The Mega Car Show/ other sites

The IIAS (Indonesian International Auto Show) was held the end of August at the new Indonesian Convention and Expo (ICE) center in BSD (a city near Jakarta). We decided to go. We also decided we were going to surprise Oky and buy him a ticket.

The show opened at 10:00 and we wanted to be there at 10:00 as we were told it would be very busy later in the day. Saturday morning, Oky picked us up early and we headed off. As we approached the ICE center, traffic got really bad. Just as we were about to turn onto the main street to approach ICE, a police escort blocked our way as the Jakarta Porsche Club proceeded through the intersection. We snuck in with them and leveraged their escort to cover the remaining distance to the expo quickly. 

Oky couldn’t drop us off in front ( no one could be dropped off right in front) and said he would have to park and we would walk; for reference, this meant crossing the street and walking maybe 50 m to the entrance. This was fine with us! As he parked, I said to Oky will you walk with us? He said of course Pak. He thought we wanted it for security reasons. Then I said to him. You’re coming too. After all, Oky is a car buff. He was all excited and we set off.

We bought our tickets (about 4.50 USD each) and got in line to enter. Here is a picture of the line (YES, this is the uncrowded period). 

We went in, agreed with Oky to meet in 2 hours, and separated. The ICE center is massive. 10 interconnecting  halls. 

We entered at Hall 1 and found all kinds of stands and displays for everything automotive. This ranged from customization, to wax, to seats to…. Next came the truck area. Many different versions of everything from buses to carry your scooter, to troop transports, ambulances, cement mixers, ice cream and freezer trucks to… There were a  multitude of manufacturers from all over the world.

We found the interconnecting passageway to Hall 5 (BMW and Mini). From there on it was smooth sailing and we found the main hall.

The dress of the “workers and models” varied immensely from “classic car show” garb of short shorts and tight t-shirts with beautiful models (note they were very willing to take a picture with you (note2: we did not take advantage of this)), to dress suits and ties. Jaguar had a live pianist. Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Porsche had well-trained people willing to schedule a test drive at your convenience. At Hyundai and Suzuki, their personnel had notebooks with brochures and prices for any car and one could buy it there and then. These cars are entry level here and so very popular. The Hyundai saleswoman was the most pushy and kept handing us information, price sheets, showing us features of her cars etc. 

At the Audi area, we discussed our old A4 and asked about why no A6 on display. The response?  Oh yes, Pak, we have them and can order anything you want. At Lexus, they had the new RX (in fact this one had a left hand drive) and the new (to Indonesia) ES350H. Despite being available in the US for the last 3 or 4 years, it had been available here for only 3 days. 

Here is one example of the customization that is available. This one combines the "superhero" aspect with traffic control. The gatling gun in front will certainly be one way to keep someone from cutting you off.

On the outer hallway, there were many, many food and drink stands. At first, B was puzzled as they all said ICE Food Stand. Yet, they were serving HOT food. Do you get it?  (Recall ICE is not ice as in cold but Indonesian Convention and Expo center).

All in all it was a great cultural experience and worth crowd watching. Over the 9 days of the show (note the first day is only for the press and VVVIPs) more than 500,000 people attended.It was really getting packed with people when we left. After our 2 hour sojourn, we met back up with Oky who had picked up a large number of brochures and was waiting at the entrance for us. He had had a great time. So did we. 

Completely off the topic of the car show, near the auto show we saw this place. Research revealed this is an educational facility called The Froggy Edutography. It is allegedly inspired by the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and the purpose is to guide young Islamic generations to achieve their goals. There is a 3-part program which includes the formal, the informal and non-formal.  It's supposed to look like it is floating.

There isn't much around it, but the area is supposed to be the next thing to be developed so the surroundings will change in the future.