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In the very best tradition of Soviet-style social realism, the Chainbreaker status commemorates the 'liberation' of West Irian from the Dutch; crude, but you'll never forget it. Now all these monuments, symbols of Sukarno's extravagant and megalomaniacal sense of nationalism, have been dubbed with nicknames by the residents, i.e. The Mad Waiter. Glodok for Kota) around JI. Pintu Besar is the home of Jakarta's 150,000 Chinese, an area laced with Amsterdam-like canals, old Dutch warehouses, Europeanstyle bridges, old white-washed gabled houses with bright red-tiled roofs and diamond-shaped windows. This was the waterfront swamp where the Dutch first settled and stayed 350 years. Heavy Old World atmosphere. See the Bridge of Sighs. Temples along the narrow back streets.

Best time is evening when hundreds of little warungs line the street. Walk out of the Museum Wayang, JI. Pintu Besar 34, and turn left, crossing the 17th Century Dutch drawbridge over the Kali Besar, to see the only 17th Century shop left from Old Batavia; owned by P.T. Satya Niaga. See remains of Kasteel Batavia, an old fort and Dutch East Indies Co. trading post built in 1652; great view of the old and new worlds from the top of the watchtower near the bridge over the Kali Besar. Nearing the cooler coast, go at dawn to Pasar Ikan (fish market) when the night's catch is auctioned off. Infinite small alleys, stalls and shops selling stuffed exotic animals, birds, skins, turtle shells, seahorses, coral trees, seashells, and 19th Century boating and fishing equipment. The old port area of Sundakelapa is the home of fishermen and sailors. Hire a boat to cruise the waterfront, Rp5-600; a must. The wharf juts out a mile into the sea, a forest of masts around it, wooden hand-made shallow drought oceangoing Makassar-type schooners row on row. See the Maritime Museum while in the area.