From the observation deck, you can view the city. At the basement there are dioramas that portray the dramatic story of Indonesia history. Entrance ticket Rp 2,500, ticket to the top of Monas, Rp 7,500.

MONAs turned out to be much larger than I had expected, I was expecting a monument about the size of the Civilian War Memorial of Singapore is located at the War Memorial Park, a 61-meter structure, often nicknamed "The Chopsticks", if not something slightly larger, but what greeted me was an imposing tower.

The structure and surrounding area of the tower is a square 0.5km by 0.5km and the entire park is about 1km by 1km, or one square kilometer, which means that the entire Taman MONAS covers an area of 100 ha (hectare) or 247.1 acres. That’s 224 football field areas.

The place was filled with throngs of students on excursion trips, families, tourists, locals, hawkers and the like, yet it doesn’t feel claustrophobic due to the large expanse of the area. It will take you a few hours to roam the park and there is a visitor’s fee to enter the park area, 1,000rp for children and students and 2,500rp for adults. The is a large underground area directly under the tower that is filled with about a hundred diorama displays, each depicting major events during the independence struggle of the Indonesians over the years. A definite must-visit if you are staying for some time in Jakarta.

Various Dioramas

A diorama of the monas being constructed

The Independence declaration

Next, another notable mention, the Mahabharata monument is adjacent at the south-west corner of MONAS.

After taking a few pictures, I had planned to walk down along Jalan Mohammed Husni Thamrin, the main avenue of Jakarta, (similar to the CBD district of Singapore), discovering many gems (such as Mall Hero Plaza Sarinah Thamrin and Pan Pacific Mall) along the way that I’ll definitely come back to visit. It’s a Sunday and the streets are nearly deserted even if traffic is still as bustling.

And to my pleasant surprise, discovered a rather interesting mall, Plaza e’X, it wasn’t listed on Google Earth and looked like a bunch of containers. Moreover it was a random name on my “To visit” list that I couldn’t find any reference to, but I am glad I found it and put two and two together. The mall isn’t big, but it gives the same feel and vibes of Heeren back in Singapore, a trendy youth-hang out kinda place.

Lunch/Dinner (it was nearly 4pm) was excellent. I enjoyed every morsel of the food I ordered, (Kafe Betawi), this place serves wonderful Indonesian food at a third the cost of eating at Bali Thai, the bill came up to 114,000 (~$17)! Worth it!

Next was Plaza Indonesia that was connected via a skybridge, and even got a glimpse at the Tugu selamat dating monument at the roundabout and observed the Grand Indonesia Shopping Town (the largest shopping mall in Jakarta, and possibly Indonesia).

Roundabout of the Selamat Datang Monumen (welcome monument)

“Grand Indonesia”, “Plaza Indonesia”, “Mall of Indonesia”, don’t they have any imagination?