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akarta, with thousands of restaurants and cafés, may be a safe haven for middle-class adults to hang out. However, the city offers little space for teenagers, neither in their homes nor outside, especially those who live in densely populated areas. Here are five alternative spots visited by teens when they find home to be too boring or uncomfortable.

Parks

Parks are the cheapest hangout spots available to Jakartan teens. Bringing beverages and snacks, many high school students roam around parks without any destination but some bring their laptops and study together.

Although many of the parks are in disrepair and some even abandoned, there are still quite a few that are pleasant and picturesque. For instance, Menteng, Suropati and Situ Lembang parks in Central Jakarta and Ayodya, Tanjung and Langsat parks in South Jakarta.

Some of Jakarta'€™s parks, such as Menteng Park, have proper facilities where visitors can rent a basketball for only Rp 15,000 (US$1.25) and shoot a few hoops.

Audry, a third grader of SMP 15 junior high school in Tebet, South Jakarta, said that she often visited Honda Tebet near her school.

'€œI usually go there with my friends to work on group projects,'€ she said.

They chose to go to the park because they can stay there for hours without being disturbed. '€œOur only disturbances are the mosquitoes,'€ she said.

Convenience stores

Due to a 2006 moratorium on convenience store building permits in Jakarta, many new convenience stores are built as cafes or restaurants by providing chairs and tables for customers.

These facilities are used by teens as new hangout spots. Affordably priced beverages and food, along with free Wi-Fi and comfortable seating, draw many teens to convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, Circle K, Indomaret, Point or Lawson. Since these stores are located on many of the main streets throughout the capital, they have become easy and obvious meeting spots.

Some convenience stores are now offering more interesting menus that include hot meals and cold beverages to encourage the teens to stay longer.

Streets

Those who cannot afford to hang out in convenience stores and are not lucky enough to have parks nearby will frequently rely on other open public facilities, namely the streets.

When night falls and the traffic becomes less congested, many teenagers start flocking to the sidewalks, bridges and overpasses.

Young couples use the streets as a place for a date, in particular they visit the streets near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta and Pasar Rebo overpass in East Jakarta.

Sitting on their motorcycles and enjoying the city light is a special treat for couples who cannot afford to go fancy restaurants.

However, the street is also a popular place for high schoolers to get involved in brawls.

Sociologist of University of Indonesia, Paulus Wirotomo, said the city administration should create youth centers to keep students off the street.

Blok M

Blok M in South Jakarta, along with Menteng and Cikini in Central Jakarta, was a high-end hangout spot for middle-class youngsters in the 1980s.

Although Blok M is no longer known for its fancy hangout spots, many teenagers still go there.

Aside from the convenience stores and second-class shopping centers around Blok M, the movie theater, which screens mostly Indonesian movies, is another popular destination. The tickets to watch a film are relatively cheap and rarely go higher than Rp 35,000.

Warung

The local warung (food stall) will always be a favorite hangout spot for teenagers. Warung are invariable affordable, they can be found almost anywhere so transportation isn'€™t an issue and the prices are always reasonable.

Thanks to the benevolence of the warung owner, who is usually familiar with the neighborhood kids, teenagers can hang out there for hours.

But of course the warung is also a classic place for students to go when they want to skip class. '€” JP