A Walk to Jakarta Old Town

Higher looking sky that morning

Went out from home early in the morning, the sky looked like that it would be a nice day. I thought it looks higher than usual. There was no sign of rain approaching. I thought that it would be a nice day to take a walk. Yeah, do not ever waste a nice day just sitting in front of your PC all day, enjoy it outside!

Wasn't really sure where to go, I went straight to the train station by angkot. I was goingto go to Jakarta and about to plan the destination on the train. Because it was weekend, the train I was on was not as crowded as usual. There were empty seats here and there. Almost everyone on my car were sitting on the provided seat, I was one of the people who weren't sitting though. I felt ok with standing all the way. It made my blood flows well and I could think better. As the train ran to the last station, Jakarta-Kota Station, I got an idea to walk a bit to Kota Tua (the old town).

From the station, I just had to walk about five minutes to get there. It was so close that you could see the bricky road from the exit. Didn't want to arrive there too quick, I took a detour by crossing the street to Museum Bank Indonesia (Indonesian Bank Museum).

Museum Bank Indonsia

The orange bajai

In front of the museum, I saw lots of bajai/bajaj in a queue. Bajai is a public tranportation that you can find in some parts of Jakarta. It is an old type of public transportation that still in use which looks like a mix of car and motorcycle. It has three wheels-one front wheel and two back wheels- and a vespa-like controller. There are two types of bajai in Jakarta, the orange one using fossil fuel and the blue one using gas. If you want to feel the best one, I think you should try riding the orange one for its noisy and shaky sensation. lol

Nice branch hut for the paintings

The jimbe musicians and a kid mimicking them

From the museum, I just walked straight the bricky road to the main square. On the way to the main square, the buildings were already turned to old Netherlandish style. There were old cafes and artist you could see along the way. I saw some jimbe playing musicians and some paintings displayed on a hut made of tree branches that looks so beautiful.

The pecel selling lady

Felt hungry for not having breakfast back home, I looked for some food seller. Near the jimbe musicians, I saw a lady selling pecel. Pecel is an Indonesian food made of mixed vegetables (spinach, papaya leaf, bean sprouts, and beans) with soy sauce. People often served pecel with some fried snacks like tempe goreng (fried soybean cake), bakwan, and tahu goreng (fried tofu), some of them also add noodles and kerupuk on it. The pecel I ate was the most expensive one I've had, it was 10.000 rupiahs (almost a dollar) for a smaller portion than people outside usually sell. It was such a robbery there. Thanks to her, I learned my lesson to bring my own food the next time I visit.

The scout cleaning force

The odd Chinese vampire statue man (-..-)

After a little more walk I arrived at the square. It was such a wide open area surrounded by old buildings such as Museum Fatahillah, Post Museum, and The Textile Museum. On the square, I saw lots of people riding their rented bikes. There were lots of bikes and the kind of funny hat for rent around the square. There were also some children scouts cleaning the environment. They swept the square and picked every garbages they saw to put them in the trash bag they brought. I was not really sure if the day was Indonesian National Scout Day. In front of Museum Fatahillah, you might also see the statue men. They were artists who you tokk photograph with and got money from it.

Si Jagur cannon back side

Around the square, there were also cannons. It was a real cannon from the old warring period. If I was not mistaken, Museum Fatahillah was formerly an office of the late Netherland Colonial Goverment. Under it, there were cells of prison for Indonesian people trying to do rebellious acts. Among the cannons, there was this one special cannon called Meriam Si Jagur. Si Jagur had a hand on one of the cannon end which thumb was placed between the point and mid finger. There was said to be an inscription on the cannon saying "Ex Me Ipsa Renata Sum" (I was created from my own self).

In general, I saw that Kota Tua was a very nice place to see. The museums around it could give us histirocal knowledge of Indonesia and Jakarta. The old buildings were also looks so artistic that you could get a very nice picture of it. The fame of this photogenic spot was already that great around Jakarta that it was often usd as annual school book or pre wedding photo session spot. If you plan on going to Jakarta, don't forget to go there! See ya'!

This bad ass kid was trying to get on the cab while his father was looking the other way...lol

A bad self portrait of me with most of the picture showing the sky...lol

A Walk to Jakarta Car Free Day Area

The sun was peeping shy behind a building

The sun was just woke up about an hour ago. It was that early in the morning when I decidedto go to Jakarta Car Free Day Area. The sun lazily risen up to the sky, maybe it was due to Sunday that the sun wanted to rest a little more after the long busy week.

