Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, the dreamland at the Beach

The planning to develop Dreamland park of Ancol, a nice tourism object in North Jakarta, began when President Soekarno ordered the then governor, Soemarno in the 1960s, to carry out the project of the tourism in that area but it seemed to bog down. In the era of Governor Ali Sakidin, the project headed by Ir. Ciputra, was continued and completed in 1974.

Today, the dreamland park covering an area of 552 hectares is the biggest and the most complete tourism spot as well as the recreation area in Indonesia. Along the beach, we can find recreation areas, restaurants, hotel, and motels. At the west corner of the coast, for those who like to sail and set out to Pulau Seribu, there is Marina where we can find boats for those purposes. Close to the east, we find favorite Dunia Fantasi, Fantasy Worlds, a smaller scale resemblance of Disneyland.

Far in the eastern part, we find a newly developed sea-world and oceanic area. In the southern area, there is an art market where we can find various paintings and handicrafts are exhibited. To those who like to take a rest some food-courts are available in this area. At the eastward of the market, there was a long-abandoned site which was used to be the drive-in cinema.

Oceanic Area

One of the attractions in the park is Ancol Oceanic Area where we can see a spectacular show. It is a sea-water pool containing marine mammals and other sea creatures. There are four main exhibitions performed regularly among other the performance of various water living creatures, sea lions, dolphins and white whales. The area is also used to conserve marine wildlife and dissemination of the knowledge about marine mammals.

The show begins with the action of two beavers walking on top of the circle wheel-like, riding a bike and playing basketball. The following, some bears take action by spinning on the spot, driving cars and performing sports activities. The presence of a large hippopotamus weighted more than one ton demonstrating its capability chewing a large number of vegetables and fruits accompanied by Javanese gamelan music is the last part of the show of the session.

Three sea lions walking into the arena and flying the flag as a sign that the show begins. They perform funny movements in rolling their bodies and showing respect to audiences, demonstrating their capability in solving math problems, walking on the drums and bringing the doll around the pool without dropping it. In the end, you can ask, if you wish, for a kiss and take pictures with them.

The show of dolphins and white whales demonstrating their expertise in jumping, catching fish and balls, interacting with the audience, where the dolphins can kiss any visitors while the while whales spray water around that make the visitors wet.

Fantasy World

As a small copy of Disneyland, there are lots of different interesting attractions with high technology and brave-hearted games. Tornado is just one game to mention. When you are dealing with this game and are in a certain altitude, you will be spun around many times with high speed and it seems you are about to fall down. You can also ride on kora-kora -- a vehicle resembling big boat -- where you will be swung to the position of almost 90 degrees so that the body is almost perpendicular to the ground. Power Surge is also nice to be tested. This is a game that will lift your chair, twisting and turning your body.

Maritime Indonesia Museum

At the northern end of Jakarta, at the area of the olden port of Sunda Kelapa, stands the Maritime Indonesia Museum. The museum, located at Jalan Pasar Ikan, Sunda Kelapa, at the northwest corner of Jakarta, is aimed to give the information to the visitors about the traditions of the ancestors on how they once went out to the sea for fishing and trading.

It is also intended at describing the importance of the sea for Indonesian people. Indonesian ancient sailors were famous for their courage going as far as Madagascar and far east of the center of the Pacific Ocean. “Tagaroa” was the ancient ocean god for the Indonesian people living in the northeastern part of Indonesia and the Pacific indigenous. 

Historically, the Maritime Museum was part of the Dutch “Trading” Company (VOC) warehouse at the west bank of Ciliwung River built in 1652. The western warehouse building consists of four units, three of which are now used as the Maritime Museum.  They stored lots of spices and crops in the warehouse and several kinds of precious metals in the open yard protected from the rain by a sort of wooden balcony attached to the front of the warehouse.

Closely related to the building and the maritime history, in the nearby area there are a port-master tower, defensive fort (Culemborg), canals, and walls surrounding the old city which built  at the same period of that east warehouse (Oostzjidsche Parkhuizen) and wheat warehouse (Graan Parkhuizen)

After independence, the building was used by the electric and post and telecommunication state-owned companies as their warehouse. In 1976 this cultural heritage building was restored, and one year later was inaugurated as the Maritime Indonesia Museum. At present we can see the remaining walls once surrounded the city in front of the Maritime Museum,  Zeeburg and Culemborg. 

The museum exhibits various relics of old Dutch East India Company in the form of small replicas, photos, paintings and various models of traditional and original boats, navigation equipment and other objects associated with Indonesia maritime.  It has various models of fishing vessels from any Indonesia’s corners as well as stone anchors from several places, the modern steam engine and also Phinisi sailing ship from Bugis (South Sulawesi), which has become one of the world-famous sailing ships. It also keeps collections related to Indonesian maritime and fishery from the entire archipelago.

