September 23, 2026 – Jakarta

Posted byjanie.weeks 7 Comments on September 23, 2026 – Jakarta

Whew, this city has everything, especially people; 11 million people live in the city, and 46 million live in the expanded metro area.  And it has traffic, lots of cars and motorbikes, zillions of them.  The city recognizes the problem and is addressing it with a growing modern electric transit bus system and rapidly expanding metro lines, but its spectacular population growth since 1990 surpassed its infrastructure long ago.  Sound familiar. Atlanta?

To that point, Jakarta expanded outward, reaching its current people-packed 2,634 square miles.  Instead of replacing old buildings with new, it simply builds new ones farther and farther out.  There is no central business district; instead, clusters of modern, super-sized, high-fashion shopping malls and tall buildings stand here and there in many directions. 

To quote an explanation I read, “As you wander around, you will see different Jarkartas layered on top of the other: colonial Batavia, the post-independence capital, and the glamorous 1970-90s boom city.”   In short, Jakarta is a gigantic megacity today filled with historic buildings and newer modern architecture, alongside decrepit buildings that appear about to crumble minute by minute.

Old town Jakarta is called Batavia. It was established by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) during the 17th-18th centuries when Jakarta became the trade capital of the East Indies. Buildings in Old Town have distinctly European architecture, with white, city-block-sized former VOC headquarters and government buildings, now museums, bordering the broad public square laid out for meetings, parades, and pomp. On one side of Fatahillah Square, a distinct line (a street) separated Batavia, the old Dutch city, from what is now Chinatown.  Before 1741, Chinese people lived integrated throughout the city. They were the working backbone of the VOC. Following an economic collapse, the workers were left unemployed and destitute, which led to rumors and fear until finally there was a rebellion in which 50 Dutch soldiers were killed. Over the span of the next two weeks, Dutch soldiers burned and looted Chinese neighborhoods, killing 10,000 people. Following that massacre, the VOC mandated that Chinese residents live in what is now called the Glodok district, and they were not allowed entry into Batavia without a pass until 1910. Both ethnic groups live cooperatively here today; Chinatown, one of the oldest ethnic communities in the world, is thriving and still in historic Glodok. Further, however, Chinese-Indonesian tycoons and Native Indonesians dominate Jakarta’s wealth today.

 Make no mistake, Jakarta as a whole is wealthy, very wealthy, but as in most cities and countries, the wealth is unevenly distributed.  In a single short walk, we can leave a mega-luxury mall and within minutes, be in a filthy, crowded neighborhood where 20 people may live in one hovel.

I hate saying this, but much of Jakarta is dirty. Except for the rivers and streams that flow green and clean near important government buildings or affluent housing, other sections of the same rivers and streams here have “manmade” jetties of plastic and trash so deep, they could be walked upon. Below our balcony, we see hundreds of large, anchored fishing boats, but during low tide, they sit in a garbage dump.

So, our thoughts on Jakarta?  Stan and I are still figuring that out.  But I will say this: while Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is Muslim- in fact, the world’s largest Muslim country- the people here see us.  We are recognized immediately as foreigners.  We look foreign.  Locals usually expect people like us to be from Portugal or the Netherlands because those folk love to return to the place where their ancestors once lived.  But when Jakartans discover we are American, they are taken aback.  They beam!  They give us knuckle-bumps.  They go out of their way to be kind, helpful, and welcoming.   Not once, in our time in this or any Muslim or semi-Muslim community, has anyone given us the slightest hint of any pushback for being Christian or American.  Never.

Give peace a chance.

In a tuktuk once again; not made for people our size. Stan has difficulty getting in and out.
The night view from our terrace. Mmmm!
Look at the beautiful dome accents on these old buildings. Nearly all the buildings on this old street had them
First sight of the day, the National Monument of Indonesia
Monument Pembebasan Irian Barat (West Irian Liberation Monument). A Western New Guinea man is screaming while shattering chains of colonialism on his hands and ankles.
Arjuna Wijaya Statue, locally known as Patung Kuda or The Horse Statue . . . glorious!
Stunning entrance to the National Museum of Indonesia. We have not visited it yet, but we will before we leave.
A free and happy dancer . . . that’s me!
Chinese art form. Puppets made of leather. Artists stretch a water buffalo hide and let it dry in the sun. Then they scrape it with a long sabre until all hair and other stuff is gone. They rub the hide until it is soft, then, to make a puppet, they punch the outline until the shape is cut out. Then the good part begins.
Punched puppet before dye is applied.
Tree of Life — that’s a happy face.
The devil — that is a sad, horrific face.
Tuk-tuks outside the Chinatown gate.
FRESH!!!
Boiling pork parts . . . I cannot do pork goosh
Man deboning still squiggly eels on the street. I cannot do this either.
Shrimps – we are so germ-phobic. We would never buy seafood like this, but it is probably cleaner and fresher than those tidbits we buy frozen in a bag.
No fresher vegetables than those sold here.
Guard Cat!
Fatahilla Square in Batavia
Another view of Fatahillah Square
I cannot pass an opportunity to recognize children.
Istiqlal Mosque, since 1978
Outside Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in SE Asia. During major Islamic holidays, this mosque can accommodate over 200,000 worshippers. Though said to be grand inside, Stan and I did not enter — we have visited many, many mosques, temples, and cathedrals in our travels. They tend to run together.
Jakarta Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, built in 1901. It is directly across the street from the largest mosque in SE Asia, the Istiqlal Mosque. The two places of worship are connected underground by the “Tunnel of Friendship.” I simply love that!!
A mini-Notredame
Old cargo boats still in use among the islands
A little boat ride through the old harbor
Ade, our guide around Jakarta.
Ok, this is Jakarta! When you choose your purchases at Uniqlo, put them in a basket on the scanner and voila! The total is scanned automatically, not by item but by batch. This is innovation!
Table tennis tournament at the mall attached to our condo building
Count the motorcycles at this mosque near our apartment. Important prayer time.

7 replies on “September 23, 2026 – Jakarta”

  4. Interesting blend of old and new, and once again people living together. What would be the reaction if a Chinese person were to fall in love with an Indonesian person. Would that relationship be socially acceptable? In other words how far does the assimilation fo the two cultures go?
    I love that everyone is friendly towards you. How could they NOT welcome the two of you!!

    1. Good question but there has always been integration between native Indo people and Chinese with no social acceptance afffect but like marriages between Jewish and Christian people, religious philosophy and traditions mean both usually marry within their own groups.

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