Hey Museums, You’re Awesome! (2)

Kalau kita mendengar kata ‘museum’ maka yang muncul adalah kesan tua, gelap, misterius, angker dan penuh dengan benda tua yang gantungi dengan pelang ‘jangan diduduki atau jangan dipegang’.

When we hear the word ‘museum’ the image appears to us is old, dark, myserious, spooky and full with old stuff  being tagged with ‘don’t sit or don’t touch’ signage.

Karena umumnya museum memang seperti itu.

Most museums are like that.

Jadi saya dan Desi sama sekali tidak menduga gedung besar yang keren yang kami lalui dalam perjalanan menuju alun-alun Fatahilah adalah sebuah museum.

It is why Dessy and I were not aware that the big nice building we passed when we were on our way to Fatahilah square is a museum.

“Gedung apa ini, ya?” kami berdua sama-sama berhenti di depan gedung itu dan berfoto.

“What building is this?” we stopped infront of it and took photos.

Apa ini hotel atau mall? tanya saya dalam hati.

Is this a hotel or a mall? I asked myself.

Baru setelah selesai berfoto didepannya, saya melihat banner besar yang tergantung di depan gedung itu bertuliskan ‘Museum Bank Indonesia’.

It was after we took photos infront of it, I saw a big ‘Indonesian Bank Museum’ banner hanging infront of it.

“Ya ampun!.. ini museum, Des” kata saya antara geli dan tidak percaya “Masuk yuk”

“Goodness!.. it’s a museum” I said, tickled and amazed “Let’s get inside”

Desy, yang dari Museum Bank Mandiri mulai rewel mengajak saya mencari makan, seperti langsung lupa dengan rasa lapar dan capeknya.. hehe..

Dessy, who was nagging me to get something to eat when we were in Mandiri Bank Museum, seemed to forget her hungry stomach and exhaustment.. lol..

Ada tiket masuk tapi tidak dibebankan biaya.

We were given admission ticket but it is free of charge.

Rasanya seperti tidak masuk museum. Lebih terasa seperti masuk bangunan perkantoran. Saking tidak bersuasana museum, saya sampai bertanya pada bapak yang bertugas mengecek barang-barang bawaan kami;

It didn’t feel like entering a museum. It felt more like entering an office building. It has no museum aura that it made me asked the officer who checked our bags;

“Museumnya dimana, pak?”

“Where’s the museum, sir?”

“Ini, naik tangga, belok ke kanan” jawab si bapak yang ramah itu.

“There, take this stair, then go to the right” asked the nice officer.

Cuma naik kira-kira sepuluh anak tangga, belok ke kanan dan di sudut ruangan kami di cegat oleh petugas penitipan barang (yang malas tersenyum, tidak tertulari oleh keceriaan pengunjung dan ogah bertatap mata dengan kami).

It took only about ten stair, go to the right and we were stopped by an officer (who seemed to lack in smile, the high spirit of the visitor is uncontagious to him and avoiding eye contact with us) in the corner, all bags must not be brought inside and thus have to be left in the room behind him.

Hmm.. serius banget sih? kesannya jadi kayak mau masuk kantornya James Bond.. hehe..oya, saya sempat nanya boleh tidak lobi di potret dan petugasnya bilang boleh saja tapi mereka tidak mau kelihatan jadi mereka akan ngumpet dibawah meja lobi.. tuh kan, bener kayak agen rahasia aja.. hehe.. yah, saya jadi memilih beli kartu pos yang ada gambar lobi (biar aman)..

Hmm.. why is it so serious? As if we were entering James Bond’s office.. lol.. oh, I asked if it is allowed to take photo in the lobby and the officer said yes but they prefer not to be appeared on the photo so they would hide behind the lobby counter.. see, it's so hush hush the secret agent thing.. lol.. yep, so I finally bought a postcard that has the lobby photo printed on it (just to be cautious)..

gift shop

Masuklah kami lewat pintu.. lebih mirip disebut celah.. mungkin dulunya pintu putar.. saat melewatinya saya jadi teringat pada seorang senior di kantor yang bertubuh subur.. dia pasti nyangkut kalau lewat di pintu ini.. hehe.. ga kebayang kalau yang melewatinya adalah bule yang tinggi dan tebal.. biar pun tidak tebal tapi kayaknya Andre jangan-jangan bisa nyangkut juga di pintu ini.. hehe..

We went to the entrance door.. which should be called gap than door.. maybe it was a sliding door in the past.. when I passed it I was reminded to a senior in the office who is chuby.. he would stuck if he pass this door.. lol.. I can’t imagine how would it be when a tall and thick westerner pass it.. Andre is not thick but I think he would stuck in it too.. lol..

Lobinya besar, luas dan terang. Benar-benar tidak bersuasana museum.

The lobby is big, wide and bright. Not giving the museum impression.

Harus saya akui, masuk museum ini serasa sedang bertualang. Setiap belokannya penuh dengan kejutan.

I have to admit, it felt like having an adventure in this museum. Every turn has its surprises.

Kami berfoto-foto dulu di depan lalu berbelok ke kiri dan kami tertegun.. karena melihat di depan kami kok tembok kayu. Tapi kami tahu ada pengunjung yang sudah lebih dulu masuk.. kami mendengar suara mereka tapi kok kami mentok di depan tembok kayu ini (sayang saya lupa motret).

We took some photos before we turned left and we were stunned.. there was a wooden wall infront of us. But we knew there were visitors who have entered.. we heard their voices but howcome we were stuck infront of this wooden wall (I forgot to take photo of it).

