Batavia's atmosphere in today's Jakarta

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We often receive queries from Lost Jakarta followers: what was the atmosphere in 1920s and 1930s Jakarta? How did it smell? How did it sound? And are there any pockets in today's Jakarta that resemble Batavia? We were fascinated by this topic too, and it would be easy to conclude: "No, Batavia is gone, and today's Jakarta is very different!" But we like to take up a challenge. An old Jakarta resident, who grew up in 1930s Batavia, once told us about the atmosphere at Prinsen Park, which was a permanent fair along what is now Jalan Mangga Besar. It was buzzing at night, with street sellers, food sellers, music and theatre performances. Very popular entertainment at the time was krontjong (keroncong) music, certainly when performed by the legendary Miss Riboet. 1930s Batavia was also a city with many parks and tree lined streets, without traffic congestion and without noisy motorbikes. And at night many streets were empty and one could hear the cicadas, bats and other nocturnal creatures. Mixed with the smell of charcoal and petroleum stoves. Last month, when walking late at night in Menteng and Gondangdia, we found eerily quiet streets without cars and motorbikes. There were street sellers, the smell of food was mouthwatering, we admired some majestic old colonial era homes, and we saw and heard nocturnal animals. Turning on some Miss Riboet music, and one is instantly transported back to the 1920s and 1930s. Maybe not 100% how Batavia's atmosphere really was 80 or 90 years ago, but it is probably as close as it can get. Enjoy this journey in our time machine.