Social House, is it really social??

I'm gonna start this topic with an assumption that not everyone that reads this post realize what Social House is? It's a nice (well, depends on your individual interpretation of what "nice" is) cozy (this word is also very subjective) place where the middle up class socialites of Jakarta hang out after their long and tiring (another assumption...) day filled with activities. It serves wine, beer, alcoholic beverages, and also various kind of coffee mix whatever. Right next to the lounge is a dining place, serving the guests with top of the line meat and exquisite selections of food, that will (if you have the taste and believe their ads) give you a touch of exclusive experience while eating, well... whatever that you order (and no, they don't provide pisang goreng or indomie).

It's located in Grand Indonesia, right inside Harvey Nichols. Well, the location its self talks a lot about the people that go to Social House. Don't be confused, but if you go there on Friday night, say around 7.00 PM, consider yourself lucky if you can find a place to sit. That fact alone makes me wonder, are we really in the middle of a global crisis?? Never mind that, what I found interesting is the people inside it. You can easily find those young and middle aged executives enjoying their time drinking wine, and still talks about the meeting they had hours ago and discussed it with their partners. The way they talk, the way they act, and most importantly, their eyes, define how they got into the way they are now. Some of them are lucky enough to be brought to the earth and became rich the second they were borned. Some of them, earned their way to the top even when it costed them more than just money. However, most of the people there were youngsters, freshmen, with an extensive amount of money at their disposal. I noticed them one by one, and tried to see who they really were. On the outside, they're all stylish with top of the line brands they wore. That had good taste for wine, and a lot of them didn't even bother asking the somelier for reference. They memorized it at heart.

While I was in the middle of observing the people there, my friend suddenly, and casually said "I never knew that the word 'social' has a very limited definition in Jakarta.". At first I was laughing, but that only lasted for a few seconds when I saw his straight face. He was serious. But he had a point.. I never realized that this place puts a very limited meaning to the word "social". What came to my mind afterwards was, do they consider Social House as an interpretation of their

identity? Some of them attached their self with Social House, as if a big neon sign was attached to their bodies saying "I'm a Social House person".

I pitty them. Their whole identities are defined by the place they hang out and the kind of things they buy or wear. They bought their "identities" and incorporated it inside their hearts (or so they thought). I wonder who these people really are inside. But I stopped trying when my friend gave a pat in the shoulder and said "time to take out your camera". I'm not that kind of people, and knowing that is good enough for me. Social House will always be Social House, nothing more than just a place for me to take a good picture of Bundaran HI, and of course taking candid shots of the fine and lovely girls there. In the end, the people there had their own reasons why they ended up at Social House that night. What about me? Well, my reason was simple. I wanted to take these pictures below... Click it to see the full version :)