One of our agendas at the end of the year is to try cheap sightseeing in Jakarta using public transportation.
Istiqlal Mosque
Visiting
the Istiqlal Mosque became my dream a long time ago. Therefore, Zauji
placed this proud mosque of Indonesia in the first place. We used
Transjakarta (for the first time) from the Senayan stop to the Juanda
stop. Tucked away by the tragedy of late entry during tap-in, we
finally arrived at a stop that only runs 400 m from the Istiqlal Mosque.
The Istiqlal Mosque (in Arabic, "Istiqlal" has the meaning of "independence") was built in 1951 on the grounds of the former Dutch fortress of Frederick, built by Governor-General Van den Bosch in 1834. This mosque is on Jl. Wijaya Kusuma Park, Central Jakarta. The mosque designed by Friedrich Silaban is located opposite the Cathedral Church so that it is often used as a symbol of the beauty of religious tolerance.
The Istiqlal Mosque was inaugurated in 1978. Although it is almost half a century old, its sturdiness can still be felt until now. We arrived only 5 minutes before the adhan dzuhur. We passed by the side door close to the stop and directed the officer towards the place of ablution. The male entrance was different from the female entrance, which made me separate from Zauji.
The entrance of the woman was not too big with the officer, who immediately directed the pilgrims. The place of a very spacious wudhu is equipped with a row of bathrooms and faucets in a neatly arranged wudhu place. From the place of ablution, I rushed to the place of prayer on the 2nd floor through the long hallway where the mosque office and massage chairs that pilgrims could rent were.
I was impressed and amazed by the splendor of the mosque architecture that I used to see on TV. Because of visiting on weekdays, prayer pilgrims are not more than 5 shaf. There are special officers who direct pilgrims to fill the front row first so that it is more orderly.
Bada prayer: there is a study called for the public with the theme of the household delivered by an ustadzah. Unfortunately, time constraints made us decide to move on. I also took the time to take a photo of some parts of the mosque.
I noticed many pilgrims (women) are too eager to take pictures together in the front female shaf in order to take the mesjid pulpit. Unfortunately, this activity slightly disturbs other pilgrims who still want to pray sunnah or focus on listening to studies.
I
also noticed that there was a group of students who prayed in
congregation guided by several teachers. In addition, it appears that a
large group began to arrive and enter the mosque area.
Zauji invited me to come out of the man's entrance (it seems this is allowed). Outside we ask permission from the officer to enjoy the cilok and iced tea we bought at the Transjakarta stop. In the courtyard, a row of food trucks serves rice or baso to block the stomach.
We decided to have lunch by tasting one ketoprak plate to be enjoyed by both for Rp. 15,000/portion, not far from the exit of the mosque, before continuing to walk to Monas Square.
National Monument
From the Istiqlal Mosque, we both walked down the side of the river next to the mosque to the Monas, which is on Jalan Jl. Cross Monas, Central Jakarta, which is in the middle of the Medan Merdeka area.
The heat was covered in breeze from the trees along the way. Not until 10 minutes later did we arrive at the 132-meter-high National Monument, which was built on August 17, 1961. And opened to the public on July 12, 1975.
The fire-capacity monument covered in 28 kg of gold became a symbol of resistance and the struggle of the Indonesian people in seizing independence. Now Monas is a must-see destination for cheap sightseeing in Jakarta. The area of Monas, which is 80 hectares, is open to the public from 06.00 to 18.00 WIB and 08.00 to 15.00 WIB specifically for the Monas monument area.
Menong's friend was not charged a ticket to enter the Monas courtyard area. After taking some photos as a memento, we decided to get into the Monas monument area that I had not had time to visit before. Having been confused with the direction of entry, we were directed by friendly officers to help us. We separated ourselves from the queue of kindergarten children lined up neatly.
The entrance to the Monas monument, Menong's friend, had to go through the underground lane (which means the road under the courtyard). The Monas Monument is divided into 4 areas, namely the museum, which is at the base of the monument; the independence room; the courtyard of the cup; and the peak.
To enter the museum, we were charged an adult ticket for Rp. 8,000 and Rp. 24,000 to get to the top, which must be purchased using an e-Jakcard card. Alhamdulillah, Zauji still has a Jaklingko card that we used during a visit to Ragunan the previous year.
Although we often visit museums in Bandung,
we chose to visit the Monas museum because to climb to the top, there is
still a queue until 15.00 WIB. The museum is located at the base of the
monument with dim lights.
The museum room is very spacious, but it looks narrow because of the density of visitors. In this area there is a toilet (with a limited number) and a mosque. The Monas Museum presents reliefs of Indonesian history from prehistoric times and Dutch colonization to the development of modern Indonesia.
Although it was tempting to ride a free odong-odong to get around Monas, we decided to end this cheap walking session in Jakarta. On the instructions of the officer, we walked towards the nearest Transjakarta stop. Actually, we intend to ride Bajaj, but we think the price offered is too expensive for us.
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