AhPek Biker - Old Dog Rides Again: July 2024

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Indonesia 2024 Day 2: Kota Tua & Chinatown!

Jakarta-Bandung 2024 Day 2: 9th July (Tuesday)

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia; Day 2- Around Old Jakarta (Jakarta Tua):

YELLO Hotel Harmoni>Jakarta Kota Railway Station>Kota Tua Jakarta>Fatahillah Square>Jakarta Chinatown (Glodok)>Coventown Glodok>YELLO Hotel Harmoni.

This is page 2 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D1: KL-Jakarta | Go to Other Days | D3: Jakarta Attractions >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling in and around Jakarta:

1. Traffic Directions!

Traffic in Indonesia is right-hand drive, so drive/cycle on the left. The same thing applies when crossing the road, take note of the direction from which traffic is approaching!

2. Immigration & Customs Requirements

Submission for customs e-clearance is advised for getting past the airport customs without a fuss. E-submission can be done before leaving for Indonesia. Click here for to access and fill up the Indonesian E-CD (Electronic Customs Declaration) forms for approval. Upon successful application, a QR Code is given, save this to your phone and show it to the customs officer upon arrival. With a quick scan, one is cleared to enjoy one's holiday.
OR upon arrival, one can scan the QR codes posted along the arrival halls & corridors and fill up details accordingly and an individual approval QR code will be given.

Immigration entry is via digital gates which scan one's passport and take a facial photo, so put on your best smile 😊.

3. Getting to and around Jakarta.

Getting around Jakarta is easy, just install the Grab Van e-hailing app and conveniently hail a ride. Within Central Jakarta (and perhaps some outskirts), autorickshaws called bajaj (pronounced baj-ai) are a convenient way to get around, do negotiate a price before boarding though.

4. Accommodations

At Jakarta, we stayed three nights at the YELLO Hotel Harmoni Jakarta (GPS: -6.16422, 106.82125), booking two rooms for two nights without breakfast & two rooms for the third night with breakfast, because we must leave early to catch the Whoosh Train). They upgraded us to a Family Suite on the 29th floor for the first two nights with a great view of the city. It came with a living hall & dining room. The hotel is located in the Harmoni locality within Central Jakarta.

5. Places & Things of Interests

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):

a. YELLO Hotel Harmoni Jakarta (GPS: -6.16422, 106.82125) with an interesting yellow-coloured scheme.

b. Harmoni Exchange Shopping Mall (GPS: -6.16425, 106.82097).

c. Jakarta Kota Railway Station (Stasiun Jakarta Kota) (GPS: -6.13808, 106.81474).
c. The old colonial part of Jakarta called Kota Tua Jakarta (GPS: -6.13550, 106.81193).
d. Fatahillah Square (Taman Fatahillah) (GPS: -6.1346, 106.81320), the city's main square.

e. Jakarta History Museum (Fatahillah Museum) (GPS: -6.13519, 106.81330).
f. Batavia Galeri & Kafe (GPS: -6.1343, 106.81262) shopping at the adjacent arcade.
g. Pancoran Glodok Chinatown Entrance Arch (Gapura Chinatown Kawasan Pancoran Glodok) (GPS: -6.14248, 106.8146).

h. Jakarta Chinatown (Glodok) (GPS: -6.14304, 106.81199).
i. Pancoran ChinaTown Point (GPS: -6.14084, 106.81330).
j. Coventown Glodok (GPS: -6.14133, 106.81247).

6. Food

a. Brunch at Western/Indonesian Fare at Cafe Batavia (Wiki Link) ( GPS: -6.13443, 106.81275):

- Erwten Soup (Dutch Split Pea Soup), Pepes Jamur, (tofu-egg), Nasi Goreng Roa, (Roa Fish Fried Rice), Vegetable Quiche, Almond Croissant, Coffee & Juices.

b. Afternoon Tea:
- Pempek Ikan Tenggiri (Mackerel fish paste) at Pempek Eirin 10 Ulu in Pancoran ChinaTown Point (GPS: -6.14084, 106.81330).

- Bobba Sundae (Black Pearl Sundae) & Strawberry Smoothie at Mixue outlet Pancoran China Town Point (GPS: -6.14097, 106.81334):

c. Dinner at Santong Kuotieh 68 (santongkuotieh) (GPS: -6.14099, 106.81257):

Koutieh (Pan Fried Wo Tip dumplings) & Ifumie (Yi mein noodles).
d. Supper Soto Bertawi with white rice at Sate Khas Senayan, Harmoni Exchange (GPS: -6.16429, 106.82065).

7. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. We bought online China Unicom pre-paid 8-days 16GB (2GB per day) phone sim cards through Hello 1010. It was delivered to our home/office within a few days, and we installed it into our phones upon arrival.

Most hotels, motels, homestays, restaurants, and airports have free Wifi; but do note that public free wifi may not be secure and registration may be required. But one can save on one's mobile data by using these, especially for uploading or downloading videos.

8. Communicating with Locals

At favourite tourist destinations, locals may speak fairly good English. At the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, so knowing some basic Bahasa Indonesia will come in handy and also warm one up to the locals.

9. Weather

Average day temperatures in Jakarta in July is around 33°C, while mean night temperature is around temperatures 23°C.

