Wonderland Indonesia (Part 4): Jakarta's Larger Than Life Attractions and Shopping Places

- April 7-8, 2023, Friday to Saturday.

- As much as I didn't want to leave Yogyakarta, Jakarta had more things in store for me! Although the major must-sees were already covered during the first half of my Jakarta leg (click here), Jakarta is vast and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to cover all the interesting things to see and do in this megacity!

- The following morning after my arrival to Jakarta from Yogyakarta, I checked out Glodok. Glodok is Indonesia's oldest Chinatown, and its biggest too. It was established in the 1700s during the Dutch Colonial Era. It is also just south of Kota Tua, where I stayed in Jakarta (I was happy with Wonderloft Hotel and stayed there once more!) However, because Glodok is HUGE, and Jakarta's streets aren't the most pedestrian-friendly, I still had to take a Gojek to Glodok. 

- My first stop is the Pantjoran Tea House. This is one of two things that will greet people in Glodok - the other being the Chinatown Arch, which is present in most Chinatowns in the world. Pantjoran Tea House opened in 2016, but the building that houses the restaurant goes way back! It was renovated and repurposed from the former Chung Hwa Pharmacy that opened from 1928 to 1957. Today, the restaurant serves great Chinese food and tea with that old-town vibe!

Glodok's Chinese arch ("paifang").

With Pantjoran to the right.

Old Chinese vibes.

Breakfast.

I love the aesthetics. Best part? It has air conditioning!!

- After breakfast I passed by Glodok market and did some temple hopping. The temples were typically Buddhist or Taoist. I also got to visit the Santa Maria de Fatima Church, which is an Indonesian-Chinese Catholic church built in 1953. Another notable place of worship is the Jin De Yuan (Kim Tek Ie) Temple, also known as the Dharma Bhakti Temple. This temple was built in the 1600s and is the oldest Chinese temple in Indonesia. I concluded my Glodok visit in Petak Enam, a picturesque Chinese food hall .

Dharma Jaya Toasebio, built in the 1700s.

I liked this image of Buddha meditating at the temple's ground floor.

Taosebio Temple, including its new big building at the back.

Santa Maria de Fatima Church. I like how the church looks like a Chinese temple from the outside. (Couldn't take a photo graph of the architecture properly due to walls and trees, so I wasn't able to take one.)

Inside the church.

Vihara Dharma Bhakti Temple. The oldest Chinese temple in Indonesia.

Prayer halls.

Tan Seng Ong Temple, from the 1700s, the oldest clan temple in Indonesia. It's also called the Vihara Tanda Bhakti Temple.

Inside the temple.

Inner hall.

There are also old Chinese-style houses in Glodok.

Petak Enam.

- I actually wasn't sure what to do for the rest of the day after my morning stroll in Glodok. While having a morning snack at Petak Enam, I tried looking for suggestions in my phone and suddenly saw a rather new spot in East Jakarta. This is the Old Shanghai City in Sedayu City. Opened in 2022, it is a recreation of, well, old Shanghai. Visiting Old Shanghai was actually the perfect way to "continue" my very Chinese day that started in Glodok.

Welcome arch.

China? No! Jakarta!! (There is a restaurant inside this pagoda.)

With a Mazu statue.

Dining alley. Some restaurants have airconditioned indoor dining.

- Old Shanghai is actually a place with plenty of restaurants and food stalls. They're mostly Chinese (because "Shanghai") but they do also have a lot of local food as well. Apart from that, there are also some souvenir and gift shops, an East-Asian grocery, and even a costume-rental shop for you to use around Old Shanghai. (I didn't rent anymore because my red batik shirt was good enough....and because it was probably too hot to be wearing a long Chinese robe.) It even had status of Mazu and other Chinese deities, as well as colorful Chinese murals to complete the Chinese look. It was actually a nice visit.

I think this is Guan Yu.

Journey to the West mural.

Chinese opera mural.

My (very Indonesian) lunch: sugarcane and citrus drink, gado gado salad, and bakso with pork innards noodle soup.

