day 855

... And of course, the paddy field, with its tins and plastic bags to scare the birds, the sound of bamboo flute from that hut, and where the fireflies dancing and the fireballs fighting at night...

day 854

... The rich culture of Bali, where everything is magical...
The dances, the music, the garbs, the offerings, and even the dogs... :)

day 853

During this trip, I was reminded on how beautiful Bali is..

The sea, the waves, the dark greenish blue water, the wind, the sound of the sea.. calling you to jump and dance with them..

day 852

Bali. An island of paradise.
A place with so many fond memories from the time when I was young, rebellious.. full of dreams of mountain, rivers, sea, waves, turtles.. penniless.. and naive :)

Just visited Bali again after 4 years absent. This is for P&P birthday party; 2-5 Oct, Seminyak.

Self portrait, afternoon in Ku De Ta. 

day 851

Pretty miserable day... Ouch.

The picture is the Jakarta History Museum, taken during my visit to Kota, Jakarta.

From Lonely Planet Indonesia 2003:
"...(The Jakarta History Museum) is housed in the old town hall of Batavia, which is on the southern side of the square... This bell-towered hall, built in 1627 and added to between 1707 and 1710, served the administration of the city.

It was also used by the city law courts, and its dungeons were the main prison compound of Batavia. In 1830, the Javanese hero Prince Diponegoro was imprisoned here for a time on his way into exile in Makassar...

In the courtyard at the back of the building, is a strange memorial stone to Pieter Erbervelt, put to death in 1722 for allegedly conspiring to massacre the Dutch inhabitants of Batavia..."

day 850

Today, the second F1 in Singapore is started. This time I am not really into it, even though still planning to go on the race day itself. Instead, tonight after work me and miss Han went to Muddy Murphy and had a good session of Guinness, which brought me to the point where beer googles blocked my vision on which beer scooter brought me home. I remember slightly emptied my tummy, threw the content into the bin, luckily, on my own room. And now I am having a miserable Saturday of course.

As happened couple times before, I have a name card without face with me... Doh.

A picture from 2008 Singapore F1.

day 849

Ah, these are the leaves of our star fruit tree on our back yard in Jakarta. It was the most photographed thing during my early interest of photography (since it was not often I could go out hunting).

The tree was the sources of enjoyment when we were kids: the fruits of course, it also gave a way to the roof of the house, and it was a place where the swing was hang. It is exactly where the fence of our chicken farm was. The tree was protecting the main building of our house during a fire on the house behind ours, which also burnt our maid's quarter and its attic.

day 848

From Lonely Planet Indonesia 2003:

"...The building itself dates from 1912 and is on the site of the Dutch Church of Batavia, demolished by Daendels in 1808. In the downstairs courtyard, there are memorials to Dutch governors general who were once buried here, including Jan Pieterzoon Coen, founder of Batavia, who died of cholera in 1629 during the siege by Mataram; and Anthony van Diemen, after whom Abel Tasman named Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania, Australia)..."

Wayang Museum, Kota, Jakarta.

day 847

My sis and I made a quick visit to Kota (which mean city or town) on the last day of my visit this time. Kota is an old area in the North of Jakarta nearby the harbour, where it used to be a centre of Batavia (old Jakarta) itself.

From Lonely Planet Indonesia 2003:
"...The old town of Batavia, now known as Kota, was once the hub of Dutch colonial Indonesia. It contained Coen's massive shoreline fortress, the Kasteel, and was surrounded by a sturdy defensive wall and a moat. Much of this one-time grandeur has now rotted, crumbled, or been buldozed away, but Taman Fatahillah, Kota's central cobblestone square, is still reminiscent of the area's heyday..."

The pic is Stasiun Jakarta Kota, a train station, taken from Taman Fatahillah.

day 846

Caught this chameleon enjoying the first sliver of sunshine in the morning, on top of front yard bushes of our house, Jakarta.

day 845

Lebaran day. A special day for muslim around the world after fasting during Ramadhan.

This is my mum and my sis preparing a dish we called makaroni. Traditionally, it is not made for lebaran. We cook this to have a variation from the heavy, gravy, coconut milk-laden dishes. Also, now there are wee nieces and nephews who shouldn't eat those lebaran dishes too much.

It was a special dish when I grew up, and it still is now when it is made at home. It was one of special things my mum would make for my dad as it was his fav; the other was slada, which is salad.

Makaroni is actually baked elbow-shaped pasta with kornet (canned mince beef), cheese, milk, butter and eggs. Slada is made of shredded lettuce leaves, boiled white eggs, boiled carrots, and pineapple. The sauce was made from the boiled yolks, mixed with white pepper and vinegar.

day 844

A day before Lebaran, the main activity would be cooking, cooking and cooking. At my mum's, the festival is marked with ketupat, sambal goreng ati, sambal goreng krecek, semur lidah, sambal and pickles. Oh, and kastengels of course, which traditionally always made by me since I was on my teens. So I did this time too, two batches of them.

The pic is my sis filling kulit ketupat with rice.

day 843

The most photographed animal during my visit this time, this frog is the newest member of my dad's wee pond in the front of the house.

It was said that the frog moved here from the last field around the area, which had just been cleared for the extension of the kindergarten next to it. The rumour had that there were not only frog that was forced to move out, but a lady ghost as well - luckily not to our place!

day 842

Today I start my six day 'pulang kampung' holiday - going home to accompany my mum celebrating Hari Raya 'Idul Fitri back home in Jakarta.

