Have Perut Will Travel...: IMLEK @ Jakarta │ Glodok • Kota Tua

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Wednesday, 29 January 2025

IMLEK @ Jakarta │ Glodok • Kota Tua

Chinese New Year in Old Jakarta!

We picked you up again after checking back into Sigit's lovely unit at Thamrin Executive Residence. After a quick shower but still dressed in our Imlek outfits we hailed a fixed fare Bluebird taxi at 4:00pm for IDR81,000. 00 (approximately MYR USD EUR) to Gapura Chinatown in Glodok.

We quite enjoyed the drive which took about an hour as we saw a much different view, a less clean and shiny Jakarta but infinitely interesting all the same. There were times when certain characters walked up to the taxi window. I was tempted to capture footage, but thought against it as we did not know how they would react.

We were dropped off right underneath the famed archway to Chinatown. We began exploring this area known as Glodok, an urban village of Taman Sari, West Jakarta, Indonesia. Our stroll took us down some very interesting and at times sketchy lanes but we emerged unscathed and exhilarated!

After our stroll around Chinatown we continued due north until we reached Kota Tua. Unfortunately the Action 5's battery depleted as we left Glodok, and we realised it very much later.

At Kota Tua we wandered around taking in the sights while marvelling at the historic buildings, all throughout the time being kept entertained by the numerous street buskers plying their trade along this huge plaza.

We've been told that Kota Tua is one of most popular places to visit in Jakarta. It is ‘Jakarta’s Old Town’. This is an area that mainly consists of Dutch colonial buildings that were built during the 17th century.

And of course, Kota Tua has some really cool cafes that have been designed in traditional Dutch colonial buildings. The most famous one is called Café Batavia, which we eventually ended up at for an early dinner. After consulting with our waiter Baim we ordered the:

Sop Buntut (Oxtail Soup)
Nasi Campur Meneer (Mixed Rice, Dutch Style)
Terung Telur Balado (Eggplants with Sambal)
Si Jagur Punch
2 x Bir Pletok
1 Coca-Cola

Our Imlek dinner came to IDR739,300 (approximately MYR202/USD47/EUR43), a meal we enjoyed immensely. We're glad to agree with the hype that surrounds Café Batavia!

We then took another walk across Kota Tua's main plaza before making our way to the Jakarta Kota station.

Then something happened...we almost fell victim to a gang of pickpockets! The man in the white hoodies and the woman in the long-sleeved white blouse were the culprit who unzipped my camera backpack. Thankfully Cat was alert and discovered my exposed backpack.

We arrived at the train station safely and after consulting with a security personnel we were advised to take the Bogor train to Manggarai then switching to another train to Sudirman.

Midway through the train ride we decided to get off at the Cikini train station and then hailed a fixed fare Bluebird taxi for IDR46,000 (approximately MYR12/USD3/EUR3) back to Thamrin Executive Residence.

We were relieved to be safely back in familiar surroundings, and vowed to be more cautious. The adrenaline still pumping, we hope to still have a good night's sleep.

Steps count at the end of our fourth day: 11,023!

Be sure to catch our next video as we head out for an unexpected but necessary errand tomorrow!