Vape situation in Indonesia
If you're wondering what a vape is, here's what you need to know.
What is Vape?
An electronic cigarette (English: electronic cigarette, e-cigarette, e-cig) is a smoking device in which dried leaves or liquid is atomized into an aerosol by heat generated by an electric heating wire controlled by a microprocessor and inhaled by the user.
Meet Vape
Vape seems to be spreading a little bit in Japan. When I temporarily returned to Japan last year, I found a Vape store in the Ueno area. In my case, I am a non-smoker, so it did not catch my antennae at all in Japan.
However, I became aware of its existence after I was stationed in Indonesia. On TikTok, which was exploding in Indonesia at the time, I saw people making vape vapor into a straw or taking it out of their mouths and inhaling it into their noses (carp climbing up a waterfall) in time with a song, and I thought, “That looks interesting...”. I thought, “That looks interesting...”. Not long after that, TikTok itself was banned in Indonesia...
I wonder what it is. This feeling of being attracted to toys like Jitterling, X-Gyro, Asarato, and others that reek of Lang's Japan. I love the minor sense that the more advanced the technology becomes, the more it becomes relatively lame.
Vape is surprisingly good!
An Indonesian friend told me about an appropriate vape store, and I went there to buy one. （I ended up not being able to do the vapour trick (clumsy), but I got into vaping more than I thought I would.
It is refreshing to have a lot of vapor. I've been trying to get non-smokers to buy vapes and vape with me. I have an impression that vape is trying to make non-smokers feel like they are not bothering anyone, but vape kicked that off. A single puff produces a tremendous amount of vapor. It's like a rice cooker just before cooking. Even after a hard day's work, you can exhale with a big sigh....
It doesn't stink. Even iQOS, which has been rubbing off on me, actually smells pretty bad. Coffee and iQOS heavy users give off quite a numbing aroma even when they are not smoking, but vape does not. In addition to the vapor making it difficult for the scent particles to stick to your hair, clothes, etc., the liquid flavors, which range from fruity to minty and everything in between, waft out for a moment with a slightly subdued sweet vapor that quickly dissipates.
It can be smoked for a bit. The liquid is heated by the battery and the vapor is inhaled, so it can be inhaled only for a breath and then stopped. On the other hand, it can be smoked endlessly.
In Indonesia, the male smoking rate in 2016 was 76.1%, which is the second highest in the world (the Japanese smoking rate was 33.7% for males, ranking 70th), following East Timor's 78.1%, which is the highest in the world.
Therefore, there are environments where you can smoke everywhere, and there are quite a few smokers in the workplace. Especially when I first came here, I really appreciated the opportunity to talk with them.
What do you use, where can I buy it, etc.?
For stores, just type in “Vape” in Google map and you will find many places.... In Indonesia, they are always doing “Promo” and “discount”, so it's better to check the online sales as well. I have listed some recommended wholesale vape manufacturers at the end of this article.
In Indonesia, nicotine-containing liquid is the mainstream. Unlike Japan, where nicotine-containing liquids cannot be sold due to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, almost all products bought in Indonesia contain nicotine. Both the body and the liquid are available in local, Malaysian, and U.S. products, and the prices vary.
I am currently using I mainly use “Aegis solo | Best Vapes by GeekVape”. I bought it for Rp. 600,000 (about 4,500 Japanese Yen). There are some very cheap ones, but they don't have any protection function. Are you smoking a bomb? Be careful.