Jakarta

Old Town with Jakarta Good Guide

After a much needed night of rest, I wake up feeling better and ready to explore Jakarta. Before coming here, I had found a free walking tour of Jakarta’s old town with Jakarta Good Guide. While I don’t get to go on free walking tours all that often, I do find them to be an excellent way to get a glimpse of a new place. The “free” helps with cost, but I also find that the guides tend to have an actual enjoyment of what they do.

I make my way over to the Kota train station where I meet my guide. In a bit of luck, I end up being the only person signed up for this tour! So in a way I get my own private walking tour for the next few hours. We spend the time walking through Kota Tua (Old Town) and he goes through the origins of a few notable buildings in the area.

There are some neat places with interesting histories. However, he does point out one building which is the home to a pretty unique museum. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have this on my list of things to visit. But after his recommendation I make Indonesian bank museum my next stop after the tour. Because this tour occurs on a Friday, my guide eventually needs to end the tour to attend Friday Prayer. I sometimes forget that Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. And seeing the practices and customs observed in every day life is a pretty cool way to experience the culture.

Bank museum

After parting ways with my guide, I make my way back to the Bank Museum, pay for entry and spend a few hours exploring. The museum is actually really cool! While it does have a financial focus, it goes fairly in depth into the history of Indonesia. From the formation of the country to some of the financial downturns and recoveries over the course of its history. The museum is laid out in the old bank building which lends even more authenticity to it all.

There is a vault area within the museum that stores gold and currencies from different countries. I thought it was kind of neat to not only see the evolution of the Indonesian currency, but also see that they have collections of even Canadian currency!

Cafe Batavia

Oddly enough, as I am nearing the end of the exhibits, I see security guards start to “hurry” people through. Much like how my guide needed to get to a mosque for Friday prayer. The museum employees also needed to close the museum for a few hours for prayer. So just a little after lunch time, I exit the museum and head back to the main Old Town courtyard. I have my eyes set on lunch at Cafe Batavia. This is a restaurant in a historic building and is considered one of the more popular eateries in the city. There is a lot of history and decorated in a way that its like stepping back in time. I order a few traditional dishes and spend some time enjoying the food and atmosphere taking it all in.

After finishing lunch, I make my way back to my hotel. Even though I had a good nights rest, the past few travel days and jet lag start to creep up on me. I get back to my hotel and take a much needed afternoon nap.

Jakarta Evening

Waking up from the nap, I end up walking over to the Grand Indonesia Mall. One thing about malls in Asia is that they are HUGE. This one spans multiple city blocks and has multiple levels. One of my main reasons for visiting the mall is for food. If not for the stand alone restaurants, their food courts always tend to have a good selection of different cuisines to try. Thankfully, I stumble upon one called Taliwang Bali. They have this advertised lotus leaf wrapped seafood rice which catches my attention. It’s actually very tasty, but what I wasn’t prepared for was how spicy it actually is. Lesson learned, sometimes things can look mild and be deceptively spicy!

After dinner, I explore the mall a little more. Because of how traffic is and how big this mall is, I actually end up getting lost for a little bit. There were a few times where I think I’m at an exit but its only a car pickup point and it doesn’t actually open onto a sidewalk. I end up trying a few different exits before I find one that gets me onto a street I’m familiar with. I then make the short walk back to my hotel and turn in for the evening.

Indonesia National Museum

I wake up to a very rainy Jakarta. Originally the plan is to visit the National Monument and the surrounding area. However with the rain, I decide to adjust my plans and head indoors to the Indonesia National Museum. There is also the option of an English guided tour through the museum which I sign up for. Our guide goes through explaining the history of the country and how it is formed. From trade with European countries to the combining of all the different Islands, cultures and languages together.

There is a great deal of artifacts to see at the museum and a rich history to appreciate as well! I spend a few hours going through each of the exhibits and trying to get a grasp of  how it all comes together!

It’s been fun Jakarta!

Eventually, my time at the museum comes to an end and I head back to my hotel for a quick shower before checking out. (Even though its raining, the humidity combined with heat makes for a sweaty affair!).  I then check out of my hotel and make my way to the train station. After a short wait, I hop on the train enroute back to the airport. I had read horror stories about transiting and traffic so I allotted extra time to get to the airport. I end up getting there a bit earlier than planned and have to kill a few hours before the check in desk for my flight opens.

My time in Jakarta is short but I did get to explore a fair bit on my day and a half here.  However, as I wait to check in, the true purpose of my trip is ahead in Japan, I just need to get there now!