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.

Skywatch Friday Post: Gedung Sate's Tiered Roof

This is the top floor terrace and the tiered roof of Gedung Sate. The skewered-barbecue (Indonesian: Sate) like structure at the top is what makes the building named "Gedung Sate" (Sate Building). For those of you who did not follow this blog regularly, you might want to refer here for the some architectural notes about this building.

Today's post is for my participation in the Skywatch Friday. To see other participants' photos, please check here

Gedung Sate #2: Southern Facade and Some Architectural Notes

This is the photo of the southern facade of Gedung Sate and its surrounding tropical gardens.

Some architectural notes of Gedung Sate:
Gedung Sate was designed by architect J. Gerber. The construction began on July 27, 1920, and was completed in four years. According to Bandung historian Haryoto Kunto, thousands of workers were involved in its construction, including a number of craftsmen and artisans who were especially invited from China to do the detailed ornaments of the building.

Gedung Sate's architecture is unique in that it combines Western architectural design and elements adopted from local and regional architecture. The tiered roof at the center, for example, is said to be adopted from the Balinese temple "meru" structure. The ornaments of the main gate at the front is quite probably adopted from Thai temple architecture. While the doors, huge windows, and some wall ornamental features bear resemblance to Indian and Spanish architectural elements.

Gedung Sate has five levels (floors). The first three floors house the different departments of the Provincial Government of West Java. The fourth floor functions as an exhibition hall and a theater where historical photographs of Bandung and West Java are exhibited and a 30 minute documentary film of the same are screened for visitors. The fifth floor, which is located right under the tiered roof, can only be accessed through a speacial staircase. It functions as a terrace where the governor of West Java entertains guests of honors for tea or coffee. From this terrace tower, one can see the majestic Mount Tangkuban Parahu (which literally means: capsized boat) in the north and other mountains surounding Bandung plateau.

Gedung Sate #1: The Front View (Northern Facade)

Since I started this blog, I have mentioned "Gedung Sate" (the name of West Java Gubernatorial office mansion) quite a few times, but I have never really posted a photo that shows what it looks like in whole. The reason for this is that I did not feel that I had a decent enough photo of it that would do justice to depict its beauty. (I did have quite a number of Gedung Sate photos, but none of them were really as decent as this one.)

Gedung Sate (literally means: skewered barbeque building) is considered to be the quintessential landmark of the city of Bandung for its unique architecture, its historical significance in the development of the city, and the function it serves today (it is the seat of the governor of West Java Province, of which Bandung is the capital city). The name itself refers to the "sate" like structure on top of its tiered roof.

I'm going to share with you its history and its unique architectural features as I post more photos of its different parts tomorrow. For now, here is Gedung Sate's northern facade (frontal view) as seen from Jalan Diponegoro (Diponegoro Street).

Sado Horse-Drawn Cart and Gedung Sate

This "sado" or horse-drawn cart is still used as a means of transportation in some parts of greater Bandung area, but not in this part of the city where I took this photograph: Jalan Diponegoro (Diponegoro Street) right in front of the Gedung Sate (West Java's gubernatorial office mansion). This "sado" might have been brought here for a parade or carnival, although it doesn't look like that it's being prepared for it.