Hey guys, back with me again.. This time I’ll tell you about my trip to “Old Town”, Sunday, May 15th 2011 . “Old Town” here refers to a tourism spot located near Stasiun Kota, West Jakarta. We call it Kota Tua in Indonesian. Me and my friend, Dhika went there. Since we live in Mampang, South Jakarta, so we went to Jl. Kapt. Tendean, then we took bus number 45 to Blok M (costs two thousand rupiahs — Rp 2.000,- for 1 person), and from Blok M we took Trans Jakarta (costs three thousand and five hundred rupiahs — Rp 3.500,- for 1 person) to Stasiun Kota.
Arrived at Stasiun Kota bus station, we went down to underground tunnel. It’s a tunnel with a circular pond in the middle. It’s like a meeting point for people wandering Kota Tua. Here in Kota Tua, we can choose our main destination, like Fatahillah Museum, Bank of Indonesia Museum,ย Mandiri Bank Museum, or else. But please, read the signpost carefully. Dhika and I wanted to go to Fatahillah Museum area, but since we didn’t read the signpost carefully, we got lost. ๐ So we headed back to underground tunnel and read the signpost. That time, we succeeded. 
OK, we arrived at Fatahillah Museum area around 12 o’clock. It was so hot and crowded, but our spirit was still the same! We wanted to explore the beauty of Kota Tua. ๐ Not only Fatahillah Museum that you can visit there, but also Indonesian Puppet Museum, Art and Ceramics Museum, Indonesian Post Office, and Batavia Cafe.
OK then, we started with Indonesian Puppet Museum. The entry ticket costs two thousand rupiahs (Rp 2.000,-) for adult.
In Indonesian Puppet Museum, you can see varieties of puppet from different provinces in Indonesia, such as puppet from Central Java, West Java, West Sumatra, etc. And you can see puppet that came from abroad. Not only puppet, you can also find collection of masks, traditional music instrument that we called “Gamelan” in Indonesian. And there was a store selling merchandise for tourists visiting Indonesian Puppet Museum, such as puppet miniature and pen with picture of puppet carved on it. Here are the pics :
Hoho… After visiting Indonesian Puppet Museum, we continued our journey to Fatahillah Museum..
- There was a traditional performance in Fatahillah Museum’s front yard. So many people gathered there…
- Fatahillah Museum.. *front view
- This is what Indonesian Post Office looks like.. ๐
2nd destination was Fatahillah Museum. The entry ticket also costs two thousand rupiahs (Rp 2.000,-) for adult. Here you can see collection of relic from the colonial period, such as Dutch furniture, paintings of bigwig in that era (e.g. VOC Governor, Prince Diponegoro – one of greatest Indonesian hero -, etc.), traditional weapons, epigraphs, ceramics from Japan, Europe, etc. Since we were prohibited to take photos there, I can’t provide you with the pictures of Fatahillah Museum inside. But I’m sure you’ll get many pictures from the internet about it. ๐
Okay, we were so hungry after wandering around Fatahillah Museum. We decided to eat.. What kind of food? There were so many choices, from meatball to fried rice. But we chose to eat “ketoprak“. Have you eaten “ketoprak”? It was so delicious. You should try it.. “Ketoprak” is a kind of food made from “ketupat“, tofu, thin white noodle (“mihun“), bean sprouts, poured with peanut sauce, a little amount of soybean sauce, fried onion topping, and crackers. Sometimes we eat it with boiled egg. Here you can see the picture of “ketoprak”. ๐ And maybe you will wonder about “ketupat” that I mentioned before. It’s rice cake boiled in a rhombus-shaped packet of plaited young coconut leaves. Typical food for celebrating Idul Fitri, one of Muslim feasts. And you can see the picture of “ketupat” in here. ๐
Hmmm.. Let’s continue our journey. Dhika and I then took pictures around Fatahillah Museum area.. You should see them :
- Pictures of bicycle rentals ๐ *from the info I heard, you have to pay twenty thousand rupiahs (Rp 20.000,-) for an hour. We didn’t rent it, we just took pictures with it.. ๐
- Pictures of Fatahillah Museum’s backyard. There was an outbound with many participants.
- Art and Ceramics Museum *front view..
So.. this is the end of story.. ๐
We took Trans Jakarta from Stasiun Kota bus station to Blok M.. We spent some time in Blok M until twilight came.
And here is the picture… Twilight in Blok M…
Thanks for reading, and… Let’s explore the beauty of Indonesia…!!!
Thanks to : Adhika Pramesita for accompanying me to Kota Tua..
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