Time for Peace, Quietude, and Reflection

As the end of this year is drawing near and the advent the new year is just around the corner, let me wish you a very happy new year. May the year ahead be a better year for us, another milestone that brings us closer to our goals in our common pursuit of finding happiness.

Some of you may find this time a perfect time to get together with family and friends, trow or go to a party, or even go to the streets as many do. To me, it's a time for a peaceful and quiet reflection about what has happened in the past 365 days of my life and what I want to happen in the next cycle of 365 days.

Nasi Tetenong

The annual Braga Festival is taking place now. It was opened on the 27 and will be ongoing till tomorrow (12/30). I went there on the first day and was a bit disappointed to see that the flow of events and performances didn't seem to be as well organized as the previous years'. The food stands still look good and very tempting though. I tried Nasi Tetenong.



Nasi is the Indonesian word for cooked rice, and tetenong is the Sundanese word for the bamboo basket/container like the one in the photo below. So nasi tetenong means rice with a variety of side dish choices offered/contained in the bamboo container. This Nasi Tetenong, however, is the name of a restaurant. Did you see what I had? See the top photo. It's delicious and inexpensive.

Football Monument

Bandung people love football (American: soccer) and they are proud of PERSIB, their football team. To show this, the city goverment commissioned this monument called Monumen Sepak Bola (Football Monument). It is located on the junction of Tamblong and Sumatra streets and was dedicated on May 8, 1990. There is no information on the ground about who designed and created the sculpture.

Heart to God Hand to Man

This is the picture of the territorial headquarters of The Salvation Army Indonesia on Jalan Jawa 20, Bandung. The building it occupies was designed by Brinkmen & Voorhave and was built in 1920. It is listed as one of Bandung's Architectural heritage.

You might wonder why there is no Christmas decoration on the premises. Well, I took the photo early in November, so the Christmas decoration was not put up yet. With or without decorations and festivities, I think what's more important about Christmas is the spirit. And I think the Salvation Army's slogan "Heart to God Hand to Man" captures it well.

I'm not a Christian or Catholic, but I believe whatever our faith is, the measure of our piety is how useful we are to other human beings. With this, I would like to wish those of you who celebrate it, Selamat Natal! (Marry Christmas!)

Smiling Spongebob Helmet

This smiling Spongebob Helmet was on sale at Braga Bike Fest. I can't imagine that a biker brother would wear one though. It'd look kind of funny.

Holiday Seasons in Bandung: Midnight Sale at Paris Van Java

Christmas is in the air and new year is just around the corner. It's that time of the year again when shoppers around the world are pampered with sales and discounts. In Bandung that salvo was shot last week with - among others - the midnight sale program held over the weekend at Paris Van Java.



Santa was not there by the way. He was probably too busy with all the invitations he is receiving from many parts of the world. So the good bees were here in his stead.



And these snowmen did not seem to mind taking care of all the gifts that the bees had brought in.

Street Photography: Fix it yourself

Skywatch: A Hotel for Shoppers

Hotel Anggrek on Jalan LLRE Martadinata (Jalan Riau) No 15 calls itself a shopping hotel probably because of its proximity to Bandung's prime shopping locations such as Jalan LLRE Martadinata (where many factory outlets and boutiques are), Jalan Merdeka (where Bandung Indah Plaza or BIP and Gramedia book store are), Jalan Purnawarman (where Bandung Electronic Center or BEC is) and Jalan Ir H. Djuanda or Dago (where many good rertaurants are located).

Today's post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in the weekly meme Skywatch Friday. Please visit other participanting blogs by clicking the link.

Ketan Bakar Lembang

Ketan Bakar Lembang is a tasty little dish made of sticky rice (ketan). The rice is cooked, shaped like a block, barbecued, and served with peanut sauce, oncom souce, and/or sarundeng (toasted and spiced grated coconut).

Because it is barbecued, the rice is crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. Eaten with peanut and/or oncom souce, it's yummy!

The word Lembang in the name of this dish is the name of a small high land town about 12 kilometers north of Bandung where this dish is said to have originated from.

Street Documentary: Flood

This is Jalan Stasiun Timur street after the rain a couple of weeks ago. The drainage in this area looked bad. Water came out of the sewer and gutter and innundated part of the street. Probably they were chocked with garbage. It's time the city's goverment did something about it.

Today's post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in the Monochrome Weekly meme. Please follow the link to check other wonderful monochrome photos from the participating photo blogs from around the world.

Brotherhood Braga Bike Fest

Images from Brotherhood Braga Bike Fest that was opened today and is going to take place until tomorrow (December 13, 2009). Hundreds of bikers from all over Indonesia and some guest bikers from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia are taking part in this event.

