Travel Pangs

Spell of the Roses

2009-12-16T22:45:00.001-08:00

Java Jamboree is taking a break!

Roses are red.Violets are blue.Sugar is sweet.And so are you! The roses in Thuan Hee's ancestral home in Sungai Bakap weren't exactly red; they were more pink and orange but what the heck - roses are a joy to look at! Roses are perennial flower shrub from the genus Rosa and the family rosaceae and that contains well over 100 species which come in a variety of colours. Most are native to Asia but wherever they are and whatever colour too, they are still a joy. I remember the ones in the Rose Park in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. They were in full bloom and a middle-age couple were lying together on a piece of cloth, enjoying a romantic moment in the paradise like atmosphere. Who wouldn't under the spell of the roses?

Traveling Break: Enjoy the moment!

Java Jamboree: Taking a Train to Solo

2009-11-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

From Jogjakarta, we moved on to Surakarta aka Solo and that just being 60 km away, it was such an easy thing to do. There is a train to Solo every half hour or so and you would like us, not mind standing all the way to this city where one of the most prominent South East Asian terrorists, Noordin M. Top was reportedly killed in a shootout on September 17th 2009. Perhaps, you would shudder to know too that in the early 1980s, an Islamic school, Pesantren Ngruki was established here by Abu Bakar Bashir and Husein Al Habshi and a group with connections to the Ngruki school plotted violent attack on foreign tourists in the nearby Borobudur temple and on the island of Bali. If you like us, were not aware of the facts, then you would enjoy your wait at the railway station in Jogjakarta, drinking in the sight of cute Indonesian toddlers and the adults going through the hustle and bustle of everyday Indonesian life and taking the pleasant ride passed farms while you try the local fruit, buah salak...

Can you spot the buah Salak?

Traveling Tip: Don't worry unnecessarily!

Java Jamboree: A Just Dessert

2009-11-14T04:37:00.001-08:00

We didn't spend a lot of time at the bird market. It was not just that it deserved just a browse but the encounter with the unsolicited tourist guide perhaps shortened our visit there. We walked back to our hotel and on the way, we came across a little stall selling a cold dessert which looked very much like the ice-kacang back home in Malaysia. It was already high noon by then and the sun was high up in the sky. The tropical heat really got to some of us and the ice-kacang really looked inviting. It must really be good; otherwise, how could there be such a crowd eating at the stall. So, that was it - so what if we decided to eat at the roadside? We deserved our just dessert yet!

Can you spot our dessert?

Traveling Tip: Enjoy your just dessert!

Java Jamboree: At the Bird Market

2009-11-14T04:25:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard of a bird market was in Iran. Jogjakarta has a bird market of its own called Ngasem Bird Market and I would think it is more impressive here. For one thing, it seems bigger and yes, since it is a bird market, you could find all things that has to do with birds sold here, from bird seeds, bird cages to live birds. My friends and I took a memorable horse-drawn carriage there. The bird market was not very far from our hotel and the Water Palace was just beside it. Of course, we were not aware of all these then and had resorted to taking the carriage. Mm..mm.. Talk about Cinderella taking a carriage to the Ball! Once there at the bird market, an Indonesian man offered to be our guide. When we refused to hire him, he turned rather nasty and that broke the spell. Our carriage did not transform into a pumpkin of course, but our mood probably was shaken...

At Jogja's bird market...

Traveling Tip: Expect the unpleasant!

Java Jamboree: Streets of Jogjag

2009-10-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

We left Dieng Plateau in the early evening. It was a long journey back to Jogjakarta. The day's activity had by then taken their toll on us and for most part of the return journey, all of us slept. We would soon be back to the hustle and bustle of the hot and dusty streets of Jogjakarta. That night, we had dinner at one of the streets around Sosro Vijaya area. Sitting on plastic mats while your food was served on low, long tables at the roadside did not sound like a nice idea but in Jogjakarta, you might just want to do that. You would want to be serenaded by some talented locals too for a fee of course, to make your trip memorable...

