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The Bitter Truth: On Jakarta’s A-Rated Girls

(JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

My guy friends always tell me how it’s easy to find beautiful girls in this city. “They’re everywhere around us,” they claim.



Today’s girls seem to know how to make themselves look good – they go to the mall and buy the latest branded items. Besides buying the right clothes, bags and shoes, girls in Jakarta they like to spend hours at the salon, getting their hair fixed or having their faces massaged.



Any guy who has a girlfriend has probably experienced it: Frustrated and waiting in the car and trying to figure out what kind of a haircut that their girlfriend is getting inside the beauty parlor. But men know they don’t have the right to complain because girls always look amazing after this terrible, time-consuming hair treatment.



There are lots of beautiful girls in Jakarta – we don’t need to debate it. “You’ll see at least five beautiful girls when you go to the mall in this city,” one of my friends likes to say.



And it’s a common perception among guys in Jakarta that a pretty woman is supposed to be arrogant and selfish. “Well, she’s beautiful, what can you expect?” is the phrase guys use to express their frustration. They know all too well that a good-looking girl always plays hard to get – she rejects your calls and she doesn’t reply your text messages. When you ask for her BlackBerry pin, she’ll act dumb, giving you silly excuses. 



But if beautiful girls are easy to find, most men will also agree that nice girls are not yet extinct in this city. Thank god for that! Where do we find nice, polite girls in Jakarta? Some feel that mosques and churches are where you can find them. “I mean, you shouldn’t expect to find a nice, descent girl at the nightclub,” one of my friends said. But based on how unpredictable the Big Durian can be, I don’t think that’s a valid statement. 



Nice girls are the ones who always smile at you no matter what you say or do – they will offer you help when you need it and give you their phone number without hesitation. “Of course, you can call me anytime,” a nice girl will tell you.



As guys will often complain, the messed up part is when you try to find a girl who’s beautiful and nice. “It’s damn difficult to find that kind of a girl,” guys in Jakarta always protest.  



When there’s a girl who has these two attributes, let’s call her an A-rated girl, guys will simply go mad. Without any doubt, these A-rated girls are treated like angels in this city. They’re so rare, we men would kill each other if we had to. Men would literally do anything to get their attention, including lying about their jobs or buying expensive flowers. 



We guys have experienced it all: Our silent office changes instantly when an A-rated girl starts to work with us – the once peaceful work area immediately becomes a war zone, as every guy fumbles over themselves trying to impress her, a scene that will disgust other girls. 


Girls think that men act this way because most of them are childish, which may be a correct assumption. But again, this happens because men believe that A-rated girls are very scarce. And we might have a point, as noted by a friend of mine: “Look, how many A-rated girls are out there who are still single?”

To many, the answer is none. And this explains why many guys seem to rush to get married, although they’ve only gone out with their girlfriends for a few months. It’s not because they’re financially ready, as they always lie, it’s simply because they’ve found the precious A-rated girl. “I have to marry her before she changes her mind,” these guys might think.



Marrying an A-rated girl is what every man in this city dreams of. They think it’s a trophy that’s far more valuable than a shiny Ferrari car. Girls complain why men can’t just settle for a good, polite woman. “It’s how she treats you,” they say. Many girls I know say that physical beauty should be secondary in a relationship. That might be true, but unfortunately men were born to think differently. 



I hate to admit this, but men (again, especially men in this city) are, well, greedy. One is never good enough for us, we always want more. And unlike women, men praise physical beauty above everything.



Girls will of course disagree. But men truly think that this is another bitter truth about Jakarta. Not only do men have to face a tough life every day – living in a society that believes men have to put food on the table – they have to accept that they can only marry an A-rated girl in their dreams.

Jakarta Jungle follows the stories and views of individuals from every walk of life in our maddening, bustling, and colorful city.