On January 14 we had a day off to celebrate Muhammad's Birthday. We "celebrated" by going down town Jakarta to visit a few of their popular sites. We first visited the Monas, a large monument built to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian independence. After exploring the grounds around the Monas, we took a walk over to the Istiqlal Mosque, which is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. Lastly, after touring the mosque, we walked across the road to the Jakarta Cathedral to enjoy the beautiful architecture.
The Monas, the National Monument of Jakarta
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| Lots and lots of people selling things along the sidewalks. |
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| Bunny rabbits for sale. |
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| Surrounding the Monas are beautiful trees and lots of green space, a real treat here in busy Jakarta. |
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| Not sure what the significance of these guys are. |
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| Flag Bearer Statue |
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| Bouncy Castle |
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| Prince Diponegoro Statue - He was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch Colonial rule. |
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| The Monas Reflecting Pool |
Istiqlal Mosque
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| The Courtyard |
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Paul and I, of course, were not wearing the right attire,
so we were suited up with these gowns. |
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The Main Prayer Hall. This is a massive room with 12 huge pillars and beautiful dome. Interesting
fact: "The rectangular main prayer hall building is covered by a 45-meter diameter dome; the number '45'
symbolizes the 1945 Proclamation of Indonesian Independence." |
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| Playing hide and go seek...what else? |
Jakarta Cathedral
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| Built in 1901. |
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| As long as I've known Paul, he has never owned a pair of sunglasses and has never been interested in buying some. One of the peddlers at the Monas was able to sell him a pair, and, honestly, I think he's pretty hot! |
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| Tuk Tuks |
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The kids were exhausted from the heat and the walking so we took a horse and carriage ride back to our car.
I felt just a little guilty as the horse looked exhausted itself. |
Textile Museum
We are trying to take advantage of what Jakarta has to offer while we are here. There are so many museums and fascinating places to visit, so after church one Sunday we decided to head to the Textile Museum. The museum itself was quite small, but it was the making of the batik that was most exciting for the kids, and for Paul and I as well.
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| Inside the museum they have a collection of textiles from various islands in Indonesia. |
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Just after getting their picture taken with this guy,
his pants fell down. |
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| The kids thought it was hilarious! |
In behind the museum was a building where we were able to have our very own workshop to make our own batik (a traditional fabric of Indonesia). There were a number of steps to go through in order to get our finished product.
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| Tracing the design onto the fabric. |
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After tracing their design with pencil they then traced their picture
with heated wax using a tool called a canting. |
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We were so impressed with how diligently the kids worked at this and how quiet the whole room was.
They are not known for their calmness. |
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| Our workshop guide adding a few extra details. |
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| Being patient as the finishing touches are put onto their designs. |
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| Putting a light wax around the design to make a border. |
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| Dyeing time! |
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| Finished product. |
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| Inside the Batik Pavilion where we made the Batik. |
While we are out and about Jakarta there are many people who enjoy looking, touching and getting pictures with the kids. Here are a couple of them. They do not particularly like it, but they are good sports about it.
Eating at Pizza Hut
As many of you may know, it is rainy season in Indonesia right now. Over the last number of days we have been getting a lot of rain which means flooding in Jarkarta. Here are a couple of pictures to get an idea of some minor flooding in the streets and the river. However, in parts of Jakarta the flooding has ruined homes and has forced approximately 20,000 people from their homes, most of them being in the slum areas along the banks of the rivers.
