Museum Angkut (Transportation museum) in Batu

Address: Jl. Terusan Sultan Agung no. 2, Batu, East Java

Phone: +62 341 595007

Website: http://www.museumangkut.com/

The first floor of the Museum

This museum, located in Batu, holds an impressive collection of transportation related pieces. It claims to be the largest in Asia. But besides that, certain parts of the complex are built as a "movie studio" so there are lots of great photo opportunities! You can pretend that you are in Jakarta or even in Europe. No wonder it can be jam-packed on the weekends.

The ticket price is not cheap by Indonesian standards: IDR 60,000 on the weekdays & IDR 80,000 on the weekends (Dec '15). But, in my opinion, it is well worth it!

The car of Indonesia's 1st President and...

... his helicopter 

Replica of the Majapahit ship

"Jakarta" area

Kota Tua, Jakarta's Old Town

This is probably the second most mentioned tourist destination of Jakarta (after Monas). It lies on the northern part of Jakarta, but quite easily reachable if you are adventurous enough to take the TransJakarta bus. If you get on the BlokM-Kota route (Corridor 1) which goes through Jakarta's main street Sudirman & Thamrin, you should get off at the very last station: "Kota".

The Old Town has European-styled buildings, a reminder of Indonesia's past being under Dutch rule. Most of the buildings are now turned into museums, so this is why I think the Old Town is quite interesting to spend a whole day at.

Jakarta History Museum

At the main square, you can easily explore:

- Jakarta History Museum (also known as Fatahillah Museum)

- Wayang Museum (houses a large collection of Javanese puppets)

Its website: http://www.museumwayang.com/

- Fine Art & Ceramics Museum

Its website: http://www.museumsenirupa.com/

And then there are also a few others in the neighbourhood:

- Maritime Museum

This museum is located a bit farther than the others. Its website: http://www.museumbahari.org/

- Bank Indonesia Museum

Bank Indonesia is Indonesia's central bank. I have never been to the museum before, but my friends all think the museum is quite entertaining. Opening hours info can be found on the Bank Indonesia website: http://www.bi.go.id/en/tentang-bi/museum/Default.aspx

- Mandiri Museum

Mandiri is one of the government owned banks. 

After exploring all the sights, you can have a nice meal at cafe Batavia, just opposite of the History museum. The interior here has a colonial feel to it. Many people come in just to take pictures because the prices are a bit high for us locals. For more affordable cafes, I prefer the few cafes near the side entrance of the square: Kedai Seni Djakarte, Historia Food & Bar, Bangi Kopitiam.

Another great thing to do in Kota Tua is to take a bike ride. Bikes can be rent independently or with "driver" who acts as a guide as well, telling the history of the neighbourhood.

Colorful bikes for rent

Sadly, I must mention one thing: 

Beware if you go to the Old Town during the weekends/holiday season. It can get verrryyyy crowded and veryyyy littered as well :(

Best to explore it on a weekday.

Affandi Museum

Address: Jl. Laksda Adisucipto 167, Yogyakarta
Phone : +62 274 562593

Website: http://www.affandi.org/

Photo of one of Affandi's self-portrait

Affandi is one of Indonesia's famous painters. This museum was once Affandi's house and studio, but now it showcases his works.

The entrance fee is only Rp. 20,000,- which includes a free souvenir and 1 free drink. I felt the museum was really pleasant as the surrounding was filled with lush greens. In the middle, is his residence which has been turned into a cafe where visitors can relax after going through the museum. The roof of this building is quite unique - shaped as a banana leaf.

Residence turned cafe

There are 3 main galleries in the museum. The first gallery showcases Affandi's paintings, the second is filled with paintings made by his friends, and in the third gallery, you can find paintings painted by some of his children who have also become painters. 

You can also watch a documentary about Affandi in the third gallery. I watched for a few minutes, where Affandi explained how he needs to observe objects before painting them so that he can "become" them. 

Affandi, as one probably would expect from an artist, was quite eccentric. Before going to the museum, I have heard stories of Affandi where he would not bathe for days, so his wife would hose him down. I actually got to see a photograph of this in the museum :)

Affandi & Wife

Affandi museum lies near Yogyakarta's international airport, about 15 minutes drive. So it is a good stop to spend 1 or 2 hours before you hop on your plane.

"Rahmat" International Museum & Wildlife Gallery

Address: Jl. S.Parman No.309, Medan
http://www.rahmatgallery.com/

I found this place very interesting and I would definitely recommend you to go here when visiting Medan. This museum showcases preserved wildlife animals such as elephants, bears, orangutans, deers etc. The skin, teeth and nails of all the animals showcased are real. It is owned by Rahmat Shah, a successful business man and professional hunter. Some of the animals are hunted by Rahmat himself.

