It was an afternoon well spent, just having a nice long chat with Asyifa, a lively 25 year old Company Executive, about her flatsharing experience. Apparently she’s having the time of her life, sharing an apartment with her friends. Let’s check out her story!
How long have you been flatsharing?
For about two months now. This is our first time flatsharing.
Could you describe the apartment?
It’s a two-bedroom-apartment, with one bedroom slightly bigger than the other, for the girls. One bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Oh, it’s in Pakubuwono Terrace, South Jakarta.
How did you first find the apartment?
We did browse around online, but actually we already had our mind set on Pakubuwono Terrace from the very beginning anyway because it’s really close to our office.
What made you finally decide to live in the apartment?
The location of course. It’s very close to where I work. It’s an easy access for public transportation as well, I often use public bus to commute to work, if I wasn’t hopping on my flatmate’s motorcycle.
Any other contributing factors?
Definitely the swimming pool and gym access. Plus a 24-hour convenience store in walking distance.
Where did you live before?
Each of us were renting a room at a kos-kosan. Eventually got tired of a million rules applied at our kos-kosan, so we decided to find a place more comfortable and more suitable for our lifestyle at the moment.
How did you first found your flatmates?
We are all co-workers at an advertising agency. Often times, we would still be at the office until late night due to our work, and we decided to find a place closer to the office so we would spend less time on the road, and could go to bed faster after finishing our work.
What do you think are the benefits of flatsharing?
I’m really having fun flatsharing right now. I think it’s great to always have company at the apartment. We would cook and eat together everyday, have late night chats or having fun with the guitar all night long without pesky neighbors telling us off (unlike in “kos-kosan”), just a nice feeling of being able to let loose. It’s completely different than life in “kos-kosan” when you tend to see people more individualistic, you don’t know one another, you don’t really talk much. Besides, it’s cheaper to live together. Obviously, we could share the rent, and also the groceries.
Are there any downside?
Just the different habits. Some of us would do more cleaning, especially the girls. Boys are always messy. But as long as they know the limit, it won’t be a problem. The other thing would be the different preferences. See, we would cook for each other almost everynight, but sometimes it’s hard to decide what to cook because somebody would like chicken for dinner but the other one would like beef, or noodles, or whatever. So, it’s not always easy deciding what to cook for dinner.
What do you think about the flatsharing/housesharing trend?
It is becoming a trend, although most people still have a certain mindset to it. They’re just not used to the concept of sharing a living space with strangers that can compromise their privacy and all. It’s understandable, I guess, because they haven’t really tried it. But once they do, I think they’ll be able to accept the benefits as well as the risks. Some would even get addicted. haha.
Well now that you’ve actually tried flatsharing, what are your thoughts about it? Would it be something that you’d recommend?
I would definitely recommend it, especially to those who come from out of town, where you don’t really know anybody and are so far from your family. Just like me and my flatmate who both came from Pekanbaru, Sumatra. Plus, it’s a very fun experience, where you are not really bound by any rules but your own. It also is one of the many ways to cut your living cost, and it helps a lot, living in a big city like Jakarta.
So what are your thoughts about Serumah.com?
I think it’s a really useful site to help you find people to share a place with. Most people would probably ask around first, but Serumah.com would definitely help!