Useful weather forecast sites for the Indonesia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

10. Navigation

I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.

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PRELUDE

Yesterday we arrived in Jakarta, faced the renowned Jakarta traffic and by the time we reached our hotel, it was late afternoon. We just had dinner at the adjacent mall and called it a day.

Today we start our exploration of the city, by heading out to the older part of the city, called Kota Tua Jakarta, or perhaps more appropriately called old Batavia, which was the old colonial name of the city. This was followed by a visit to Glodok, the Chinatown of the city.

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DAY 2: OLD JAKARTA (JAKARTA TUA)

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia;Day 2 Around Old Jakarta (Jakarta Tua):

YELLO Hotel Harmoni>Jakarta Kota Railway Station>Kota Tua Jakarta>Fatahillah Square>Jakarta Chinatown (Glodok)>Coventown Glodok>YELLO Hotel Harmoni.

(Click here for the Kota Tua Jakarta Route Map)

Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)

Me & my three Angels are ready to start our first full day of adventure in Jakarta; but first some fun at the ground floor of our hotel 😉!

We took a Grab van to head for the oldest part of the city - Kota Tua Jakarta. Stopping opposite the Jakarta Kota Railway Station, we then walked down Jalan Lada which to be car-free (was it only for today?). Free of vehicles it was a nice walk down .....

..... Fatahillah Square, the city main square. It's also car-free and the locals were having a whale of a time there. There didn't seem to be many foreign tourists around, as today is a weekday.

11:00am: We had skipped breakfast, hungry, our tummies shouted out "It's time for brunch!" and our legs took us to the Cafe Batavia, where we had an excellent meal in a historical building overlooking the Fatahillah Square. Our brunch included Nasi Goreng Roa and Erwten Soup (Dutch Split Pea Soup) came to IDR1,00,000 - so we joked that we had a million dollar meal!
(A million IDR = 60USD or 280MYR 😊)

The old colonial building atmosphere with a window view of TF below was so cozy that we lingered on for three hours, so it was a very worthwhile million dollar meal!

Photo wall at the staircase.

We had thought that Cafe Batavia was a very old establishment dating back to colonial days, like the century-old Coliseum Cafe in Kuala Lumpur or the Durbar FMS in Ipoh. But no it's a fairly new cafe established in 1993. The building it is in is old though, it was built around the 1830s and had been used as a residence, an office of the Dutch governors, and a warehouse, etc. (history link of the building). Its refurbishment had done well, maintaining its colonial past and creating a sober yet warm mood.

Adjacent to the cafe is the Batavia Galeri & Kafe which had a shopping arcade. We browsed around but did not get anything.

It's never to old to learn, so we went over to the Jakarta History Museum for an interesting history lesson of Jakarta. Our museum guide, Encik Suparta was very knowledgeable and did an informative presentation. We learnt that it was originally called Sunda Kalapa during the Kingdom of Sunda period and Jayakarta, Djajakarta or Jacatra during the short period of the Banten Sultanate. Under the Dutch, it was known as Batavia (1619–1945), and after that to it's present name.

Back at the main road, we were tempted to take this horse cart to our next destination but it's just for joy rides around this locality.

So we opted for a bajaj (pronounced baj-ai) to take us from Kota Tua (Old Town Jakarta) to Jakarta's Chinatown (locally called Glodok). It's a wonder that the four of us could fit into this small auto-rickshaw with the three girls sitting at the back which normally seats two, and me up front squeezed with the driver and holding for dear life when he negotiated corners!

Passed by this bajaj, so one can imagine how precariously I was seating up front with the driver while the gunny sacks represents the girls 😅.

3:15pm - Arrived at Pancoran ChinaTown Point and had refreshing Bobba Sundae & Strawberry Smoothie at the Mixue outlet.

Shopping in Jakarta's Pancoran ChinaTown Point.
At the ground floor are several shops selling Chinese goods, and foodstuffs.

Other shops sells clothing but more to local fashion style.

Light snacks of Palembang Tenggiri Fish Paste at from the Pempek Eirin 10 Ulu Asemka Pancoran stall in Pancoran ChinaTown Point. This fish paste is made from Tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel) fish. It wasn't that flavourful, those fish paste from Penang tastes better. Nevertheless, they are doing brisk business with several branches all over the country.

3:15pm - At Glodok, the real Chinatown of Jakarta. Encased in this city within a city with is a rich history of colonial buildings, ancient temples, shop-houses with traditional Chinese architecture & culture.

Interactive Google Street View of Glodok Chinatown.

A short walk away is Coventown Glodok, a mall full of events & activities supporting the shops there.

Dinner was at Santong Kuotieh 68 located just across the street from the mall.

They served pan-fried Koutieh, which is similar to the Chinese Wo Tip dumplings, and Japanese Gyouza. We also had Ifumie (stir-fried Yi mein noodles with gravy).

That meal wasn't enough so back at the hotel, so the missus & I went for supper at Sate Khas Senayan, Harmoni Exchange. The chef's recommendation of Soto Bertawi was very good!

"MANTAP!"

(That's "Awesome!" in Indonesian)

(For more photos of Day 2, Click Here)

This is page 2 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D1: KL-Jakarta | Go to Other Days | D3: Jakarta Attractions >

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