Taman Fatahillah, Kota Tua Jakarta

Taman Fatahillah, Kota Tua Jakarta

28 August 2016

This summer, we were super lucky to be able to visit my parents, to spend a month at home, and to visit places. I thought to share some highlights of that trip.

Kota Tua Jakarta (Jakarta Old Town). 

I was not a big fan of history lesson as a kid, but I do love places and sites with rich stories and histories. Taman Fatahillah (Fatahillah Square) is certainly one of them. Our first stop is Jakarta History Museum, which is located in the building that was formerly the City Hall of Batavia (Jakarta).

The building was built in 1710 and was the administrative headquarter of the Dutch East India Company. It was later re-purposed as the Jakarta History Museum and was officially opened in 1974. 

Rent a bike for a 30 minutes ride to cruise the square in a colorful, fashionable way. :)

The street performers surely enliven this square. They take donation in exchange of pictures. 

There are several small cafes in this area and what I love about it, is that they preserved the original building architecture. There is also a community place where you can sit down and cool off when it is too hot outside. Or do people watching, because it's always fun! :)

Next stop is the Wayang Museum. A tour guide was following us and started to explain different wayang characters in the museum. I was about to say no, thanks...but then decided that having a tour guide wouldn't hurt at all (because both of us are totally clueless). In fact, it was pretty helpful as we learned some lessons from the wayang characters.

The Wayang Museum is a two story building and used to be a church. There's one room on the second floor that is being used as a storage room and the tour guide said that there are about 6,000 different wayang characters stored in that room. Whoa!

Our last stop in the square was Cafe Batavia. I wanted Jo to try bitterballen, a  Dutch meat-based snack and poffertjes, a mini round pancake coated with powdered sugar. She was smitten! Oh, the peach iced tea was also a delish as it comes with fresh peach cubes. 

I'd say that the food is average (a bit pricey too) but this place is very Instagramable (ladies, if bathroom selfies is a must then you have to check out their ladies room!) and you can certainly enjoy the view of the square while having your meal. 

I'll share more stories of our trip so check back soon!