We're in Indonesia.
Jakarta.
-Selamat datang (welcome).
[music]
Selamat datang di Indonesia. (Welcome to Indonesia)
As soon as we landed in Indonesia,
the very first thing that came to my mind is,
wait, I can speak Indonesian.
No, I'm just kidding.
It's because the few words and expressions I know in Malay
are the same in Indonesian.
Remember, we spent a few months in Malaysia:
Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang.
And I pick up words and languages very, very fast,
so it was a really good surprise.
And talking about "selamat datang,"
this is the Selamat Datang Monument,
which in Indonesian means...
-Welcome. -Welcome. Look at you, you know.
-Welcome to Jakarta.
-Selamat datang, Gordon. -Jakarta.
I now invite you to embark on this new adventure in Indonesia.
I'm Renata, I'm a journalist.
And in this series, I'll show you how to make the most out of your trip.
Welcome to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
Actually, the capital not for long,
because the capital is moving to Borneo Island.
The idea is to get out of this crowded and congested metropolis.
But in fact, Jakarta is sinking.
This is the fastest sinking city in the world
and parts of the city could be totally submerged by 2050.
The Selamat Datang Monument symbolized the openness
of the Indonesian nation
to everyone who was coming here for the Asian Games in 1962.
That's what it was built for.
But today, it means their welcome to everyone.
And this roundabout here is located right in the heart of Jakarta.
This is probably the main avenue in town.
It's full of hotels here, full of malls.
It is where we're staying.
Hey.
-Hi. How are you? -Very good. And you?
-Are you from Brazil? -No. Canada.
-Canada. -Yes.
-Brazil, Canada. -Yeah.
-Indonesia. -Indonesia.
-Yeah.
-That's Hotel Indonesia. -Uh-huh.
-One of the heritage in Indonesia.
-Ah. -Heritage Hotel.
-Okay. -Okay. You're from Indonesia?
-Yes. -Okay.
-My name is Koman, I'm from Bali.
-From Bali. -Yes.
-Okay. -Don't forget...
to enjoy nasi jinggo.
-Nasi jinggo. -Nasi jinggo. Yeah.
-What is nasi jinggo? Food?
-Food. Of course, food. -Okay.
-Rice and chicken.
-Okay. -And a little bit of noodles.
-Okay. Good to know. -Yeah.
-Have you been to Bali before? -No.
-And you? -No, never.
-Not yet. -First time to Indonesia.
-Yes. -Okay.
-I hope you enjoy your stay in Jakarta.
-Thank you.
He was so friendly!
We might be in his YouTube channel.
[music]
Here in Jakarta, they had the first BRT system in Asia.
And today, it is the largest network in the world.
GR1 outside is a free bus.
-Free? Oh, we get just outside? -Yes.
Oh, terima kasih (thank you).
I was planning to get the BRT,
but I just discovered that there's a free bus here
that will take us to the square where we want to go now.
Even better.
-Terima kasih (thank you). -Yeah, sama-sama (you're welcome)
Air-conditioned bus, super comfortable, and free,
and they even announced it in English.
You get this paper here.
Gratis (free). This is our ticket.
-Terima kasih.
-Hello. -Hello.
Everybody says hello here,
even the cops. -Yeah.
-Hello. -How are you?
-Very good. And you?
Let me explain a little bit more about Jakarta.
Jakarta is located on Java, which is the most populous island
in the entire world.
-No. More populous than Japan?
-Yeah, because Japan is not only one island.
Japan is multiple islands.
-You're so smart. -I am so smart.
Indonesia is a country made of islands.
There are about 17,000 islands here.
Actually, there are different counts by different organizations,
so no one knows exactly how many islands there are here.
But about 6,000 only are inhabited.
-18,324.
You know that?
[laughs]
And now let me introduce you to one of the main landmarks in Jakarta.
This is Merdeka Square.
Remember my videos in Kuala Lumpur?
There was a Merdeka Square there, too.
This is Merdeka Square.
That's because this word means independence, freedom,
both in Malay and in Indonesian.
This square here is much, much bigger.
It's got one square kilometer in area.
It is huge, one of the largest squares in the world.
