Jakarta is a city afflicted with a surplus of shopping malls, so many, in fact, that the phenomenon has metastasized into the surrounding satellite areas. Some of these peripheral zones have undergone sufficiently robust development to emerge as self-sustaining urban townships. This afternoon, I paid a visit to one such district: Alam Sutera.
Among Jakartans, Alam Sutera is almost reflexively associated with IKEA, and for good reason, as the outlet here holds the distinction of being both the first and the largest IKEA in Indonesia. Adjacent to it, I discovered a venue I had been previously unaware of: Jakarta Premium Outlet. The name, it must be said, is something of a misnomer, given that the complex is not situated in Jakarta proper but in Alam Sutera, Tangerang, approximately an hour away by public transit.
Jakarta Premium Outlet houses an array of stores representing a number of prominent international brands. I had gone in search of Onitsuka Tiger, but left empty-handed.
What distinguishes the complex architecturally is its open-air configuration, a marked departure from the conventional enclosed mall format. It presents itself more as a promenade of outlets arranged along pedestrian corridors, liberally furnished with benches, decorative ponds, and fountains. The fountains, incidentally, warrant a note of their own. Jakarta harbors a peculiar civic obsession with them.
The heat today was considerable. I ended up mildly dehydrated, though I did accumulate a respectable step count in the process.
Despite failing to secure the Onitsuka footwear I came for, I find myself thinking that an excursion here by public transit could make for a rather agreeable escape from the claustrophobic density of Jakarta on a slow day.
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