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After-hours fun is, at times, a merely theoretical possibility in Jakarta, with the city's notorious traffic snarls making you want to turn back to the hotel before you've even reached the club. But now, something resembling an entertainment zone has emerged, concentrating shopping, dining and drinking choices within walking distance and giving travelers the no-tears nightlife they've been missing. It began with the 2005 opening of the Arcadia bar-and-restaurant complex behind the Plaza Senayan mall. Then, last September, another retail center, Senayan City, opened across the road from the mall. Factor in nearby hotel accommodation—the five-star Mulia Senayan is a short hop by cab on roads with little risk of jams—and party animals have a new location in which to base themselves.

Arcadia is the location of Black Cat, a dinner jazz club, and vodka bar Red Square. From there, revelers stagger to X2, a mammoth new club in Plaza Senayan. Senayan City has Premiere, a live-music bar attached to the Senayan Studio XXI cinema. Next-day hangover cures can be easily found. The malls abound with popular chain restaurants like Waroeng Kita, or you could try Senayan City's Crystal Lagoon, a koi pond surrounded by international eateries. Staying in the Senayan bubble may not be the conventional tourist choice, but at least the only thing keeping you out late will be your own volition and not a traffic holdup.