Chinatown & Old Town

Above:  T-shirts based on Jakarta scenes and food.

Chinatown

I woke at 0600 in Jakarta, which was 0700 back in Bali.

Today, I’m meeting Ah Meng, who is family of the hotel that I stayed at in Jakarta.  With brunch on the cards, I made do with some fruit and cake before heading out at 0830 to Pancoran Chinatown for a meet-up at 0930.

Once we had met-up, Ah Meng took me for a wander.  First up was the Toa Se Bio (temple) where he took the opportunity to say some prayers.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

Old town

From there, we went through various alleys before heading to Jakarta or Batavia’s old town centre.  The place had been spruced up considerably since my first visit in 2008.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

A friend had recommended a very artistic café in the area to try out.  It is called Babah Koffie, and part of the nearby House of Tugu, which is part of the super arty old world Tugu Hotels chain.

The décor in the café certainly lived up to the hype.  Going to the toilet before lunch, the little courtyard and restaurant area wow’ed me further.

The Nasi Uduk was beautifully presented and tasted good enough.  We sat for quite a while chatting and absorbing the atmosphere before heading back out into the heat.

We took a quick look at their House of Tugu hotel but the décor in the lobby couldn’t match the café we just been in.  From what I’ve seen on Booking.com, the rooms are stunning though.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

Back in Chinatown

Wandering back through Chinatown, Meng stopped to buy some snacks as Chinese New Year gifts.  I spotted a character café next to it by the name of Djauw Coffee and we dropped in for a drink and snack.

We shared a lontong and cabin singkong, washed down with iced coffee.  The cabin singkong is a sandwich of cabin bread with filling of fermented tapioca, then grilled.  It is slightly sweet and alcoholic.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

I couldn’t help noticing how colourful Chinatown was at this time of year.  In 2008 when i first visited Jakarta, the Chinese area of Glodok didn’t look or feel at all Chinese.

Chinese people in South East Asia were heavily discriminated against, being victims of their own success (usually through hard work). E.g. Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines.

In Indonesia and Thailand, there were restrictions on the use of Chinese language and expression of Chinese culture.  Such discrimination in Indonesia ended with the fall of Suharto in 1998.

We finished at Gedung Candra Naya, an 18^th Century Chinese mansion belonging to the Khouw family.  The main halls have survived due to the efforts of conservation groups but the other parts are now gone.

The main halls are integrated into the new highrise development which includes a hotel.

 

From here, I took a taxi back to my area for a rest.  I had a simple dinner of bakso across the road before having a last wander in the Sarinah mall.