At first, I was a bit apprehensive seeing all the animals in the museum (there are many!). However then one of the staffs explained that only a small portion of the museum's collection is from his hunting trips. And when hunted, it is based on conservation regulations: only hunt animals with large populations, or ones that are old. She continued explaining that most of the animals at the museum died in zoos, or were donated or purchased legally.

The museum consists of 2 floors and is divided into sections depending on the species. Nearing the end of the trail, it did get a bit weird with trophies of his sons & daughter on display which had nothing to do with wildlife conservation (?!?!). But overall, hats off to his dedication in keeping this museum up and running!

Entrance fee is Rp. 25,000 for adults.

Kite Museum (Museum Layang-layang Indonesia)

Address : Jl. H. Kamang 38, Pondok Labu, Jakarta Selatan
Telephone : +62 21 765 8075

This museum features all kinds of kites. Kites were first popularized nearly 3000 years ago in China. However, the question of when the first kite was invented, has not been answered yet. A drawing on the cave walls of Muna in Sulawesi has stirred up the discussion that kites may have been flown long before that.

With an entrance fee of Rp.10.000,- (which is a bit higher than the normal entrance fee for museums in Jakarta), you will be assigned a guide who explains the various kites in the museum. Also included in the fee is a lesson on kite making & watching a short film on kite flying.

The museum also provides workshops for making batik & ceramics.

Traditionally, kites were made out of leaves

Traditional Kite from Bali

Traditional Kites from Sumatera

"Paired Kites" from Kalimantan (left is female, right is male)

Creation Kites (Modern)

Devices to help manoeuvre the creation kites

Look at how small these kites are! Smaller than the mobilephone chain

House of Sampoerna

Address : Taman Sampoerna 6, Surabaya 60163
http://www.houseofsampoerna.com

If you are a museum lover and you happen to be in Surabaya (Indonesia’s second largest city), then be sure to visit “House of Sampoerna”. This museum shows you the story of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk, one of Indonesia’s well-known tobacco companies which shares are now majority owned by PT Phillip Morris Indonesia, a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International, Inc.

Although I am against smoking, I was really impressed with the museum. Not like most museums in Indonesia, this museum is well-maintained, well-designed and informative, with an additional benefit : you are allowed to take pictures!

The museum is located in a compound which used to be a Dutch orphanage before Liem Seeng Tee, the founder of the company, bought it in 1932 to be used as a central location for his tobacco business as well as for his family’s residence.

Besides the central building (i.e. the museum), there are two other buildings in the compound. The building on the left side is until now, still used as the family’s residence, while the building on the right has been transformed into a cafe and art gallery.

Apart from the company’s history, you can also see all things related to the cigarette-making process, and you can even watch the traditional hand-rolling process itself, since the compound is still functioning as a production plant.

Compound in 1938

The Museum - Now

Printing Materials

Tobacco Cloves

The Production Plant at Night - In the day, it is a busy sight

Photos courtesy of Kes...Thanks a lot Kes for your patience uploading them on the web!! :)

National Museum (Museum Nasional)

Address : Jl. Merdeka Barat 12, Jakarta Pusat

http://www.museumnasional.org

Built in 1778, but inaugurated in 1868, the National Museum is considered to be the oldest museum in Indonesia.

If you went to school at an Indonesian public school in Jakarta, the National Museum shouldn’t be such a stranger to you since this museum is a popular destination for school excursions. This museum is also sometimes called “Museum Gajah” (elephant museum) because of the elephant statue in front of the building. The statue was a gift from King Chulalongkorn of Thailand in 1871.

But actually, the museum curator told me that they are trying to get rid of this “nickname” since some tourists have complained about not seeing anything related to elephants inside the museum :) In reality, the museum holds ancient Indonesian artifacts & relics that date as far back as the Stone Age.

Before 2007, the museum consisted only of 1 building : “Gedung Gajah” (elephant building), which is the building that has the elephant statue in front of it. However since June 2007, the museum has completed the building of “Gedung Arca” (Arca building), which is on the left side of Gedung Gajah.

For those of you who are interested in the historical aspects of Indonesian culture, please visit this museum.

Gedung Gajah

Gedung Arca

Museum Taman Prasasti (Inscription Museum)

Address : Jl. Tanah Abang I/1, Jakarta Pusat

This museum used to be a cemetary (!) called Kebon Jahe Kober, which was actively used from 1795 - 1975.

Because of this, it is of course not indoors. It is an open-air museum, exposing you to a very nice, serene surrounding. Not that spooky, considering the background. But still, I wouldn't want to be stuck there at night :P

You can see all things related to "the dead"...many cool tombstones and equipments used up to the burial service.

(First Photo - cannonball & signage - is courtesy of Bambang Aroeng Binang)

Please check out his site for more cool pics on Museum Taman Prasasti : http://aroengbinang.blogspot.com/2007/09/museum-taman-prasasti.html