Jenny’s Journies

Monday, 18 December 2006 @ 9:30pm.

I went to Glodok (the Chinese area of “Old Jakarta”) last Saturday with a friend. We meandered through various narrow alleys in what are essentially the poor “kampung” (villages) within the city. While the main streets are bustling with shops selling everything from clothes to electronics to traditional medicines (cobra anyone?) to souvenirs, the buildings themselves have seen better days. One can still see some of the physical damage from the 1998 riots. We eventually found the Petak Sembilan Temple after asking a number of people along the way. It is also known as “Vihara Dharma Sakti” or “Dharma Bhakti” and was established in 1976. There are two buildings, one appearing to be more for ancestors and the other for this life (but they have combined purposes). Poor Indonesians crowded the front of the temple begging, resting, passing the day, etc. Chinese-Indonesians were inside making offerings, saying prayers, and burning incense and candles (wax and the oil kind in bowls).

As more background, there was ash everywhere from the burning incense. It was a little hard to breathe because of all of the smoke and the interior rooms were hot. This was a new experience for me as most of the temples I’ve been to before tend to be very clean, more “orderly,” and um, meat-free. The latter in particular was quite interesting as I didn’t expect to see plates of offerings that included pork and other meat. For example, there were cuts of bacon, even a pig’s head, chickens, and fish. The second temple - Toasebio Temple - was not too far from the first one. It was similar in design, structure, and atmosphere as Petak Sembilan, but differed with its numerous little gold Buddhas and candles that had accompanying cards marked with deceased relatives’ names.

After visiting the temples, we walked around more streets and came across small markets selling a random assortment of goods. One alley had food galore - yummy moon cakes (I had a chocolate-filled one, which I think reflects an Indonesian influence), fruits (mmmm…duku fruit), noodles, fried snacks, and pork (which I have not seen in ages!). One thing that I had heard prior to my visit, but still surprised me anyway was the presence of sellers who did not speak any Indonesian or English at all. I tried to bargain with a couple of women over some items, but we couldn’t communicate very well with each other. We resorted to pen and paper. I have heard that some families come from China and go directly to Glodok (legally or not) and if they are older, they do not get formal education unless they have money.

We later made our way to Glodok Plaza, a gigantic mall which basically brings the outdoor markets inside a cement building. Inside, customers could purchase a television, buy clothes, find a wheelchair, get a tattoo, eat lunch, let their kids play in a plastic ball pit (similar to Chuck E. Cheese in the U.S.), and get furniture all in one day and in one place should they have such a desire.

Here are some photos from the visit to Glodok: