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.

Galeri Indonesia Kaya

Last week, I went to Galeri Indonesia Kaya which is located near the Blitzmegaplex movie theatre at Grand Indonesia mall. Basically, it is a place where you can know more about Indonesian culture.

The venue is a bit small but there are a few fun interactive attractions. 

From the moment you enter the location, you are greeted by screens of couples wearing traditional clothes. And then you get the chance to "try on" these clothes and even upload it directly to your facebook page.

Further along, there are touchscreen monitors which hold information on the typical cuisine, musical instruments and landmarks of various areas in Indonesia. 

 

You can also play some traditional games such as the congklak or more modern ones with augmented reality features.

 

Overall, it was a nice place to stop by - Nice alternative to spending hours at the mall ;)
Btw, Galeri Indonesia Kaya has an auditorium room with free performances on the weekends. I have seen them being advertised on Kompas newspaper.

Monas again...

It has been awhile since I've gone to Monas. But last weekend I went there to see a housing exhibition - which turned out not to be there.

Failing to see the exhibition, I walked around and it was interesting to see the crowds of people (local & some international tourists) taking photographs and just having a fun day out with their families.

Since Joko Widodo (known better as Jokowi) has been appointed as the new governor of Jakarta, various events have been held at Monas. The most recent ones were the 19th Jakarta International Kite Festival and the World Royal Heritage Carnival 2013. It's a shame though that Monas doesn't have its own website to check the events, so you need to really search on the internet to know what is/will take place there.

The downside of Monas being more popular is of course the litter. We really need to be more disciplined in throwing our trash in the trash cans. But anyways, here are a few photos of my day at Monas.

Monas

Free train to get you to Monas' entrance

Souvenirs sold by sellers on the sidewalk

Horse-drawn carriage rides

Flight Simulator in Jakarta

Want to fly an airplane while doing your monthly shopping?
All is possible at Gandaria city mall, where you can find the only commercial flight simulator in Jakarta.

It is located on the ground floor and is hard to miss, since they actually use a real fuselage of Boeing 737! When word spread that they will be opening, I was quite excited. However, when they did open, the prices were a bit expensive..so be warned.

But if you are looking for a unique experience, I think it is still worth it.
For more info, check out their website: http://www.flightexperience.co.id/

DuFan

As usual, the end of the year is a hectic period at my office thus my absence from this blog. Things have now slowed down though, which means...after working hard, it's time to play hard! Starting with the office's family gathering event to DuFan.

Dunia Fantasi a.k.a DuFan is an amusement park in Jakarta. It is part of Taman Impian Jaya Ancol (or just "Ancol" for short), a resort destination in north Jakarta which houses a number of attractions among others SeaWorld and Atlantis Water Adventures. Its large area is often used to host events such as Java Rockin' Land (an annual rock festival).

DuFan has the typical rides such as the merry-go-round, ferris wheel and roller coaster.

For a guide on the rides, I found this blog post quite useful. (Note though that since it was written in 2009, it hasn't included DuFan's newest ride: Hysteria). Please check it out: Guide to Dunia Fantasi

Since I don't have a strong stomach, I only went on the "easy" rides and avoided the challenging ones such as the Tornado where you are twist and turned while dangling in the air.

Tornado Photo by Garnieri (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28420232@N05/3384662353/)

Even a few of the boys looked sick after going on it

But I was intrigued with Hysteria after seeing it didn't involve any spinning around, just a few "freefalls". So...I gathered the courage and went on it and well...words can't explain, you need to try it yourself ;)

Hysteria Photo by Nadiloo

Bird Park in TMII

I had wanted to go to Taman Mini's Bird Park for quite some time, so when my cousins came to Jakarta, I gladly suggested that we went there.

Because of Indonesia's geographical position, it has a unique blend of fauna. Western Indonesia's fauna is related to Asiatic species while Eastern Indonesia is more influenced by Australasian. The Wallace line separates these two regions.

The bird park in Taman Mini is arranged by this concept. There are two main domes in the park : the West dome (where you can see birds from Sumatera, Java, Bali and Kalimantan) and the East dome (where there are birds from Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua). Between the two domes, there is a small pond which serves as the imaginary Wallace line.

Left : Say Cheese...actually I'm shivering inside, hoping the kakatua doesn't bite me!

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII)

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Taman Mini for short) if literally translated means Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park.

It is located a bit out of the centre of Jakarta, in East Jakarta, which is much needed because it stretches over 250 acres. The main focus of the park is to get a glimpse of Indonesia's 26 provinces (at the time of building there were 26, now there are 33 provinces), which all have their own unique cultural identity.

All 26 provinces have a separate pavilion where you can see the province's traditional house, clothing, instrument etc. Even though the park's name uses the word "Mini", the houses are actually not small (it is not like Madurodam in the Netherlands). The houses are life-size replicas with some of them open to the public so you can actually go inside. Some provinces' pavilion also have scheduled performances of their traditional dances.

Besides the houses, there are also a lot of gardens, museums and an Imax Theatre which besides occasionally screens blockbuster movies, also has a movie on Indonesia's landscape called "Beautiful Indonesia". There is also a cable car you can ride on to get a bird's-eye view of the park.

Photo Source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/9549670@N05/tags/tamanminiindonesiaindah/

I recently visited Taman Mini, and the shame thing is that it could use some fresh paint...but nevertheless, it is a nice place to get acquainted to Indonesia's rich culture without leaving Jakarta. But if you want to experience the genuine culture, of course, nothing beats going to the actual provinces.

If you do plan to explore the whole park, you might think of freeing your agenda for a whole day and also, bring a car!

Monas - Jakarta's Landmark

It has been 1 month since my last entry. Mainly, it's because I was on a 2-week vacation. One of the places I went to was :

It is amazing how recognizable the Eiffel tower is that eventhough the picture is a bit blur, I bet you immediately know I was in Paris. Even if I say "France", the Eiffel tower would probably be one of the things that come to mind.

For Jakarta, its landmark is Monas, an abbreviation for Monumen Nasional, which means the National Monument.

Source : http://fahrurozi.wordpress.com/2009/01/

From the outside, the monument may not be as fantastic as for example the Empire state building in New York. However, Monas is rich in meaning. It was built as a symbol of Indonesia's spirit in fighting for its independence, thus the "eternal" flame on top (coated in gold).

It was also designed with Indonesia's independence date in mind : 17-08-'45. (17 metres is the height of the flame, 8 metres is the height of the room inside the monument which houses the National History Museum, and 45 is the width of the base. See pic, source : http://jakartathecity.blogspot.com/2008/12/monas-icon-of-jakarta.html).

Monas is open to the public. You can go to the top and get a bird's eye view of Jakarta or go to the basement where the National History museum has dioramas depicting Indonesia's history.

When local tourists come to Jakarta, they would most likely put Monas on their list of things to visit. However, for foreigners, maybe less so. I think it is the lack of marketing programme which doesn't make Monas a firm symbol of Jakarta as the Eiffel is for Paris.

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

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

Galeri Nasional Indonesia

Address : Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur No. 14Jakarta 10110

http://www.galeri-nasional.or.id/

To see the "artsy" side of Indonesia, check out Galeri Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Gallery).

Under the administration of the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, this gallery has a vast collection of paintings, statues, photography and other forms of art from Indonesian artists such as Raden Saleh, Affandi, Basoeki Abdullah etc.

Besides the permanent exhibition, it also hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions.