Our second stop was at the historic and classy Café Batavia. I’ve always wanted to visit this place after seeing Nix Alanon and Rajo Laurel’s photos. Café Batavia serves delicious meals, has good customer service, amazing interiors, and a lounge bar operating at 2pm! 2 pm, for Pete’s sake! The band sang a lot of the 90s hit that’s why we enjoyed so much! If only we didn’t have any other plans that day, we could’ve stayed longer. They even sang “Anak” by Freddie Aguilar for us.
Cafe Batavia has a wide variety of menu choices—from the traditional Indonesian to Asian and Western cuisines.
A large collection of framed celebrity photographs adorn the walls of the second floor and the powder rooms.
Tourists may rent a bike to stroll around Kota.
Street foods are being sold around the busy Fatahillah Square.
On our way to Grand Indonesia, Jakarta’s high-end mall (perhaps at par with Greenbelt and other Ayala Mall in Manila), we rode the bus. Trains and buses are the cheapest means of transportation.
Traffic in Jakarta is bad
We didn’t really go “malling.” We simply had our dollars changed to rupiah (we became instant millionaires!). By 7pm, we decided to go back in the hostel and chill for the rest of the night. Six Degrees Backpackers Hostel is so homey! We had our takeaway dinner meals from the nearby KFC (we had too much of the Nasi Goreng from Café Batavia) and ate at the common room. We had a little chat with a Nono, a visitor from Poland, and spent the rest of the night with our Bintang beers and a few episodes of Modern Family Season 3 with other backpackers from the West.
Low fat Fresh milk beside Bintang beer
At the rooftop, where guests may get-together picnic style
The common room/receiving area
Jakarta is a relatively cheap country and the currency denominations can be confusing. To avoid being victims of opportunists, always count your change. On the train station, I was given 10000 idr short. I went
back and asked what is rightfully for me.
Prior to our trip to Jakarta, I did some research on how to go from central Jakarta to Kota, where Cafe Batavia is, but I wasn’t able to find any detailed instruction so in case anyone searches the same, tada! Here it is. The easiest way to go to Kota without having to pay too much on taxi fare is by train. Wherever you are in the city, look for the train station and please refer to this map.
Follow the train route that will lead you to Jakarta Kota. Alight the train and walk until you reach the busy Kota main station. If you are facing the station, turn right to Exit. If you are confused, ask around where Fatahillah Square is. It is only 5 minutes away from the main station by walking.
Six Degrees Backpackers Hostel
Jalan Cikini Raya Jakarta 10330, Indonesia
Contact David
(Within Jakarta) 314 1657
(From overseas) +62-21-314 1657
https://jakarta-backpackers-hostel.com
Indonesia: A Side Trip to Jakarta
