Space Age clubbing comes to Old Batavia<\/p>\n
Somewhere around Monas, speeding north in a taxi at night, one
\ncrosses a psychic boundary line; a synaptic membrane in the
\ncapital's lead-poisoned brain. The concrete monotony of the
\ncentral business district gives way to the ancient ghosts of Kota
\nand the mind is filled with intoxicating images of flamboyant
\nChinese restaurants, Viagra and condom selling warung, illicit
\nhigh-stakes gambling, karaoke in heavily inverted commas,
\ntasteless neon artifices and occasional glimpses of grinding
\npoverty and squalor. It's like some kind of Sino-Indo acid trip
\ntaking hold, befuddling one's already befuddled Jakartan brain.<\/p>\n
Please note, however, that this psychic fault line cannot be
\naccessed from the busway. It's a taxi-at-night-time-or-nothing
\nI'm afraid. The only time many lily-livered South Jakartans cross
\nthis imaginary line is when they head up to the discos and clubs
\nof Kota; places where people take their recreational
\npharmaceuticals seriously.<\/p>\n
Stadium has been the center of activity of the uptown club
\nscene for a number of years. It possesses the same pleasure
\npalace vibe as the nearby Millennium and a host of other Kota
\nclubs. However, it eschews that god-awful amphetamine driven,
\nAsian teenybopper, shaky head, 200 beats per minute music that
\npredominates in those other discos in favor of decent club tunes.<\/p>\n
There is now a new club in Kota that could well challenge
\nStadium's dominance of the uptown scene. Continue north up Jl.
\nHayam Wuruk, past Kota Station on your right and head straight on
\npast Cafe Batavia. You'll eventually come to a T-junction. Turn
\nright here and about 50 yards down the road you will have arrived
\nat K7 (Jl. Kunir No.7, Tel 021 690 7575).<\/p>\n
K7's exterior resembles some kind of garish, mock Arabian
\npalace and is hilariously at odds with the surrounding colonial
\nera buildings. Inside K7 is a cyberpunk, Blade Runner-esque wet
\ndream of a club. The ground floor is more like a five-star hotel
\nlobby than a club entrance hall. There are fountains, a
\nrestaurant, a bar, pool tables and sofas.<\/p>\n
K7 has obviously been designed for those who like to relax in
\nrelative calm and chat, as well as for hardcore, head banging
\nclubbers. The quiet areas in other local clubs look like they
\nwere tacked on as an afterthought in comparison. Ultimately
\nthough, the whole place is more like a spaceship than a hotel or
\na club. The walls effervesce with computer controlled, ever-
\nchanging color and the furnishings are all opulently modernist in
\ndesign.<\/p>\n
Next to the voluminous entrance area is a disco\/bar furnished
\nwith techno-chrome chairs and an entire wall of pulsating square
\nlights that sweep through a psychedelic kaleidoscope of mood
\nenhancing colors. It's as futuristic a place as I've ever seen in
\nJakarta; even the waiters seem to be some kind of cyber-genetic
\nreplicants, although maybe that wasn't intended.<\/p>\n
Stroll upstairs at K7 past more Captain-Kirk-on-LSD lighting
\nand you'll find the obligatory karaoke floor. This floor features
\nenormous rooms, each filled with a veritable space shuttle flight
\ndeck of vast plasma TV sets and expensive hi-fi equipment. All
\nthat's missing is a Holo-deck, although I suspect that the action
\nhappening in the rooms above the karaoke floor is all too real.
\nWho needs holograms, ay? The centerpiece of K7 isn't slated to
\nopen until October however. It's a colossal, Roman Coliseum of a
\ndisco covering three floors but as yet it remains just a concrete
\nshell. When it's finally ready it should be quite breathtaking.<\/p>\n
K7 are in the middle of their "soft opening" month at the
\nmoment and we'll have to see if it can put a dent in Stadium's
\narmor-plated hull. If looks, music and luxuriousness alone were
\nthe determining factors then K7 will soon be reigning supreme on
\nthe Kota scene. However, it remains to be seen if this amazing
\nnew club can match both Stadium and Millennium in the illicit
\nthrills department.<\/p>\n
I'm hoping that it will and that when Kota finally floods for
\nthe last time like some Asian version of Thomas Mann's choleric
\nDeath in Venice, the K7 spaceship will detach from its
\nfoundations revealing the plasma-ion drive hiding in the
\nbasement. It will then blastoff into orbit where it will dock
\nwith the forthcoming Indonesian space station and a bright new
\nfuture ahead. Busway? Monorail? A space station is the next step
\nI swear, along with the hover Bajaj.<\/p>\n
--Simon Pitchforth<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/space-age-clubbing-comes-to-old-batavia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }