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lenita Antonio, a 26-year-old Filipina, came to Jakarta last year to work as a fashion stylist after spending two years in Tokyo and Hong Kong studying fashion design.

She decided to leave two of Asia’s biggest and most modern cities after finishing her studies as she was then looking for a warmer place with warmer people.

And Jakarta was her choice. “Tokyo has too many busy and cold people,” Elenita said. “Jakarta has warmer people and weather.”

But what lured her to Jakarta was more than just the city’s people and weather. She said that she believed that the fashion industry is growing in Jakarta, something that she did not expect to happen anytime soon in her hometown Manila.

She is now working with a number of local designers in the capital and also with some of the city’s leading fashion magazines.

 Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are still considered as the lands of milk and honey for Southeast Asian migrant workers, including many from Indonesia, but the growing number of Filipinos working here shows the Big Durian also has something to offer its neighbors. Elenita is one of about 8,000 Filipinos who came to Indonesia last year. About 70 percent of them live in Jakarta, according to the Philippine Embassy. In 2008, the embassy said, the number of Filipino visitors was only 4,000.

 According to the Philippines’ central bank, Filipinos in Indonesia sent home more than US$15.67 million (Rp 143.76 billion) in remittances last year. In 2008, the bank recorded total remittances of only $3.45 million from Indonesia.

The number jumped significantly to $11.28 million in 2009 and $12.84 million in 2010. The figures still pale, though, compared to the amount of money that Filipinos sent from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore last year; $124 million and $789 million, respectively.

Most Filipinos live in Jakarta and work in the education and training, industrial, trading, mining and excavation, construction and building, banking and finance and transportation sectors.

But the trend is changing. It appears that in today’s Jakarta, Filipinos now have a wider range of jobs, including the creative industries, hospitality and media.

Elenita is one of the young Filipinos who has taken her chances, although her fellow Filipinos who have been here longer have also noticed the changes and have not been slow to seize the opportunities.

Avelyn Santiago says that Jakarta now offers wider business opportunities. She said that Filipinos today could choose more jobs than in the past. Avelyn came to Indonesia more than 20 years ago as an accountant. She later enjoyed a managerial position in a property company for years.

“After the years I’ve spent in Jakarta, I think I know this city better than Manila,” she said.

 She decided to give up her job at the office and started running her own catering business. She started with a small bakery shop called “The Muffin House”. In 2010, she opened the first restaurant offering Philippine cuisine in an entertainment center.

 Manila Connexion, her restaurant, has more Indonesian visitors than Filipinos. “Our top-five favorite menus are Philippine dishes although we sell Indonesian food as well. I am glad that the restaurant is well accepted,” said Avelyn, who speaks Indonesian.

Head of the Jakarta Manpower and Transmigration Agency, Deded Sukandar, said that the growing number of overseas workers in the capital would not make life harder for local people. “The local workers still very much outnumber foreigners,” he said.

Deded, however, acknowledged that Jakarta had become more dynamic and attractive to foreigners. “We will train local workers to improve their skills.”

As Indonesians and Filipinos share many cultural traits, it is not that hard for them to adjust to the city. “Many times, people don’t even recognize that I am not an Indonesian. They talk to me in Bahasa Indonesia,” said Elenita.

The Filcomin (Filipino Community in Indonesia) Bowling Association is one of several Filipino associations in Indonesia. According to Roberto S. Mena, Jr, president of the association, they have 95 registered members.

“The association also welcomes other nationalities, like Indonesians and Indians,” he said.

Elenita said she planned to live in Jakarta for the next few years and she promised that she would master the local language.