---
type: Country
title: Indonesia
description: Harry's observations from the country he lives in — Jakarta's MRT and skyline, street food he rates above the restaurants, a fake-goods economy sold openly, and Bali's communal water system.
tags: [indonesia, southeast-asia, jakarta, street-food]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# Indonesia

Indonesia is the one country in the bundle Harry lives in. His material splits
in two: a 2022 trip to [Jakarta](/places/jakarta.md), where the running theme is
that the country is not what he expected — a skyline he compares to New York, a
metro better than any he had ridden, street food he rates above the restaurant
food — and a 2025 behind-the-scenes day at home in [Bali](/places/bali.md),
where he has been based for over a year.

## Observations

### From [My First Time In JAKARTA, Indonesia (New York or Asia??) 🇮🇩](/videos/oLogbvAxwpw.md)

- **Scale**: over 270 million people, among the largest populations in the
  world, with Jakarta itself over 10 million.
- **The islands are not fully counted.** The government's figure is around
  18,000 (from video – unverified) and more are still being identified — a
  point Harry and Luke both make about Indonesia and the Philippines together.
- **English is a Bali thing, not an Indonesia thing.** Harry finds English near
  universal in Bali and thin on the ground in Jakarta, which he treats as an
  argument for learning some Bahasa rather than a problem.
- **Street food is often as good as or better than the restaurant food**, which
  he says is unusual — in most countries the relationship runs the other way.
  It is also everywhere rather than concentrated in food streets, so the good
  stalls tend not to appear on Google Maps.
- **Prayer breaks close shops** during the day; a barber Luke wanted to visit
  was shut for one.
- **Football is the common language**: essentially everyone Harry meets supports
  Manchester United, and naming a player opens a conversation.
- **Fake goods are sold in the open**, alongside phone cases and electronics in
  ordinary markets, and sellers say plainly that the stock comes from China.
- **Travel insurance**: the video's sponsor segment states that insurance is
  required to enter Indonesia (from video – unverified — this is an
  advertisement read, not something Harry verifies on camera).

### From [I Spent $600 in Jakarta's Fake Market 🇮🇩](/videos/3qihOYEn4r0.md)

- **The counterfeit trade runs in the open**, in an ordinary multi-storey mall
  with salons and food courts between the units. A seller asked directly whether
  the police are a problem says they aren't.
- **Sellers don't pretend.** Asked, they confirm the goods are fake and made in
  China; the argument they make is about build quality, not authenticity, and
  Harry's counter-argument in every haggle is that a fake shouldn't be priced
  like the original.
- **Everyone offers a "special price"**, often enough that Harry starts asking
  whether he is in fact special.
- **Card payments carry a surcharge** — 3% added at one shop, stated up front.
- **Essentials, made in Vietnam, is the brand Indonesian buyers ask for**, per a
  streetwear seller.
- **Branded shops are fixed-price.** The DJI store won't discount at all and
  there is no tourist discount, which makes the point that the haggling economy
  has a hard boundary.
- **Imported electronics cost slightly more than at home**: a DJI Mini 2 at 7
  million rupiah, which Harry converts to roughly £400–450.

### From [The Side of Bali You Don't See | BTS with the ProArt PX13](/videos/JzZBUFvIbO8.md)

- **Bali is where Harry lives**, and has for over a year at the time of filming
  — the Canggu and Pererenan side of the island, among remote workers.
- **Costs against the UK**: activities run at roughly a quarter of British
  prices, and services come to you rather than the other way round.
- **Balinese Hinduism** has far more holidays than most countries. Galungan is
  the major one; Nyepi, the day of silence, halts all activity for 24 hours.
- **Village temples welcome visitors.** Harry turned off the road to Tanah Lot
  for a local temple, was invited in, given an offering to carry and shown what
  to do, and was asked for nothing.
- **Subak**, the communal irrigation system, shares water between rice fields
  under different ownership — old, unmechanised, and dependent on nobody taking
  more than their share.
- **Farming is now the exception.** Harry's observation is that the farmers are
  the only people around him still doing hard physical work.
- **The food scene runs both ways** — cheap food is the island's reputation, but
  any cuisine is available any day of the week at restaurant level.

## Places

- [Jakarta](/places/jakarta.md)
- [Bali](/places/bali.md)