There's Something Magical Happening in North Jakarta

Pantai Indah Kapuk takes planning. To anyone who lives in South, Central, or East Jakarta—let alone its suburbs—the neighborhood, locally known as PIK, is seriously far. It's still in the city, but it's all the way up there on the edge, right along the Jakarta Bay.

But it's about as unique as it is far. PIK is one of the city's few planned neighborhoods. Years ago, it was all swamp and mangrove forests. Today, it's a place full of some of the city's best restaurants, massage places, and bars—as well as the enormous homes of some really rich people. We wanted to profile some of the spots in PIK to counter claims that North Jakarta is only full of poorer, working class neighborhoods and stodgy old money spots.

So after years of hearing good things about PIK, I finally took the plunge and headed north to see what's up with all the hype. Our first destination was supposed to be Sushi Hiro, but that place is still so popular that the waits can last forever. I ducked into a dessert place to eat a snack before the hostess called our name.

Cake a Boo
It felt pretty sinful to eat dessert before having a proper meal. But who really cares right? YOLO and all of that. Cake a Boo is probably as close as any of us will ever get to a real-life Willy Wonka factory. It's so colorful. I was wearing a colorful outfit, so it ended up being the perfect place for some selfies.

Cake a Boo has a revolving dessert bar and I grabbed something called a Sakura Velvet cake off the belt. The slice was pink and made of actual sakura flowers. I felt like Suzzanna eating all those flowers, but I doubt jasmine would ever taste this good.

I also ordered something called the Gentlemen's Shake, which was apparently a chocolate milkshake with a huge piece of cotton candy on top. There were no photos of the drink on the menu and I think that's on purpose because there's no way you would expect a Gentlemen's Shake to look anything like that.

Sushi Hiro
Good things come to those who wait. Sushi Hiro opened its PIK location a while ago (there's a few more now, including one near our office), but the hype still hasn't died down. There is almost always a wait, and once we got inside, it was worth it.

The menu was so thick that it took us a while to decide. But the server suggested Hiro Aburi Sushi, which contains six different kinds of sushi and something called the Salmon Rock `n Roll. They all looked pretty small, but after four pieces I was super full.

Tim Ho Wan
Tim Ho Wan is a Hong Kong institution. Over there, it's a slightly greasy, but still delicious dim sum joint. It's the same thing here in PIK, and that's what makes it so good. We ate a BBQ pork bao, some steamed meatballs mixed with tofu skin, shrimp dumplings, and dim sum with sesame sauce.

Yu Yuan Tang
The food was great, but this reflexology center was the real reason I wanted to come to PIK. You need to walk to the back of a ramen place and ride a nondescript elevator up to floor after floor of private massage rooms. Yu Yuan Tang is known for having amazingly skilled masseuses and really affordable prices. A 75-minute session with a senior therapist cost me Rp 100,000 ($7.50 USD). Not bad, right?

My therapist led me to a dimly lit room with a pair of large black recliners. I took a seat and dipped my feet into a bucket filled with hot water and herbs. The bottom of the bucket was grooved an it felt like I was walking in those reflexology sandals.

As my feet soaked the therapist worked on my head. She accidentally erased my eyebrow pencil, but I didn't care because 1) I'm polite and 2) I was in heaven. My neck and back massage felt amazing too.

Thirty minutes later I was leaned back with the masseuse working on my feet. A pillow full of warmed-up salt was behind my back. The therapist hammered my feet like Misery in the 90s. The soles of my feet were cupped with hot glass. The whole thing was over in no time and I was back downstairs paying my bill. I honestly don't have a lot of experience with massages, but I have a feeling that reflexology is a bit like a toxic relationship—sometimes it hurts so bad, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.