Yogjakarta is a renowned shopping paradise. Batik, art, wood and silver products can be found readily in Yogjakarta, often at a fraction of the price they command in Jakarta and outside of Indonesia. At Jalan Malioboro, the main thoroughfare in Yogjarkata, small warungs (stalls) selling food and trinkets line the street alongside shops, contributing to a festive atmosphere. Navigating Jalan Maliboro on weekends can be as challenging as making your way through Chinatown in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year.
Outside of the tourist strip and in certain parts of town, warungs are also a common sight. The route that Jeremiah takes every day to and from the gym, for instance, is packed with warungs on the pavement and the road shoulder. They sell a wide range of products including durians (as per the photo above), cooked food, drinks, sunglasses, rat poison and rabbits (hopefully as pets). When the locals see products that they want, they would pull over and do the necessary. From time to time, the stallholders would also tout passerbys.
Obviously, the overhead for such a set-up is low as the stall-holders do not need to pay rent and, possibly, tax. All these often translates into more competitive prices for the consumer. Welcome to shopping on the go, Indon-style.
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