A Short Visit to Jakarta, Indonesia

The week before I headed to Canada, I travelled with Jeff to Jakarta, Indonesia for a few days.  We went a day before Jeff had to start working so that he could also see some of this city we had never been to before.  Well, we quickly realized we were not in organized Hong Kong anymore.  Jakarta is a city of just under 9 million people - all of which seem to be on the move, and not in an orderly fashion.

On Sunday, we took an organized tour of a few places in Jakarta to get a feel for the city.  The tour was in a mini-bus with three people from South Africa and Namibia.  As usual, it was fascinating to hear their stories and travel with them.

We started in old Chinatown, known as Glodok-very crowded, very poor and quite the market!  The main transportation in these alleyways was by foot, or....  we even saw one of these three-wheeled motorcycles with the Blue Jays symbol on it!

The trip through the market ebbed and flowed from fascinating to shocking to revolting.  Here are a few shots of the more unique things...not found in a Canadian market anywhere.  Some of these we find in Hong Kong, but not all of them.  Ready?  Let's head down the alleyway together.... (remember, you can click or double click on the picture to have a closer look)



live crabs with their feet tied...
don't want them running away!

nice fish, but he will shorten his
life span with the smoking
(why do people do this??)

these live toads had their feet tied
together...no hopping away

these toads aren't going anywhere
(there was a man sitting behind this
display skinning the toads with a
cigarette hanging out of his
mouth - the top of my list of jobs
NEVER to do!!)

live eels...seems rather tame
compared to the others

live turtle - I am pretty
sure there were a few
environmental laws
broken in this market

ah - live cobras that reportedly to add
years to your life (and, um, be nature's
viagara), with a great security
system - board with a rock on top!

 There were also beautiful things in the market, like these veggies and fruit....

...and little shops selling all sorts of things we find all over Hong Kong.  The people we were travelling with bought some things, and we just smiled and thought "I can buy that a five minute walk from my home!)

Next stop was an ancient Chinese temple.  This China town was the original home to Chinese who came to find work starting in the 17th century, and that is when this temple was built. Many parts of it were like most of the temples I have visited and shared with you, so I will just highlight some differences.

This little shrine is to a past Christian minister who helped the Chinese years ago when they were so oppressed - interesting to find this in a Buddha temple. I do like the inclusiveness of this. The two beds on either side were representative of the twins that this man's wife had.

 This temple was full of candles of a variety of sizes.....

and many many individual Buddhas in numerous 'houses' around the back of the main temple.  Here are a few of our favourites (they think of everything!)

the white tigers (in very stylish red
capes) were the gods to help
protect travellers

really....a guardian geometric shape??
The Hakka people must be
brilliant mathematicians

for our teacher and
professor friends

not sure what the "Dog of
Heaven" is doing on earth....

he just makes me smile : )

Yes - this IS a fire
extinguisher

The best part for Jeff was finding this...remember this temple is filled with candles (including some as tall as I am)...and this is the 'health and safety' just in case.....so covered in soot from the candles and incense that it was almost unrecognizable.

After the temple, we headed over to the old Batavia town area called Kota.  That is where the Dutch first settled when they arrived in Indonesia in 1596, and took over control in 1799.  Interestingly, as we met our tour guide he asked if any of us were Dutch - when we all said no, he laughed and then said he could talk freely about the country's history (what he did not realize was that our African tour buddies were Afrikaners of Dutch heritage!)

This area - huge square, large old colonial buildings - has amazing potential, and yet it seemed to be deteriorating before our eyes.  Some building seem to be left as they were after WWII and Indonesia received its Independence.  With the potential that this square held, it was just ...  sad.

There was one building intact in the square, and that was Cafe Batavia where we stopped for a cup of coffee. It has been renovated back to the state it was in when Dutch traders would have gathered for their coffee. Two stories high, white walls, dark wood, so elegant. As you can see, it is beautiful...showing that there such potential for the rest of the square.

Next was the puppet museum...may seem childish, but these people take their 'wayang' puppets seriously. Puppet shows last all night (up to eight hours), with only one puppeteers doing up to 40 characters. I was very impressed, having been exhausted using two puppets for one little song!!

the professional (one man)

Jeff gives it a try...

We then had a private little puppet show (only a few minutes long) but it gave us an idea of how complicated these shadow puppet shows can be!


There is much more to Jakarta.....

hundreds of boats that travel between
the 17,000 + islands in
Indonesia

have rug...will travel

friendly people

a picture is worth a
thousands words

motorbikes are the main
mode of transportation



where else would you leave your hat
when you park your bike?



much prettier than helmets,
don't you think?

...and so much of the city seemed run down, old, and sort of sad.  Oh, there were areas of modern buildings (such as where Manulife office is) and huge shopping malls with top of the line stores, so you know there is money in pockets of Jakarta.  This just needs to be spread around a bit and spent in rejuvenating parts of the city.  Such potential




We were surprised by two things:

One - this girl stopped me as we left the puppet museum and asked if she could practice her English with me.  Her friends all giggled as I said of course, and she pulled out a hand-written paper with questions on it.  She introduced herself, asked where I was from, questions about family and a few other things.  Then the obligatory Asian "take a picture".  It was a joy because I also asked her the questions back for more practice.

Two - this paper was available to read in the hotel lounge...read the name carefully....seriously!

Overall, Jakarta is a city that is starting to rise, but has a way to go.  I found it interesting, and yet I understand why people just travel through on their way to other areas of Indonesia.  Glad I went...probably won't be back.

Thanks for finding your way through this LONG blog about a short visit to Jakarta - love you all, Linda and Jeff