The Elements Unearthed

Jakarta Day 8: Monday, July 31, 2017

The entrance to Thamrin City, an indoor bazaar located in downtown Jakarta.

After our reflections of today, we needed a break and to do some shopping. We traveled on our bus back to the area of the Grand Mall, but this time stopped at another building called Thamrin City. It is a giant indoor bazaar with shops selling about every kind of item you could want, including souvenirs and batik.

Shops inside the Thamrin City bazaar. The shops are in the form of kiosks selling clothes, printed batik, shoes, jewelry, etc.

I had a bit of a challenge finding a restroom, but finally found one. A group of us walked through the stores and shops. I found a nice batik patterned jacket with colors that I liked in an Asian style for my wife, as I hadn’t really bought any clothing yet except for what Nazar and his family had given us. I was probably being too picky, as I wanted something as authentic as possible and not just a fake printed batik-like pattern.

I am not a great shopper anyway, so wandering around while others buy stuff has never been very appealing to me. I just tried to relax and go with the flow and enjoy the experience without trying to get the best deals possible. It helped, and I resolved not to get any buyer’s remorse with what I did purchase. I did manage to negotiate a lower price, but still felt I could have gotten them down lower. We both reached a price point we were satisfied with, and that’s good enough for me. I spent about $35 US on the jacket. I hope it fits and that she likes it.

The many levels inside the Thamrin City bazaar. The sing on the fourth floor is advertising tours to Mecca and Medina for the Haji, or Pilgrimage, required of all observant Muslims.

We got back on the bus and had some people try to sell us cheap purses. I bought one for $1. I’m not sure why or who to give it to. But no remorse! We drove back to the hotel.

The batik patterned jacket I bought for my wife at Thamrin City. The purple batik pattern was given to each of us by Dewi.

A display of yarns dyed with natural dyes inside the Batik Keris store we visited on our way to Thamrin City. The deep blue is obviously indigo.