8 Hours in Jakarta: City Walks, Good Food, and a Cozy Library Escape

After traveling quite a distance from Tangerang for my NGO work, I took a short trip to Jakarta while waiting for the train that would take me to Surabaya at exactly 11 p.m. So I still had some time to spend in Jakarta while waiting. Me and my girlfriend arrived at Gambir Station, one of the stations located in the center of Jakarta, around noon via Grab.

I had never thought of eating GM noodles while having a meeting at Gambir before. Me and my girlfriend ordered the special GM noodles with chicken topping, which turned out to be delicious and worth the price and expectations. Honestly, I prefer to try the chicken noodles sold on the side of the road in Jakarta, but what can I say, these were also delicious in terms of taste.

For those of you who want to eat at Gambir Station, you should think twice if you have a limited budget because the prices are usually double the price outside the station. While eating, I continued the meeting regarding the website redesign project that will be carried out soon. The meeting went smoothly even though it was raining heavily outside. After the meeting, we were lucky because the rain stopped too.

After the rain stopped, we crossed from Gambir Station to wait for the Transum bus at the National Gallery bus stop because we wanted to continue our journey to Taman Ismail Marzuki. We were lucky because after waiting for 10 minutes, a Transum bus passed by that was heading to Taman Ismail Marzuki.

The bus was quite crowded because it was afternoon and many people were returning home from work, so we couldn't get seats and had to stand. The distance between the National Gallery bus stop and Taman Ismail Marzuki was not too far, about 10 minutes, but due to traffic, we finally arrived at the Ismail Marzuki bus stop.

After walking, we finally arrived at Bakoel Cafe to buy coffee, as suggested by one of our friends, because it was not too far from Taman Ismail Marzuki. In general, the place was quite nice, but unfortunately, smokers and non-smokers were in the same area, so the place was quite stuffy and full of cigarette smoke, even though there were fans that kept spinning, but they didn't help much.

As for the coffee itself, we had espresso-based coffee, which was surprisingly very strong for the size of the cup it was served in. In addition, the price was quite expensive. Bakoel Cafe is saved by its friendly service and its pleasant, vintage atmosphere, which makes people feel nostalgic when sitting here.

In my opinion, yesterday's trip to the National Library in Jakarta was very interesting and insightful because I found inner peace in the library. Rather than a library, this place is more like a book mall and a place to read books, with a large space and various places and outlets provided. It's such a paradise for bookworms and introverts.

The ambiance here is very comfortable, homely, calm, and warm all at the same time. It's very different from most libraries in Indonesia, which are usually very different. This one is more like the libraries you see in movies. It's very warm, calm, and has lots of books.

When it comes to its collection, the Jakarta Library is truly unquestionable. You can check it out for yourself at https://perpustakaan.jakarta.go.id/. The collection is super complete; almost every book you need is here. The building has five floors, and each floor has a different book theme, so it feels well-curated. The shelves are also filled with books by popular authors, making it even more comfortable to explore.
The layout of the room is also aesthetic and neat.

The books are neatly arranged in every aisle, organized in detail and easy to find. The atmosphere feels warm and calm, especially in the late afternoon, accompanied by light rain outside. Most of the visitors are bookworms who really come to enjoy reading, so the vibe is comfortable, calm, and makes you forget the time. After that, we returned and had a meal at HokBen at the station while waiting for the next train. From there, the journey continued to Surabaya, as there was an upcoming second anniversary event for Menulis.id.