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.

Off Season Umbrellas

Although rain still falls every now and then, the rainy season was officially over at the end of April here. Now it's the dry season till about October or November. For a while, we'll stow away our umbrellas and rain coats. But for those who have extra stocks of them - shops, vendors - they don't have much of an option but sell them at discounted prices. And here is what I saw at the Lapangan Gasibu (Gasibu Square) last Sunday. A street vendor displayed all the umbrellas and rain coats she had and offered them for much less than they cost at the peak of the rainy season.

The word "umbrella," by the way, is derived from the Latin word "umbra" (shade). More interesting stories about the umbrella may be read at this Wikipedia article.

CDPB January 09 Theme Day Post: Best Photo of 2008

First of all, Happy New Year to you all. May this year be a peaceful and prosperous year for us all.

This month's CDPB theme is the Best Photo of 2008. Frankly speaking, I was having a hard time choosing which photo was the best for 2008, but after much consideration, I came to the decision that the above photo should be Bandung Daily Photo's best for 2008. And here's why ...

This photo was one of the three photos I put in my first post. The decision to start BANDUNG DAILY PHOTO is, I think, one of the best things I did in 2008. With this blog, I have come to know a good many friends from many parts of the world: you! With this blog, I've also played my part to help introduce to the world the city of which I am a proud citizen of: Bandung.

This photo, by the way, is of two child entrepreneurs selling pet rabbits at Gasibu Square (Lapangan Gasibu) Sunday market.

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

Bandung Street Documentary # 7: Fish in Plastic Bags

This man sells gold fish and other pet fish on a cart at a street near Lapangan Gasibu (the Gasibu Square), Bandung. As I said in several of my posts before, Lapangan Gasibu, which is located just accross the street from Gedung Sate (West Java Gubernatorial Mansion), turns into a makeshift market every Sunday morning. Different kinds of things are sold here, including these fish.

Bandung's "Kemilau Nusantara" Fest: A Lenong Dancer and A Joker

"Kemilau Nusantara" or the Glitter of the Indonesian Archipelago is an annual event held by Bandung's Tourism Office. This festival features tourism, art, and cultural exhibitions from all the regencies in the Province of West Java and other provinces in Indonesia plus a grand street parade of art and cultural performances from all the participating regions. This year event, the fifth, began yesterday and will last until tomorrow when the parade is going to take place.

I went to Lapangan Gasibu (the Gasibu Square), the venue of this event, today and enjoyed the various stage cultural performances from different parts of Indonesia. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be there tomorrow to cover the parade since, as I said earlier in the week, I would be doing wedding photography for my friend's wedding. I hope the other Bandung Daily Photo blogs (Harry's and Benyamin's) will be covering the event for you.

The photo featured above is of a Lenong dancer and joker. Lenong is a traditional Betawi (Jakarta's indigenous people) folk theater. The joker together with the dancers hold a very important role in this folk theater: The Joker is a central character that makes the moral message of the story more digestable to the audience. The dancers (and their dances) provide a lively and colorful intermezzo so that the audience can stay "awake" and follow the often long performance.

Bandung Street Scenes: Exploring Street Photography # 3

Here is another photo that I took in my photo hunting trip with my photographer friends last week. I captured this street photography scene at Lapangan Gasibu (Gasibu Square). As you may remember from one of my previous posts, Gasibu Square, which is located right across the street from Gedung Sate (West Java Gubernatorial Office Mansion), turns into a makeshift market every Sunday morning. This "market" sells just about everything and is packed with people during this time of the week. As such, it is an ideal place to do street photography.

For those of you who did not follow this blog regularly or have just discovered it, I formally introduced what street photography essentially is about in my previous two posts here and here.

Now I would like to add that in street photography, observation and alertness are two other important things that a photographer needs to exercise. For this scene, for example, the first thing I observed was these colorful inflatable dolls. While they in themselves would have made a nice photograph, the visual impact would have been different without the presence of this child showing interests in them. So I waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later, this boy wearing this attractive cap walked passed them with his mom. I pressed the shutter, and voila!

You may also want to see the other photos in this series in my other photo blog here.

Stuffed Dolls for Sale at Gasibu Square Bandung

Gasibu Square or Lapangan Gasibu is located on Jalan Diponegoro, Bandung, right across the street from the West Java gubernatorial mansion, Gedung Sate. Every Sunday this square turns into a makeshift market where you can find anything. These stuffed dolls are one of the many items offered for sale there.