Look around the streets of Jogjag...Guess where we have dinner?

Traveling Tip: Look around the streets!

Java Jamboree: A Still Forest Pool

2009-10-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

It was nice walking the woods of Dieng Plateau. I remember our guide taking us all in a van and suddenly we were at the entrance of a park. Rupiah changed hands. We bought our tickets and then, we were walking towards a beautiful, blue lake. We met a Caucasian couple who told of the breathtaking scenery. There should be caves there too but we did not get to see more though. It was not just that the day was getting shorter but it was beginning to drizzle. The guide had left us and had instructed us to walk straight ahead to a spot where he woud pick us up. Big raindrops that fell suddenly sent us scurrying. The sound of a whistle blowing pierced the air. Our guide appeared suddenly. He was holding a whistle. He had come back because of the sudden rain. What a fine experience at the still forest pool - The Telaga Warna or Coloured Lake!

At the Coloured Lake...

Traveling Tip: Bring a whistle!

Java Jamboree: Hot Spot

2009-10-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

Almost at 2000 m above sea level in the Dieng Plateau, there is a place where the air reeked of rotten egg. It seemed like we were transported back to New Zealand to the year 2000 where at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand, a similar aroma of sulpur prevailed. Like the Rotorua Caldera, most certainly there is geothermal activity in the Dieng Plateau Caldera complex. Perhaps, there is no Pohutu Geyser or any other geyser here and the area with geothermal activity is not as extensive and spectacular but enough gases could be harvested to produce electricity. An occasional hot mud pool here and there drew gasps of wonder and where thick smokes came out of the hot belly of the earth, the gasps were perhaps gasps of horrors. Our guide told and showed pictures of jilted maiden who jumped to their death here at this hot spot called Kawah Sikidang...

At Kawah Sikidang...Can you spot a hot mud pool?

Traveling Tip: Be careful!

Java Jamboree: Abodes of the Gods

2009-10-25T04:22:00.000-07:00

If you have seen Borobudur and Prambanan Temple and have lots of time to spare - one extra day perhaps, you could well consider taking a trip out of Jogjakarta. Take a trip out in the early morning and reward yourself with breathtaking views of terraced hills planted with padi in the countryside. If you are traveling towards Wonosobo, you would pass densely populated towns with strange names and then you'd realise the air has become cooler and there are thick mist around. You'd start imagining you are in the abodes of God and no wonder- You have come to a marshy plateau that forms the floor of a caldera complex on the Dieng active volcano complex called the Dieng Plateau. Dieng comes from the word, Di Hyang which means abodes of the Gods and you'd be pleased like we were to find the oldest Hindu temples in Central Java. There arer eight small Hindu temples from the 7th and 8th centuries left out of a total of 400 and though the structures are rather small and plain, you'd love this Candi Arjuna that we visited. If not, the local children and wild dandelions would warm your heart...

At Candi Arjuna...

Little children...

...and wild dandelions to warm your hearts!

Traveling Tip: Take a break in the countryside!

Java Jamboree: Sad Stories on the Walls

2009-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

No one in the world except the Javanese perhaps would know about Borobudur if not for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and no one would catch a glimpse of it too if not for the Dutch-Flemish engraver, Isidore van Kinsbergen, the latter having provided the world with its first photograph. Java was occupied by the British right after the Anglo-Dutch Java War. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was elected governor and during his tenure, he was informed of the abandoned Buddhist monument by natives. He then sent a Dutch engineer, H. C. Cornelius who with 200 men cut down trees, burned down vegetation and dug away the earth to reveal Borobudur. Following that, much excavation and restoration were done and if you were to visit Borobudur today, you'd notice that some of the bas reliefs which c0ver the facades tell tales on this later era. No, it's not simply the statues and carvings were well cleaned and free from mosses; it's more of the bas reliefs turning brown and being eaten not by acid rain but really- our guide said that the Dutch, when taking photographs of the bas reliefs, had applied some sort of chemicals on them to highlight the carvings. Sob! These ate the stones and well we have these...