Skywatch: A Classroom With A View

December is officially the rainy season in this city. But it doesn't mean we have showers all the time. We often have clear blue sky in the morning and heavy rain in the late afternoon or vice versa at this time of the year.

This is the view from one of my classes on the fifth floor of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education at UPI (Indonesia University of Education) in one those moments when we have clear blue sky in the morning this rainy season.

The blue green roof in the foreground is that of the old building of the Faculty of Social Science Education that is currently being renovated and the white buildings in the middle are the new student dormitories. In the far right hand corner of the photo is Mount Burangrang, one of the mountains that sorrounds Bandung.

To see other Skywatchers' blog posts, please go here.

Riau Junction

A couple of this blog's Malaysian readers asked me if I could post photos and a story of Riau Junction.

Here are the photos that I took a few days ago.

Riau Junction is a medium-size mall located on the junction of Jalan LLRE Maradinata (previously the street was called Jalan Riau and hence the name) and Jalan Trunojoyo. This mall used to be a gift and book shop before being taken over and rebuilt by Yogya Department Store into a mall.



The architecture of the new building is nice. Quite a few people say that it's nice shops too inside. But I'm not a mall-goer, so I've never been curious enough to go inside.

Jalan Riau, by the the way, used to be some sort of a quiet military housing complex lined up with big trees and colonial-style houses. Now, half of it at least have turned into a crowded commercial area with shops, restaurants, hotels, and factory outlets. You can still see some of the colonial-style houses here of course, but they are fast going under commercial pressure. I'm sad that the city's government has not done enough to prevent this city from losing its rich historical architectural heritage.

Durian on 'Pikulan'

I think the durian is now in season. I saw plenty of it on sale at the supermarket and on the street. This mobile vendor is even offering it on a 'pikulan' (bamboo carrying pole and baskets) on a street near my office.

Bandung Traffic Park

I took these photographs at Bandung Traffic Park at Jalan Belitung no 1

Taman Lalu Lintas Ade Irma Suryani (that's what it's called here) was originally a military training field (1915 to 1919). In line with Bandung's masterplan as a garden city, the field was turned into a tropical garden in the early 1920s, and was named Insulindepark in 1925.



After the Indonesian independence, the park was renamed Taman Nusantara (the Indonesian Archipelago Park). In March 1958, the name was changed again to Taman Lalu Lintas (Traffic Park) to mark its changing function as a juvenile educational facility that provides informal and rehabilitative education for delinquent youths. Now the park is mostly a family recreational facility with the emphasis of providing road traffic education for children.

The name Ade Irma Suryani was added to the park's name in October 1965 in respect of Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution's five-year old daughter who was shot to death by the PKI (the Indonesian Communist Party) rebels when they tried to kidnap the father in a failed Coup d'etat in September 1965 known as G30S or Gestapo Movement.

Night at the Station

Night at Stasion Hall, Bandung's main railway station.

Stasion Hall was first used on 17 May, 1884 and was officially dedicated on 16 June of the same year.

Oleh-oleh Bandung: Keripik Tempe

Literally translated, "oleh-oleh" means souvernirs or gift that one brings home from a trip. It can be in the form of food or souvenirs. Keripik tempe can be literally translated as tempe chips.

Kiripik tempe is a popular oleh-oleh from Bandung.



It can be found in small road-side shops like this one in many different parts of the city, such as Pasar Baru, Cihampelas, Stasion Bandung, and Kosambi.



This is how they fry it: in a huge wok.



And this is how it looks when cooked and ready to be packaged.

Antique Honda

I spotted this old (antique?) Honda motorcycle in front of a shop on Jalan ABC (street). At first I thought it was from the mid 70s. Then I searched in the internet and learned that this model - called Honda S90 - is from the late 1960s. Wow, that's about 50 years old! And it's still running.

In the course of my googling, I also found that there are quite a number of antique motorbike communities and workshops here. One of them is even quite close to where I live.

Theme Day Post: Waiting

Waiting is probably one of the most boring things to do. To "offset" their boredom, people do different things to get themselves occupied. Some read books, magazines, or newspapers. Some play games, listen to their MP3 players, or do things with their cell phones. But there are also people who feel comfortable doing nothing while waiting.

Here's my photographic interpretation of this month's CDPB theme day: waiting. I took this photo at Gado Bangkong, a small suburban railway station in the west of Bandung.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of this month's CDPB Theme Day.

Becak

A becak on Jalan Kebon Jati, south of Bandung railway station.

Becak is officially banned from many parts of the city. But in this part of the city, it is still operating.

If you are into black and white or monochrome photography, you may want to check out similar posts from other participating photo bloggers at this weekly meme The Monochrome Weekly.

