Shopping in Indonesia
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Pasar Burung
Elsewhere in Denpasar, a short distance north on Jl Veteran, Pasar Burung is a bird market with hundreds of caged birds and small animals for sale, including guinea pigs, rabbits and monkeys. There are also gaudy birdcages. An impromptu dog market also operates directly opposite the bird market. While you're here, have a look at the elaborate Pura Sutriya, just east of the market.
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Zen
Offers a 90-minute mandi lulur (Javanese body scrub) and a spice bath (160,000Rp).
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Mirota Batik
Miota Batik is a fixed-price shop on Jl Malioboro and a good place to start shopping.
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Kou
Luxurious handmade organic soaps produced locally. Put one in your undies drawer and smell fine for weeks.
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HS
Marginally cheaper; always ask for a substantial discount off the marked prices.
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Pasar Beringharjo
Yogya’s main market, 800m north of the kraton, is a lively and fascinating place. The renovated front section has a wide range of batik – mostly inexpensive batik cap (stamped batik) – while the 2nd floor is dedicated to cheap clothes and shoes. Most interesting of all, though, is the old section towards the back. Crammed with warungs and stalls selling a huge variety of fruit and vegetables, this is still very much a traditional market. The range of rempah rempah (spices) on the 1st floor is quite something.
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Jeans Street
Advertising is one thing, but a 20ft-high plaster statue of Rambo? Bandung's celebrated 'Jeans' Street, Jl Cihampelas, is the place where seeing is believing. Traditionally the home of the city's thriving textile industry, this congested drag, in the affluent northern suburbs of Bandung, is now a menagerie of kitsch plaster giants, looming over shops competing with one another for the top spot in the city's booming denim trade.
The jeans are definitely cheap; just don't expect to look like a Dean or a Monroe when you slip them on.
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Kube Dharma Bakti Massage Centre
Many Balinese wouldn't think of having a massage from anyone but a blind person. Government-sponsored schools offer lengthy courses to certify blind people in reflexology, shiatsu massage, anatomy and much more. Usually graduates work together in group-locations such as Kube Dharma Bakti Massage Centre. In this airy building redolent with liniments, you can choose from a range of therapies and contribute to a very good cause at the same time.
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Markets
For souvenirs, try the numerous shops on the main street, or one of the various 'art markets'. Sanur Beach Market (off Jl Segara Ayu) has a wide selection. Pasar Sindhu Art Market (off Jl Danau Tamblingan), the maze-like Shindu Beach Market (south of Jl Pantai Sindhu) and Jaya Kesuma Art Market (Jl Mertasani) have numerous stalls selling T-shirts, sarongs, woodcarvings and other dubious items.
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Pasar Inpres
The main market is the rambling Pasar Inpres off Jl Soeharto in the south of the city. It's mostly fruit and vegetables, but some ikat and handicrafts can be found in stores near the Terminal. Bizarre ti'i langga (conical hats) from Rote make a fun purchase, but try fitting one in your backpack.
To get there, take bemo 1 or 2 and follow the crowd when you get off.
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Jl Somba Opu Shopping Strip
Jl Somba Opu Shopping Strip has plenty of shops with great collections of jewellery, 'antiques' and souvenirs, including crafts from all over Indonesia, such as Kendari filigree silver jewellery, Torajan handicrafts, Chinese pottery, Makassarese brass work, and silk cloth from Sengkang. Shopping centres are the place to be for most Makassarese.
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CV Keramik Pejaten
About 10km south of Tabanan is Pejaten, a centre for the production of traditional pottery, including elaborate ornamental roof tiles and porcelain clay objects made purely for decorative use. Check out this small showroom with its trademark pale-green pieces, which are lovely, and when you see the prices, you’ll at least buy a toad.
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Cendana Resort & Spa
Cendana Resort & Spa has a nice set up, including an open-air Jacuzzi. The couples' massage room is particularly pleasant. One-day use of the hotel's pool, sauna and steam room is available for US$5. You can have a bath of mud or milk with your massage or try one Hawaiian-style, which involves lots of aromatic oils.
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Aladdin
Souvenir shops line Jl Ahmad Yani. Poke your head into Tanjung Raya Art Shop and Aladdin. Box collectors can look out for a couple of Minangkabau versions. Salapah panjang (long boxes) are brass boxes used for storing lime and tobacco; salapah padusi are silver boxes for storing betel nut and lime.
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Tanjung Raya Art Shop
Souvenir shops line Jl Ahmad Yani. Poke your head into Tanjung Raya Art Shop and Aladdin. Box collectors can look out for a couple of Minangkabau versions. Salapah panjang (long boxes) are brass boxes used for storing lime and tobacco; salapah padusi are silver boxes for storing betel nut and lime.
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Pelangi Weaving
The village of Sidemen has a spectacular location and is a centre for culture and arts, particularly endek cloth and songket. Pelangi Weaving has a couple of dozen employees busily creating downstairs, while upstairs you can relax with the Sidemen views from comfy chairs outside the showroom.
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Pasar Ikan
On the east beach is Pangandaran's fish market, and arguably the best place for fresh seafood. Pick out what you want from the selection of fresh seafood at the front of the warungs here and pay according to weight. The market is to the north, near the post office (not the wholesale fish market to the south).
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Galeal Supermarket
If the hot weather is just too much, duck into Swensen's for an ice-cream, although be warned it doesn't taste like the real deal. Upstairs in the same food court above the well-stocked Galeal Supermarket is Kantin Baik dan Murah turning out good, cheap Indonesian food at an affordable price.
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Jl Dr Rajiman
Jl Dr Rajiman, which runs along the southern edge of the alun-alun, is the goldsmiths street. Buy gold in the Chinese shops and have its weight and purity verified by the streetside gold testers along Jl Dr Rajiman and the side street of Jl Reksoniten near the kraton.
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Batavia 1885
It's not a shop it's an adventure. Who knows what you'll find in this musty, dusty lit by just a couple lights. Urns, bowls, forlorn puppets, statues and a lot more. You'll be asking 'is this a Ming original of a Balinese knock-off. Look for the plates embedded in the wall outside.
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Pasar Badung
A must-see destination: shoppers browse and bargain from 5am to night. It's a retail adventure and you'll find produce and food from all over the island as well as easy-to-assemble temple offerings that are popular with working women. Deals include a half-kilo of saffron for 250,000Rp. Ignore guides who may offer their services. This is one of the better places to see Bali's myriad types of fruit.
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Pasar Ikan
Further along the same street from the Museum Bahari is the early-morning Pasar Ikan. It's an intense, colourful scene of busy crowds around dawn, when the day's catch is sold. Later in the day it sells household items and a growing collection of souvenirs.
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Main Pasar
Pangandaran is famous for its excellent seafood. For cheap Indonesian food, the town has dozens of warungs, especially along the southern end of the west beach. The main pasar, near the bus terminal, is the place to stock up on fruit and groceries.
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Pasar Seni
The euphemistically named Pasar Seni is a busy two-storey place that sells a wide range of clothing, sarongs, footwear and souvenirs of variable quality at negotiable prices. Decent souvenirs include leather goods, batiks, baskets and silverware.
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