Got my feet up the Sudirman Street from Sudirman Railway Station, the sun was welcoming me by peeping from behind a tall building. There were already lots of people doing various activity on the street. It was natural because the clock already pointing number 8.

The Hotel Indonesia (left) circle

Jakarta Car Free Day Area is an area that being used for public with no auto-vehicle allowed around (except the TransJakarta). It is located on the streets around The Hotel Indonesia circle, along Sudirman Street to Monas (Indonesian National Monument). It is always held on Sunday so people living in Jakarta and around have an open place to do exercise and other activities. It is meant so people can enjoy their time in public area where they usually got their strees on that street.

On the street, I saw lots of things. I saw massive yet artistic buildings that amaze me. As a main street of economic ativities in Jakarta, Sudirman Street had lots of those kind of buildings. Beside the buildings, various activities that people held there were also being an entertainment for me. There were people jogging, bike riding, skateboarding, walking their dogs, and showing off their activity as a community. Around the Welcoming Statue that was built in 1961 for the 4th Asian Games the following year, there were communities showing off. There were these people who swing around on a pole like an athlete showing off their ability (and curved body), the unique-bike community showing their bikes and their “got nothing to do”-ness, and also the old people in the onthel (old bike model) community dressed as war veterans celebrating Veteran Day that time. There were also reporters looking for news to report.

All those thousands of people with their activity will actually need som food to eat. Don’t worry, there were lots of street vendors selling various food I saw that day. The foods being sold were gado-gado, siomay, otak-otak, bubur ayam, soto, and maybe many other that I couldn’t see and mention.

The street cleaning team

One more thing to be noted here that there were these people doing theit job in the crowd. These people in orange uniform could be a real active hero in that Veteran Day. They were the street cleaner teams which consist of only five people cleaning the streets from garbages. Something that I got really proud of them were the strenght they had to clean the very wide area (that could make me tired running) in their late age. I think most of them were more than fourty years old, maybe they were even passed their fifty.

If you had no plan on this Sunday, maybe you should go to Jakarta Car Free Day. You can get enough sweat and in the same time there are lots of things you can see there. Don’t forget to walk around the Hotel Indonesia circle to see the communities and events that being held there at times. Every special day, there will be special events being held there. If you are lucky enough, you might also get interviewed by tv reporters and get your face on the tv. Ok, so it is another farewell, bye!

The welcoming statue swaying their goodbye (kinda looks that way)

A Walk to Istiqlal Mosque

The blue sky above Istiqlal's white dome

The sky that day was like the other day this season, it was clear and concise. Maybe it was a blessing from the god that I would be able to go rather far to saw the religious teachers (syaikh) from Arab who’d come to Istiqlal Mosque that afternoon.

Istiqlal Mosque is a mosque located in Central Jakarta. It is a mosque which could be called Indonesian National Mosque. The mosque was built from August 24th 1951 and finished in 22 February 1978. The architect who designed this mosque which said to be The Biggest Mosque in Southeast Asia was Frederich Silaban, a gifted architect from South Sumatera that didn't had any formal architecture education but won several major architecture awards.

From my place, I had to take a train there. Once I arrived in the nearest station, which is Juanda Station, I just had to walk accross the street. It was so close that you could see the mosque after descending the stairs out of the train station. I took the crossing bridge and walk a little further. My suggestion for you, do not take the ojek or bajaj for they will ask you to get on, just decline them in good manner and walk instead because the place you are heading to is right in front your eyes.

From the back gate opening, I need to walk for about 100 meters more to the entrance. Walking on the pedestrian, I saw a contrast like beauty and the beast. The mosque was so massive in size and the design made it looks so strong but gentle at the same time. In contrast, in front of it I saw a very dirty river flowing which one of its end there was a big pile of garbage floating idly stuck in a small dam.

Jakarta Cathedral Church

Right accross the main gate of the mosque, I saw a big and beautiful church. It was the Jakarta Cathedral Church. The two buildings facing each other is just like the harmonic relationship of most people with various believes in Indonesia. I could also saw them from the warm welcome the mosque employee to the foreign tourists who want to see around the mosque. As I took off my shoes to enter the mosque, I saw American and Korean tourist flocks entering the mosque before me.

