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The morning, the first stop in our itinerary was The National Monument or "Monas". It is one of the monuments built during the Sukarno era of fierce nationalism which stands for the people's determination to achieve freedom and the crowning of their efforts in the Proclamation of Independence in August 1945. The 137-metre tall marble obelisk is topped with a flame coated with 35 kg of gold. The base houses a historical museum and a hall for meditations. (Source: VirtualTourist)

Though the monument is open to the public and upon request can carry visitors to the top via lifts, we only took photos at the base. Btw... I didn't realise how skinny I had become ever since I had braces on until I saw my own photos... I was like bloody STRAW...!!! M.u.s.t EAT m.o.r.e!!!

Next stop was Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) or "Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park" is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. It has an area of about 250 acres. The park is a synopsis of Indonesian culture, with virtually all aspects of daily life in Indonesia's 26 (in 1975) provinces encapsulated in separate pavilions with the collections of architecture, clothing, dances and traditions are all depicted impeccably. (Source: Wikipedia).

In layman terms... this whole area depicts the different tribes in Jakarta and the houses they live in + their daily lives...

It was here that we learnt of the term "Minangkabau" that actually meant "Buffalo Wins"... That explained why the shape of "Minangkabau" roof tops are like buffalo horns. Not just that, we were also told that women in this tribe tend to have more power in everything... Women inherits everything in the family. Women pays for the men's dowry when they get married. Women = King :P

Buffalo wins roof tops...

Then we saw a house built on stilts which was said to prevent PIGS from climbing up as well as to prevent flood from damaging the interior...

House on stilts... such creative storage space... maybe they also tied their cows to the pillars... and then leave them to drown when there's flood... hehehe...

Since we're on PIGS... there's also this tribe... that sleeps next to their pigs sty.

This is where they live...

And this is where their pigs live... right next to their hut... Btw, this was our tour guide; Pak Daniel...

The "Nias" tribe also has something quite peculiar. There's this block of wall; approximately 2m in height that guys will have jump across if they wanna get married. If they fail, they obviously cannot get married lor...

The guys were all eager to jump across the wall... while the gals looked on skeptically... hehehe...

We then visited a couple of other houses... until we spotted this cool dude...

It's RP5,000 for a photo session with him so we all just ended up starring at him...

What was so special about this tribe is that, they have got this special underwear that they wear when they're out hunting... it's called a "korteka" - a horn like slip on made of wood to protect ahem the male anatomy.

Now I know where the term "kotek" comes from... :P