Picnic in The Mall

This is quite a funny sighting: a mother, her daughter, and what looks like a friend were enjoying their lunch on the floor at Bandung Electronic Center (BEC).

I snapped the photo with my cell phone a few days ago.

Pedestrian Hazard

Photo caption: A beverage seller parking his cart on the sidewalk on Jalan Wastukencana blocking the safe passage of pedestrians. This is just an example of the many hazards that pedestrians must face in Bandung.

Bandung is not a pedestrian-friendly city. It's very shameful. Unfortunately, the government has not done much to improve the situation.

Arches and Curvatures

Photo caption: The arches and curvatures of the Pusdai Mosque interior, on Jalan Diponegoro, Bandung.

Husein Sastranegara International Airport

This is the front facade of Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung (BDO).

Husein Sastranegara is a very small international airport, one of the smallest in Indonesia. However, it is also a very busy airport, one of the busiest in the country for airports located in the provincial capital. The airport currently handles about 1.3 million passengers per year carried by 13 commercial airlines connecting Bandung directly with some major cities in Indonesia and two cities in southeast Asia, i.e. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It is also an important airport because it is the nearest airport from Jakarta, the nation's capital.

Husein Sastranegara currently only has one terminal that is used both for domestic and international passengers. With the number of passengers it is handling, it is very crowded most of the time.

Husein Sastranegara has a 52-centimeter PCN (Pavement Classification Number), 2,250-meter-long (7,380 ft) runway, which can accommodate mid-size, narrow-bodied aircrafts.

The airport was built by the Dutch in early 1920s to replace the previous airfield at Sukamiskin. The new airport was named Andir for the name of the area it was built. The current name -- Husein Sastranegara -- is taken from the name of a local aviation Independence War hero.

The Andir Airport in Bandung was one of the airports/airfields on which Amelia Earhart stopped by on her famous flight around the world. She landed here on June 25, 1937 and continued her journey eastward the next day.

Jagung Bakar Lembang

Photo caption: Jagung bakar Lembang.

Jagung bakar (grilled corn) together with ketan bakar is a popular 'street snack' among locals as well as visitors to the town of Lembang.

Lembang is a district about 12 kilometers to the north of the city of Bandung. It is popular among visitors because of its higher altitude and cooler air, its mountainous scenery, and its vegetable and flower farms. Many people like to go here on weekends just to hang out, enjoy its fresh cool air, shop for vegetables and fruits, and eat jagung bakar, ketan bakar, and various other foods on the road side stalls.

Grilled corn may be the same everywhere, but on a cool night mountain air outdoor and among friends, it can be quite an experience.

TSM Main Entrance

This is the main entrance to the Trans Studio Mall (TSM) on Jalan Gatot Subroto, Bandung. You could probably imagine the size of the mall just by looking at this entrance.

Aircraft Maintenance

Photo caption: A couple of TNI AU (Indonesian Air Force) personnel carrying out regular maintenance inspection of C-130 Hercules aircraft at Husein Sastranegara Airbase in Bandung.

According to this military blogger, Indonesia was the first country outside the United States that operates the C-130. It received 10 of it in 1958. Currently the Indonesian Air Force has 25 units of C-130 in operation.

Alteration Artisan

An alteration artisan at work on Jalan Cihampelas, Bandung.

Alteration artisans are quite easy to find in markets and places that sell ready-made or ready-to-wear apparels in this city. They work fast too. You can wait while your apparels are being altered or mended.

Perilous Walk

A shopper walking on Cihampelas street, oblivious to the danger she was in.

Jalan Cihampelas (Cihampelas Street) is a popular and important tourist destination in Bandung for its shopping attractions. Ironically, however, this street has no pedestrian walk. Worse still, the city's government does not seem to care and has not done much to improve the situation. Pedestrians are left to their own defense when it comes to their safety. It's very embarrassing.

Roadside Newspaper

A motorcyclist stopped by the road side to by a newspaper from a newsstand on Jalan Alun-alun Timur, Bandung.

Double Track Sunset

Sunset near Stasiun Gadobangkong (Gadobangkong railway station) in Cimareme area in the west of Bandung.

The double track you see in this picture connect Bandung and Jakarta. Only until recently, there used to be paddy fields here. Now they are gone and have been replaced by a housing complex called the Amani.

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation for Season 6, Episode 22 of Skywatch Friday meme.

Mini Cacti

Photo caption: Varieties of mini cacti for sale at a nursery in Lembang in the north of Bandung.

Cacti (cactus or cactuses), which are native to the Americas, are cultivated in Indonesia as decorative plants. In Bandung, cacti are cultivated and cross-bred mainly in nurseries in Lembang, a small agrarian town and tourist resort some 12 kilometers to the north of city.

