Welcome June!
As the first post in new month, I would like to share about my recent trip to Jakarta (it sounds funny, but yeah, it IS a trip!)
It was the first RR tour trip in South East Asia - and since we are Indonesian, why should not we start from the capital city of Indonesia? So, here we go - we decided to travel around in Jakarta, not as locals, but as tourists.
Our first stop is Constitutional Court buildings (Mahkamah Konstitusi).
Located in Medan Merdeka Barat 6, not far away from National Palace (Istana Negara) and National Monument (Monas).
The first thing you would notic is the structure of its building - which looks like Parthenon in Athena. To be honest, I have never thought that Jakarta has this kind of building. The building looks so great and luxurious from the outside - but inside - it is quite plain, but these ceilings and dom are beautiful.
Unfortunately, I do not know whether tourist could freely visit this place or not, because I visited this place to attend my last class in my university.
The second stop is the tall building across the street - none other than National Monument or in Indonesia, Monumen Nasional, but famously called as MONAS.
MONAS is located in the center of Merdeka square that symbolized the fighting spirit of Indonesia and become the symbol of Jakarta city. The flame statue that is made of gold (I am not sure whether it is purely gold, or just covered by gold) is the reason why MONAS is famous.
There is also the National History Museum on the lower part of Monas.
The museum is open daily, except on MONDAY, from 08.00 to 15.00 PM and the ticket fee is Rp 2.500,-
By paying Rp. 7,500,- more, you could take a lift and go to the top of Monas. :)
Too bad, I forgot that I came on Monday - so, I could only look Monas from the outside. Well, at least now I have got a picture in front of Monas (after 22 years of living as Indonesian).
Raise your hand if you are Indonesian, lived in Jakarta and you do not have a picture in front of Monas! VISIT MONAS, NOW! :p
From Monas, I walked for 15 minutes to go to Istiqlal Mosque - the largest Mosque in South East Asia.
It was obviously my first time to visit mosque, so it was the brand new experience for me.
The mosque is undoubtly - so HUGE, especially the main hall.
This is the same main hall where Indonesian president prays during Idul Fitri, together with fellow ministers and citizens.
Not only the main hall, but the toilet, to be exact tempat wudhu (what's the english of it?) is veryyyy big.
Make sure that you take off your shoes when you are about to enter the mosque - be careful with "Batas suci" / "Sacred boundary" (?).
The next stop lies across the Istqilal Mosque - which is Cathedral of Jakarta.
It was also my first time to visit Cathedral of Jakarta and I've just realized that this Cathedral is very beautiful and classic. From outside, we could see two white towers on the top of the cathedral and we came inside, the ceilings are made from woods, instead of rocks and the alley inside is made to look like a cross.
After took enough pictures, I went to the last stop - Tanah Abang.
Actually, I planned to visit Pasar Baru before went to Tanah Abang, but since the weather turned sooo blue and looked like it will rain - anytime soon, so we decided to skip Pasar Baru and went straight to Tanah Abang.
We took "Bajaj" to take us from Cathedral to Tanah Abang. Bajaj is the authentic public transportation in Jakarta - and it could only be found in Jakarta! So, it's a must try for you who want to visit Jakarta.
It was also my first time to sit inside Bajaj and feel the authentic bajaj's vibration. (I could not find better word than vibration hahaha). The sound of Bajaj's engine is very loud and it also cause a lot of vibration when you sit inside Bajaj. Believe me, you would not be able to experience this in any place, except Jakarta.
Make sure to take Orange-colored-Bajaj, because it is the authentic one, while the Blue-colored-Bajaj is the latest model of Bajaj that uses natural gas instead of gasoline.
There are some procedures that you have to follow whenever you want to take Bajaj to travel around in Jakarta. Here are the procedures :
1. Mention your destination and ask for the cost.
In my case, I said to the driver that I would like to go to Tanah Abang and ask how much will it cost.
2. Bargain!
It is normal that the driver gives you higher price, especially when you are a tourist - moreover, foreign tourist , the price could be doubled or tripled of normal price. So, do not hesitate to bargain if the price is too high.