“Gimana caranya masuk?” tanya Desy “Mana pintunya? Gimana ngebukanya?”

“How do we get inside?” asked Dessy “Where’s the door? How do we open this?”

Saya juga tidak tahu. Tapi pasti ada caranya karena tidak mungkin harus jadi Casper untuk menembus tembok. Jadi ragu-ragu saya ulurkan tangan untuk menyentuh tembok kayu itu.. dan tembok itu bergerak! Saat itulah saya baru sadar.. itu bukan tembok, melainkan tirai yang bentuk dan bahannya mirip dengan bilah-bilah kayu. Tersusun dengan rapat sehingga kelihatannya benar-benar seperti tembok.. buset..

I didn’t know it either. But there’s got to be a way in without have to turn like Casper to go through the wall. I hesitately reached out my had to touch that wooden wall.. and it moved! It was when I realized.. it wasn’t wall, it was curtain formed and made from material that looked like wooden cord. It is neatly arranged that it looked like wall.. shoot..

Kami masuk dan terpesona karena mendapati diri berada diruangan gelap dengan layar dihiasi oleh gambar seperti seribu bintang.. kadang di antara bintang-bintang kecil itu jatuh gambar koin yang meluncur dan berputar-putar.

We got inside and amazed to find ourselves in a dark room with a screen that showed what looked like thousands of star.. sometimes in between those stars a coin fell down and spin.

Kami berbelok dan memasuki ruangan yang berdiorama tentang perdagangan rempah-rempah. Keren. Serasa berdiri di atas dok kayu di pelabuhan dan di tembok ada lukisan kapal-kapal kuno.

We turned and entered a diorama room that showing spices trade. Cool. It felt like standing on a dock at a harbor and the wall has ancient ships painted on it.

Indonesian spices

Kami berjalan lagi memasuki ruangan demi ruangan seperti yang bisa dilihat di foto-foto ini.

you ain't gonna shoot a nice little girl like me, aren't you?

We entered room by room as it can be seen in these photos.

Dari tiga museum yang kami kunjungi pada hari Selasa itu (11/11) menurut saya, museum ini yang paling keren, paling bagus, paling nyaman karena ber-AC lumayan dingin dan yang tidak memungut bayaran.

Of all three museum we visited on that Tuesday (Nov 11^th), I’d say this is the coolest, the nicest, the most cozy because of its cool AC and the one that is free of entrance fee.

Kami benar-benar lupa waktu ketika berada di sana.

We completely lost track of time when we were there.

Meeting room with photos of past & present Indonesian Bank Governor

Hey mom, look what I found!.. *Geez, they're fake gold, honey*

Bagian luarnya pun amat bagus. Gedungnya mirip istana.

The outer side is nice. The building looks like a palace.

Kekurangannya mungkin pada segelintir petugas yang kurang ramah dan toiletnya yang berada di belakang gedung.. lumayan jauh (gawat kalau buat orang tua yang susah nahan pipis atau buat pengunjung yang sudah kebelet)..

The minor things are the few officers who were less friendly and the toilet that located at the back of the building.. quite far (not a good thing for elderly people or for any visitor who really get urgent calling from nature)..

Toiletnya juga aneh.. baru sekali itu saya nemu toilet yang mengharuskan orang untuk melepas alas kaki.

It is a weird toilet.. that was the first time I met a toilet that requires people to go bare foot.

Ada pelang ‘batas suci’.. nah, elu kata masuk laboratorium apa?.. batas suci, bray??.. teman saya di kantor yang melihat foto ini saja jadi tertawa,

There is a ‘sterilize line’.. hell, what is this? A laboratory?.. dude, seriously?.. sterilize line??.. a friend in the office saw this photo and laughed,

“Itu kan akal-akalan petugas cleaning servisnya yang malas bersihin lantai” katanya.

“It’s just the cleaning service's way not wanting to clean the floor” she said.

Ya, lantainya memang basah.. saya sampai menggulung celana saya karena tidak mau ujung bawahnya basah kena lantai yang basah itu. Nyebelin udahannya, masa kaki basah masa dimasukin ke dalam sepatu atau pakai kaus kaki?

Yep, the floor was wet.. I had to roll up my jeans because I didn’t want its lower tip to be wet. The annoying thing is you can’t just put your wet feet on your shoes or wear your socks, right?

Tapi tidak jauh dari toilet, kami menemukan lorong yang bagus untuk di foto.

But near the toilet, we found an alley that made a nice photo spot.

Badan sudah capek, perut sudah lapar, kaki sudah pegal tapi tetap saja semangat berfoto.. hehe..

Our body was tired, our stomach was hungry, our feet were killing us but still we were a couple of photo enthusiast.. lol..

Oh, hal lain yang menyebalkan adalah angkot-angkot yang ngetem di depan museum ini sampai sulit untuk memotret si Desy dengan latar belakang museum karena dibelakang saya rapat parkir berderet-deret nyaris tanpa menyisakan celah. Grrr...

Another annoying thing is angkot that park infront of the museum that I had trouble taking photo of Desy with the museum as the background. Grrr...

Yah, begitulah petualangan kami berdua di Museum Bank Indonesia. Secara keseluruhan sih, amat sangat menyenangkan.

So there you have it, our adventure at Indonesian Bank Museum. In general, it was fun.

Petualangan kami di Kota Tua belum berakhir. Cerita berlanjut ke postingan berikutnya..

Our adventure in Old Town continues. The story can be read in the next post..