Jakarta

The Sprawling Metropolis

July 2024

I took a grab taxi from the airport to the Hotel and he first impression was that of a well kept city, almost like a cleaner version of Mumbai. There was a mild smog in the sky. Traffic was heavy but moved fast. Unlike Vietnam which promoted 2 wheelers, there were lots more cars on the roads.

In the afternoon, near the hotel had a lunch of Urat meat balls and Rusuk beef ribs. Finished dinner with Nasi Gorang Bistik (steak fried rice). Noticed that the trust factor is a little less here and one has to pay in advance before ordering food similar to Indian Darshinis. 

A Walking Tour

The next day, I decided to go for a walking tour to get an orientation of the city. Guruwalk is a popular free walking tour and the pick up was from a hostel further south in Central Jakarta, My Capsule. We were a total of 11 of us mostly from Europe, there was 1 Scot, 2 from Belgium, a few Germans, English, Dutch and 1 person from Chile. Our guide was a young man named Fajz. 

As part of the walk, we first took a commuter line train to the Kota station which is the old Dutch part of the city, Batavia. We walked up to the Glodok China town which is one of the many china towns where the Chinese were kept quarantined by the Dutch and undergo periodic upheavals. The last anti Chinese riots happened in 1998 and a rising tide of Islamic conservatism threatens to open up the country's ethnic and religious fault lines. Chinese make up 1.2% of the population and traditionally one of the most prosperous groups. About 80% of Indonesian are Muslim, 10% are Christians, the rest Buddhists and Hindus. Fajz told us that Indonesians have their religion written in their ID cards. Adults can change their religion, but many of them don't convert, just become non religious, as it is a hassle updating their ID cards and facing drama from their families.

We visited the Buddhist temple, the traditional markets and had fried balls of Combro Pedas, a dish from west Java made from grated cassava and fried. We then took a mini bus to go to the old Harbor, Sunday Kelapa and a small boat ride around the Harbor. You can see the Pinishi boats and the fact that the sea water level is higher than the land, an indication that Jakarta was sinking. 40% of the city is below sea level due to flooding in the alluvial plain and illegal groundwater extraction. The capital is now moving to East Kalimantan in 2025 to ease the pains and will be called Nusantara (means outer islands)

We then walked to the Jakarta old town along the canal, the Dutch East India company (VOC) warehouses, the last remaining Dutch drawbridge and the colonial houses along the canal. The old town square has the Town hall and old colonial building converted to museums and cafes. The first church is now the puppet museum, while the second one became the cafe Batavia. The court house is now the Museum of Fine art and Ceramics. To make the square give a feel of mini Amsterdam, the government has provided free cycles for kids and you can see them cycling all across while their families enjoy their time out. 

After lunch, a sour and spicy Bandeng (Milk Fish) at Kedai Seni Djakarte restaurant and dessert (Poffertjes which is a traditional Dutch batter cake and ice-cream), we took the commuter train to Central Jakarta to visit Istiqlal Mosque, the world's 3rd largest after Mecca and Medina, which can accommodate 120,000 worshippers. The Mosque was built in 1978 and surprisingly modern with geometrically grated windows and a sleek Minaret. Interestingly, it was designed by a catholic architect, Frederich Silaban who was awarded after a country wide competition. It was testament to the modern interpretation of Islam by the worlds largest Muslim country. Directly across is the twin Cathedral which was built in 1901. As we finished the tour of the mosque, the clouds gathered and the skies poured during the evening. Like any tropical country, it is quite warm in the day time and then in the afternoon or evening, there are brief thunderstorms accompanied by rains. We told our goodbyes and I came back to the hotel. 

Galleries and Museums 

Next day, I was off to Central Jakarta to see the National Museum. The roads were wider and wound around the Monas or Monument National, a marble obelisk to commemorate the Indonesian independence. The Museum was closed for renovations, so went to check out the National Gallery. Artist exhibits keep changing and one of the buildings had a modern exhibition while another building had exhibitions of Amrus Natalsya, Misbach Tamrin and Adrianus Gumelar, all artists in the 1960s and who were persecuted during the Suharto regime due to their communist leanings.

For lunch stopped at a restaurant called Bale Lombok which had Bali-Lombok food and had an Ayam Betutu Bali Komplit - Braised chicken in Betutu spice mix. 

