I had an opportunity to visit Jakarta again, for a 2 days business trip.
The group stayed at Hyatt Hotel, just by the famous fountain and welcome statue. The hotel is connected to Plaza Indonesia (PI), so, I managed to browse and window shop. We took time off after the buka puasa to walk to Sarinah. There's a good collection of batik, of higher end. I bought myself a batik silk shawl. I was eyeing some kebaya but didn't buy any. Bought telekung for Tini, as a birthday gift.
After the meeting, I extended my stay for another day, just to go around a bit and then meet up with Wan. As Wan was working, I took the opportunity to buy music CDs at the PI. The shop that I had bought gamelan CD in the last trip, was closed. But I managed to locate other music stores and ended up buying tonnes of local pop music. For original CD, each cost about Rp 30,000 or RM12...which was so much cheaper than KL. I bought a range of music, from both known and unknown artiste. I also bought a coffee table book on Bali architecture, which cost me about RM100.
I also went to the National Museum, taking a Blue Bird cab. If you're adventurous, you can take the busway. There's a station in front of the hotel, and later you can stop at the MONAS (Monumen Nasional) station.
The museum consists of two buildings. One is old and another new, adjacent to the old one. The old wing contains vast collection of statues, ceramics, and brass. Whereas the new one has a collection of all economic activities, gold, etc.
The entrance fee to the museum was only Rp 750, much to my surprise. Anyway, the museum is extremely, so, it would be good to go with friends. As I was alone, I got myself spooked...Foolish me.
As I went there on Friday, the museum closes early. I think it was noon. Point to intended visitor, do check out the business hour to avoid getting chased out of the museum.
The museum was across MONAS, so, if you have the time, you might want to visit the surrounding.