Organic Fertilizers and Planting Media

Bags of organic fertilizers, manure, humus, and planting media at Daun Hejo, a gardening supplies kiosk near home. I buy my gardening supplies here.

Paprika Garden

Photo caption: A fresh red paprika (capsicum anuum) in a garden in the north of Bandung.

Bandung is an important producer of paprika in the country. The plant is mainly cultivated in green houses in the village of Pasirlangu in Cisarua, West Bandung Regency. The ones you see in these pictures are from a garden owned by a friend of mine.

Currently he is cultivating the red and yellow varieties. The produce are mainly sold in the local and Jakarta markets. With the expansion of the farm he is currently undertaking, he says he will soon produce enough for to be able to export the produce to Malaysia and Singapore.

Parking Fees at Stasiun Bandung

Here is the list of parking fees currently applicable at Stasiun Bandung (Bandung Railway Station):

Cars: Rp 2,000 per hour or Rp Rp 24,000 max for overnight or 24 hour parking.

Motorcycles: Rp 12,000 max for overnight or 24 hour parking.

Box/trucks: Rp 5,000 per hour or Rp 10,000 max.

Buses: Rp 50,000 flat.

The list raises some questions: How much is the hourly charge for motorcycles? How long can a truck or bus be parked there?

Roofed Walkway

This is one of the two roofed walkways that connect the northern gate and the main building of Bandung Railway Station.

The walkways flanked each side of the parking lot and protect passenger pedestrians from the sun and the rain.

No Day Without Tree Planting

This billboard with a picture of the President handing over a tree to the Mayor can be seen in several places in the city. The writing on it says "No Day Without Tree Planting".

The billboard is part of the nation's wider campaign for Planting 1 Billion Trees Movement (called OBIT -- One Billion Indonesian Trees) which began in 2006.

The movement, which becomes part of Indonesia's commitment to curbing global warming, is commemorated every year on November 28. This year, the President launched the tree-planting-month-of-December campaign to speed up the achievement of 1 billion tree target and to encourage every citizen to take part in the movement.

This year's commemoration theme is "Hutan Kota Mendorong Terwujudnya Indonesia Hijau" or Urban Forest for Green Indonesia.

Bandung Railway Station's North Exit

Photo caption: Passangers walking to the north exit of Stasiun Hall, Bandung's main railway station.

Stasiun Hall has two exits and two entrances: The north exit and entrance are located on Kebon Kawung Street, whereas the south exit and entrance are on Stasiun Barat Street.

Passangers can enter and exit the station through either of the entrances and exits depending on which train they want to take or where they want to go upon exiting from the station. There is an angkot terminal just in front of the southern entrance/exit. A taxi stand is available in the north. The northern part of the station has a large parking facility for cars and motocycles; the south has more limited parking space.

Brightly Colored Woman Sandals

Brightly colored women sandals I saw at a supermarket in Cimahi in the west of Bandung. Very eye cathing!

Billboard and Windmill

This is my Instagram photo of an early evening sky with a tall billboard and a windmill on Setiabudhi Street in the north of Bandung.

This post is my participation in the Skywatch Friday meme. The regular post will follow later.

If you are a follower or a regular visitor of this blog, you will know that the windmill is of course not a real one. It's a store-front deco of a popular bakery here. I posted about it a few years ago here.

It's A Kingswood Holden!

Photo caption: A green Holden Kingswood was parked on the road side of Jalan Kebon Sirih, Bandung.

The discovery brings back memories from my childhood. The company where my father worked used to have one of these. I remember my father taking me on a trip out of the city on this car. It was a comfortable and powerful car.

From this source, I learned that it's a Holden HJ or HX model, which respectively was released in 1974 and 1976. It was available in 2.8-liter and 3.3-liter inline six-cylinder engines. It used to be one of the most popular cars here. Even now, I think, it still has its own fans.

Holden is an Australian-made car, produced by General Motors-Holden.

There are a couple of mechanics and workshop that specialize in remaking/rebuilding/reconditioning old cars on Jalan Kebon Sirih. I think that's why the car was there.

Cileuncang Flood

Photo caption: Cars braving an inundated street on Jalan Cicendo, Bandung.

Street flooding like this is locally called banjir cileuncang (cileuncang flood). In the Sundanese language (the language of the West Javanese people), cileuncang means a flood caused by blockage of sewer or culvert or one that afflicts a lower part of an area because rain water from the higher parts flows onto it.

