Day 2 : Jakarta - Puncak

Good morning, Jakarta!

The view from my room on the 28th floor! 

There was plenty to eat for breakfast at the Batavia Coffee Shop at the ground floor of Best Western Mangga Dua. There were bread, rice porridge, soto, the usual breakfast sausages, scrambled eggs, and potato wedges. Then there were stir-fried noodles and fried rice as well.

 The fruits station

But what I found interesting was ...

A jar of shrimp crackers ...

The prawn crackers could be served with rice and even soto .... or eaten on its own. I couldn't resist a plateful ... even for breakfast. Lol.

The traditional Indonesian cakes were also available .... 

A type of jajanan pasar or snack

This somewhat resembled out kuih koci ... soft and sweet .... 

In another pot was Bubur Sumsum ... a white coloured paste. It is essentially made of coconut milk and cornflour ... and has texture like custard. It is served with palm sugar syrup. 

Bubur Sumsum

After breakfast ... we headed out. 

Sights along the old part of the city ... bandar lama according to our guide, Eli

We headed to Masjid Istiqlal, the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia.

This mosque has been built to commemorate Indonesia's independence, hence it's called Masjid Istiqlal.
For istiqlal means independence in Arabic.


Walking towards the entrance .... the facade of the mosque looming above me.

We were greeted by pre-schoolers ... they were having a lesson here outside the mosque ...


The courtyard ... see MONAS or Monumen Nasional in the distant
The National Monument, a 132m tall tower, is a symbol for Indonesia's struggle for independence.  It resembles a torch with a golden flame at the top.

The dome at the main prayer hall

 A really gigantic drum called the bedug is used to call for prayer


The female ablutions room or bilik wudhu

We exited the mosque after our visit. At the grounds of the mosque were lots of stalls, with people selling all sorts of things like t-shirts, toys, fruits and food and many more. I was amused by this mobile coffee stall ... 

A drinks cart selling bottled drinks, coffee and tea.

Across the road from Masjid Istiqlal is an equally majestic building, the Jakarta Cathedral. We merely passed by, and did not get to visit. 

Beautiful!

We went to MONAS after that .... but unfortunately, the grounds were closed for some renovation work at that time. 

That's Eli, trying to negotiate with the guards to get us into the compound ..... but too bad, he was unsuccessful. 

So, what to do? We had to forego MONAS and move on. Really, if I have the opportunity to visit Jakarta again, I would want to explore the Merdeka Square area and also the Thamrin Road area which is just nearby.... That's probably like Orchard Road or Bukit Bintang in Singapore and KL respectively. Well ..... next time. 

Anyway, our next stop was the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. On this recreational park, there are houses or buildings which represents the 26 provinces of Indonesia. We did not have time explore the whole park ... and Eli brought us to only the notable pavillions. 

Minangkabau architecture and design at the West Sumatran Pavillion

Love the beautifully decorated walls ... 

The next and only other pavillion we visited was of the Papua Province ... 

Papua Province

The unique houses depicted here .... 

Papuan artwork on display .... 

Outside the Papua province pavillion was the cable car station ...... and since we did not want to ride, we went across to the drinks stall. Here, we could enjoy fresh young coconut drinks ... 

IDR15,000 per coconut

After that we left the park to go to Puncak. As its name indicate, it is a hillsite resort. It is very popular among the locals who come often come here on short weekend escapes from the hustle and bustle of Jakarta. The weather here was also much cooler.

On the way, it was a quick lunch stop at Restoran Simpang Raya, and this restaurant is famous for its Padang cuisine. 

Typically, food is served in small saucers and lining the whole table. Because of the lack of space, the saucers are stacked up too! 

Here's a closer look at some of the dishes .... 

Vegetables stir-fry

Green chillies sambal .... we loved this appetising and spicy sambal to eat with the rice .... 

Fish curry

Chicken curry 

Beef curry 

Chicken masak lemak

Some sort of an egg pancake  

And together with the dishes, a hot-plate kangkong was served too! 

Kangkong hot plate ... we loved this

After lunch, we drove up to Puncak, passing by tea plantations along the way. Near the top, we stopped to admire the view below .... 

Oooh ... breathtaking view ... 

Couldn't resist another shot .... 

Here, the climate was cooler ... and folks drink .... 

Bandrek or sometimes spelled Bandreq

Bandrek is tea which is infused with spices ... like cloves and cardamoms. It's meant to keep the body warm ... I had a sip ..... and well .... can be quite difficult to swallow if one isn't too accustomed to the taste. 

We stopped briefly at a factory outlet at Puncak. Its name was DSE Factory Outlet. I wasn't much interested in the merchandise ..... so I wandered outside where there were plants for sale! Loved the pretty blooms.

Flowering plants for sale outside the DSE FO

 Colourful and pretty 

Blooming roses ... 

Our hotel for that night was Palace Hotel, Cipanas.

Aaah .... love the pool ... 

My room was huge! Though it was not air-conditioned, it was reasonably cool.  But alas .... the room was facing the main road. All night long, I could hear vehicles zooming past ... and thus not for the light sleeper!

Dinner that night was at a restaurant down the road, named Restoran Sindanglaya and it was the best dinner which we had for the entire trip. We were warmly welcome by the beating of a gong by a friendly waiter .... and he too did a good job serving us at the buffet table. 

Cipanas vegetables soup 

The steaming hot soup was a welcome in the cool climate. I loved that the vegetables were fresh and not overcooked. I had 2 servings of the soup! 

Cianjur steamed rice, with hot & sour chicken, sauteed spicy string beans, spicy Bandung tofu, deep-fried Carp, vegetable pickles, Cirebon shrimp crackers. 

We learned afterwards that rice from the Cianjur province in Indonesia was exceptionally fragrant, and so with all the spicy dishes served together with the rice, this made a really great meal! Everything seemed to be appetising to me! 

Tropical fruit cocktail for dessert 

We went back to Palace Hotel after dinner ..... and were tempted by the cakes at the cafe, and we had a second round of dessert.

Lapis Surabaya, IDR20,000

Rainbow Slice, IDR30,000

Sliced Cheese Cake, IDR32,000

Of the 3 types of cakes, the sliced cheese cake was the yummiest of all. It was rich and creamy, not to sweet and exceptionally satisfying. 

On a full stomach, we retired to our rooms .....