Gillian Tee: Vacation to Jakarta

Trip to Jakarta is kinda boring but it is still an awesome experience to travel together with my lovely family. I will just briefly describe about my trip in Jakarta. Basically I was most impressed by the historical building known as Borobudur. The others were just a very majestic buildings representing their histories where you can visit. This time dad booked the tour agency of Jakarta so we were guided by a tour guide throughout our trip.

The reason why my dad picked Jakarta as our trip is because he wished to explore the magnificent Borobudur temple. Borobudur was built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple was designed in Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous cult of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The temple also demonstrates the influences of Gupta art that reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Borobudur has the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world. This temple has been destroyed before during the war and restoration is carried out to reserve this majestic building so that it remain as one of the wonder of the world.

The other attraction in Jakarta is the volcano called as Gunung Merapi that has previously caused disaster to the people in Jakarta. Mount Merapi is an active strato volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. On 25 October 2010 the Indonesian government raised the alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 20 km zone were told to evacuate. On the afternoon of 25 October 2010 Mount Merapi erupted lava from its southern and southeastern slopes. The mountain was still erupting on 30 November 2010, however due to lowered eruptive activity on 3 December 2010 the official alert status was reduced to level 3. On November 18, 2013 Mount Merapi burst smoke up to 2,000 meters high, one of its first major phreatic eruptions after the 2010 eruption. The volcano remain as the main tourist attraction although it often cause disaster and lives are lost during the eruption.

So, now allow me to briefly describe about my whole trip in Jakarta.

This is the BATIK where it is also found in Malaysia so we just see through cuz it's kinda boring.

This is the Timboel art gallery where u can find many ceramics and handcrafts here, of course it is best for souvenirs.

We had a horse ride at Pantai Parang Tritis, which is quite fun but what made me laugh so loud is that my brother's face is being swept by the horse tail. It's so dirty btw. haha...