Semar at Merdeka Food Court and Bakery

This is a Semar statue at the passageway that connects Jalan Purnawarman and Jalan Merdeka through the Merdeka Food Court and Bakery.

This is what Wikipedia says about Semar:

Semar is a character in Javanese mythology who frequently appears in wayang shadow plays. He is one of the punokawan (clowns), but is in fact divine and very wise. He is the dhanyang (guardian spirit) of Java, and is regarded by some as the most sacred figure of the kotak (wayang set). He is said to be the god Sang Hyang Ismaya in human form. The name Semar is said to derive from the Javanese word samar ("dim, obscure, mysterious"). He is often referred to with the honorific, "Kyai Lurah Semar" ("the venerable chief").

You can read more about it here.

You may have noticed that this photo is not of crisp and clear quality. That's because I took it with a toy camera on my cell phone. I lost (again) the pocket 12 MP pocket digital camera that I used to carry anywhere, and so for the the time being I am resorting to my mobile phone camera to take everyday pictures.

The Dutch Windmill at Holland Bakery

Although the windmill is not particularly Dutch, no other countries have been associated more closely with it than the Netherlands. I think this is probably one of the reasons why Holland Bakery uses the windmill icon as its company logo and for its store architecture to go with its name. Holland, as some of you may have known, is the territories in the western part of the Netherlands, the country which is often also incorrectly called as Holland.

Holland Bakery is not Dutch company, by the way. It's Indonesian. It was first established in Jakarta in 1978 and now has its headquarters in Bandung. It has many branches in many big cities in Indonesia. I like Holland Bakery's bread. I think it's one of the best in the country.

The windmill in this photo is of its store on the corner of Jalan Merdeka and Jalan L.R.E. Martadinata (Jalan Riau) near BIP (Bandung Indah Plaza).

Can Bread Talk?

I know I promised yesterday that I'd post another photo of Mt. Tangkuban Parahu and the legend behind this name.

My appology for not keeping the promise. Things have been a little bit hectic at work this week and I have not really had much time for my blogging. Still I'm trying to post a picture a day so that this blog will still be a "daily photo" instead of a weekly photo or monthly photo. ^_^

About the title of this post and the photo:
Of course bread does not talk (except in some fiction works or some figure of speech). This is just the brand name of a bread chain shop/francise. I think it's originally from Singapore, but it's quite popular here and can be found in nealy every big mall in the city.

The place looks the same everywhere, but quite nice. I especially like the idea of the see-through bakery, where we can see how the bread is made and how the bakers work and create those different varieties of fresh and mouth watering bread and cakes. It smells nice too. Here's how my mind connects the brand name and the idea behind the design of the shop: The shopkeepers don't really need to talk to potential customers, let the bread do the talking. And it apparently does. At this shop the bread does all the talking - promoting itself through the enticing aroma it produces.

So does bread really talk? Not the way we do (verbally) apparently, but it does have its own language: Its aroma!