Thursday 6 March 2008

Jakarta

Jakarta (DKI Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kalapa (397-1527), Jayakarta (1527-1619), Batavia (1619-1942), and Djakarta (1942-1972). (Reference wikipedia)

Sightseeing Tours
KOTA

Old Town of Batavia, now known as Kota, was once the hub of Dutch colonial
Indonesia. Much of the one-time grandeur has now rotted, crumbled or been bulldozed away, but Taman Fatahillah, kota’s central cobblestone square, is still reminiscent of the area’s heyday.

MUSEUM WAYANG

This puppet museum has one of the best collections of wayang puppets in Java and its dusty cabinets are linet with a multitude of characters once used for performances. The collection not only includes puppets from Indonesia but also China, Malaysia, India and Cambodia


MUSEUM SEJARAH JAKARTA

The Jakarta History Museum, is housed in the old town hall of Batavia, and probably one of the most solid reminders of Dutch rule within Indonesia.

SUNDA KELAPA

The Old port of Sunda Kelapa has many magnificent Makasar schooners (pinisi)

MONAS

National Monument (high 132 m) towering over Merdeka square.


TAMAN MINI INDONESIA INDAH

a miniature of Indonesian main ethnic groups as the highlight of Indonesian culture.












Saturday 16 February 2008

PRAMBANAN TEMPLES-CENTRAL JAVA - YOGYAKARTA-INDONESIA

Prambanan Temples-Yogjakarta-Central Java-Indonesia

The Most Beautiful Hindu Temple in the World

Prambanan is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them.


The temples at Prambanan
village are the best remaining examples of Java’s period of Hindu cultural development. Not only do these temples form the largest Hindu temple complex in Java, but the wealth of sculptural detail on the great Shiva temple makes it easily the most outstanding examples of Hindu art.

All the temples in the Prambanan area were built between the 8th and 10th centuries AD, when java was ruled by the Buddhist Sailendras in the south and the Hindu Sanjayas of Old Mataram in the north. Possibly by the second half of the 9th century, these two dysnasties were united by the marriage of Rakai Pikatan of Hindu Mataram and the Buddhist Sailendra princess Pramodhavardhani. This may explain why a number of temples, including those of the Prambanan temple complex and the smaller Plaosan group, reveal Shivaite and Buddhist elements in architecture and sculpture. These two elements are also found to some degree in India and Nepal.














Friday 15 February 2008

BOROBUDUR TEMPLE-CENTRAL JAVA-INDONESIA

BOROBUDUR TEMPLE-CENTRAL JAVA YOGJAKARTA-INDONESIA

The Borobudur Temple is considered as one of the seven wonders of the world. And is one the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. This colossal relic of Borobudur Temple was built by Syailendra Dynasty between 750 and 842 AD; 300 years before Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, 400 years before work had begun on the great European Cathedrals. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles revealed Borobudur Temple in 1814. He found the temple in ruin condition and ordered that the site be cleared of undergrowth and thoroughly surveyed. The massive restoration project began from 1905 to 1910 led by Dr. Th. