Becak In Front Of Jin De Yuan

Shot at Jin De Yuan, a Chinese temple in Jakarta, Indonesia.

As I finished hanging around the precinct of Jin De Yuan, I decided to walk out of the busy temple. There was nothing like a tourist attraction around. The area around the temple was just a residential area. However, it is located in Chinatown, but there was nothing that makes me feel Chinatown. Chinese culture was confined to the grounds of the temple.

I walked along the narrow path and looked back. Across the road, I saw a gate with an oblong plaque written in Chinese characters that read 'Jin De Yuan'. There were several motorbikes parked beside the pathway, reminiscent of a neighborhood temple.

At the end of the path, there was a stall selling cold drinks under a parasol. And a becak, three-wheeled pedicab, was parked in front of the stall. The seats were occupied by a customer. He was on his way to somewhere and probably wanted to buy something cold to drink. The customer was having some kind of conversation with the stall owner.

Inside the grounds of the temple, there were many visitors, incense sticks and candles were being offered, and there was an atmosphere of celebration of the Chinese New Year, but once you stepped outside, that atmosphere was gone.