Sad stories on the walls...

Traveling Tip: Listen to the walls wail!

Java Jamboree: Stories on the Walls

2009-10-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Walking up the stairs and corridors to the uppermost floor of Borobudur was a fascinating experience. You'd get to pass approximately 2,670 individual bas reliefs on walls and balastrades, 1,460 of them narrative, telling the life of Buddha and the famed Buddhist Jataka Tales and 1,212 of them decorative. Since this is a Buddhist monument, you'd expect to find Buddha statues here, and there are 504 here. Over 300 of them however, are damaged and 43 missing. The damaged statues mostly have their heads missing as these have been stolen as collector's items and placed in Western museums. A main dome at the center of the top platform is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa. I remember seeing a black and white Indonesian film very long ago showing an elderly Indonesia trying to touch the Buddha statue inside. It is said that if one is able to touch it, one would get one's wish furfilled. On 21 January 1985, nine stupas were badly damaged by nine bombs and in 1991, a blind Muslim evangelist, Husein Ali Al Habsyie, was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding a series of bombings in the mid 1980s including the temple attack. Maybe, we should make a wish that this world heritage should be safe from future mindless attacks...

Stories on the walls...

Traveling Tip: Listen to the walls!

Java Jamboree: Inside Borobudur

2009-10-15T20:25:00.001-07:00

Inside Borobudur isn't really inside Borobudur. There is actually no inner space like that empty space enclosed by walls and roofs of a building that one can walk into. Borobudur is built on a hill, using stones from neighbouring rivers which have been cut to size, laid without mortar and joined together by knobs, indentations and dovetails joints; that perhaps makes the stones sound very much like Lego toy building bricks. You can imagine Borobudur as a pyramid or a stupa with open-air corridors and staircases that leads you to the top platform and yes, if you are up there during midday, it could be terribly hot. It was a good thing that we went there very early in the morning. My friends and I had wanted to catch the sunrise but since Borobudur isn't open to the public that early, we failed to see it in all its sunrise splendour...

Inside Borobudur...

Traveling Tip: Start early!

Borobudur! Borobudur!

2009-10-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Someone just told me that Borobudur is shaped like a mandala which is true if you were to view it from above; it is in fact one giant tantric Buddhist mandala, said to represent the Buddhist cosmology and the nature of mind. My friends and I did not see that of course, since we did not hover over it in a helicopter or a plane but if you are keen, just have a look at a Borobudur miniature; there are lots of them being sold in souvenir stalls outside the gates of Borobudur. You'd notice perhaps that is has a square foundation and nine platforms, the lower six being squares and the upper three are circular in shape. In Jonathan Swift's satire, Gulliver Travels, I think there should be a scene where some people in some strange land tried in futility to build houses like a spider spinning its web, from the top down to the base. If I am not mistaken, I heard our guide said that Borobudur is built from the top downwards! And you'd think it's possible. The masterpiece has been built not on a piece of flat land but on a natural hill...

Traveling Tip: Buy some souvenirs!

Java Jamboree: Borobudur!

2009-10-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Prambanan Temple by far is not the only ancient temple found in Central Java. In fact, here in the Kedu Plain, are found some of the earliest Buddhist temples in Indonesia. Towards the north of Prambanan Temple for example, are the ruins of Bubrah temple, Lumbung temple, and Sewu temple while further east is the Plaosan temple. To the west are the Kalasan temple, Sari temple and Sambisari temple and then of course, there is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction, the ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist Monument, the Candi Borobudur between the two twin volcanoes, Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi and the two rivers, Progo and Elo. Borobudur was founded around 800 AD. during the Sailendra dynasty and was under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth until after the Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810-1811) when the British governor Thomas Stamford Raffles in his quest for antiques, heard from the loccal inhabitants that there was a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro; following which, he sent H.C. Cornelius, a Dutch engineer, to investigate. Borobudur is therefore a must see place. My friends and I made for this monument very early one morning just to catch it set against dawn...