Several areas in the city of Bandung are prone to the cileuncang phenomenon because they are of lower elevation than the surrounding areas. Cicendo Street, Kebun Kawung Street, and Stasiun Timur Street near Bandung Railway Station are particularly prone to cileuncang flood not only because they are lower than the surrounding areas but also because the drainage system in these parts of the city is in a bad shape and poorly maintained.

Kerak Telor

Photo caption: A kerak telor seller in at Lapangan Gasibu (Gasibu Square), Bandung.

In addition to food stalls, the Gasibu Square also attracts different kinds of 'mobile' food and beverage sellers like this in the evening.

This man sells kerak telor, a traditional food from Betawi.

I call him a 'mobile' food seller because he uses pikulan (a bamboo carrying pole like the one you see in the picture) to carry all the equipment and ingredients he needs to make the food he's selling.

Night Food Stalls at Gasibu

Photo caption: Night food stalls lining Jalan Diponegoro at Gasibu Square in front of Gedung Sate, the West Java Gubernatorial Office Mansion.

These food stalls, which operate only in the evening, sell different kinds of traditional foods and drinks. Many Bandung people love to hang out here, especially during the weekend nights when the place sees more visitors than any other nights.

Soto Gerabah Solo

This is the food I tried and tasted at the Balkot Festival 2012: Soto Gerabah Solo.,

Soto is the Indonesian traditional soup. There are a lot varieties of it. Many different parts of the country have their own recipes of soto. This one comes from Surakarta or Solo, a regency in the province of Central Java. Hence the name, soto gerabah solo.

The middle word in the name, 'gerabah', means pottery. And that's the uniqueness of it: the soup is served in baked or fired clay bowls. They don't use stainless steel or metal spoon either. Instead, they use a spoon made of coconut shell and wood.

I chose this food among many others offered at the festival because of its uniqueness. I've never seen it in any other events in Bandung before. Besides it was drizzling and a bit cold. A warm soup with delicious spices was best.

Soto is best and is usually served with ground red or green chili paper and squeezed lemon juice (see the above picture).

The owner, with whom I talked while I was eating, said that they did not have any branches of their restaurant outside their hometown yet. Therefore, if you want to try you may have to go to Surakarta. The restaurant is on Jalan Prof. Supomo No. 57, at Pasar Beling area.

Modified Moped

Photo caption: A modified moped (underbones, motorcycle, or motobike) displayed in Balkot Festival 2012. This moped belongs to a member of FCMB (Forum Club Motor Bandung) or Bandung Motor Club Forum, one of creative community organizations that takes part in the festival.

About Forum Club Motor Bandung (FCMB)

FCMB is a forum 23 motor clubs. It was founded on 27 July 2006. Its mission, according the forum's blog whose link I gave above, is to provide a forum whereby the city's 'bikers' "can foster their potential and creativity and develop programs that benefit the community".

Balkot Festival 2012

Photo caption: Members of a bikers club performing rock 'n' roll music on one of the stages in Bandung Balkot Festival 2012.

Bandung Balkot Festival is an annual event which has been held regularly since 2007 to celebrate the city's anniversary. Previously this festival was called Bandung Blossom. This year, the name is changed to Balkot, which stands for Balai Kota or the City Hall - the venue in which the event takes place.

Unlike the previous years' events which were highlighted by a parade of floats, this year's event only consists of exhibitions and art performances. The parade has been written off the agenda because of concerns of traffic congestion it has caused in the previous years' events.

The 2012 Balkot Festival is ongoing from today until 18 Novermber. A number of Indonesia's top singers and bands are scheduled to perform here. There will also be cultural performances by members of Bandung's differemt art and creative communities, an exhibition of local creative products, and a culinary festival in which visitors can sample and taste different kinds of foods and beverages from many parts of the country.

Fresh Fruit Salad on The Streets

Photo caption: A man selling rujak or fresh fruit salad on Cihampelas Street.

Rujak (or rojak in Malaysia and Singapore) is a popular dish here. It is made of an assortment of sliced fresh fruits you can see in the man's cart and a sweet, sour, hot dressing made of palm sugar, red chili paper, tamarind, shrimp paste, salt, and peanuts.

A rujak seller/vendor like him can usually be found traveling with his cart or putting his cart on a busy street waiting for customers.

If you can't stand the hot, sweet, sour taste of the dressing, you can also ask for the fresh fruits only.

Unlike in any other cultural traditions where salads are eaten before the main course as an appetizer, rujak is usually eaten as a stand-alone dish or an afternoon snack. It is very refreshing, particularly on a hot day. It can also be eaten after the meal as a dessert.