And right at the center, the National Monument,
it represents the struggle for the Indonesian Independence
with the Independence Flame on top.
It's covered with gold, 50 kilos of gold.
[music]
You can go up there.
Everything is so big here, so spacious.
Look at this.
The interesting thing is that you arrive here
in front of the monument,
and this is not the entrance.
You got to go over there.
At least it's what the signs are indicating.
-Isn't it 15?
-Cashier: Yeah, you must buy a card.
Rp 15,000.
-Ah. What for? What is this card...
-By access.
-Oh, the card is for the access.
-Gordon: Oh.
-Okay. [chuckles]
Entrance here costs 15,000 rupiah.
Yeah, the currency here has a lot of zeros.
We also needed to buy a card for Rp 15,000 more.
They just said that we need one for the two of us,
so it was Rp 45,000 in total.
Did you understand why we need the card?
-Entrance to get in. -Yeah, but...
-Now, we use the ticket to go up.
There's an entrance to get into the grounds...
-Okay. -Ticket to go up.
Right below the monument,
there's a small museum here showing some important moments
in the history of Indonesia.
-It's a long walk up
[laughs]
I hope not.
Wow, look at this enormous space here.
It is so much bigger when you get here
compared to when you see just outside.
Wow.
There's an interesting system when you get here.
You need to get your tickets, take it inside the information.
They're going to stamp your ticket and assign you a code
which means when you're allowed to go up.
Then you come outside and just wait.
That's what everyone here is doing.
All these tickets here are reused and you can see the history,
the dates that people went up.
Interesting. Environmentally friendly.
Terima kasih (thank you).
[music]
Wow. You can't see much.
From down there, it looked like there was a little bit of blue sky,
but from up here,
you can't see much.
Very little visibility.
The National Monument is one of the most visited attractions in Jakarta.
You can wait hours in line waiting to come up here,
or also arrive and all tickets are sold out,
especially in the evenings.
I guess it explains why a lot of people come here in the evening, right?
You have a better view and have the lights, right?
-Yeah.
So, if you want to come here, I'd say come in the evening.
It is interesting that up here, you can see all the important buildings
around Merdeka Square.
There are so many government buildings. There are ministries.
Oh, this is Merdeka Palace.
It's one of the six presidential palaces in Indonesia.
It's the official residence of the president of Indonesia.
That's the mosque, our next stop now.
That's Gambir Station.
It's a train station for intercity trains.
Here there's a fountain show on weekends.
Lots of school kids here, too.
School trips.
Hello.
-Bye. -Bye.
Now, something very important,
you're gonna see online that the monument closes on Mondays.
But it's not only the monument, it's everything here.
Not these green gates here, but those gates all the way over there.
Everything closes.
You won't even be able to take a picture with the monument.
Trust me, I tried.
So, come here any other day.
Here outside, they also show some important moments
of the Indonesian history,
and also the uniqueness of the country.
That, for example, that's the Komodo Dragon.
It's all over.
And you see the sculptures in every corner
[music]
So many important buildings around the square.
This is the Jakarta City Hall.
National Library over there.
I just cannot show you up close because there are guards here,
and that's not allowed.
[music]
So hot here. We stopped for ice cream.
I got this vanilla ice cream.
And she gave me a glass of water, too.
I don't know if it's because I look like this.
This sweaty [laughs]
Thinking "girl, you deserve it."
[laughs]
It's good.
It looks like this is a traditional place here.
Lots of old pictures.
And it says on the wall "Since 1932."
-This is your aunt? -This is my auntie.
-Uh-huh, very nice.
-Yeah. -Beautiful.
-What's your name? -I'm Yenny
-Yenny -Yeah.
-I want to give you... Try the ice cream, the durian.
Our durian is real.
-Real? -Yeah.
-No chemicals. -Uh-huh.
I want to give you to try here.
-Oh, terima kasih.
Durian ice cream.
She gave me durian ice cream to try here.
Her family owns the ice cream shop here for decades
and she was explaining me the whole family story.
That is so sweet.
Durian ice cream.
Remember the first time we tried it?
This is much better than that one.
Yeah, it is really good.
