It is always a recommended idea to visit a souvenir shop when traveling somewhere. Because when we travel to a place, we usually want to make some memories of it, and one of the ways that you can do that is by buying some souvenirs. Tangible things like souvenirs can be the memorabilia that you can put at your home as decorations or you can give to other family members or friends as a gift. One tip is that you should find an authentic souvenir that originally comes from the country or area that you visited. Below, we have curated some places in Jakarta that you can visit to buy some souvenirs.

• Jalan Surabaya
  If you are looking for some ancient souvenirs from Indonesia or other countries, you can visit Jalan Surabaya as an option. Jalan Surabaya is a flea market where you can find oldie-but-goodie stuff located in Menteng in Central Jakarta and considered as one of the interesting places to visit. There are many options of things you can buy here. For example, antique lamps, wooden statues, old coins, ceramics, vinyl records, cameras, CDs, suitcases, and many other things. The price range is varied from tens of thousands to millions of Rupiah. But, since the price is not a fixed one, you must bargain for at least half the stated price to get the best price. When you visit this place, you will be amazed by the number of varieties of things sold here that come from many different countries, or even probably come from your home country.
• Pasar Baru
  Pasar Baru is the oldest shopping place in Jakarta that was built in 1820. This is a one stop shopping place you can visit where you can do several things at the same time, such as shopping, culinary, and religious visits to a big mosque located around 500 meters from Pasar Baru, Istiqlal, and a gothic ancient church, Katedral, that was built in 1810 and officiated in 1901. There are many shops that you can visit in Pasar Baru, namely a department store, textile shops, shoes shops, bookstores, sport and music shops, souvenir shops, batik shops, restaurants, and many other shops. It is a kind of place where you can get everything you need at one place including enjoying several old restaurants that have been operating for many years like Bakmi Gang Kelinci that started their business in 1957. This place is worth visiting because besides enjoying the shopping vibe, you can also see the Chinese and European architecture style applied to shops here.
  
  
• Thamrin City
  This place is highly recommended because you can have many variants of batik at reasonable prices, and you can try to bargain to get the best price. It is advisable to visit Thamrin City on weekdays since it is usually very crowded on weekends. Thamrin City is located near Grand Indonesia in Central Jakarta, and you will be surprised with the more reasonable price you can get at this place rather than at certain high-end malls. Besides retails, you can also buy for wholesales here at affordable rates, so enjoy your shopping spree at Thamrin City!
  
  
• Sarinah
  Sarinah is a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) which was initiated by the Proclaimer of Indonesia, President Soekarno, to accommodate the trading activities of domestic products and encourage Indonesia’s economic growth. This department store was officiated on 15th August 1966 that also marked its presence as the first shopping center in indonesia. The name of Sarinah itself was taken from the name of one of President Soekarno’s caregivers in childhood. The deep impression of the greatness of the soul of the caregiver inspired the embedding of the name. Here, at Sarinah, you can find many options to buy, for example batik, tenun, songket, tapis, ulos, lurik, kain Endek Bali, traditional kebaya, handicrafts, home decorations, options for restaurants, and rooms for rent. You can enjoy shopping and the beauty and authenticity of Indonesia in this place.
  
  
• UKM Gallery SMESCO
  SMESCO is a brand of the Cooperative and SME Marketing Service Institute or Lembaga Layanan Pemasaran Koperasi dan UKM (LLP-KUKM) of the Indonesian Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs. LLP-KUKM was established in March 2007. This gallery showcases many choices for art and handicrafts from 34 provinces in Indonesia. You can get many varieties to buy that are made by some SMEs. Besides getting unique and authentic souvenirs from Indonesia, by buying from this gallery, you can also empower all craftsmen in SMEs to have quality lives. No need to worry about the quality because handcrafts and knick-knacks sold at this place have good quality and relatively have reasonable prices. You can go to the fifth floor in this building to visit the gallery and enjoy your souvenir hunting there.
  
  By visiting places mentioned above, you will have some ideas when it comes to buying souvenirs. Plus, it is originally made in Indonesia, so you can give it as an authentic souvenir or gift to someone who is not from Indonesia, and for sure they will love it. So, plan your time and budget to enjoy shopping while exploring the uniqueness of Indonesia.