Stored collections consist of various types of traditional boats with a variety of styles and decorative. Also presented are a variety of models and miniatures of modern ships and shipping activities supporting equipment, the models of the Indonesian warships, a collection of cartography, mockup of Onrust Island, and some national maritime figures.

In addition, the museum displays a collection of marine biota, the data type and distribution of fish in Indonesian waters and miscellaneous fishing equipment and shipping, the traditional boat-making technology and folklore customs of fishing communities of the entire Archipelago.

At the right corner of the road entrance of Jalan Pasar Ikan viewed from the main street, we can see the tower of the then port-master office. The visitors may climb to the top floor seeing the old port which certainly does not as busy as when the port-master did in the olden days. The tower now is vertically inclined about 2 degrees southward because the foundation has been weakened by the intrusion of seawater for about 300 years now. 

It is worth to remark that precisely at the entrance of the tower and that of the road to the museum, there are some sidewalk food traders which seem negligence to keep the cleanliness that makes the area slump. The city mayor should pay more attention to this situation and handle more properly the environment of the area and make it more attractive for the tourists and put stress on the importance of the area. 

Jakarta, the Old and New

Jakarta at the intersection of past and present, a blending of a metropolitan and big village. It is not merely related to the old and new in terms of parts of the city regions but also in terms of trading and architectural constructions.

The city has a long history starting from its foundation in 1527. As early as the beginning of the 17th century, the city had a nice central business district (old CBD) around Jalan Kali Besar Barat stretching from Glodok to Sunda Kelapa port, in the western corner of the city, covering the distance of 2 kilometers long.

The Old Batavia Map

The spices were obviously the main commodities traded in this area during that period. Dutch galleons at Sunda Kelapa port brought these commodities to Europe and funds gained from the trading were used to establish a lot of companies in that area.

The harbor was located at Onrust, an island in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand islands) around 15 km off the city port. The island has been named Onrust which means “unrest” because at that time the activities were done uninterruptible from dawn to dusk.

One of the important sites leading to the foundation of Jakarta is Sunda Kelapa, a nice 15 hectares trading harbors managed by the local ruler. Fatahillah, the Sultan of Demak, Central Java, who understood its strategic location, led an army of Demak attacked and occupied it in 1526. Its name was replaced with Jayakarta -city of victory on June 22, 1527, the date which finally was considered as the birthday of the city. After national independence, Batavia was changed to Jakarta, the shortening of Jayakarta.

The Dutch East India Company who kept eye on a strategic stepping stone into which they could enter into the island of Java attacked it in 1619, led by Jan Pieterzoon Coen. In the year 1620 above the ruins of Jayakarta, the Dutch built a new city under the name of Batavia.

Indigenous people dubbed as Betawi (derived from Batavianen) actually were descendants of mixed blood people of different tribes and nations. The city of Batavia in 1635 expanded to the west of the river above the former town of Jayakarta.

The city was complete with a system designed for defense in the form of walls and trenches around it. Due to urban planning, it was divided into blocks separated by canals. Batavia city development was completed in 1650. After the Japanese occupation in 1942, Batavia was renamed "Jakarta".

Today, areas considered as an old city are Sunda Kelapa, Fish Market, Luar Batang, Kali Besar, Fatahillah Park, and Glodok. The total width of the Old City was about 139 hectares. This area was the beginning of the future development of the city since the 14th century.

In the 18th century, this city was enlarged further to the south side of the area in the Fatahillah Park and Glodok now. As an old city, Jakarta has inherited its legacy of a past history of the old buildings with European and Chinese architecture from the 17th to early 20th century. This old town has been preserved as the area of restoration.

Jakarta governor has issued a decree that the total of more than 200 buildings, is under the care of Jakarta government. Any improvements in those buildings must get a special permit of the governor. Only after that, the improvement can be carried out but it must not change either the style or characteristics of those buildings. Today Jakarta has a new CBD located at Sudirman-Thamrin triangle, where various high rise buildings are located.

Lapangan Banteng, an old square at the heart of Jakarta

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The area of Lapangan Banteng is located at Central Jakarta about 2 kilometers eastward of Monas.  Being the bus terminal for years, today this square measuring by 4.5 hectares functions as green open space.

In the colonial era, it was called Waterloo Plein. In 1963 after West Irian became the part of Indonesia, the government constructed a monument called West Irian Liberation Monument right in the middle of the square.

To the east of the area, we can see the old buildings of the Ministry of Finance, which was built by Governor General Daendles in 1809 and then became the center of the Dutch colonial government. He was famous with his big project of the road construction over Java from Anyer, the western part of Java to Penarukan village in the eastern part of Java, covering the distance of 1,000 km.

To the southwest corner of the square, we can see the Gothic-style cathedral facing the relatively new building of Istiqlal Mosque to the south symbolizing the religious harmony. Southward to the cathedral is the Religious Ministry Building demonstrating that Indonesia is the [only] country which concerns to religious affairs. Further, in the south, we can find the Ministry of Foreign Affair.    

