This has been a while, but a couple of weekends ago, fellow teacher Ami and I decided to explore Jakarta for a day. The result was an early morning, a late night, a lot of walking and a lot of fun. Here are the results:
It was the day of the national election so one of the first things we passed was a polling station, which is pretty much what it looks like: a makeshift tent in the middle of the street. (By way of update, the election went pretty smoothly, except for the fact that many people couldn't vote because their names weren't on the voter lists. We still don't know who will be running for president in July since coalitions haven't yet been finalized.)
We moved on to Monas, the National Monument, where we spent some time on the grounds around it. Here's Ami:
And here I am in front of Monas. You may recognize it from when my parents, Megan, and I visited in October.
Then we walked down to one of Jakarta's oldest cathedrals, which has a lovely wooden ceiling. Because the doors to the cathedral stay open, there were little birds flying around the columns, perching on statues, and chirping little choruses. I loved the idea of sparrows and songbirds living in God's house.
Walking around the cathedral, I snapped this picture. These people live under the bridge and live off whatever they can find, including the garbage in the water.
After the cathedral, we walked around a bit back toward Monas, where I got a taste of a traditional plant drink. Sweet and woody, it was served to us out of this bamboo-like container.
Next, we headed up to a mall for lunch and the Indonesian version of a dollar store where everything costs 6000 rupiah (about 60 cents) as long as you have exact change. This sign says "Everything!! One Price!" I'm not sure what the dancing rabbits are for.
The last thing we did was to go to the top of Monas. We waited in line for a long time, but it was definitely worth it. One thing I noticed this time was how cool the gardens around Monas look from above.
There are metal bars to keep you from falling off, but what are metal bars for except sticking your head through to take pictures? ("That wrist strap better be in working order," thinks my camera.)
(Yes, I got sunburned.)
Every once in a while, I take a good picture. This is one of my favorites.
It was the day of the national election so one of the first things we passed was a polling station, which is pretty much what it looks like: a makeshift tent in the middle of the street. (By way of update, the election went pretty smoothly, except for the fact that many people couldn't vote because their names weren't on the voter lists. We still don't know who will be running for president in July since coalitions haven't yet been finalized.)
We moved on to Monas, the National Monument, where we spent some time on the grounds around it. Here's Ami:
And here I am in front of Monas. You may recognize it from when my parents, Megan, and I visited in October.
Then we walked down to one of Jakarta's oldest cathedrals, which has a lovely wooden ceiling. Because the doors to the cathedral stay open, there were little birds flying around the columns, perching on statues, and chirping little choruses. I loved the idea of sparrows and songbirds living in God's house.
Walking around the cathedral, I snapped this picture. These people live under the bridge and live off whatever they can find, including the garbage in the water.
After the cathedral, we walked around a bit back toward Monas, where I got a taste of a traditional plant drink. Sweet and woody, it was served to us out of this bamboo-like container.
Next, we headed up to a mall for lunch and the Indonesian version of a dollar store where everything costs 6000 rupiah (about 60 cents) as long as you have exact change. This sign says "Everything!! One Price!" I'm not sure what the dancing rabbits are for.
The last thing we did was to go to the top of Monas. We waited in line for a long time, but it was definitely worth it. One thing I noticed this time was how cool the gardens around Monas look from above.
There are metal bars to keep you from falling off, but what are metal bars for except sticking your head through to take pictures? ("That wrist strap better be in working order," thinks my camera.)
(Yes, I got sunburned.)
Every once in a while, I take a good picture. This is one of my favorites.
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