Cities always look good at night. The warm golden light of streetlamps, and the decorative 'christmas' lights strewn between buildings make for a beautiful scene. I have discovered some places shine at night, but the morning daylight reveals something much less appealing.

Not so with Jakarta.

I 'woke up' from the worst sleep I have ever had, punctuated by the mosquitoes and 31degree heat. Around 4am I turned the light on and killed two moquitoes, looking at my arms and legs to see almost a dozen fresh bites. Fresh blood stained the bedsheet from where I had mushed one. By morning the bites had disappeared, though, as had any evidence of the insects. The room was completely sealed, and so I am still bewildered over how they got in. Did I dream it? No, the itches remained.
I packed up and left my bag at the counter in the lobby, checking out. A bowl of boiled noodles topped with a half-cooked egg threatened to fill me, but did no succeed. Nevertheless I set out, leaving the slumering Rudy behind.
I explored the nearby area on foot, heading first to Gambir to buy a ticket (for half-price, in a better class) to Yogya, then hopped a spikey fence to enter the National Monument park (on the nearby policeman's advice). Inside stands a massive column topped with a golden flame - the Independance Monument (Monas). Monas is hinted to resemble the soviet-era monuments in Russia.
I paid 5100rp to enter an underground tunnel leading into the base of the pillar, through an independance gallery featuring a large flag, a golden coat-of-arms, and a golden representation of the massive Indonesian archipelago hung on the walls underground. I climbed some stairs and emerged into daylight, then took an elevator to the viewing deck, just below the golden flame, about 140m above ground level. A spectacular view of the city welcomed me. Jakarta is truly a nice city...
Later I made my way around the vast underground 'museum', which featured very impressive dioramas of the history of the island nation. Strangely these beautifully painted and sculpted models were lit mostly with black light. Made viewing them very difficult, in the darkish, marbled, carvernous chamber.

I left the monument to explore the rest of the park, enjoying the massive bronze sculptures at both the north and south ends.

After I enjoyed a frapuccino from a 24h Starbucks nearby, though was repulsed by the state of their bathroom. TP was indeed provided, but the footprints and piss on the seat reminded me that I was not in Singapore anymore. At least Malaysia offered relatively clean squat facilities...

I am very glad I stayed for at least a day here, and will try to dispell Jakarta's poor reputation via this blog. That said, it doesn't offer too much to see. Simply another nice city to stopover in.

Off to Gambir to catch my 5pm train. For some ridiculous reason Jakarta is 1hour behind Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, which are due north. Now I'm only 15hours ahead of you, mom.