In 1993, the government transformed Lapangan Banteng to become a green open space which previously was intercity bus terminal. The local government holds annually flora or fauna exhibitions and occasionally social gathering and martial-art training.

National Monument, Soekarno's long time obsession

National Monument, popularly known as Monas, was constructed aiming at commemorating and preserving the Indonesian struggle for independence during the revolution in 1945, for the inspiration and spirit of patriotism of the current and future generations.

The towering monument in the form of an obelisk-marble stone stands for the phallus (lingga), measured by 132 meters high, and cup (yoni) symbolizing the fertility. On top of the monument, there is cup-shaped space, supporting a bronze torch flame which weighs 15 tons and gold plated 35 kilograms. It is "the non-extinguishable fire", symbolizing the unstoppable struggle of Indonesian independence.

The space at the top is of 11x11 square meters and can accommodate 50 visitors. Along with the elevator, there is an emergency staircase made of iron. Standing at the space on the top of the monument, visitors can enjoy spectacular views across the city of Jakarta, wherein southerly direction, there stands in the distance Mount Salak in Bogor regency, West Java, in the north stretches the sea with small islands scattered. When turned to the west the Soekarno-Hatta Airport is looming in the distance and at any time people can see a plane take off or prepare for landing.

The height of the cup from the bottom is 17 m and from the history, the museum is 8 m. The courtyard of the history museum measuring by 45x45 m is nothing but the preservation of sacred figures of the proclamation of independence (17-8-1945). Visitors of the monument, who will climb to the peak can step up through the entrance plaza of the park around the Merdeka Square, in the north of the monument. Through the tunnel which is 3 m below the monument, visitors can step into the monument peak through the entrance fenced with yellow bamboo.

Facts in Briefs

The height of the monument is 132 m. Flames (in the form of gold leaves) on top of the monument are of 14 m high, the 3rd floor of the monument is 115 high above the ground. Inside the monument, there are 51 dioramas. Cost for its construction was 700,000 dollars. The national monument was built in an area of 80 hectares. It was designed by Friedrich Silaban and M. Soedarsono.

The construction began on August 17, 1961, as the manifestation of Soekarno's great idea, the first Indonesian president, and was inaugurated on July 12, 1975, by President Soeharto. In the northern corner of the square, there is the fountain and statue of Prince Diponegoro,  who fought against Dutch in 1825-1830, riding his horse, made of bronze weighing 8 tons. The statue was created by Italian sculptor, Prof. Coberlato as a contribution of his Consulate General in Indonesia.

The monument was the long obsession of Soekarno, the proclaimers of Indonesian independence. He was certainly a big nation and character builder. He did not have a chance to build a strong and robust economic foundation for his nation but he believed that the first thing he had to do was building the nation spirit, character, integrity, maturity, pride, and independence from other nations. Without those foundations, a nation would be easily swaying to and fro just like grasses blew by the wind.

It was early in 1966 when Jakarta streets were inundated by demonstrators asking for his resignation, Soekarno felt very lonely, nobody, even the closest friends dared to accompany him. When he was asked why he still wanted to continue building Monas, one of his ambitious projects, he answered: "Look," said Sukarno looking far away through the sky: "If the construction of this monument, which is taller than the White House monument, could be completed, it will be great. Imagine! One or two hundred years from now, if there is a plane full of foreign tourists hovering over Jakarta, the passengers looking downward, admiring the monument,   they will say to each other,  'Look on my friends, there certainly a great nation live beneath'. "  

everybody guide

More than a city, Jakarta is a destination encompassing a unique and exciting areas.It is the melting pot of various ethnic groups in Indonesia. The following is the list of important information linked  to this blog for those who like to have more acquaintance of Jakarta.

1. jakarta map
2. flight schedule
3. airport transfer
4. ship / vessel schedule
5. train schedule
6. busway routes
7. hospical locations
8. hotel accomodations-where to stay
9. restaurant Jakarta-where to eat
10. Jakara attractions
11. shopping malls
12. what to buy
13. city bus
14. Taxis
15. Rent cars
16. phones in your home
17. golf courses
18. leisures
19. cultural performances TIM
20. jakarta after dark
21. explore indonesia corners
22. doing business
23. international organizations
24. foreign embassies
25. Cheap hotels
26. Money changer
27. exchange rates
28. Jakarta post
29. Jakarta globe
30. post offices
31. foreign banks
32. gas stations
33. cafes
34. fast food
35. apartement rents
36. farmacies
37. apotek
38. laundries
39. florists
40. bakeries
41. bookstores
42. fruit markets
43. handicrafts
44. seafood
45. bakso (meat balls)
46. nasi goring (fried rice)
47. sate (satay)