This third part of Menteng District article will review about places on the west side of Menteng area and will be the last part. We talked a lot about places from colonial era in the first and second part, the third part is about the next era. Era of Soekarno.
Hotel Indonesia ( HI )
HI was one of the first 5-star hotels in the country, better yet in South East Asia, and has been the city's landmark. In front of the hotel stands the "Welcome statue" or Tugu Selamat Datang to welcoming the guests who visited Jakarta on the occasion of the 4th Asian Games in 1962. The hotel was initiated by President Soekarno in preparation for the Asian games and was officially opened on August 5th, 1962.
In 2004, HI started a big interior renovation and opened again in 2009 as Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta. The iconic building is now managed by European hotel group. They safe some memorabilia from the original HI and display them in some areas of the hotel.
This is a corner from one of the entrances, they display pictures from the opening ceremonial back in August 5th, 1962. Across the photo collages, are the two elevators that actually the first two elevators in Jakarta and still functioning well.
The picture right up above is the famous painting "Flora Fauna Puspa Indonesia" of Lee Man Fong that is placed on the lobby of Bali Room. He was one of Soekarno's favorite artists. The painting represents Indonesia's identity and great richness. It is a pity when I took this picture, there was a wedding reception preparation and there was a white wall decor covered some part on the left and right side of the masterpiece.
The art was painted with oil paint on a wooden board and glued to the wall. It had been an integral part of the hotel since it was built. During close period whether before the big renovation started in 2004 or before re-opened in 2009 (I forgot this detail), they rescued the masterpiece before shipped away in a cargo. Explained my tour guide from the front desk crew. Very lucky!
The art was painted with oil paint on a wooden board and glued to the wall. It had been an integral part of the hotel since it was built. During close period whether before the big renovation started in 2004 or before re-opened in 2009 (I forgot this detail), they rescued the masterpiece before shipped away in a cargo. Explained my tour guide from the front desk crew. Very lucky!
The original door handle
The scissor that was used by Soekarno to cut the ribbon in opening ceremonial
Pictures above, are some paintings that were selected directly by President Soekarno and displayed in the old HI. Now, they were display in the memorabilia corner.
S A R I N A H
Sarinah is a 15 storey department store located in jalan M. H. Thamrin. Start to built in 1963 and inaugurated in 1967 by Soekarno. Sarinah is the first shopping center in Indonesia and also the first skyscraper in Jakarta. The name Sarinah was originally belong to an au pair who took care of young Soekarno. Sarinah was meant to be a shopping center that can provide people with good quality products with affordable price.
St. Theresia Church
Theresia church was built in 1934 designed by Fermont-Cuypers bureau. Although the design had been made in 1926 by R.K. Kerk en pastorie Gondangdia and Ghijsels made his design version before 1925 but non of those designs got realized. Entering the world’s economic crisis, every project were on hold. Teresia church was built after the great depression with some changes in its design. The church was meant to built similar as Paulus church but had to be simplified in order to have saved some budget. Two years after Teresia church built, Paulus church was built in 1936. You can read about Paulus church at Menteng District - part 1.
Antique houses in Menteng
[Above] A very nice detail of the design. Look at those tinted glass. This is a private property (I guess), but don't know for sure does anybody live in this house. It looks abandoned. Nevertheless, Its beauty still attract me to take some shots.
This is the one and only mansion left in jalan Cikini Raya. It belonged to late Hasyim Ning and now, I believe it was passed to his descendant. Hasyim Ning (1916-1995) was a wealthy businessman.
There is a chocolaterie in jalan HOS Cokroaminoto called Dapur Cokelat. The shop is a gorgeous antique house with shingle roof. And like any other chocolate shop, the interior is just lovely. Dapur Cokelat is Indonesian chocolate product. If you come by to the shop, don’t forget to try their chocolate milk. It is sooo.. yummy!
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