Traveling Tip: Start early!

Reminisce: One Christmas

2009-10-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

One Christmas, Chin Heng suggested that we took a ride out of Taiping. He had bought his first car and I suppose, was game for a spin. I said I would love to visit Tambun to see for myself some prehistoric rock paintings. So, together with Mau Wei and Hoi Thien, we travelled along the North-South Highway and just before reaching the city centre of Ipoh, we took a turning towards the little town more famous for its sweet pomeloes. There is a Caltex Station along the way and we stopped and parked our car somewhere there and proceeded our journey on foot along little paths behind some residential houses. There was not a soul in sight and a miserable signboard in Bahasa Malaysia with the words Lukisan Pra Sejarah Tambun suggested that we were on the right trail. Then, I remember meeting a local Malay lady who pointed to us the actual location of the paintings. In no time at all, we were there, staring at the iron oxide paintings of animals which are located several meters high on limestone walls. These Tambun prehistoric paintings have been discovered by the British army in 1959. Rock art could be found elsewhere in the world. In France and Spain, paintings have been found in as many as 350 caves. The Grotte Chauvet or Chauvet Caves in the Ardeche region reputedly house the oldest of the lots and there is the Bradshaw-style sash painting in Kimberley, Australia. I have heard before someone saying that the Tambun prehistoric paintings bear resemblance to prehistoric paintings in Australia. Perhaps, the paintings here are not as extensive or as spectacular but still, if you pay a visit to this place, your heart will reach out to see the level of neglect accorded to paintings of such stature...

Can you spot the rock paintings in Tambun and identify the animals too?

The animals in the Tambun prehistoric paintings include a dugong, a flying fox, a tapir, a turtle, a catfish and a herd of deer.

Java Jamboree will be back!

Take Five! A Lung to Breathe

2009-10-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

Years back when I was visiting Damascus in Syria, someone told me it was the oldest city in the world. Perhaps, I have heard it wrong. A list of the ten oldest city in the world which I found in the Net does not include Damascus or any other city in Syria; even as it is stated somewhere that Syrian archeologists have unearthed ruins of the oldest city in the world,Homoukar which dates as far back as 6,000 years. Damascus has however been touted the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Now, I don't know how true that is but as all cities in the world, I did find Damascus a bit congested. Cities do really need lungs, even a small one like the Botanical Gardens in Penang (inset). For more of the garden, do visit Beautiful World!

Java Jamboree: Listen to the walls talk

2009-09-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

Prabanan Temple, said to be built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu during the Sanjaya Dynasty continues to intrigue tourists even though much of the original stonework has been stolen or removed to other sites. The 2006 earthquake destroyed some more of the stonework and rendered the inside of most of the temples off-limits; so, one would have to be satisfied with just admiring the temples from the outside. Hire a guide who loiters in the temple ground and perhaps, he would point out to you an erotic carving here and there. There are few erotic carvings around and they are rather tame compared to the ones in Kajuraho, India but you'd probably go ooh and aah like some of my friends and I did. It was great when the walls talked!

Carvings in Prabanan Temple...Can you spot an erotic one here?

Traveling Tip: Listen when the walls talk!

Java Jamboree: Roaming Prambanan Temple

2009-09-04T00:17:00.000-07:00

While in Yogyakarta, make it a point to visit Prambanan Temple! The temple which is characterised by a 47 m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples, all spotting typical Hindu temple architecture is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Prambanan temple complex originally consisted of three zones -the outer zone, the middle zone and the inner zone. The outer zone, a large space marked by a rectangular wall long destroyed, was said to be either a sacred park, or an ashram,which was the priests' boarding school. The middle zone consists of hundreds of small temples while the inner zone contains eight main temples and eight small shrines. Prambanan Temple which was closed to the public after the 2006 earthquake incidentally was reopened some weeks later even though the head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency announced that it would take months. My friends and I were thus lucky. We got to roam the complex and see the Pervara Temples, the Vahana Temple and the Trimurti, the three main shrines dedicated to Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu...

