Welcome to ‘Pasar Baru’, located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. If you are a local shopper who are enjoying sight-seeing, and if you are a tourist who looking forward for a place to get souvenirs with a very cheap price to be brought back to your home country, you are all the way good to go to Pasar Baru.
Pasar Baru is now evolving as the oldest market in Jakarta. It was established for the first time in 1820 and Chinese-Indonesian community resided in this area at that time. Today, Pasar Baru is well regarded as one of the tourist hotspots to stroll along and quite popular among locals because all not-for-branded goods are up for sale with a minimum cost. Besides shopping, people able to find all type of Indonesian culinary within the precinct with a low cost. Office workers may find this place is good to have an evening coffee-break with snack in their hands.
Vendors trading electronic appliances, saloon equipments, batik & kebaya (Indonesia traditional outfit for adult males and females respectively), casual clothes (shirts, jeans, shorts, jackets and so on), the replica of soccer jerseys, camera, accessories, sewing machine and textiles can be found here. Bargaining is a MUST because the price that the vendors offer not matches with the quality of their goods most of the time. What a paradise for a food-lovers and shoppers
What about at night? Don’t worry. The atmosphere is getting even more ‘live’ and crowded with the presence of buskers and turns Pasar Baru into a night market from 6pm. Shopping, 1-hour reflexology, dating and catching up with work colleagues / friends over dinner to satisfy their crying tummy while determining the next things to do are the major night-time highlight. This place is particularly so overwhelming with families and young-bird on weekends.
And because I am a big fan of bakmi ayam (chicken noodle), I would be recommending Bakmi Gang Kelinci or Bakmi Abun to enjoy a big bowl of chicken noodles. Both restaurants are regarded as long-time favourites for a fan of chicken noodle
India-Indonesians community live in the some precinct of Pasar Baru nowadays and they own a store to trading goods for a living. The goods are varying depending on their preference, such as sport attributes, fabric, textiles, shoes and so on. It is highly recommended to come here in June as the ‘Festival Pasar Baru’ (The festival of Pasar Baru) will annually be conducted by the provincial government in collaboration with various organizations / communities to feature one of the following performances to celebrate the anniversary of Jakarta:
band performance, music parade, sport competition, martial arts presentation, Indonesian traditional dance or bazaar.
If you wish to come here during the Chinese New Year period, you will see a Chinese traditional lion dance which is presumably believed to spread prosperity.
Being a social hub, it is considerably easy to go to there. Busway, taxi and local public transportation are passing by the market. Vehicles are prohibited to enter the area. 2 most convenient ways to reach Pasar Baru for a tourist is either by Busway or Taxi. Hotels, restaurants, offices, and temples can be seen besetting the market.
/// Written by Singgih Kertanegara, Indonesia
