Museums are (1) not to be strolled around in but to be experienced, (2) made up of collections expressive of the soul of that ‘experience’, (3) not in fact museums but merely galleries when emptied of their collections. – Orhan Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence
So many time but so many museums. This post is compilation from my previous trip to Jakarta Museums (Museum Bank Mandiri, Museum Wayang, Museum Fatahillah, and Museum Senirupa & Keramik), There are at least 10 museums in Jakarta both outdoor and indoor which probaby worth it to visit when next time you all visiting Jakarta. It is not really pricey and mostly located near public transportation such as TransJakarta and KRL (Commuter Line). After my last visit in National Museum, I have tried to visit 3 more museums either by myself, brother, and also my Bogor housemates. Museums can offer you many option for sightseeing and adding you more knowledge, experiences. It is true in Jakarta you can see many museums and some people probably don’t know and even bother to visit it which is sad. I am definitely a museum lover and old buildings! Definitely will try to visit more museums after this! One of favourite would be The Fine Art and Ceramic Museum (Museum Senirupa dan Keramik). I love all the painting collections despite only saw Raden Saleh prints there and it’s in very poor quality if you compare with all technology we have now for printing (because you must see the original paintings in The Netherland).
Still around Kota Tua Area just before all those museums, you can see vintage Jakarta Kota Station building. I like the arched roofs :)
Bank Indonesia Museum which located just next to Bank Mandiri Museum. Haven’t got time to visit there but will next time.Front side and plaza of Museum Fatahillah (Museum Sejarah Jakarta)You can find this hanging scene at Fatahillah Museum just next to the entrance. It’s been told that Dutch Colonial once always hang criminal at the plaza just in front of this building. Like any museums in Jakarta mostly we have to pay IDR 5,000 for domestic tourists and might be IDR 50,000 for foreigners (not really sure about this but definitely much more expensive).Puppet show in front of Museum Fatahillah. On the background you can see Spongebob Squarepants is taken pictures by the visitors. This is common phenomenon if you visit any tourism places all over in Indonesia. I don’t know why Indonesian is so obsessed with cartoon characters in historical places.Human-Statue-alike, you can take picture with them with paying some amount of money. Not only this “gold statue” but many more but, usually in Dutch Colonial theme costume.Well art deco architecture with mini tiles like in Bank Mandiri Museum definitely my styles. You must see their safe deposit and underground dungeon. It’s kinda creepy but in the same time cool altogether with all human statues scattered around the museum.Front side of Wayang Museum which still located at Kota Tua. You can find many types of Indonesian puppet (e.g wayang kulit & wayang golek) also world puppets from Malaysia, Vietnam, France, Russia, etc. Beautiful place and previously a church in Dutch Colonial time. As you can see in front of the museum there are old bicycle rentals (+ pretty hats) where you can rent it an hour for circling the area or photo session.
Felicia Lasmana is a conservation biologist, blogger in Bahasa Indonesia – English, passionate traveller, avid reader, sensible vegetarian and a tea addict. She has a great interest in the application of conservation science into practical solutions such as sustainability-related issues.
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Felicia Lasmana 