Travel flashback: Jakarta side trip (Indonesia, Part 1, March 2011)

This post is the first part of our Indonesia trip. Click here for our Bali getaway (from Day 2, Part 2 to Day 5)
 
Just like my Bacolod trip a month before our flight to Jakarta, I got our round-trip Jakarta flights from Cebu Pacific’s 10-10-10 promo last October 10, 2010 where all one-way international flights were PhP 1,010 and all domestic flights were only PhP 10, with travel period from January to March 2011. This was another unplanned flight where I just had to take advantage of the absence of fuel surcharges, with five months of preparation for our budget. I booked myself, Pol, and my mom. I must admit too that I really wanted to go to Bali so badly!



Because we were with my mom again, I opted to make our tour itinerary comfortable for her by hiring affordable private tours. I found out that we could have a tour of Jakarta for just one day, and I was glad that the rest of our six days would be spent in Bali. We booked round-trip domestic flights from Jakarta to Bali via AirAsia Indonesia for that matter.

After thorough research, I chose Luxe Hotel in Jakarta where we would just be staying for two nights and only one day in between. This was the cheapest I could find as all the other hotels I had searched for were very much more expensive, even the budget hotels. When I personally called the reception staff of Luxe Hotel because I only received automated confirmation via email and I didn’t receive any personal response to my email query for a week, I found out that it was better to reserve via Agoda as the hotel preferred rather than via the hotel’s website which the staff had said they often encountered problems with. But it was all good and they acknowledged my reservation by phone.

For our private Jakarta day tour, I settled with Krakatau Holiday since its representative was the first to have responded to my email inquiry. Their quoted price was IDR 250,000 (approx. PhP 1,250) per person including transportation with driver, a tour operator, and entrance fees to museums. But since it so happened that our Jakarta day would be on a Monday and museums are closed on that day, I got back to the staff about it and he agreed to reduce our price to IDR 200,000 per person.

I also availed the airport pickup service of Silver Bird, a chauffeur service lineup of Blue Bird Group which is the most prominent transportation company in Indonesia famous for its reliable Blue Bird taxis. Quote for our transfer was IDR 150,000 per way.

Click here for arrangements for our Bali trip.

Day 0: Arrival in Jakarta

It was almost midnight in Jakarta when we arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. After passing through the immigration desk, we went straight to the counter desk of Silver Bird to pay by credit card for our transfer reservation. After the settlement, we were escorted to a black Toyota Innova waiting for us. The drive to our hotel was almost an hour long without traffic.

We checked in at Luxe Hotel at around 1 AM and when we got to our room, we automatically dozed off for our next day’s tour which would just be in a few hours. Our hotel was just okay, no frills at all and looked a little old but we were able to sleep comfortably and the staff was very accommodating. The central location of the hotel is very convenient too.

Day 1: Jakarta city tour

We woke up at 6:30 AM with just about five hours of sleep. After taking a shower, we then had breakfast at the hotel’s nice Japanese restaurant called Furusato. Our set breakfast was included in our room reservation.



Furusato Japanese Restaurant in Luxe Hotel



We were fetched by our friendly tour operator Thommy at 8 AM. It was yet a cool morning in Jakarta and we started off at Monumen Nasional (National Monument) or MONAS, a tower with a golden flame on top, which symbolized the freedom of Indonesia from the Dutch. We explored the Indonesian National History Museum located under the surface of the monument, and then climbed to the topmost part the tower by elevator for its observation deck.



Monumen Nasional (MONAS)



Inside the Indonesian National History Museum, located under the surface of the MONAS tower

We had a nice view of the city skyscrapers from the observation deck, and we were surprised to see passengers sitting on the roof of a commuter train!


From the observation desk at the top of the MONAS tower



Reliefs on Indonesian history, surrounding the MONAS tower


Our next stop was the Masjid Istiqlal or Istiqlal Mosque (Independence Mosque), the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. Aside from removing our footwear upon entering the mosque, we were required to wear robes provided for visitors in casual clothes. It was our first time to enter a mosque, and Masjid Istiqlal was indeed very huge and it had a beautifully designed dome in the grand prayer hall.


The main prayer hall of Masjid Istiqlal



The main courtyard


Interestingly, there is a neo-gothic Catholic Church called Jakarta Cathedral or The Church of Our Lady of Assumption, just located directly in front of the mosque.


The Jakarta Cathedral (Church of Our Lady of Assumption)


We next headed to Taman Fathillah (Fatahillah Square), a town square reminiscent of Jakarta’s Dutch colonial settlement. It was like the Intramuros and Luneta of Manila, where locals also hang out for leisure. Our guide Thommy said it is a favorite site of photographers because of the classic architectural structures surrounding the square. Had it not been Monday, we could have entered the museums surrounding the square.

Around Taman Fatahillah


The stop I had been waiting for was Sunda Kelapa, an old port filled with traditional Indonesian sailing ships called “pinisi”. The structure of these picturesque ships was probably Dutch-inspired. I was amazed that these durable ships are still being used for trading various merchandise items, including motorcycles!


Sunda Kelapa



Our last stop was in Chinatown where we had a short walk around the markets and towards a temple. I thought I’d had enough of having to go to each city’s Chinatown before, but I still enjoyed the walk because of the hanging lanterns.



Chinatown



Because we did not have any museum tour where museums are closed on Mondays, our half-day city tour ended early. We were pleased with the service of our multilingual tour operator Thommy, and we’re happy to recommend his company, Krakatau Holiday, not just for Jakarta tours but also for their tours in other parts of Java especially Yogyakarta.

We were dropped off at Grand Indonesia where we spent the rest of the day. It is a huge, high-end complex consisting of Grand Indonesia Shopping Town and Hotel Indonesia. We explored the Shopping Town and because we planned to eat meals on a budget, we had lunch at The Food Hall, a small food court on the lower ground floor. I had nasi campur which I found satisfying for me because of the variety in one meal. After lunch, we continued to stroll around the mall complex. Their food courts & restaurants at the fourth and fifth floors look AMAZING!



Around the restaurants at the fourth and fifth floors



An interesting display we found near one of the many entrances of the mall



We then watched The Fountain Show which was scheduled at 3 PM, and had coffee and pasta at Kopi Luwak for a taste of Indonesia’s civet dung coffee.



The Fountain Show



Pasta and civet dung coffee at Kopi Luwak



The Grand Indonesia Shopping Town was really huge and even had more than five floors that we got more exhausted from mall strolling alone than from our half-day city tour. When we finally decided to go back to our hotel, we bought take-away dinner from The Food Hall and took a Blue Bird taxi back to Luxe Hotel.

Day 2, Part 1: Domestic departure to Bali

We woke up as early as 3 AM for our 6 AM flight to Bali. We could not afford to have our complimentary breakfast in our hotel anymore because they only start serving breakfast at 7 AM.

We were promptly picked up by our Silver Bird airport transfer service at 4:30 AM, and we got to the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in no time.

It was the second time for Pol and I to fly with AirAsia, where our first time was an international flight from Clark to Kuala Lumpur. With AirAsia Indonesia, it was our first time to take a domestic flight. We chose AirAsia particularly because we missed having in-flight meals! It was perfect too because we didn’t have breakfast in our hotel anymore.



Photos at the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport,
and of our AirAsia Indonesia experience



We arrived early morning at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali. Bali’s time zone has no difference with Manila time, unlike Jakarta with one hour difference (GMT+7).

Click here for my post on our Bali adventure!