[caption id="attachment_266879" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="A corner in Kota Tua"][/caption]
Living in capital city, Jakarta, I can easily find various entertainments. From hanging out in fancy malls, singing at karaoke club, dining in restaurant, watching 3D movie at cinema, until watching International pop super star concert. I love those choices, but sometimes those modern stuffs lead me to a little boredom. Once in a while, I need to experience something classical. I like to refresh myself by exploring spots which are reminiscent to history. Finally, last weekend, I decided to skip the crowd of mall or the tempting new menu from my favorite restaurant. I went to interesting area which people said it could be like a time machine bringing them to feel the sensation of the Old Jakarta.
Welcome to Kota Tua!
The name of the area that I visited was Kota Tua spanning in North and West Jakarta. This 1,3 square kilometer area literally means the Old City (Kota means city and Tua means old). It referred to Kota, the city area of Jakarta/Batavia during 16th century Dutch colonial era in which the other part was village/kampung. By European sailors in the past, Kota was called as Queen of the East or Jewel of Asia due to its strategic position as the center of commerce.
[caption id="attachment_266926" align="aligncenter" width="524" caption="Another corner of Kota Tua"]
Today, many colonial buildings (used to be administrative offices and residences) still exist. Some of them are functioned as museum, cafes/restaurants, and offices. While some others are just let "naturally" empty without being utilized for specific purpose. Those buildings give great image of the colonial ambiance for people to enjoy. No wonder, many people take this area as background of their classical pre-wedding photography as well. Furthermore, people can also experience Kota by renting bike to explore more. The spacious square gives people opportunity to walk or to bike around.
[caption id="attachment_266928" align="aligncenter" width="524" caption="The night ambiance of Kota Tua"]
Exploring Kota at night definitely gave me different experience. The warm yellow street light reflecting to old buildings gave more classical exoticism. I walked around Kota and took some pictures with my phone. For me, it was very fun and impressive.  Right after leaving parking lot, I saw Batavia cafe which could be the choice for the elegant classic dining before exploring Kota Tua. Another place for dinner which is similar to Batavia cafe is Djakarta cafe. However, if those two places are too luxurious for you in the night you want to explore something simpler and cheaper, you may try some choices of  street foods which are organized neatly by local government.  You can take nasi goreng (fried rice), ayam goreng (fried chicken), soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup), but to experience the real taste of Jakarta, you may try kupat sayur, the traditional menu of this city.
[caption id="attachment_266880" align="aligncenter" width="524" caption="Parking Lot, next to Batavia Cafe"]
The next prominent building I saw was "Museum Sejarah Jakarta or the Jakarta History Museum". The building established in 1707 was used to be functioned as Batavia City Hall. Nowadays, local government utilized it as the museum. Though in the evening the museum is regularly closed, people occasionally have the opportunity to visit the night tour at museum. This tour is commonly organized by young people community which concerns to history. Unfortunately, in the day that I visited it, there was no event conducted inside the museum. However, I got another entertainment right in front of that museum, Group of young bikers made impressive acrobatic attraction with their bikes.
[caption id="attachment_266882" align="aligncenter" width="524" caption="Jakarta History Museum (1)"]
The European touch can also be experienced through Kota's square named today as Taman Fatahillah. People are free to express themselves in that square. That night, I could see various acts done like acoustic performance, people wore long gown acting as ghosts from colonial era, until people wore colonial officer costume acting as statues. Meanwhile some others were walking and talking; yes many things people can do here.
[caption id="attachment_266887" align="aligncenter" width="524" caption="Public Square of Kota Tua (1)"]
Furthermore, I also saw the post office building. This office is still operated regularly. Then, I saw organized night market in which people could buy some souvenirs including t-shirt with may choices of  Jakarta images attached like t-shirt with image of National Monument or Ondel-Ondel (Jakarta big doll). The prices here are generally affordable and even you may still bargain.  What else I saw? I saw buildings of Wayang Museum (used to be Geo Wehry & Co Warehouse building), Fine Arts and Ceramic Museum (used to be Justice Palace), Mandiri Bank (used to be Kantoor van de Nederlandsch Indische Escompto Maatschappij), and Indonesian Bank (used to be De Javasche Bank).
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