Jakarta: My Firsts (August 17-My First Oceanarium)

August 17- Day 5 Independence Day

It was the independence day of Indonesia, my aunt & uncle planned of bringing us to Ancol that day.  It’s actually a group of amusement parks which is part of the Ancol Bay City. But before heading there my aunt wanted to bring us to a Catholic Church within the area. It is incidentally also called, Yohanes Bosco Church, which is the same church (Don Bosco in Makati, PH) where we (me & my friend) had our capping ceremony (a ceremony done by Nursing Schools to signify that one can already obtain or do some responsibilities that of a real nurse, including giving medications) and it was also his alma mater. 

The church was actually empty my aunt says that the English mass there usually starts 11 am and unlike in the Philippines where masses are done hourly, there it was just done almost 3-5 times during Sundays. So we were the only ones in the church. My aunt also said that the parish priest there is actually a Filipino and is very much delighted to see fellow Pinoys attending mass there, unfortunately he was not in his office during that time, I would have loved to ask him about how different is it to spread the word there, and how is living different from the ones back home (I actually know how priests/monks live since I studied in a school is run by Benedictine Monks)

So after a short prayer & a couple of pictures we headed out to Ancol. Ancol Dreamland (locally known as Taman Impian Jaya Ancol ) opened in 1966 and is currently the largest integrated tourism area in South East Asia, boasting an international championship golf course, a theme park, hotels and other recreational facilities. There are 27 rides at Fantasy World, 8 pools at Atlantis Water Adventure and 8 shows at Ocean Dream Samudra.

From Ancol Website (http://www.ancol.com/images/peta/peta_ancol_gede.jpg)

Inside Ancol Dreamland there is Sea World Indonesia. SeaWorld was opened in 1996 as the largest oceanarium in South East Asia at the time. It features the acclaimed Antasena tunnel as well as the sea friends pool, main pool, alligator pool, and shark pool. Despite its name, it is completely unaffiliated with the US-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and their parks in Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego and is actually owned by Lippo Group.

After an hour seeing the fishes in Sea World we went out and had lunch, we then learned that we could re-enter Sea world as long as we still have our stamps on. So knowing that we then decided to go in again after lunch for the Independence day shows and the feeding time.

Lunch time!!!

After enjoying the shows and of course touching the turtles and eels we then went to our next destination, Ocean Dream Samudra which is just across Sea World. Ocean Dream Samudra features several animal shows, a small aquarium, and a 4D theater. The trained animal shows include a dolphin show and sea lion show. The 4D theater projects 3D image movies with sensations such as cool breezes and water sprays located inside a large building with Mesoamerican pyramid theme.

Show schedule...

From Mixed Up Already (http://mixedupalready.files.wordpress.com/)

After an enjoying time in Samudra, we then headed to the Beach. There are two main beaches within the resort, the Carnival and Festival beach. We went to the park, where you could view the boat rides and even beach goers and at the same time feel the sand beneath your toes. I actually wish I knew there was a beach in the area, I should have tried dipping there! 

Afternoon came and we decided to stop over central Jakarta and have dinner there. We went to Senayan City Mall and was shock to see a huge crowd of people roaming around the mall. It is a seven-floor high end shopping mall, an office tower (mainly occupied by SCTV), an apartment tower, and a five-star hotel operated by Sofitel. The shopping mall, opened in 23 June 2006, is anchored by Debenhams department store and Best Denki electronic store, the largest outlet outside Japan.  The hotel will begin its operation in 2007. Senayan City also houses Indonesia's returning Burger King and the first GAP store and the first Banana Republic store in the country.

From International Office (http://international.ui.ac.id/)

There was even a band playing for an event so we listened to the band, they’re quite good and I really love the lead vocals’ voice, so I noted their name (Storia) and added their song on my ipod and also accidentally found their twitter page and added them.

My Friend watching the band

After getting around the huge mall and seeing their food court full already we decided to head to the other adjacent mall. We walked to Plaza Senayan, a three-storey shopping mall with two interconnected department stores on its two sides, Metro Department Store at the south end and Sogo Department Store on the north. The department stores are four or five storeys with a basement. Plaza Senayan is also home to the nation's second largest foreign bookstore, Books Kinokuniya.

From The colour of Indonesia (http://thecolourofindonesia.blogspot.com/)

 Another interesting feature of the mall is the Marygold Clock, a large musical clock that opens every hour. Made by Seiko, Japan, it houses 6 golden figures, each playing different musical instruments. These 'musicians' serenade visitors with pleasant, magical melodies. The musical clock is first of its kind in Jakarta.

From Asia Hotels.com (http://blog.asiahotels.com/)

We had dinner at the food court because most of the restaurants are full and there’s a long waiting line. Me & my cousin decided to get a Donner Kebab beef with rice. And I fell in love with my first bite! It was barbecue-like pepper loaded spicy… YUM! (now craving for one)

After a long day we headed back to their apartment for a good night’s sleep to perk us up the next day.