Opening
Finally Indonesia! Lots of cultures, not enough alcohol. Jakarta is underrated.
Day 1
Signed up for a free walking tour that’s sponsored by the governors office of Jakarta. Immediately, you could feel the hospitality of East Javanese people.
It was a great tour, though I wish things were better taken care well. It definitely felt the neglect. Further, the dutch river canal was unfortunately less than desirable to walk by.
After the tour, I decided to get lunch in the famous Batavia Kafe.
All for $21.23. Not cheap, it’s good for the value. Service was great too.
After lunch, I decided to do the free city tour from the same organization in the morning. Due to some miscommunication, I arrived late. The lovely staff decided to give me a private tour instead. Thumbs up for the Indonesian hospitality!
I was extremely tired after the tour. Ordered some food from grab and called it a day
Day 2
Decided to go to the city center to see the national monument.
It’s embracing to be escorted out of female only section of the train car. One thing I kept forgetting in an Islamic country.
First stop was to see the Cathedral was conveniently situated next to the Mosque
Sadly both the cathedral and the mosque weren’t set up for independent travelers. I got quite lost trying to find the entrances nor to find a way to walk across the buildings.
It’s way too hot to walk around midday, I decided to go to a shopping mall to cool down a little while sorting out the sim card situation.
(lunch plus coffee was $7.47)
Indonesia has a weird system where all foreign phones have to be registered otherwise it won’t be able to activated. Sadly, the system that does the registration was down. I ended up getting a e-sim for a Hong Kong cellular provider that allows me to roam in Indonesia. ($15.99 for 30Gb 30D)
Day 3
It was the museum day.
The national museum had quite a few interesting artifacts. It’s well worth the price too (only 30k)
It even got a room with all the pure golden artifacts from the former rulers. No photos allowed sadly.
After the museum, I decided to veneer in Chinatown to take a look at the Chinese influence.
I even ordered Chinese for a late lunch!
At night, I managed to get a Dutch guy to meander around town with me.
Ended up ordering take outs
Day 4
Decided to check out Jakarta’s suburb Bogor. It has a botanical garden.
It’s quite colonial and it’s more cooler than Jakarta too. Quite walkable.
Just as I needed a water break it started to down pour
Day 5
Travel day (Train Rp 348.500) to Semarang to visit my beloved Indonesian friends.
Before that I quickly stopped by Bank of Indonesia Museum that’s next to my hostel. I really wish I had more time.
I cut very close to the train departure time due to underestimate the rush hour traffic in Jakarta. Managed to get onboard just 15 minutes before departure
In a bit under 6 hours, I arrived at the Semarang station where my friends were waiting to pick me up. Thanks friends!
They took me straight to a Chinese Indonesian restaurant for dinner.
My friends even arranged a hotel next to their house and paid for it! How lovely. Can’t appreciate enough about their hospitality.
Day 6
Went to visit the wife’s house. It’s a lovely upscale home.
They also have a fruit garden in their rooftop with dragon fruits. I forget to take photos sadly.
Next was to visit my friend’s family coffee shop.
Next I was taken to the railway museum. (My friends bought me the ticket so I wasn’t charged foreigner’s price)
For lunch, they took me to their favorite seafood place
Later, we also visited a Chinese temple. Apparently Zhenghe landed in Semarang back in the 15th century.
Desert time! Durians!
After a short break, it’s night market time!
Later that night we went to a bar in town to watch a live music
Day 7
Another travel day. My friend took me from his wife’s hometown to his hometown Jogja.
First stop was this coffee roaster
I tried something called V60 for the first time
Next was to visit the UNESCO heritage site Borobudur
It would have caused me a fortunate to visit $(35US) but my friend managed to sneak me in as a local (50k). Thank you friend!
I want to say that while I appreciated the visit. It’s grossly overpriced for something half an hour. It’s almost the same price as Angkor Wat but much miniature in scale.
We continued our trip to my friend’s home town
We finally arrived in Jogja
Later, we went to a sultan restaurant for some fine dining without the fine prices.
Later we visited the busy tourist street again and went to a bar for some drinks and music
That’s it for this week, an introduction to Java and of course its hospitality!
Expenses
| Week 16 | Currency: | INR | 15 | |
| Day | Food&Drink | Lodging | Transportation | Other (tickets/tours etc) |
| 1 | $34.37 | $5.61 | $0.00 | $0.33 |
| 2 | $12.04 | $6.09 | $0.00 | $15.99 |
| 3 | $21.59 | $5.96 | $2.67 | $2.00 |
| 4 | $7.62 | $5.94 | $1.65 | $1.33 |
| 5 | $41.20 | $0.00 | $27.31 | $1.33 |
| 6 | $34.38 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $2.00 |
| 7 | $19.89 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $10.00 |
| $171.09 | $23.60 | $31.62 | $32.99 | |
| Total | Grand Total: | $259.30 |