BOGOR BOTANICAL GARDENS

It has been a long time passion to visit the BBG in Bogor, Indonesia.
The small town of Bogor is located about 40 minutes out of Jakarta. It has been an well known fact that the 1st Oil Palm in this part of the world was planted in the BBG in 1848.
It is also known fact the these plams can live for more than a century and hence was looking forward to seeing this historic palm. We were however told by the Information Department that the original palm 'died' and was repalced in 1994. What was suprising about this place is that I saw hundreds of families gathering here for some quality time of games, food and being together. This is maybe the biggest botanical garden in Java. It has rafflessia arnoldi there. And many kinds of flowers and tree.. Maybe there are thousands kind of trees. The air is nice and lots of people use this place for photo session for pre-wed or just photo shoot for magazine. The place is beautiful. The ticket price is only $1 USD pr about Rp 10,000

TANGKUBAN PERAHU

 

The 1830 meter high Tangkuban Prahu volcano is one of Bandung 's main tourist attractions. With its 5 craters of which at least three are still active, it makes for a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, the s mel l is equally spectacular, the sulphur mostly resembling rotten eggs. The volcano can be reached in less than one and a half hours from Bandung and is approximately 30 minutes from the scruffy horticultural town of Lembang . To get there, take an angkot (minivan) to Lembang and change to another angkot that says Tangkuban Prahu.

The area of which the Tangkuban Prahu volcano forms the heart has been given the name Parahyangan , which translates to ‘home of the spirits' and is considered the spiritual origin of the Sundanese. Legend tells that in the past, a young boy by the name of Sang Kuriang fell in love with his own mother who he hadn't seen for many years (because he'd allegedly killed his father and was kicked out of the house). The mother, upon finding out the awkward family ties between her and ‘her lover', tries to get rid of his affection by giving him the impossible task of building 1000 boats in 1 night. If that wasn't hard enough, she also undermined his attempt by making the roosters cry too early. The son fails and will never be able to marry the love of his life. In anger and frustration, he kicks one of his newly built boats which turns upside down and grows into a mountain. That explains the name Tangkuban Prahu, which means ‘upside down boat'.

The park is a huge area with forests that make for great hikes to the craters. The main crater, kawah ratu , is lined with a selection of tacky tourist shops selling miniature ninja puppets, bonsai trees and hats made out of rabbit fur. This is also where most of the street/mountain vendors hold office with their strawberries and raspberries so be prepared to be followed around with those relentlessly.

CIHAMPELAS

Jalan Cihampelas is, amongst the tourists, better known as Jeansstreet . In the past, it was a cheap and therefore, popular place to score some new jeans. Although the prices have been increasing steadily, and a bargain is found better in other places in Bandung these days, Chihampelas is still worth a visit. Not so much because of the enormous amount of clothing that is displayed in abundance at the shops lining the busy street, since unfortunately quality is dubious and it mostly concerns tacky shirts with poorly glued on brand names.

The ‘attraction' lies in the huge statues of all-time favourite moviestars that adorn the fronts of the shops. Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, inclusive of bazooka, is lined up next to Spiderman, while on the opposite side of the street Batman invites you to take a look inside the ‘Superhero Factory Outlet'. The kitsch glamour that Cihampelas displays is quite a sight, although more in a grotesque way than genuinely attractive.

‘Cheap' is indeed a word that will come to mind, be it not in the moneysaving sense of it. The street itself is very busy, with traffic congestions all day round, and a lot of street vendors, offering to sew your newly-bought jeans for actual fit, as well as other strange paraphernalia such as BB guns, and miniature kung fu fighters. This is all accompanied by the loud music that is supposed to attract customers to the shops.

All in all, the sounds and sights plus the lack of sidewalks make Cihampelas a slightly tiring experience, but nevertheless a spectacle of distaste and kitsch in its purest albeit most dilapidated form. For a more sterile environment head over to the Ci walk, a favourite amongst Bandung's more wealthy shoppers. It consists of a conglomeration of more up market shops in a European themed atmosphere.

It is called a ‘new concept' mall, and in effect, tries to offer another shopping experience by creating a themed setting and added security while deducting traffic and other ‘undesirable elements' such as beggars and street vendors. Most worldwide chains and branches such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts are represented and some family restaurants with Japanese and Chinese menus.

JAKARTA OLD TOWN

 

Jakarta Old Town is also known as Old Batavia. Jakarta Old Town or familiarly called the Old Town is a small area in Jakarta which has an area of ​​1.3 square kilometers across North Jakarta and West Jakarta, covering areas Pinangsia, Taman Sari and Roa Malacca. Jakarta Old Town is an area that is still strong with the history and culture of both the Dutch and Chinese.

Jakarta Old Town presents antique atmosphere typical of the Old Town and its many historic buildings and museums, in addition we are also able to enjoy the nautical tourism, shopping, historical and cultural tours, recreation and entertainment, and special interest tours.

TMII

TMII a miniature cultural richness of Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke. This tourist attractions represents cultural diversity and charm of the tribes who lived on the islands of Indonesia. Tourists who visit TMII can see a variety of platforms custom homes, custom clothing, sacred objects particular tribe, to the arts and cultural dance performances from 33 provinces in Indonesia.

Not only that, TMII is one of the tourist attractions in Jakarta with the widest area. You will not be able to explore the unique tourist attractions in Jakarta in just one day. TMII has a number of museums of art and culture forstudents. For example, craft and engineering museum, museum reptiles, birds museums, and theaters Keong Mas. At certain times in TMII, national cultural arts festival held with a particular theme.

MONAS

Indonesia National Monument or what Indonesian and Jakarta people usually call as Monas is a monument built to remember the struggle of Indonesian heroes fighting the colonial domination. Monas was built based on the idea of the first president of Indonesia, Ir. Soekarno, with the help of Sudarsono and F. Silaban as the architect, and Ir. Rooseno as the consultant. It’s builts on an area with a width of 80 hectares. Monas was officially open on 17th August 1961 by President Soekarno, and publicly open on 12th July 1971.

The top of Monas shaped like a flame, symbolizing a never extinguished spirit of Indonesian people. The flame was made of bronze medal which weight was 14.5 ton, and was plated with 35 kg gold. The flame has 6 meters diameter and consist of 77 concentrated parts.

The standing pillar of Monas which height is 137 meters, symbolizing a rice pestle, while the cup symbolizing a rice barn. Rice pestle and barn are traditional tools to pound rice, figuring out Indonesia as an agricultural country. They’re also regarded as the symbol of Indonesian people’s fertility, and as the symbol of male and female.

Jakarta people usually utilize Monas area as a place for sport activities, in the morning and afternoon time. Most people visit Monas on weekend and holidays.

RAGUNAN ZOO

  

Ragunan Zoo was the first zoo in Indonesia. The zoo was founded in 1864 under the name "Planten En Dierentuin", which means "Plants and the Zoo." Jakarta Capital City Government donated 30 hectares of land area which is home to the zoo. Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin inaugurate Wildlife Areas of Ragunan on June 22, 1966. Currently Ragunan Zoo is located in the Ragunan, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Indonesia. The zoo with an area 140 acres, there are various collection consisting of 295 species and 4040 specimens.