- Since I had a rather "Chinese" day, I spent the rest of the afternoon in a totally Indonesian place just to remind me where I actually went. Indonesia is such a big country and I obviously did not have enough time to see the whole country. However, Jakarta has Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) which lets visitors see the beauty of all corners of Indonesia! TMII is a big big big park opened in 1975 that has pavilions representing all the provinces of Indonesia. The park also has museums, places of worship, function halls, and other attractions.

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a replica of MONAS?

Jambi Pavilion with this giant swan behind me.

West Sumatra Pavilion.

- I wasn't able to take my time in TMII because it was too big (and too hot), so I just chose the pavilions that I'd spend more time in, just like the Papua pavilion. (Papua is the easternmost frontier of Indonesia and quite difficult to visit, so I spent more time in this pavilion.)

Getting my wings at the Papua pavilion.

Papua pavilion. Their culture is unique, because it's a mixture of Indonesian and Pacific Islander culture. Their people look Melanesian too.

Children's Castle. Obviously this isn't Indonesian anymore, but I guess it's their take of the Disney castle.

- That night, I had a quick mall run that evening and had dinner there too. I had to pack my things that night since I would be checking out the following day. 

- On my last full day, I went around Pasar Baru one last time, then passed by the Textile Museum. The Textile Museum opened in 1976 and not only showcases the rich textile heritage of Indonesia, but it also has batik-making workshops sometimes.

Pasar Baru's northern gate. (I took a photo of the southern gate during my first visit.)

Textile Museum.

Love these regional textiles.

Thisi s what the museum looks like from outside.

Batik-making workshop. The workshop takes an hour so I didn't get to try since I had a packed schedule.

- I later visited Sarinah Department Store, the first department store and first skyscraper in Indonesia. It opened in 1962. I find that the stuff sold in Sarinah were high class (and therefore higher prices) so I wasn't really able to get anything. Instead, I hopped other to Thamrin City once more to get some last few things.

Sarinah.

The oldest escalator in Indonesia.

Department store (with really expensive things.)

- My final agenda in this Indonesia was to go around Kota Tua one last time and have dinner at Cafe Batavia just to see how their other dishes were like. This time I tried their Balinese duck, simply because I miss Bali and their fried duck. It was the perfect dish to end my journey in Indonesia! 

Kota Tua at night.

Cafe Batavia.

Balinese duck, with turmeric rice, and a random traditional drink I saw at the menu (I cannot remember the name but I loved it. It was cinammon-y.)

- Going around Jakarta and Yogyakarta gave me the breather that I absolutely needed after a suffocating January to March. The trip wasn't only a big check mark to my bucket list after 17 years, but it was genuinely also a learning experience. Though I only went to these two cities, I got to learn so much about the diversity of Indonesia that it made me want to visit the country again in the future!   

- Don't forget to check out my other adventures in Indonesia this trip!!

Part 1 (Jakarta - Kota Tua and MONAS area): here

Part 2 (Yogyakarta - Borobudur and Prambanan): here

Part 3 (Yogyakarta - Downtown): here

Wonderland Indonesia (Part 3): Yogyakarta's Royal, Colonial, and Cultural Treasures

- April 5-6, 2023, Wednesday to Thursday.

- Yogyakarta is a charming city with so many things to see and do. I feels a bit rural, so the vibe is a lot chiller compared to the highly-urbanized Jakarta. Yogyakarta has a lot of history to its name. Apart from its long royal history from pre-colonial to colonial Indonesia, it was also the capital of Indonesia from 1945 to 1948 during the Indonesian National Revolution (War of Independence). Because of these, Yogyakarta has a lot of offer beyond being the base of visiting Borobudur and Prambanan.

- I started my Wednesday with a trip to the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta (Kraton). It has been continuously used since the mid-1700s. Of course, the actual part of the palace complex where the current sultan lives is off-limits to visitors. A palace-hired guide is also necessary to go around the palace complex. On certain occasions, gamelan and dance performances, as well as wayang kulit puppet performances, are done in the palace. However, since I went during Ramadan when people had to be more reflective, all performances were cancelled for the month. (They would resume after Ramadan.)  