Inside the mosque, I saw many things. There are three area in general, the first floor, the main floor, and the floors above the main floor. On the first floor first, I observed there were wudhu area and toilets, guest rooms, to religion consultation area which operated from 10 AM everyday (kind of not sure about it though). One thing that I thought was unique from the first floor was the toilets. There were two kinds of toilets, the asian style and sitting style, which accomodate two different culture. Moreover, the toilets and the water tub was made of tin that you could feel the cold tin touching them.

The reporter from a private tv station

Before ascending the stairs to the main floor, my dad who came along with me got interviewed by a couple of reporters. Before the interview, they made my dad wore some kind of microphone so his voice would be recorded nicely. They asked his opinion about the hijab style young females in Indonesia had these days. Asking for religion related issues, Istiqlal Mosque is often used as news scouting spot so got interviewed there wasn't a big issue for someone who often went there.

The second floor was the main floor. It was meant to be a place for praying. The main chamber was covered with red carpets. There were tin covered pillars supporting the dome in circle. The dome interior was also magnificent. If the golden dome mosque was great outside, this one looks better inside. There were also arabic caligraphy engraved on the lower circle of the dome. Beside the dome, the front wall which people face during the prayer was also beautiful. Covered with granite stone, there were two big arabic caligraphy of Allah and Muhammad on the right and left. In the middle, there was a big caligraphy of “Laa ilaa ha illa-Allah” means “There’s no god except Allah”. Around it, there were 99 smaller golden caligraphy of the names of Allah. In the evening, I saw a more beautiful view of the wall. There were yellow lights glowing from behind the middle wall. It looks so beautiful and adds the beauty of the caligraphies and the artistic decorations around them.

The floors above the main floor was just extra floors. They were meant for people who could’t have their place on the main floor or for women. They were also used to take a better picture of the main floor by the tourists I saw that day. Some of them also watched our prayer while taking their pictures.

The crowd of prayer and religion study that day

Overall I thought Istiqlal Mosque was a place that could represents Indonesian moslems’ religious activity. We could see the building architecture, the employees, and people praying there. We could see the interaction of Indonesian moslems, local moslems and moslems from abroad living in Jakarta, and moslems and non-moslems. Beside the Monas (National Monument of Indonesia), this one is a great place you have to add in your destination list if you visit Jakarta. See you later!

Source: id.wikipedia.org

An Afternoon Walk to The Past (Elementary School Memories)

A beautiful view of the sky that late afternoon

Let’s start it with the cloudy sky that afternoon. It is almost dusk at my place when the sky suddenly turned into a calming view and felt so nostalgic. Sun light crawls below the clouds. There are spots where the light makes its way through the cloud and made some beautiful scene. At that very moment an idea to walk to the places of my elementary school memories crossed my mind, the memories written under the very same yet different sky. So, I left the house and moved my feet.

First of all, I went to the place where my friends and I used to spend studying. My very elementary school, SDN Mekar Jaya 8. It is not the same as it used to be a long time ago. The openings were replaced either by new buildings or covered by ceramic floor. The white and red paint of the class rooms were replaced with a bright orange color. I still remembered the time when I was sitting on the chair, studying, and joking around with my friends as if it had just happened yesterday.

My late elementary school building

In contrast of the fresh look of the class rooms, the field looks not so different from the old days. The flag pole, the net pole in the middle of the field, and the cracks on the ground brought back the memory when we used to hardly stand still in the flag ceremony every Monday, playing football, galasin, marbles, bentengan, 7 stones, and the other traditional games, when we cried in front of the north wall of the field when our P. E. Teacher assigned to another school, and when I made the last pass for my friend who made the spike that brought our school winning the volley ball competition. The sensation of spikes and passes that day won’t be able to leave my memory easily.

The bell house we used to prank

From the school, I went to the residential area near the school. It was the place where we used to run around to see who’s the fastest. I also went to a big house which bell we used to ring-and-run as a prank. The house changed a lot but the bell remained in the same place as it was. I also visited the crossbar where we used to play-head. It was a game we made ourselves, the goal was to stand on the crossbar as long as we could.cIt was called play-head because we could ask a friend to stand under us and hold his head once to help us balancing.

