City of People # 17: Psychic and Paranormal

These psychics and/or paranormals are offering their services at Alun-Alun Bandung (Bandung City Square). They claim that they can heal different kinds of diseases, tell you what kind of person you are, and what career and life path is best for you according to their reading of your "primbon" (the unseen forces of the cosmos).

Although paranormal and psychic phenomena and practices are considered unscientific (especially by Western scientifi traditions), there have been verifiable proof that they can and do heal diseases, foretell with relatively high degree of accuracy of a distant future event, find a missing person or thing, hold or move the rain, and even tell a person's personality and life path whom the practitioner has never met. Some paranormals here even claim that they can help you with your love life - making someone that you love loves you back and be faithful to you all his/her life.

This black and white (monochrome) photo is, by the way, my participation for the photo blogging meme Monochrome Maniacs by Aileni.

Bandung Sundanese Traditional Wedding # 2

For the first part of the story please refer to previous post here.

After the welcoming ceremony is completed, the groom and his entourage would be escorted by the dancers to the reception area at the bride's home to meet her family members. Here, speeches are made, prayers said, and the groom's family present the gifts they have brought to the bride's family.



Then the bride and the groom would meet and togehter they would walk to the "altar" (usually a nearby mosque or an especially prepared platform at the reception area) where the bride's father (or somebody he has appointed to represent him) would perform the "ijab" (giving his daughter in marriage) and the groom perform the "kabul" (acceptance of the marriage from the father or legal guardian of the bride.). The couple would then recite their wedding vows as a wife and husband and, as required by the Indonesian law, sign the marriage certificate in front of the appointed official and witnesses.

There are several Sundanese traditional rituals that the married couple usually do after that. Among them are "saweran" (the throwing of coins, rice, and candies) to the audience and well-wishers), the groom's stepping on an egg or bamboo stick and the bride's washing the groom's foot, and, like what is shown in the picture below, "a chicken tug of war" (my translation), where the bride and the groom pull a "bakakak" (a sliced-open grilled chicken). It is believed that if the groom gets a larger piece of the chicken, they would be blessed with a son soon, and vice versa, if the bride gets the larger piece, then they would be blessed with a daughter.



The couple would then feed each other in a symbolic act that in a marriage a wife and a husband have the shared resposibility of supporting each other.

Colors of The Street #2

Some of the things sold on the streets of Bandung. I like the colors and cute shapes of these key chains.


Today, my blogging friend Nobu of Chiba Daily Photo, Japan, and JM of Oeiras and Environs Daily Photo, Portugal, present me and BANDUNG DAILY PHOTO with this wonderful award. Thank you very much for the honor, Nobu and JM.

Now, on to six things that make me happy:
(1) Photography, (2) Blogging, (3) Travelling, (4) Friends, (5)Family, (6) My students. (Note: The numbering does not show order. They make me happy in different ways.)

And asrequired, I'm passing this award to:
(1) My very good friend Michelle of Rambling Woods Less Travelled. I love her nature blog for its reflective and informative contents. I especially love the wonderful quotes she posts everyday.
(2) Omami, Canada, for her beautiful photos and creative presentation.
(3) Livio of Torino Per Imagini for his wonderful photos and creative presentation.
(4) Carrie Hayes of View of You Photography for her wonderful photography.
(5) A new comer in the daily photo blog Share of My Journey for her variety and candid choice of photographic subjects.
(6) My good friend Laurie of South Passadena Daily Photo, California, for her beautiful photos and informative blog.