Remember that one Gordon said it tastes like onion?
-You know what makes me think of? -Uh-hmm?
-A strong onion, but sweet.
-Onion?
-Maybe, maybe you're right.
[chuckles]
Not this one here. I really like it.
Try, Gordon, try.
It's not as strong garlicky taste.
Onion. You said onion.
I said garlic and onion.
-Strong onion -Onion?
-Yeah.
It starts like the same way,
but then it finishes with the sweetness, right?
-Uh-hmm. -It's good.
Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country.
What are the first three?
-China. -Uh-huh.
-India. -Uh-huh.
That's easy, come on
-Estados Unidos. (United States)
Yes. [laughs]
You're so good.
But also this is the most populous Muslim-majority country
and they certainly have a mosque to represent it. Right here.
This is Istiqlal Mosque,
the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia.
200,000 people could go in.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
Istiqlal is an Arabic word for Merdeka.
Independence.
[prayer]
First time we're allowed inside the mosque
during praying time.
[music]
This mosque is really huge. Look at all these levels.
They welcome you so well here.
A girl took us to the second floor, the area for visitors.
The first floor is just for those who are praying.
And then she answered all kinds of questions,
explained us a lot of things.
She was so lovely.
If you're not dressed appropriately, you can borrow a robe, totally free.
For women, as long as you have your shoulders covered
and your knees covered, you should be fine.
She told me it's up to me if I wanted to cover up more.
So, I had my own scarf and I put that on.
Gordon, he is wearing shorts.
His shorts actually do cover his knees,
but they still ask him to wear a robe.
Look at how interesting. Right in front of the mosque,
there is a cathedral.
That's green, but nobody stops.
Oh, my God.
[music]
So close to the chaos outside, but so peaceful here inside.
[music]
I saw online that this is the biggest Catholic Church in Southeast Asia.
I couldn't confirm here. There's no information.
But it wouldn't surprise me if it really is.
It is a big church.
The biggest, for sure, I've seen in my trips in Southeast Asia.
Actually, there's a reason why the mosque and the Cathedral
were built so close like this.
It's exactly to symbolize that everyone here in Indonesia
can coexist in peace.
The cathedral was already here since the colonial days,
but when the mosque was being built a few decades ago,
the president at the time insisted that that should be the location exactly
to represent religious harmony and tolerance.
[music]
We're gonna close the day right where we started, right here.
Remember the monument?
But this time, we'll go up.
There's a rooftop bar here with a view.
[music]
The sunset will be over there.
And here you have a view to the rest of the city.
We arrived about an hour before sunset
that's why it's still empty like this,
and everything here is reserved already.
We tried to sit here upfront, but, no,
fully booked.
That's why we got so early here, too, to guarantee a place.
We got a nice place here, too.
I can't believe they have caipirinha here.
[laughs]
This is the national drink of Brazil.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
Garlic bread pizza.
It looks so unbelievably good in the menu
that I couldn't resist.
Terima kasih (thank you).
What did you get again?
-You forgot? -Yeah.
[laughs]
[music]
Now, the best thing,
this trip to Indonesia is just in the beginning.
-Yes. -Yes.
[laughs]
He agrees.
-Selamat. -Selamat datang.
-Datang. -Datang.
-Selamat datang. -Datang. Sela...
[laughs]
You're not good with languages, are you?
-Yes. -[laughs]
-Muitas palavras (many words)
[laughs]
-Can you say nasi jinggo?
-Nasi jinggo. -Nasi jinggo.
-Yes. Renata and...
-Gordon. -Gordon.
-He's from Canada, very handsome.
-Oh, very handsome. -Yes.
And Renata is so beautiful.
-Oh, thank you.
But for women, if you have your...
[chuckles]
They only announce in Indonesian. How are we going to know?
[laughs]
-Thank you. -In what language?
Oh, Portugal
My language? Obrigada
-Obrigado. -Obrigada.
-Obri... -Obrigada.
-Obrigado. -Yeah.
-Obrigado. -Obrigada.
-In Italian, grazie
-Grazie. -Grazie. Okay.
-Nice meeting you. -Sama sama.