$1 Rujak on the Streets of Jakarta 🇮🇩

I visited Pasar Baru, a market in central Jakarta. My mission was to find a Songkok, the stylish hat that was made famous by Sukarno, the first president of independent Indonesia.

I was confident I'd find one there, as all sorts of clothing was available. But I had no luck.

I talked to some locals and they pointed me in the direction of Masjid Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Indonesia and also one of the largest in the world. Outside the mosque was a small market area, and as this type of hat is popular with Muslims, it was easily available to buy there.

I even got a nice garuda (eagle) shield badge to decorate the newest item in my hat collection.

Everyone in that area were very friendly. Even the kids. As you may have seen in my previous vlog, all the kids I'd met in Jakarta so far were smoking and being impolite. The kids at the Istiqlal area were much nicer and represent their country well when meeting a foreigner.

On my way back to the Pasar Baru market area I was looking for some kind of cold and refreshing treat. I stumbled upon a guy selling rujak.

I'd eaten rujak before, many years ago, on a trip to Penang and I liked it. They call it "rojak" there, with an "o". It's chopped up fruit and vegetables, covered in a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. Fairly healthy, as far as street food goes.

Again, everyone at the rujak stall were very friendly, including the vendor, so I gave him a big tip, paying 5 times the price.

I asked for a small portion but I don't think he understood me, and I couldn't remember the Bahasa Indonesia word for small, so I ended up with a portion that was big enough to feed a family.

I still ate it all, and enjoyed it. The sauce wasn't too spicy and was more on the sweet side, which is what I prefer.

The vendor gave me another portion to take away with me for free, which was nice of him. I put it in my bag to take back to my hotel for supper.

Back at Pasar Baru, I noticed there was a mall called Metro Atom Plaza. It was basically an indoor market that was much bigger than market outdoors. Exploring it, it reminded me of the Platinum Fashion mall in Bangkok, Thailand. Loads and loads of small shops selling locally made and designed clothes.

Just like the one in Bangkok, there was a food court on the top floor. I was looking for something non-sweet, as I'd just eaten that massive portion of rujak, but somehow I ended up with a bowl of Sop Buah, which literally means fruit soup.

The Sop Buah was chopped fruit in a bowl with ice, covered in condensed milk. An interesting ingredient was avocado, for two reasons. For one, it's normally an expensive ingredient and this whole bowl of fruit soup was only 15,000 rupiah (less than $1 USD). And secondly, despite avocado being a fruit, it's normally eat like a vegetable, similar to cucumber. You wouldn't expect it in something like a fruit salad.

As the ice started to melt it soaked up the flavours and colours of the fruit, especially the dragon fruit which is bright purple. It was an interesting combination of flavours, with the avocado in there, but I enjoyed it.

Full of energy from the rujak and sop buah, I went exploring again, this time for an Indonesia national team football shirt. Unfortunately, not one of the hundreds of shops at Pasar Baru sold football shirts. The friendly vendors did tell me where I could find them though, at another market called Tanah Abang.

I took a Grab Car there and arrived just before the closed. It seems like these types of markets all close at 4 p.m. which is very early.

I somehow ended up with not only the Indonesia national jersey but also a Scotland one. I've never seen a Scotland jersey in any market I've been to in my global travels, so I had to take the opportunity to buy one.

So the market hunt ended successfully. I got my Indonesian shirt and hat, as well as filled my belly with Indonesian food. Job well done!

0:00 Jakarta Market (Pasar Baru)
8:14 Indonesian Hat
18:53 Rujak
33:38 Indoor Market (Metro Atom Plaza)
39:22 Fruit Soup
47:18 Football Shirt Hunt
58:16 Huge Indoor Market (Tanah Abang)
1:05:12 Indonesia Football Jersey

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