20110203 Jakarta, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

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• published: 01 Mar 2011
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It's on the Eve of the Chinese New Year which appears to be celebrated all over Java which effects the hotel rates. Taking that in consideration we book a somewhat modest hotel with a window view alike which the video shows. Our first excursion in this vacation is to the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah which is 'a whole country in one park' like the Lonely Planet describes it which 'has full scale traditional houses for each of Indonesia's provinces with displays of regional handicrafts and clothing'. In cabin one flies over the park with possibility to stop now and then. Funny how Papua men dolls on a dug out canoe with peddles in their hands are wearing bermudas though usual you see pictures and videos of these guys wearing nothing but penis sheaths ... Anyway it is a nice display of the province of Irian barat (west Papua New Guinea). We pass a protestant church from the Dutch colonial period. Then a visit to the Lampung pavilion which is dedicated to the southwest province of the island of Sumatra. At the end of our visit we refresh with 'kelapa muda' (a fresh coconut). A taxi drives us to Kota Tua, the old colonial centre of Jakarta, where procession of the Chinese New Year dances through the streets of giant spinning puppets to the sound of loud music. A group of school girls observe us for a while and then contact us with questions in English about our origin and the length of our stay in Indonesia. It is being recorded by their mobile phone cameras. All in all is makes a pleasant atmosphere. But then one group after the other shows up so after group #5 we decide to move to a quieter place for instance the Batavia Café. Batavia Café is with the 'Gouverneurs kantoor' (Governor's office) and more buildings in Kota Tua a remnant of the Dutch colonial period. Batavia was the first name for the Netherlands about more than two thousands years ago. So you imagine how amazed the first Dutchmen were four centuries ago when they met the Betawi people who lived in what we know now as Jakarta (but in those days was called Jakatra. So eventually Jakatra became Batavia. Café Batavia now breathes the same atmosphere as in the colonial days. How remarkable that large pictures of the three last Dutch queens hang in the lounge and an affiche commemorating the liberation of the Netherlands after World War II. The video ends with a nocturnal street view with terraces on the byway. See more on www.youtube.com/channel/UCpF7tiJa3SExPqbaOLFXVyw/videos?view=1&feature;=guide