Home means good food for me. Yumm... But anyway, I'm from Indonesia, born and raised in
Jakarta - the busy capital city. The traffic jam is driving me mad but I love it there.
Driving around definetely required an extraordinary patience but the good side is, feel
free to honk and swear. Not that I do that often, but you will not be considered rude if
you do it because everybody is doing it too. Some of the world's best driver come from
Jakarta, trust me. One more thing, always have some small changes in the car ready because
a lot of people are on the street (due to the economic crisis that hit the region) begging
for money. I know it could be annoying for some people but you better just hand them in
some coins if you want to save your car (and yourself) from scratching or something worse.
The weather is humid all year round but we have lots of rain during October to April.
But don't count on that, lately it's been quite unpredictable.
Shopping Malls
There are lots of shopping malls (and they are still building some new ones..) and no
matter what time you go there, they are always packed with people. In the afternoon,
school kids were swarming the area and when we were in high school, we used to hang around
the cafe and have a good observation on all the boys passing by. Our school is a girl
school, that's why.. haaa...
Night Life
Night life in Jakarta is great. If you want to try all the cafes and clubs there, you'd
need at least several weeks in the city. And the choices are unlimited. From a jazzy club
to striptease bars, just pick your choice. Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood are the
popular ones. Then if you browse the Kemang area (south of Jakarta), you would find Pasir
Putih (White Sand), Zanzibar, Bengkel and lots of other groovy places to just hang out and
have a drink or two.
Interesting Places
Monas
Well, we got this Monas (National Monument), which is a tall monument with a sort of
fire shape top, made of gold. Inside is a museum with pictures on the side of the room
showing history of the city. There are a lot of food stall around the monument and I
strongly suggest that you don't try any of the food there if you are not local people. We
do have better stomach resistence to the street foods than you are so to avoid reducing
the toilet visits due to diarrhea or something, just ignore them. Take pictures but wait
until you find a more reliable source of foods for your cravings.
Museums
There are lots of museums in Jakarta, just go to Information Centre and ask for
directions. One of my favourite is the Fatahilah Museum, located in Central Jakarta. It's
a spooky place and I've heard lots of ghost stories there. The place used to be the
hang-out place for Dutch soldiers and god knows what happened then. Don't have to believe
it but it's still a cool place to visit. And they have Cafe Batavia nearby, a better place
to pick up your lunch...
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Indonesian Mini Park)
Located on the outskirt of the city, it's a miniature of the Indonesian Archipelago.
Take the train around the park and you can stop on every province area (we have 27 of
them) where they have traditional houses and other cultureal thing. A good place to go if
you don't have time to tour around the country.
Ancol
It's on the North part of Jakarta, it's a big area by the sea where you can just sit in
Pasar Seni (Art Market) and have someone paint a picture of you or just buy some
traditional souvenirs. They also have Dunia Fantasi (Fantasy World). It's a small version
of Dream World here in the Gold Coast, with lots of excellent rides. If you love animals,
go to Gelanggang Samudra (Ocean Park) where they have lots of shows from seals to honey
bears. Quite cute. And if you want a more quite time to spend the time, go to one of the
island in the Thousands Island resorts, all boats depart from the Marina.
There are still lots of places to go, but I'll add them later. For now you have to be
satisfied with this one.
Back to the TOP
