I would imagine I could get some sort of adapter for the gas bottle if it doesn't fit.

I'm sure have many, many questions if this move looks like it might go ahead, we won't know for a little while. For now I'm trying to wrap my head around potentially moving to the other side of the world to a place I've never been and that's so totally different to what I'm familiar with. I did the backpacker thing in Thailand way way back in the day (1995) and then lived in Australia for a year after that but it was a long time ago, lol! I'm not quite so intrepid now and have a husband and two teenagers.

One thing I did notice was that flights on Orbitz appear to be quite a bit cheaper than to Europe, I don't know if that is typical or if I just happened on some cheaper low season dates (I picked random midweek dates in October) So I'm in Mississippi, I put in flights from Jackson to Jakarta. They came back starting at around $900, and the business class seats were not much over $2K. By way of comparison we flew home to Scotland via London last year in July. We paid $1534 for a return ticket to London from here, in economy class.

Davita

Your Weber will need an adapter to fit the LPG bottles here. LPG is widely used for cooking.
Most expats here I know use EVA Air for their flights to USA....although most airlines are dropping prices all the time. A month ago we used Cathay Pacific JFK to HKG and Bali...but I get discount as I used to fly for the airline.

The Horticulturalist

Hi Davita,

I spent much of yesterday reading and researching everything I could about Indonesia and Jakarta in particular, and I may have found the deal breaker - the high rate of smoking.

I went down an internet rabbit hole of trying find out as much info about all that as I could, from the unenforced laws related to smoking indoors and in public places to reading that Indonesia has the highest smoking rates in the world. I don't think I can step back in time 35 years and take my kids into cafes and restaurants that have clouds of cigarette smoke, I have a really hard time with it (My in--laws used to smoke and we stopped staying overnight in their house because of it)

For all the other cultural things I think I could potentially get used to them or learn to live with it over time, but I can't see a way round this. How bad is it really? If we were there my husband would be in a pretty well paid job, I think we would be living in or near Karawaci, Tangerang (not sure if I got that area right)

Throw me a bone here, is it possible to live there and avoid the smoky places? Are there malls, places to eat, cafes that are entirely smoke free?

Davita

I agree with your smoking issue as neither my wife nor I indulge. It can be a problem in the side-street warungs (local restaurants) but all malls are smoke-free as are the restaurants inside. Some malls, and the airport, have smoking rooms. All public buildings are smoke-free except for the aforesaid smoking rooms and, as far as I can tell, it is enforced. BTW some of Jakarta's malls are the best, cleanest and are of world-class architecture...it's amazing such a shitty city hosts some of the best hotels, malls and cinemas worldwide. The decorations inside malls at Xmas leave New York looking old fashioned.
I'm familiar with Karawachi in Tangerang...it is quite a way out of the city but a pleasant area to live and bring up your kids. It is a University town and connected to the greater BSD complex where hundreds of housing complexes are being built on the UK village style (think Milton Keyes). Some complexes are gated for security and the houses are very attractive to the western eye. Most yuppy Indonesians want to live in that area as there are plenty schools, shops, parks etc. However you will need a car. Most expats like ourselves employ a driver as Indonesian driving is iffy.

The Horticulturalist

Davita,

Again, thanks so much for your response, it's very helpful!

Bottom line is we need to go and see what it's like I think, it's hard to put all the pieces together from the other side of the world. I did do a google streetview of some streets in that area, I Also found areas that honestly looked like American streets with bookstores and coffee shops at the foot of the tall buildings and were laid out in a similar manner.

I have the additional challenge of having Celiac Disease, as does my 14 year old, but I think I can work around that as America is about 10 years behind the UK on gluten free - everywhere does it here now, but many restaurants here still don't understand what it really is or how to prepare gluten free food safely with the exception of hipster cities like NYC, LA etc.

I rarely eat out here and I'm totally fine with that, I have just one or two places I go to that I know to be safe. I had a quick glance at some of the most popular Indonesian dishes, I suspect many of them have soy sauce as an ingredient which would rule out eating it in a restaurant (you can get GF soy sauce, but restaurants don't routinely cook with it)

Anyway, thanks again!