Gamelan in the palace, also, my wonderful guide!

Donopratoro gate to the living quarters.

Gazebo inside the palace.

The sultan's living quarters that visitors aren't allowed to enter for obvious reasons.

Wedding palanquin.

This pavilion has both Indonesian and western influences.

A mix of Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic motifs.

Main pavilion.

Royal ceremonial attires.

- I rode a Gojek motorcycle from the palace complex to another intriguing historical site in Yogyakarta: the Water Castle or Taman Sari. It is a network of buildings used for the pleasure of the sultan in the 1700s. The main bathing complex is the most well preserved, while the other buildings had seen better days and would need a bit of a walk from the bathing complex to reach.

Water Castle.

Sultan's room.

From the second floor.

This is what's left of the Kenongo Building. It used to be an artificial island, but the man-made lake has been drained and is not a small village.

This used to be an underwater tunnel. Without the water, it's just now an underground tunnel.

At the viewing area of the Taman Sari gate.

- I later visited the Sonobudoyo Museum. It opened in 1935 and has one of the most comprehensive collections of Javanese cultural artifacts apart from the National Museum in Jakarta. It is also the perfect place to hide from the heat because of the museum's powerful air conditioning system. The museum also has a new wing with a more modern look.

With a Buto Abang (Red Giant), a raksasa that likes to kidnap naughty children.

The museum.

Javanese batik.

Replica of Balinese architecture.

Human puppets (well, as mannequins).

Making wayang kulit.

- From Sonobudoyo Museum, I walked closer to the city center and went to Fort Vredeburg. It was a Dutch Fort built in the 1700s. It now stands across the presidential palace in Yogyakarta. Since the 1990s, the fort functions mainly as an Indonesian history museum. It has galleries with dioramas of key points in Indonesia's history, focusing on colonial rule and the fight for independence.

Fort Vredeburg entrance.

Dioramas in one of the galleries.

A glimpse of the fort's walls.

It sort of looks like a park in between galleries.

- I walked around Jalan Malioboro after my visit to Fort Vredeburg, and had lunch along the way. Later that day I met my friend Ummul, whom I haven't seen in almost 10 years! And just to squeeze in some more social life, I met Sheryl again and her husband, Adolf. I wasn't able to talk to them much during the couchsurfing get together so it was nice to have a more intimate meet-up.

Ummul gave me some salak, or snake fruit. It was so kind of her to do that, since I asked her before where in Yogyakarta I could find this local fruit. It wasn't in season so it was difficult to find, but Ummul was able to give me sweet juicy ones still! 

Thank you for meeting me Ummul!

I told Ummul that the peacock on the wall matched her dress' colors.

Met Sheryl and Adolf later that evenng! We had a good long chat!

Tried to eat as much of the salak after returning to the hotel. It's called snake fruit or snakeskin fruit because of the snake-like scales on their skin. Each salak most likely has three lobes, each with a seed. The taste is like a jackfruit but not as sweet. I love it, too bad we don't have it in the Philippines! 

- On my last half day in Yogyakarta, I took some time to have a last strut around Malioboro before riding the train to the airport for my flight back to Jakarta. For a final surprise, I saw a performance of Hanuman and Sinta (at least I think it was?) along the walkway from the train station to the airport.

Train to airport.

Random performance.

Saw this airplane-themed play place inside the airport. I like it!

- "You'll be back," said Sheryl during our dinner. "Yogyakarta has some kind of magnet. You'll be back for sure." She continued. Perhaps she's right. Yogyakarta has an enigmatic aura that makes people comfortable. For me, maybe because of the history, maybe because of the convenience of where my hotel was, or maybe because I knew some people in Yogyakarta. Whatever the reason is, it was difficult to part with Yogyakarta. I might be back some day, who knows, but surely I was glad I finally had the chance to visit it at least once!!

- Don't forget to check out my other adventures in Indonesia this trip!!

Part 1 (Jakarta - Kota Tua and MONAS area): here

Part 2 (Yogyakarta - Borobudur and Prambanan): here

Part 4 (Jakarta - Glodok, Taman Mini): here