If you don't like the idea of eating foods sold on or bought from the street out of hygiene concerns, you can try them in restaurants and hotels. Yes, many of them serve it on their menu.

Biking in Bandung

Photo caption: Bikers enjoying their Sunday morning ride on Jalan Ir. H. Djuanda or Jalan Dado at the weekly event of Dago Car-Free Day when a section of the street is blocked from motorized vehicles from 6 to 10 a.m. to allow the citizens to enjoy this scenic part of their city in leisurely walk and other activities.

Biking or bicycling is increasingly becoming a popular activity among Bandung citizens. Despite this, Bandung is not a biker-friendly city. On a normal working day, it is nearly impossible for bikers to ride safely and comfortably on its streets. Traffic congestion, high level of pollution, and ruthless motorists are sure threats to their safety and comfort.

In recent years, there have been attempts to improve the condition and make the city friendlier to bikers. In 2010, the municipal government initiated a pilot project to designate and blue paint 8 kilometers of the city's existing streets for bicycle path. The project, which cost the city IDR 5 billion (approximately USD 500,000) became an embarrassment because the paint was of low quality and did not last long. Bikers were reluctant to use it because many undisciplined motorists stress-passed it and posed threat to their safety. The motorists are not to be blamed either. There is simply not enough street to motorist ratio in the city. Congestion forced them to 'invade' the biker-designated path.

Upon the initiative Ridwan Kamil of Bandung Creative City Forum (BCCF), the government also planned to have rent-bicycle pools established in strategic places throughout the city to encourage more people (citizens as well as visitors) to use bicyle. This plan, which was first implemented in September 2011 with 500 bicycles donated by private sponsors, had seemed to be going nowhere either. It is unclear what the current status of the project is.

I think it would take more than just piecemeal and patchwork projects like these to turn Bandung into a biker-friendly city. Bandung's transportation problem is much too systemic to be solved in in piecemeal fashion like these.

Sang Hyang Tikoro

Sang Hyang Tikoro (sometimes also written Sanghyang Tikoro), which literally means god of the throat, is the name of a cavern through which the Citarum River flows and goes underground near Saguling -- some 26 kilometers to the southwest of the city of Bandung. This cavern is said to be about 162 meters in length. However, this has yet to be ascertained as nobody has ever ventured into and explored it. The mouth, shown in the above picture, is about 2,5 meters high and 9 meters wide.

The legend that circulates among the Sundanese people has it that this cavern is the place where the ancient Bandung lake, which has now become the bowl-like Bandung plateau, first leaked and became dry, and should this cavern ever be blocked, the Citarum water will once again flood the bowl and turn Bandung into a lake again.

This belief has geologically been proven to be unfounded. However, a legend is a legend. Many people still believe in the significance this underground tunnel has for the survival of Bandung.

West Padalarang Karst

A limestone mountain (hill?) or what remains of it of the west Padalarang karst at Citatah. The winding curve you see in the picture is the road used by local miners and mining company to extract or mine limestone.

The west Padalarang karst is located about 22 kilometers to the west of Bandung. The karst has been heavily mined for its limestone and other mineral deposits. It has been the concern of many environmentalists and geologists because of the prehistoric significance this place has in the formation of the Bandung plateau. They are afraid that much of geological and bio-diversity evidence will be lost because of the mining activities.

I am going to tell more about this place at later posts.

TSM Theme Park's Giant Gorilla

What looks like a giant gorilla here is actually part of the facade of TSM indoor theme park and its mouth the gate through which the roller coaster goes in and out of it. Although the theme park is indoor, the roller coaster highers parts are put outside the building.

Trans Studio Mall Glass Pyramid

The glass pyramid roof of the Trans Studio Mall (TSM), Bandung.

TSM, previously called Bandung Supermal, was constructed in 2001 and is claimed to be the largest mall in Bandung. In 2010, the mall was acquired and redeveloped by City Corp., and renamed Trans Studio Mall (TSM) in 2011.

The mall now has an indoor theme park called Trans Studio Bandung. This theme park is claimed to be the largest in Indonesia. In addition to a theme park, the current owner has also had a five-star hotel built adjacent to it.

With such facilities, TSM has now become one of Bandung's major and most popular tourism attractions.

Leuwi Panjang Bus Terminal

Caption: Passangers walking to the buses waiting to be dispatched at Leuwi Panjang Bus Terminal.

Located at Jalan Soekarno-Hatta No. 205 in the southwest of Bandung, Leuwi Panjang Bus Terminal is currently one of the two main bus terminals connecting Bandung with other cities on the island of Java and beyond. The other terminal is Cicaheum in the eastern part of the city.