Prambanan Temple...

Traveling Tip: Roam!

Java Jamboree: From a Distance

2009-09-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

About 18 km east of Yogyakarta City is the Prambanan temple complex, the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and in South East Asia. On 27 May 2006, Yogyakarta suffered a 6.3-magnitude earthquake. The earthquake did not only claim the lives of 5,782 people and injured some 36,299 people but more than 135,000 houses were damaged. Prambanan temple too was not spared. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground and the temple was closed to the public. Someone I met who visited the temple then told me they could only see the temple from a distance...

Prambanan Temple... From a distance...

Traveling Tip: View from a distance!

Java Jamboree: A Little Bit of Art

2009-09-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a dose of Impressionism, this 19th-century art movement; and you are not anywhere near Paris or even have a Monet or a Van Gogh at hand but you are traveling the road that runs between Yogyakarta and Surakarta aka Solo, perhaps then, you'd like to take a break at Affandi Museum for some artistic respite. Affandi Museum sits on the bank of the Gajah Wong River and houses the artwork of Indonesia's celebrated painting maestro, the late Affandi as well as the artwork of many other Indonesian artists. The former who once was honoured with the Prix International Dag Hammarskjoeld Prize in Florence in 1976, reputedly was a self-taught artist best remembered for his unique technique of painting directly from tubes onto canvas. You'd not just get to see his version of Sunflowers here, but get to see his tomb and live his life...

At Affandi Museum...Can you spot any Sunflowers?

Traveling Tip: Get Artistic!

Java Jamboree: Seeing is Believing!

2009-08-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Water Castle is one of the must see places in Yogyakarta. Who would want to miss a place owned by a man with 27 wives? That really beats King Henry VIII who had six! The Water Castle doesn't really cover a wide area like the ruins in Sukhotai, Thailand but it is definitely one unique place. For us, we missed at least one interesting spot there, the Masjid Sokotunggal which has a unique single pillar but visiting the underground mosque, Pulo Kenongo itself was already a worthwhile experience. You would walk out of it yet to another world, a world of ruins and even to a little settlement. You'd not believe that there are people living in the vicinity until you see the densely populated Kampung Taman which lies, side by side to the Water Castle with your own eyes...

The Water Castle...

Ruins...

A Settlement!

Traveling Tip: Seek and you will find!

Java Jamboree Pulo Kenongo

2009-08-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Legends of secret underground tunnels abound in the Water Castle. The Yogyakarta's Sultan was said to have a supernatural wife,- a fairy, I suppose, called Nyai Roro Kidul and a secret tunnel was said to lead to her palace in the Indian Ocean. My friends and I did not get to see this tunnel of course, but the one which we took led us to Pulo Kenongo which was in the middle of Segaran Taman Sari or Taman Sari artificial lake. This area is supposed to be connected by water canal to the other artificial lake in the palace. Over here too, it was said that there were living rooms, bedrooms, rooms to make Batik, a hall to perform classical sacred dance of Bedoyo and Srimpi, gates and sentry-boxes guarded strongly by the palace soldiers. About the only sentry-box I saw though was one guarded by a man who collected money...

Pulo Kenongo...

Traveling Tip: Don't forget to tip!

Java Jamboree: Tunnel of Deceit

2009-08-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Yogyakarta's Water Castle is said to be divided into two complexes, theUmbul Binangun or the swimming pool complex and Pulo Kenongo. Leaving the Umbul Binangun for the Pulo Kenongo was a delightful experience. At one moment, you'd be walking along a walkway which looked perfectly normal and then, suddenly, you would come to an entrance which when you walked in, would transport you into another world. You'd found yourself in an underground tunnel and in olden days, the Sultan himself might as well be walking here as he hid himself from his enemies. There are canals in this area which when flooded with water, hide the tunnels from view. There were supposed to be a few buildings here too, the Kenanga, Cemeti Island and Sumur Gumuling which could still be seen after the canals are flooded and it is said that from a high place, the buildings look like a lotus floating in the middle of a pool...