On Friday morning, I went to DOSS electronics to buy an Insta360 Go 3S. DOSS is a chain of electronics stores and the variety of cameras, professional video equipment and drones that were available was more than you could get in India. 

After that I went up towards the old Batavia city and for lunch had Soto Betawi and rice (Beef soup) at the same restaurant, Kedai Seni.  Post lunch, I visited two museums - the Puppet museum and the Arts and ceramics museum. Indonesia has a long culture of puppetry from the days of the Hindu kings and the Puppet museum which was housed in one of the old Dutch buildings had an exhaustive collection of puppets. The curation however was not as good as the museums in Vietnam. There was limited English narrative and I used Google translate to go through the exhibits. The arts and ceramics museum was in another Dutch building and had a good collection of paintings from well known Indonesian artists. However, the curation was not as a good as the National Gallery. 

Had a round of Black coffee before returning back to the hotel. Unlike Vietnam where there are big chains of local coffee shops like Highlands Coffee, I didn't see any in Jakarta other than Kopi Tuku (only in south Jakarta). Starbucks is the number one chain in the cities. This is a big opportunity for a local business to develop around it as the country prospers and consumers are willing to spend on quality coffee.

When I was exiting Jakarta later during the end of the month, I visited a few art museums. Near Sarinah Mall, there is a building called Jakarta Art Hub which has got many small galleries exhibiting modern art by young Artists. However, the ultimate place for Modern and Contemporary art is the Museum MACAN, a must visit for art lovers. Exhibitions keep changing and when I visited, there was an exhibition of the works by the Australian artist Patricia Piccini who uses hyper realistic sculptures portraying imaginary fusions of humans, animals and machines and lets us imagine a future where humanity and other creatures may coexist in potentially the same bodily form. The exhibits were outstanding.

Transportation 

Transportation wise, Jakarta has an excellent road system, well maintained and marked, with separate 2 wheeler and well managed bus stops. The Rail MRT was clean and efficient. Definitely better than anything in India or even Bangkok and Vietnam. Honking is also negligible. Cars are well maintained by the drivers unlike Uber or Ola in India which are dirty. Traffic is heavy but orderly.

Shopping in Jakarta 

The best things to shop in Jakarta are antiques, Batik, Electronics and if you are into it, high end branded items. I bought the Insta360 3S here as the price was competitive and it was not available in India . Jakarta has multiple malls and street shopping destinations. Best Malls to visit in Central Jakarta are Grand Indonesia Mall for High end brands and Sarinah Mall for designer Batiks and handicrafts. Also don't miss the Bartele Gallery which is inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for antique maps and prints. In South Jakarta, the best Mall is Senayan City for high end brands. In West Jakarta, The Central Mall is a must visit.

The best place to buy Batiks and general handicrafts is Plaza Blok M in South Jakarta which will remind you of shops in India found in the wholesale, one-town areas. 

If you are into antiques, best place is JL Surabaya in Central Jakarta though there are many fakes and knock offs, so one needs to bargain hard.

Cuisines

Indonesian food varies from Island to Island and it is difficult to keep a track of various variations. I have covered the broad categories in a separate Food article. Jakarta is full of street food and world class restaurants and cuisines including a lot of Japanese and Korean food. Mall restaurants are very popular A few of the restaurants where I had local cuisines and I would recommend are below

Bale Lombok: This is a restaurant popular for offering Balinese cuisines. I tried out an Ayam Betutu Bali Komplit (Braised chicken in Betutu sauce from Bali). 

Kedai Sene Djakarte: This North Jakarta restaurant has some wonderful Poffertjes (legacy of the Dutch) and I also had a Soto Betawi which is a Beef soup by the Betawi or Batavias, an ethnic group native to Jakarta.

The Atjeh Connection: This small restaurant is famous for its Aceh food (Place in Sumatra) and their Coffee (Kopi Sanger), the nearest to South Indian Filter Coffee that you can find.

Leaving for Yogyakarta

It was now time to leave Jakarta for Yogyakarta and the spectacular Buddhist temples of Borobodur. Early morning, I took a cab and reached the Gambir train station which is where the executive class trains start from. Trains were sparkling new and not at all crowded, so it was a pleasant 6 hour journey across the countryside.