In my case, the driver said that it costed Rp. 25,000 from Cathedral to Tanah Abang. My friend has been told that usually the cost will be around Rp. 10,000 - 15,000, so we started to bargain and finally we dealed at Rp. 17,000. Well, I could not say that this is the cheapest price you could get, but don't blame me - I am terrible at bargaining.
3. Deal the price and ride your bajaj! :)
Okay, back to our topic - Tanah Abang.
It took 20 - 25 minutes ride from Cathedral to Tanah Abang - it might take longer or maybe shorter, depends with the traffic. (you should know that Jakarta's traffic is unpredictable).
Once we arrived in Tanah Abang, we walked to the Tanah Abang KRL station - which located behind the Tanah Abang shopping center block A. We passed through verrryy small streets and asks (a lot of) people for the walking direction to KRL station.
After 10 - 15 minutes walks, we arrived in Tanah Abang KRL station and went straight to the ticket office.
To be noted, KRL still uses paper ticket - but the government is almost ready to implement the e-ticket. Hopefully the project will be finished soon. For the fare, I paid for Rp 8,000 for executive class (with air-con) from Tanah Abang to Serpong - the nearest train station from my house. :)
We were so fortunate that we should not wait for a longg time for the next train. Oppositely, we have to run to catch the train that was going to leave in 5 minutes!
The train . . . was unexpectably comfortable and very fast! It only took 30 minutes long from Tanah Abang to Serpong. It is multiple times faster than drive a car!
This short trip to Jakarta really opened my mind about Jakarta and its public transportation. I always think that the public transportation in Jakarta is really - well, terrible. BUT, the reality is way better than my imagination. Even though it is still lacking in many ways, but I believe with a good management system the public transportation in Jakarta will get better - anytime soon. So, as a good citizen let us pray for the future improvement of Jakarta city! :)
As the first post in new month, I would like to share about my recent trip to Jakarta (it sounds funny, but yeah, it IS a trip!)
It was the first RR tour trip in South East Asia - and since we are Indonesian, why should not we start from the capital city of Indonesia? So, here we go - we decided to travel around in Jakarta, not as locals, but as tourists.
Located in Medan Merdeka Barat 6, not far away from National Palace (Istana Negara) and National Monument (Monas).
The first thing you would notic is the structure of its building - which looks like Parthenon in Athena. To be honest, I have never thought that Jakarta has this kind of building. The building looks so great and luxurious from the outside - but inside - it is quite plain, but these ceilings and dom are beautiful.
Unfortunately, I do not know whether tourist could freely visit this place or not, because I visited this place to attend my last class in my university.
The second stop is the tall building across the street - none other than National Monument or in Indonesia, Monumen Nasional, but famously called as MONAS.
MONAS is located in the center of Merdeka square that symbolized the fighting spirit of Indonesia and become the symbol of Jakarta city. The flame statue that is made of gold (I am not sure whether it is purely gold, or just covered by gold) is the reason why MONAS is famous.
There is also the National History Museum on the lower part of Monas.
The museum is open daily, except on MONDAY, from 08.00 to 15.00 PM and the ticket fee is Rp 2.500,-
By paying Rp. 7,500,- more, you could take a lift and go to the top of Monas. :)
Too bad, I forgot that I came on Monday - so, I could only look Monas from the outside. Well, at least now I have got a picture in front of Monas (after 22 years of living as Indonesian).
Raise your hand if you are Indonesian, lived in Jakarta and you do not have a picture in front of Monas! VISIT MONAS, NOW! :p
From Monas, I walked for 15 minutes to go to Istiqlal Mosque - the largest Mosque in South East Asia.
It was obviously my first time to visit mosque, so it was the brand new experience for me.
The mosque is undoubtly - so HUGE, especially the main hall.
 |
| The main hall of Istiqlal Mosque |
This is the same main hall where Indonesian president prays during Idul Fitri, together with fellow ministers and citizens.
