Jakarta Tales Vol 3 (contd)

BEHOLD THE MAJESTIC CAFE BATAVIA...

Moving away from my health tips, time for some sightseeing. Last week, I went to Old Jakarta (Kota)with an interesting group that organizes "anti-mall weekend" excursions to heritage sites (explored and unexplored) in Jakarta and Indonesia And being a foreigner, I got a 100% discount! That's Rs120 (US$ 3 saved) :)

I visited the Taman Fatahillah Museum (erstwhile Dutch fort and house of the ruling Dutch Governor-General replete with the gallows, underground dungeons/prisons, execution swords et al), the Wayang Museum (wayangs are Indonesian puppets) where I also saw a wayang mahabharata show (each of the pandavs has a unique crown which distinguishes them), the Keramik Museum (Oriental ceramic pottery, cutlery and sculpture) and the Council Hall (the court during the Dutch colonial period).

On the tour, I met Arthur, a Dutch guy who is actually from Spain and lives in Paris (I thought the Dutch were from The Netherlands...hehe) and is here to teach the Dutch language at Universitas Indonesia. And yes, he made me feel really proud. He said that he was really impressed when he visited India (Rajasthan and New Delhi) a few years ago. I also met his Indonesian friends, Ike and Elvira, who work at the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta and who actually speak more Dutch than Bahasa... lolz... The reason why I'm mentioning them is because I owe them the visit to Cafe Batavia.

After the tour i was heading home but Arthur and his friends persuaded me to come with them to Cafe Batavia. Cafe Batavia... what do I say about the place. Oh, it's just lovely. It's the oldest cafe in Jakarta but it's been evergreen ever since it was born. It has this old world charm that attracts both, the young and the old. The architecture is a fusion of Dutch and Indonesian motifs while the ambience is downright sophisticated. It has a live band in the atrium on the ground floor that plays soft jazz with elegance that can make the depressed smile and the smiling smile even more. There is a quiet newspaper/book reading section on the first floor where you can find people puffing away at their cigars and pipes while they browse through words.

And when the jazz band stops playing, an old gentleman on the first floor stirs up some soulful music on the old piano. A la Ritz Cafe di Casablanca? U got it right mate! In fact, it's much better than the famous cafe in the renowned film and the real one in Casablanca, as Arthur confirmed (he's been there). And on the walls, there are rare, exclusive portraits and snapshots of the world's most memorable celebrities right from Abraham Lincoln to Princess Diana, from Mahatma Gandhi to Pete Sampras. "Permissi mas, can we have the menu please?" And the waiter pulls out 4 portraits from a pillar, turns them over and hands them to us. Yes, that's it. The menus are on the reverse of each portrait, enough for one person each when the Cafe is full (that's about 150 people, I guess). What a novel idea!

To end my romantic soiree with Cafe Batavia, am letting you know that I have discovered there exists an India Town here. It's called Pasar Baru (Pasar=market, Baru=new). Will go there sometime soon, especially since they have a multiplex there that screens Indian films (right now they've got Pyare Mohan... it's a Vivek Oberoi film so I'm sure it's a "hey-look-at-me-i-am-trying-to-act" kinda film and so don't wanna watch it). But am eagerly waiting for the next change in June coz its... subhanallah, subhanallah! You know which film I'm talking about. Have downloaded all its songs, promos and I recommend visiting its website via http://www.yashrajfilms.com/.

And yes, go watch MI3...the film rocks! It still aint as good as the thrill of the MI tv series and the 1st MI film but its worth the money and the time...

This one's longer than the last one so might send it to the Guiness Books :)


Sampai jumpa
From your favourite Indian in Jakarta
Yousuf