After that, I went to the place where my friends and I used to spend our after school time ‘till the drowning sun called us home, the small forest-like place that connected the back of our school and the main road. It was the place where we used to catch grasshoppers, bugs, lizards, and small iguanas bare handed. Its area had desreased a lot and the walking path had covered with wild plants, I bet no kid ever went anymore. I also remembered my friends, Oby and Alvin’s fight there which caused Dimas “Emen” got pee showered accidentally by Oby whose about to shower it to Alvin. Hahaha...what a kid fight.

The small forest-like place's road-side end which became dirty and covered with wild plants

Finally, on my way home, I went to a small river which has two water pipe crossed it. It was a place where we used to sit around and talked about lots of things, including the future. Standing on the pipe, I imagined myself as a kid back there and my friends, Deka, Alvin, Emen, Oby, Ombin, and Reza were beside me talking about the present while looking at the sky that turned dark. At that moment, I realized that time really flows but the memories of the past won’t fade away from people experiencing it. I am not someone whose unable to move on or someone who live in the past, I am someone who live on the past. The past is my ground, the future is my sky, and the present is my life.

The blue pipe river

Post note:

This post is dedicated for all my friends who made me who I am. "Happy National Friendship Day!"

A Walk to The Golden Dome Mosque (Masjid Kubah Emas)

Bright blue sky that Fryday

The sky was so clear that day. It was in fact a hot day. It was Friday and so hot as if it was better called Fryday that fry me crisp. For it was Friday, moslems male had Jumuah Prayer or Sholat Jumat (Friday Prayer) in Indonesian. Wanted to go to somewhere interesting, I decided to have it in the golden dome mosque that luckily located in my hometown, Depok. It was a famous mosque whis often being visited by local and foreign tourist lately. The mosque's domes which covered with 24 carat gold, was made like the dome  Taj Mahal (at least that what people said).

My father in front of the mosque

It was in fact my first time there. The location is so far from where my parents live, so I hardly went near Dian Al-Mahri Mosque (the golden cube mosque’s real name). For it was my first time being there, I asked my father to accompany me there.

To get there, from Depok’s Bus Station just took angkot with number 03. You could see the number on the rear and back glass of the car. It usually located on the corner of the glass. At the intersection of Sawangan district, you have to move to angkot number 102. As all the angkots have same blue color, you have to carefully see the number. And as an advice and the basic thing as a walkie traveler, do not hesitate to tell the driver where you want to go and ask for directions.

The mosque as seen from the front gate

A closer look of the mosque's domes

Upon my arrival there I was amazed by the size of its area. The mosque’s golden dome shines struct by the sun light. I can saw it from the entrance gate which located about 300 meters from the mosque itself. Around the mosque, there were the owner’s villa, the hall, and the souvenir shop. There were also gardens covered with Japanese grass and some fruit gardens. The fruit trees planted on the gardens were mango, guava, and longan trees. There was also a bougenville breeding area right in front of the mosque. 

There are photographers offering our self photograph in front of the mosque that could be printed on the spot for 25 thousand rupiahs. I also saw some men throwing their sandals to make some fruits fell down from the tree. They looked like having so much fun and didn't really care their fun moment captured by my camera lens. Seeing some women did the gardening made me wanted to have one too at home. Oh yeah, there’s just this thing... where were the big trees? If only there were big trees that big enough to prevent people got sun burned on the road sides, I think it will be a much better place to visit. Yeah, of coure it is.

The laughing sandal-throwing men 

The men in charge of printing the photograph

The lady gardeners doing the grass

Enough with the outside of the mosque, let’s move inside. The first impression of moving inside was that they had separate entrance for male and female, it was great. Moving in, I thouht the gold was only on the dome of the mosque, but there were also gold covering some interiors, for example on the pulpit. The other thing that people recommed to see there was the sky painting on the ceiling. It was said that its sky color changed along the day. I think it was beautiful, but for someone that know nothing like artistic painting I just stopped there. "Yeah, it was beautiful...uh-hm."

The cloudy sky painting on the ceiling

Male entrance

The pulpit which covered with 18 carat gold

At the end, I just realize that I was doing wrong things all along since I came inside the mosque. I just realized it a few minutes before the prayer begins. To proof that, I did the bad ass thing one last time just for you. Hahaha! #evillaugh

"Do not took photograph inside the mosque" is written there