Not only the main hall, but the toilet, to be exact tempat wudhu (what's the english of it?) is veryyyy big.
 |
| Tempat wudhu |
Make sure that you take off your shoes when you are about to enter the mosque - be careful with "Batas suci" / "Sacred boundary" (?).
 |
| Main entrance of Istiqlal mosque |
The next stop lies across the Istqilal Mosque - which is Cathedral of Jakarta.
Cathedral of Jakarta
It was also my first time to visit Cathedral of Jakarta and I've just realized that this Cathedral is very beautiful and classic. From outside, we could see two white towers on the top of the cathedral and we came inside, the ceilings are made from woods, instead of rocks and the alley inside is made to look like a cross.
 |
| Inside the cathedral |
After took enough pictures, I went to the last stop - Tanah Abang.
Actually, I planned to visit Pasar Baru before went to Tanah Abang, but since the weather turned sooo blue and looked like it will rain - anytime soon, so we decided to skip Pasar Baru and went straight to Tanah Abang.
We took "Bajaj" to take us from Cathedral to Tanah Abang. Bajaj is the authentic public transportation in Jakarta - and it could only be found in Jakarta! So, it's a must try for you who want to visit Jakarta.
It was also my first time to sit inside Bajaj and feel the authentic bajaj's vibration. (I could not find better word than vibration hahaha). The sound of Bajaj's engine is very loud and it also cause a lot of vibration when you sit inside Bajaj. Believe me, you would not be able to experience this in any place, except Jakarta.
Make sure to take Orange-colored-Bajaj, because it is the authentic one, while the Blue-colored-Bajaj is the latest model of Bajaj that uses natural gas instead of gasoline.
 |
| The authentic bajaj |
There are some procedures that you have to follow whenever you want to take Bajaj to travel around in Jakarta. Here are the procedures :
1. Mention your destination and ask for the cost.
In my case, I said to the driver that I would like to go to Tanah Abang and ask how much will it cost.
2. Bargain!
It is normal that the driver gives you higher price, especially when you are a tourist - moreover, foreign tourist , the price could be doubled or tripled of normal price. So, do not hesitate to bargain if the price is too high.
In my case, the driver said that it costed Rp. 25,000 from Cathedral to Tanah Abang. My friend has been told that usually the cost will be around Rp. 10,000 - 15,000, so we started to bargain and finally we dealed at Rp. 17,000. Well, I could not say that this is the cheapest price you could get, but don't blame me - I am terrible at bargaining.
3. Deal the price and ride your bajaj! :)
 |
| Blue-colored-bajaj |
Okay, back to our topic - Tanah Abang.
It took 20 - 25 minutes ride from Cathedral to Tanah Abang - it might take longer or maybe shorter, depends with the traffic. (you should know that Jakarta's traffic is unpredictable).
Once we arrived in Tanah Abang, we walked to the Tanah Abang KRL station - which located behind the Tanah Abang shopping center block A. We passed through verrryy small streets and asks (a lot of) people for the walking direction to KRL station.
After 10 - 15 minutes walks, we arrived in Tanah Abang KRL station and went straight to the ticket office.
To be noted, KRL still uses paper ticket - but the government is almost ready to implement the e-ticket. Hopefully the project will be finished soon. For the fare, I paid for Rp 8,000 for executive class (with air-con) from Tanah Abang to Serpong - the nearest train station from my house. :)
 |
| KRL Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) route map |
We were so fortunate that we should not wait for a longg time for the next train. Oppositely, we have to run to catch the train that was going to leave in 5 minutes!
The train . . . was unexpectably comfortable and very fast! It only took 30 minutes long from Tanah Abang to Serpong. It is multiple times faster than drive a car!
This short trip to Jakarta really opened my mind about Jakarta and its public transportation. I always think that the public transportation in Jakarta is really - well, terrible. BUT, the reality is way better than my imagination. Even though it is still lacking in many ways, but I believe with a good management system the public transportation in Jakarta will get better - anytime soon. So, as a good citizen let us pray for the future improvement of Jakarta city! :)
A riddle for you - do you know the location of Chairil Anwar garden? ;p
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