A Day in Jakarta
From the quaint town of Banda Aceh, our next destination is the biggest city in Indonesia; the Batavia. Being the tenth largest city in the world, it is a highly dense metropolis with population equivalent to a country. The thought of putting all Malaysians in one city is mind-boggling!
Half past 7am (local time) we are already in Jakarta air. Beneath us; rows of warehouses.
Structures becoming clearer as we descend.
We arrive at Soekarno Hatta Airport five minutes past eight (local time), still feeling sluggish from our untimely journey from Kuala Lumpur (we woke up at 3am in order to catch our 7am flight; plus some drama at the airport -thank goodness, otherwise we would find ourselves in Jogjakarta instead of Jakarta as the flight crew misheard us and direct us to the plane for Jogja. Imagine running from one gate to another which unfortunately located at each far end dragging two kids and an old lady. I would like to recommend Air Asia to put a signboard to avoid future confusion and hassles).
My first observation when we landed is that the airport is quite small and aged for a capital like Jakarta, in total contrast of the new and posh Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport of Banda Aceh. Exiting the custom, our driver Pak Erwin is already waiting for us.
With our jovial host and driver, Pak Erwin at Soekarno Hatta Airport.
Welcome to Jakarta!
To our (and our driver) relief, the street is exceptionally quiet and idle; perhaps because it is on long holiday.
We straight ahead to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, abbreviated as TMII (Indonesian loves abbreviations!) a park that showcase Indonesia in miniature, something similar to our own Taman Mini Malaysia in Malacca.
There are many ways to tour around the TMII, from the tandem bicycles to the trishaw-like bicycles all available for rent.
Still tired and cranky from the lack of sleep, we opted for the easy ones.
The bird eye view of TMII. The house of Riau somehow resembles the Malacca house. Perhaps my ancestors were from there.
We bypass a lake with man made islands. That must be Sulawesi.
Off the cable car, we stumble into this cute lil’ performer.
It’s a bit pity though to see him being chained, strained and forced to do the act.
DH and the kids seem to be having a jolly good fun.
In front of Istana Anak Anak (Children Castle).
Kids’ traditional dancing competition is eventually in place.
The young dancers in their colorful costumes.
But Ahnaf and Acha have something else distracting them. Kids will always be kids.
Jakarta is full of skyscrappers. We have neck pains from looking up to much all the way to the hotel. According to Pak Erwin, it is typical for apartments and condos in Indonesia to have 50 floors. That is roughly half of Malaysia Twin Tower!
An ojek race us to the hotel. Definitely this three wheely is not our match.
The public bus. Note the high door to align with the height of the bus platform.
In Jakarta, street peddlers and beggers are a common sight, especially at traffic lights and congested areas. People will do anything in the name of survival. I salute that. But when seeing kids as young as my own peddling or begging for money, that is a sight that tear my heart.
Checking in Studio One Residence, Jakarta.
A secured hotel this is. Our chip-embedded proximity card.
One need to flash the card in the elevator and the room’s door for access.
We venture out again after refreshing ourselves. Pak Erwin patiently waits for us. We plan to visit Tanah Abang, a wholesale mall which is the talk among Malaysian ladies but unfortunately being a “Red Day”, it was closed when we arrived. Pak Erwin detour to Pasar Baroe instead, something like Bugis Street in Singapore. Found nothing interesting, he then brought us to ITC Cempaka Mas.
Inside ITC Cempaka Mas.
The colorful bags containing ladies praying shroud.
Mom’s doing the shopping.
It is already dark when we finish shopping. The time shows 6pm but it feels like it is already past nine. Traveling with kids and the elderly does not permit us to extend our day. After having our Minang style dinner, we retire to the hotel to rest.
End of Day 1.
P/s: To those interested to get the service of our driver, Pak Erwin can be contacted at +62081284111162.
Jakarta looks pretty nice. I think I’d enjoy visiting the city one day. The high door on the bus is a bit unusual though. What happens if the driver is new and doesn’t pull up close enough to the bus platform? Should bus stops be at street level?
Hi Brad, yup Jakarta is nice and there is a lot of things worth photographing. Unfortunately I was with kids and had limited time, so we didn’t get to explore more. Will definitely come back again someday. As for the bus, it runs via its special busway across major streets and it does not share the street with other vehicles (look closely beneath the bus you could see the divider). The passangers are picked from an elevated platform, which I didn’t manage to shoot. No way you can board at street level. But there are the normal buses and normal bus stops
vahhh sonoknyerr jalan jalan indon kanns.. ehehe
Hi Niza,
Been following this blog for quite some times. A travel bible for me.
I am just too lazy to write a blog about my experience though.
thank you for sharing it in a sincere and simple way. Appreciate it.
Regards,
Afik
Thanks Afik. We made this up simply for our remembral. I’m happy you find it useful. Appreciate it much.