Tunnels?

Traveling Tips: Imagine!

Java Jamboree: Almost a Missed Opportunity

2009-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yogyakarta's Water Castle had been badly damaged by an earthquake in 1867. Visiting the Castle for the first time especially its well-restored part- the bathing pools or Umbul Binangun, one could be forgiven if one had the mistaken notion that only a small portion of the castle remained.Then, one would perhaps wander among the little wooden houses there, admiring the works of the locals who make batik and paint to earn a living. There was a little thriving cottage industry there no doubt but that was not the main attraction. There was another more mesmerising part of the castle hidden away somewhere. In our case, we nearly missed it even though we had a guide with us. After coming out from Umbul Binangun, we had at the entrance saw a notice board which had a layout of the Water Castle. It was very obvious that we had not visited the entire castle and the guide whom earlier did not show sign of having any intention of taking us there, limped on...

At the Water Castle's vicinity...

Traveling Tip: Get an honest guide!

Java Jamboree: A Castle in YogYag

2009-08-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

About one or two kilometer away towards the west of Yogyakarta Kraton, there is a 1758 pleasure garden built by Sultan Hamengkubuwono I for the Royal family. Y. Groneman in 1885, wrote Het waterkasteel te Yogyakarta. Subsequently, the Dutch was said to have coined the name The Water Castle for this pleasure garden, Tamansari which means beautiful garden or perfumed garden.The first time we set foot on it, I had thought it was rather new and no wonder - After being badly damaged by an earthquake in 1867, some parts of it, such as the Umbul Binangun bathing pools have been restored. Walking along the outer pool, you would perhaps imagine yourself being watched by the Sultan himself and why not? This is where the womenfolks from the Royal family used to swim and the Sultan would be watching them from a two storey building that separates the outer swimming pool and the inner one. If the Sultan fancy the women, they would be invited to join him for a swim in the inner pool. Now, for the price of a ticket, we invited ourselves in! That was great, wasn't it?

Taman Sari or the Water Castle...

Traveling Tip: Immerse in the past!

Java Jamboree: A Palace in Yogyag

2009-08-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

There is a kraton or palace in Yogyakarta, the city; and I specify here, city - becauseYogyakarta is also the name of a province. Yogyakarta, the province is a Daerah Istimewa or Special Region, special, not in the sense that it is the smallest in Indonesia but rather because it is the only one in Indonesia that is still governed by a precolonial monarchy -The Yogyakarta Sultanate otherwise known as the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat which came into being after the Dutch East India Company (VOC) had in 1755 through the Treaty of Giyanti split the Sultanate of Mataram into two. Its first Sultan, Hamengkubuwono I had spent the next 37 years building Yogyakarta the city and with the Kraton as the centerpiece. After arriving in Yogyakarta the city in the morning and spending a night at Monica hotel, the next day was spent visiting this kraton. One would have to pay an entrance fee and buy another ticket to bring a camera in and get an English speaking guide too who would take you to several single storey buildings exhibiting batiks etc and probably you'd be bored stiff if not for the elderly men in traditional costumes playing the gamelan in the royal compound.Batik refers to the wax-resist dyeing technique used on textile while Gamelan is a musical ensemble featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings and especially drums and gongs. The Yogyakarta batik is special in that the traditional colours used such a sindigo, dark brown,and white, represent the three major Hindu Gods,Brahmā, Vishnu and Śiva.It is always a wonder how some religions promote art and some do not...

The photos here are taken in the streets, outside and in the Kraton's vicinity...

Traveling Tip: Visit a Palace!