South-Eastern Asia
Video Chat with People from Indonesia
Indonesia stretches across thousands of islands and three time zones: Western Indonesia Time (UTC+7) for Java and Sumatra, Central (UTC+8) for Bali and Sulawesi, and Eastern (UTC+9) for Papua and Maluku. When it's 8 PM in Jakarta, it's early afternoon in Europe and morning in New York, while Bali is already an hour ahead.
Bahasa Indonesia ties it all together, and many people also grow up speaking Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese or another regional language. English is common among people who work in tourism, tech or with international teams, and casual conversation often mixes the two. You might meet someone in Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Medan or Makassar. Easy topics include food (nasi goreng, rendang, sate and just how much sambal is enough), badminton and football, sunrise hikes at Bromo or Rinjani, and diving trips to Raja Ampat or Komodo. Our Indonesian phrase guide covers the basics, and the country filter lets you meet people from Indonesia directly.
Indonesia at a glance
| Flag | 🇮🇩 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Indonesia |
| Capital | Jakarta |
| Region | Asia · South-Eastern Asia |
| Official language | Indonesian |
| Currency | Indonesian rupiah (Rp, IDR) |
| Calling code | +62 |
| Time zones | Western Indonesia Time (Asia/Jakarta); Central Indonesia Time (Asia/Makassar); Eastern Indonesia Time (Asia/Jayapura) |
How to say hello
A few words of Indonesian make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesian | Halo, apa kabar? | HAH-loh, AH-pah KAH-bar | Hi, how are you? |
| Indonesian | Selamat malam! | suh-LAH-maht MAH-lahm | Good evening! |
| Indonesian | Salam kenal! | SAH-lahm kuh-NAHL | Nice to meet you! |
| Javanese | Piye kabare? | PEE-yeh kah-BAH-reh | How are you? (casual Javanese) |
Tips for chatting with people from Indonesia
- 'Apa kabar?' usually gets 'Baik' (fine) in return. Learning both halves makes the first ten seconds of a chat feel easy.
- Ask which island they live on. Life in Jakarta, Bali and Papua is very different, and the answer also tells you which of the three time zones they're in.
- You may hear 'Kak' (short for kakak, older sibling) used as a friendly, polite way to address someone. It's a nice one to use back.
- Indonesian uses the Latin alphabet with simple, consistent spelling, so typing new words in the text chat is an easy way to learn them.
- Food questions are a reliable icebreaker: ask how spicy they like their sambal or what you should eat first if you ever visit their city.
Only meet people from Indonesia
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Indonesia, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Indonesia and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Indonesia, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Indonesia are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Indonesia borders 3 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too:
- Malaysia
- Papua New Guinea
- Timor-Leste