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| Not to be missed! - Jakarta's Special Places |
| Part 2 |
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Whether you are a newcomer to Jakarta or a long term resident who has been procrastinating about getting to know the city you live in, here are some ideas about some of the special places that Jakarta has to offer that you really should not miss.
It can be very enjoyable to spend your leisure time exploring some of the older parts of the city in North Jakarta. One of the most interesting places to visit is Sunda Kelapa Harbour with its fleet of pinisi sailing boats, the old lookout tower and Maritime Museum in a former Dutch East Indies company warehouse, Pasar Ikan (the fish market) and nearby Fatahillah Square where you can enjoy lunch at Café Batavia (www.cafebatavia.com).
Watch a performance of traditional Javanese wayang kulit or Sundanese wayang golek puppet theatre at the Museum Wayang in Fatahillah Square, North Jakarta. Performances are sometimes held on Sundays starting at 10:00 a.m. The performances may last for a couple of hours but the audience is free to come and go as they please. Special performances for groups can be arranged on weekdays or weekends and wayang puppets can be purchased and even custom made with photos of faces of your family or friends. (Tel: 692 9560, 6902 7289)
Sea World is a high-tech modern aquarium located at Taman Impian Jaya Ancol or Ancol Dreamland, the huge oceanfront recreational facility in North Jakarta. It has large tanks with all sorts of sea creatures, a touching pool with starfish, anemones, etc. and a walk through underwater tunnel where you are surrounded by sharks, turtles, manta rays and all sorts of marine life. You can also scuba dive at Sea World for a fee and feed the sharks in the shark tank. (Tel: 641 0080, www.seaworldindonesia.com)
Visit the National Monument (Monumen Nasional or commonly known as Monas) in Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, preferably on a weekday. The 137 meter tall monument opens at 9:00 a.m. and it is advisable to arrive early as the queue to go up to the top in the small elevator can be very long. If it's a clear day the view from the viewing platform is worth the wait. (Tel: 384 0451, 340 451)
Join a tour of the National Museum conducted by trained Indonesian Heritage Society volunteer guides. This museum in Central Jakarta houses a huge collection of artifacts from all over the archipelago. Tours are available in English, French, Japanese, Korean, and other languages on request. Check with the Indonesian Heritage Society (Tel: 572 5870, www.heritagejkt.org) to find out when these tours are scheduled.
To learn a little more about Indonesia as a whole it is well worth a visit to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah or the Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park, however it is advisable to go on a weekday as Sundays in particular can be extremely crowded. The park, located in East Jakarta, features full size replicas of traditional houses from all parts of the Indonesian archipelago with displays of clothing, arts and handicrafts, 17 museums with different themes, an IMAX theater, aviary, orchid garden, a man-made lake with the islands of Indonesia, as well as a monorail and cable cars. (Tel: 840 9210, 840 9214, 840 9236, 840 9239, 840 9270, www.tamanmini.com website in Indonesian)
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