We are headed to Hong Kong in a few days to meet up with some of our old friends/neighbors from Texas that currently live in Shanghai. I wanted to get some souvenirs to take with me for my friends’ children. I was thinking more along the lines of T-shirts with pictures or words that had something about Indonesia or Jakarta on them. I put off shopping until the last minute, and this week is filled with activities at school for UN Day and Thanksgiving. I had been worried that I would not be able to find time to make it down to Blok M or Pasa Raya to look for shirts or souvenirs.
I was at a friend’s house this morning and she told me about a shop called Bintara that is close to where I live. She described Bintara as a kind of mini Pasa Raya where you can buy all sorts of Indonesian handicrafts.
I headed to Bintara and found all sorts of things. I didn’t have much time to browse, but I was able to find some fun souvenirs for my friends. The prices at Bintara are extremely reasonable. I found them to be considerably less expensive than at Pasa Raya. There were tables that had clearance merchandise marked 40% off. Also, I received various discounts ranging from 10 to 20% on items that had not been marked for sale. I really wish I had more time to browse. I also wish I had brought my camera. Generally I try to have my point-and-shoot in my purse but I downloaded some pictures last night and forgot to put the camera back.
I forgot to mention that the salespeople were very friendly and the few that I spoke with all spoke at least a little english. I’m sure I will be back to Bintara sometime in the near future. I would love to browse their entire collection of art, handicrafts, and souvenirs which is spread out over 3 floors. It is definitely not as large a collection as can be found at Pasa Raya, but it is also not as overwhelming. I really enjoyed the short time that I was able to spend at Bintara this morning.
Bintara Art Gallery Jakarta
Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No.43
Blok Q, Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan
Phone: 021-7251442
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