Leuwi Panjang mainly caters buses that connect Bandung to cities and towns to the west of it, such as Jakarta, Sukabumi, Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang, Serang, and Merak as well as cities on the island of Sumatra.

English Notices

English notices at the entrance of Nanny's Pavillion, a French American pancake restaurant, at Sukajadi area in the north of Bandung.

I like the family-like atmosphere of this restaurant. The foods and beverages are also reasonably good.

Mosque Napping

A man was taking a nap after the mid-day prayer at a mosque on Jalan Pajajaran, Bandung.

The mosque is not only a place where people perform their prayers here. For some, it's also a place where they can take a rest or a nap, especially at the mid-day when it's hot outside. Mosques near work places or bus terminals are particularly popular among workers and travelers to rest or take a nap.

There have been some attempts by some mosque administrators to ask or remind people not to use the mosque as a napping or resting place. But they did not seem to heeded. The mosque is an open public space for Muslims and they think it is all right (appropriate?) to use the mosque as a resting place.

Flying Bicycles

Flying bicycles at Alun-alun Cimahi (Cimahi City Square) park.

Cimahi is a municipality of about 600,000 population located about 12 kilometers to the west of the city of Bandung. It is one of the independent administrative areas that form the Greater Bandung Area(Bandung Raya) -- Other areas being Kota Bandung (Bandung Municipality), Kabupaten Bandung (Bandung Regency), and Kabupaten Bandung Barat (West Bandung Regency).

Camera Woman at Work

A camera woman at work covering the Ramadan music concert I posted yesterday.

Ramadan Life Concert

A spectacular show of stage lighting at a life concert held by SCTV, an Indonesian private national television channel, at Tegalega Park, Bandung, a few days before the Eid-al-Fitr 2012.

The holy month of Ramadan here is not only a religious event, but also a month of festivities. Television channels often hold life concert tours featuring 'religious' (and not-so-religious) music and other forms of 'religious' entertainment like this one. The atmosphere at these concerts are not always religious, of course. Many of the audience are young people who have no other reasons to come but to enjoy themselves.

Semanggi

The semanggi plant in my garden is flowering.

Semanggi is a wild water plant of the marcileaceae family. I found this plant growing wild in the front yard garden and moved it to a pot where it's flowering now.

In the wild, semanggi usually only produces small flowers. But in the pot, with the right nutrients and care, the flowers are bigger and brighter.

Bedug and Kentongan

Top picture: The bedug at Al-Hikam Mosque in Cililin in West Bandung.

Bedung is a musical instrument that is traditionally used as part of the gamelan ensemble. It is basically a double-barreled drum made of wood with buffalo skin/leather covering both ends. Its shape is similar to the kendang but is generally much larger in size. Because of this, the sound it produces is deeper and duller. Another feature that makes it different from the kendang is that it is typically placed on a rack (see picture above) and played with a mallet.

On Java island bedung is also traditionally used in mosques to mark the times of the daily prayers and is sounded before the adhan (call to prayer). The tradition probably began in the old days before the loud speaker was invented. The sound of the bedug could reach farther than the voice of the muezzin (the caller to prayer). This function has long been replaced by the loud speaker. However, many mosques still retain and use the bedug as a matter of tradition.

In addition to the bedug, many mosques on Java island traditionally also use the kentongan or slit drum to mark prayer times and help call Muslims to prayers.

The use of bedug and kentongan in mosques is just another example of many ingenuous adaptations and localization that Indonesians have been making in absorbing foreign cultural and religious elements to suit their own environments and needs.

Wedding Hall Bouquet

The bouquets that lead to the wedding reception hall where my grand cousin (?) celebrated their her wedding last week. They are made of freshly cut flowers. They look very nice.

Bandung E-Store

The unique architecture of Bandung E-Store at Cihampelas Walk (Ciwalk).

E-Store is a premium re-seller of Apple products in Indonesia. Currently it has its outlets in four cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Tangerang.

The Al Irsyad Mosque at Kota Baru Parahiyangan

This is the mihrab of the Al Irsyad Mosque at Kota Baru Parahiyangan in the west of Bandung. Instead of the traditional niche in the wall facing the direction of the Kaaba in the direction Mecca, this mosque's mihrab has the shape of an open "tunnel" with a pond surrounding a pulpit in its center. At the other end of the tunnel, there is a globe with an inscription of Allah in Arabic.

This is what the mihrab looks like from the other end of the tunnel.

 

The Al Irsyad was completed and dedicated in 2010 and was declared one of the "Building of The Year 2010"  in the religious architecture category by the National Frame Building Association. The mosque was designed by Ridwan Kamil, an Indonesian top architect living in Bandung.