The Blooming Flamboyant

This flowering tree is called by many different names in different places, e.g. Royal Poinciana, Krishnachura, Gulmohar, Peacock Flower, Flame of the Forest, Malinche, and Tabachine. In Indonesia, it is called "flamboyan" or "bunga flamboyan" (delonix regia). Here it normally blooms between September and October during the seasonal change from the dry season to the rainy season.

Flamboyant is originally from Madagascar. More information about this flower can be found here.





I took these photos at Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat Jawa Barat plaza sometime ago.

Mie Sumpit

Mie Sumpit (lit. noodle chopsticks) is a local restaurant specializing in noodle dishes. Recently it opened an outlet at Pasteur (kilometer 1) rest area of Padaleunyi toll road. The tent-shaped roof of this road side restaurant looks interesting.

I took this photo one late and rainy afternoon a few days ago when I stopped by and had a meal at a restaurant next to it.

Sacrificial Animals

Tomorrow moslems in Indonesia as are those in other parts of the world are going to celebrate Eid ul Adha - a festival to commemorate the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God. On this day muslims who can afford it are expected to sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually sheep, but also camels, cows and goats) as a symbol of Ibrahim's sacrifice. The meat of the sacrificed animals are to be distributed to the poor and needy.

Unlike in the Middle East where Eid ul Adha is the larger and more festive holiday than that of Eid ul Fitr (the other major moslem holiday), in southeast Asia Eid ul Adha is not as festively celebrated as Eid ul Fitr. Therefore, Eid ul Adha generally feels like the smaller holiday for us.

Pictured above are the seasonal street vendors selling sacrificial sheep and goats. They usually come from the villages and begin selling the animals a week before the D day, and make use any empty lot of land they can find and even the road side to keep the animals.

My World Tuesday: Durian Season

Picking up on my yesterday's post about tropical fruit season, durian is also beginning to appear. It's not durian peak season yet on Java island so we don't see many of it here at this time of the year, but a friend of mine on the island of Kalimatan says that it is there.

Today's post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in My World Tuesday meme. Please check out other participants' posts by following the link.

Tropical Fruit Season

The rainy season, which - in the Indonesian archipelago - takes place between October and April, is also the fruit season. Opening the season is usually guava (jambu biji/batu). Then Mango, rambutan, durian, and a host of other tropical fruits are available in abundance.

In the photo is a street vendor selling mangoes at Jalan Raya Barat Cimahi in the west of Bandung.

Sunday at the Park

A couple of senior citizens enjoying a Sunday morning at the Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat Jawa Barat park near Gasibu.

Fish Eye in The Sky

Fish eye, another name for convex or diverging mirror, has a reflective surface that's buldging towards the light source. As a result of this, it has wider angle of view and is called fish-eye (because the eyes of a fish have wider angle of view). Fish-eye mirror also makes the objects it reflects look distorted, smaller, and farther than the actual distance.

Convex mirrors have a variety of uses. One of them is like the one in the picture. Installed at a blind corner or junction, it can help drivers see other vehicles coming from around the corner. This one is at the end of the housing block where I live.

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation for the Skywatch Friday. Please check out other skywatchers' posts here.

Warung Internasional

It may be just a small kiosk, but it's international.

Warung Internasional (Internasional Kiosk) is a small convenience store on Jalan Rangga Gading, near Flexi Park, at Dago area. It started as a small convenience cart kiosk. Over the years it has become very popular - especially among night owls - because it has nearly everything, opens 24 hours and 7 days a week (24/7), and is located at one of Bandung's most popular hangout places.

I had not passed the area for quite a long while and was surprised to see that it had now turned into a relatively big convenience kiosk. The owner has even put a couple of "sofas" in front of it for customers to sit, relax, have a cup of coffee, or just chat with other hangouters.

I think this kiosk has done remarkably well despite the competition it's facing from a giant international rival, a 24/7 American convenience store chain that opened an outlet near it a couple of years ago.

NOTE: I set my camera to 16:9 aspect ratio (also known as panoramic format). That's why the picture looks elongated. I did not crop it.

Bandung Beggars #1

"Beggary" (forgive my deliberately inccorect English diction for begging or panhandling) has many forms in this city (as does anywhere else). But all beggars essentially do the same thing: they ask for donation in one supplicating manner or another and do so in public places.

The man with the guitar in the photo is "officially" called "pengamen" (a street performer who performs for tips), but the music/performance is often so bad that it has now become meaningless and secondary to the tip. Practices like this has therefore become a form of beggary than street performance. (See also how he's doing it in the traffic light junction when cars are stopping. It's very unlikely that a good piece of music can be performed in this manner.)

Street baggery is one of the bad sides of Bandung. Unfortunately, the municipal government has not done enough to control it.