Taking a taxi in Jakarta Part II: Blue Bird and Express are still the best (generally speaking)

In May 2012 I wrote a post about taking a taxi in Jakarta (here is the link), in which I recommended to take Bluebird or Express Group Taxi. After spending many more hours in taxi in Jakarta, I feel like it is time to add some updated information.

Blue Bird Taxi

I still have mostly good experiences with Blue Bird taxis, though their drivers do not always seem to be the most knowledgeable. It happened several times that they even did not know how to get to Monas (from Kuningan), or did not know the fastest or shortest route to certain locations. In addition, they have raised their tariffs. On a 30-60 minutes trip, the difference with other taxi companies is around 15.000-20.000 rupiah. Not significant, but it makes quite a difference if you take taxi regularly.

Food tips for 'fresh' expats and tourists in Jakarta

Here are some tips from an experienced Jakarta 'food traveller' on how to prevent sickness caused by unhygienic food in Jakarta (while still being able to enjoy the wide variety of food available in this city).






There are 2 simple basic 'rules': 

1. Stick with restaurants in malls, at least for the first few days, weeks or even months. After that, try small portions in food courts in decent malls and if you really feel like your stomach can handle it, try small portions of street food. You can find pretty original food in malls, so this does not have to ruin your 'food fun'.
2. Only go to restaurants that are quite crowded and if you really want to be safe, the ones with some foreign customers that look like they have been in Indonesia for a while. The good thing is: these are probably the best restaurants anyway, because the others are often empty for a reason :-)