| I live in Jakarta, Indonesia. My monthly living expenses (adjusted from IDR to USD on current rate) 1. Apartment rent, 6 months contract at $1300 + $200 deposit, pay upfront, thus $250 monthly. It is a small apartment 1 common area, 2 tiny bedroom, and tiny balcony 2. Utilities, varying from $30 to $50, mine has 2 AC running almost 24/7, a PC with average 200 to 300 watt power draw, and 5 led light bulbs 3. Meals, 3 times a day for 1 person, $20 daily or $600 monthly (this amount considered fancy meal, you can get way cheaper meals like $2/each, way cheaper if you cook) 4. Internet, up to 100 mbps, $35 monthly. Internet quality like speed and stability will depend on area 5. Phone data, $7 monthly 6. Cigarette, I'm a heavy smoker (almost 2 packs a day), $4 daily thus $120 monthly In total: ~$1050
I don't count for entertainment, transportation (people mostly use Gojek or Grab), subscription Experience living in Jakarta from native perspective. - Language barrier, most people can talk in English, although not that fluent, hand gestures give you more power than talk - Poor pedestrian side road, if you like to walk - City full of concretes, green park almost non existent - Bad air quality - Noisy if your resident near big road or high way - Covid-19 related situation, Jakarta not the worse but people here tend to not care about this Alternative to Jakarta, I would recommend. - Bandung, cheaper living cost, small city, good air quality on most part, had lived there for 2 years - Bali, foreigner friendly, especially Ubud area for extra nature scenery, I don't recommend Denpasar Let me know if you have any question (email on my profile), as a fellow game dev I admire your dedication |
The rat race can wait , I think 6 months focused on game dev will get my game to where I need it to be. And if not, at least I had some fun.
Any big cultural shocks.