New Year's Trumpets

Colorful trumpets of different shapes and sizes are the staple of New Year's celebration here. Made from paper with - I must say - remarkable craftsmanship, they have already been offered for sale on the streets since a few days ago.

As anywhere else in the world, tonight revelers will get together on the streets and in many other public places here to celebrate the coming of the new year. Trumpets like these are what many of them would bring to help them in the noise-making hullabaloo typical in new year's celebration.

Being a person who doesn't like crowds and noise, I would just be celebrating it at home, having a barbecue with family and friends and then some reflective moments on my own about the year that has passed and the resolutions for the year ahead.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Selamat Tahun Baru!

Selamat Tahun Baru! 

It's 10 minutes before the top of the hour that marks the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 at the part of the world where I am when I'm writing this post. So, happy new year to all of you dear blogging friends and visitors. I wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous, and peaceful year ahead.



I must admit that I'm not much of a new year's reveler. I don't like crowds and would usually spend the new year's eve quietly and privately at home with friends and family. I went out earlier this evening though just to see what it was like on the streets. And here are a couple of pictures I took of the crowds getting ready to welcome and celebrate the new year.

Trumpets and fireworks are the stuff they were looking for and what the street peddlers are offering as you can see in these pictures. Once again, Selamat Tahun Baru!

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.

Happy Holidays!

It's Christmas Eve!

I'd like to wish my Christian friends, readers, and visitors A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS ... May the light of Christmas bring you all joy and happiness, and the world piece and prosperity.

This week and the next are very special time for everybody here. Christmas is tomorrow, and on Monday (Dec 29), Moslems all over the world will also celebrate the Islamic Hijra (Hegira) New Year. So, here too, I'd like to wish my Moslem brothers and sisters A VERY HAPPY HIJRA NEW YEAR! May the spirit of Hijra (migration) inspire in all of us a continuous effort to make the world a better place for everybody.

Then, only a couple of day later, of course, the world will also celebrate the international New Year: 2009 of C.E. calendar. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you. May next year be a year of healing and of putting the world's economy back in track to prosperity.

Now about the picture today: Why the snowmen?

Of course, we don't have real snowmen. We don't even have winter, let alone snow and snowmen. But the snowmen are here. They are made of styrofoam and are here as one of the icons of Christmas. Other Christmas icons we normally find here (as I'm sure anywhere else in the world) are the Santa Claus (here called "Sinterklas"), his deer and sledge and Christmas trees, garland, and wreath.

I took this photo of these styrofoam snowmen in front of the store room of Ciwalk Shopping Arcade, on Jalan Cihampelas, Bandung. I guess they were meant to be part of the mall's decoration for the holiday season, but somehow they had not been (or would not be) installed this year. (The Santa Claus and his deer and the Chrismast trees and garlands were already put in place.)