And this is the place; the place where I grew up, living there up to my late twenties. It is in an area where it used to be a suburb, where there was no electricity, no paved street, number of ponds nearby with fishes, frogs, snakes, wriggling creatures.. But of course, not anymore.

We used to have jack fruit, mango, papaya, banana, star fruit, guava, jambu air (I don't know what that is in English!) and soursop trees on our front, side and back yards. We even raised chickens, and once had up to ten-ish cats. Our yards were full of wild ants, centipedes, snails, chameleons, lizards, frogs, and sometimes snakes and luwaks. Ocassionally, there were visits from run away monkeys and exotic birds from the zoo.

There were many fields nearby, filled with wild bushes with white and purple flowers, bamboo trees, tapiocas plantation, coconut trees, and couple of scary banyan and rubber trees. The air was so clear that we could see Salak Mount on the south in the clear mornings, and there was barely noise pollution that we could hear the animals in the zoo sang.

The house itself had extended tremendously, to accomodate four kids growing with insatiable needs for space. It now fills with memories; quarrels, cries, hates, laughs, surprises, dreams, cares... all molded me into I am now.

day 841

From Lonely Planet Vietnam 2007:

"...Built for a wealthy Chinese merchant in the late 19th century is Diep Dong Nguyen House. The front room on the ground floor was once a dispensary for thuoc bac (Chinese medicine); the medicines were stored in the glass-enclosed cases lining the walls. The owner's private collection of antiques - which include photographs, porcelain and furniture - is on display upstairs. Two of the chairs were once lent by the family to Emperor Bao Dai..."

We had a pleasant chat (in Mandarin) with the current owner whose grandfather was the last person in the family producing Chinese medicines.

day 840

..and this is that Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall, Hoi An.

Not really sure what the function of assembly hall nowadays is (apart being admired by travellers), but there are at least five of them in Hoi An: Chinese All-Community Hall, Assembly Hall of the Fujian Chinese Congregation, Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation, and Assembly Hall of the Chaozhou Chinse Congregation.

day 839

From Lonely Planet Vietnam 2007:

"... a highlight of any trips to Vietnam, Hoi An is a town oozing charm and history, having largely escaped the destruction of successive wars... Known as Faifo to Western traders, from the 17th to 19th centuries it was one of South-east Asia's major international ports. Vietnamese ships and sailors based here sailed all-around Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia... Perhaps more thank any other places in Vietnam, Hoi An retains a sense of history that envelops you as you explore it..."

One of those old warehouses facing the Thu Bon river along Bach Dang road.

day 838

.. and here is our favourite fried stuffs seller in Hoi An, whose English is pretty impressive. She was able to explain clearly what her fried stuffs made of.

In the evening she would move to the junction of Tran Phu and Le Loi; while in the afternoon she would be in front of Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall in the junction of Tran Phu and Hoang Van Thu.

day 837

A tribute for papi who had nurtured passion for photography on me...

day 836

A tiny tree and a sea-shell, from Ba Nang beach, Hoi An, special to remember the September 11th.

May we human being learn from our own mistakes..

day 835

The old lady selling painted clay whistles in Hoi An. Thought she was selling candies the first time saw her, because the whistles were so bright and shiny looking :)

She always sits next to the Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall, where we loved to sit on its front stairs in the afternoon; watching people, having cold tea and delicious (and knowledgeably unhealthy) fried stuffs.

day 834

.. and this is the view of the morning market from the balcony of the house I was staying in Hoi An.

Thinking about it, the market is actually similar to the markets we have back home in Jakarta - or at least Pasar Minggu three decades ago. However, being able to actually slowly woken up by its pleasant noise, and to watch the activities from the convenience of room's balcony, are indeed a luxury for me.

day 833

Quoting Lonely Planet Vietnam 2007:
"..brimming with character, this splendid 180-year-old traditional wooden home is a cross between a B&B and a museum - offering an intriguing insight into Old Town family life. There is an ornate ancestor altar in the front room, a well in the countyard..."

And that house on the right hand corner is that Minh A Ancient Lodging House, a pretty place I was staying at in Hoi An. The wee balcony upstairs with the beautiful bougenville, that is where my room was. Fantastic, fabulous place to be! I love it most in the morning where I was half-asleep half-awake, lulled by the soft sunshine on my cheek and the noise from the market..

The whole front part of the second floor is divided into two bed rooms and living room by wooden panels and curtain. There is a square wooden grill about 1m x 1.5m on the centre of the floor, giving us a view to the first floor. Also, there is a beautiful altar dedicated to general Wan Gong. Really wanted to take a picture of it but Mr. Ko said I shouldn't, so I didn't.

day 832

And me having fun.. :)
Ba Nang beach, Hoi An.

day 831

The things..
Along Ba Nang beach, Hoi An.

Due to cyber world's related nuisance, I change the address of this blog.. darn.

day 830

Bim Bim the dog..
Ba Nang beach, Hoi An.

day 829

The fruits..
Street hawker, Ho Chi Minh city.

day 828

The food..
Restaurant Cafe 96, Hoi An.

day 827

The people..
Thu Bon river, Hoi An.

day 826

A place still fresh with bullet holes..
Ba Na Hill Station, along the Hai Van Pass.