Shop till you drop

Indonesia is second to none when it comes to shopping. Its factory outlets for international lifestyle brands next to indigenous handicraft shops are an exciting way to de-stress from a day’s work

There is no dearth of shops and malls in Indonesia. Whether it is lifestyle products or local handicraft, visitors will find the choice as well as the price intriguing. Shopping in Indonesia cannot be complete without visiting the many factory outlets in Bandung. There are four main areas in Bandung for these factory outlets – Jalan Setia budi, Jalan Riau, Dago District and Cihampelas area.

The Rumah Mode factory outlet is the mother-of-all factory outlets. It gets super crowded on weekends and holidays so picking a weekday for this would be a good idea. Weekends are also famous for the traffic jams on Bandung roads so these two days are avoidable. Since it is the largest factory outlet in Bandung, most of the locals and even Indonesians from other parts of the country come here to shop. The long line of shops selling denims on Cihampelas Street is also interesting.

Bali is another shopping haven but for completely different reasons. While it has many modern malls, the best buys from Bali are souvenirs and locally made handicraft products. The Celuk viilage is known for its gold and silver jewellery made by local artists. One can even see them at work. The Mas village is close to Ubud in Bali and houses wooden craftsmen who produce fascinating work of art. Discover superb collection of wood art that span traditional forms to modern interpretations of classic Balinese scenes.

Jakarta, being the capital city, has many malls and shopping options. ITC Mangga Dua, one of the city’s many retail landmarks, cannot be missed. It is huge! Resembling a factory building more than a mall, ITC Mangga Dua is packed with stalls selling everything from clothes, bags, home décor, food, etc.It forms only one part of the colossal Mangga Dua shopping district which consists of six main shopping centres – Mangga Dua Mall, Harco Mas Mangga Dua, Mangga Dua WTC, ITC Mangga Dua, Dusit Mangga Dua and Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua.

Hundreds of shops are crammed onto six levels. The wholesale centre operates from 10am to 6pm.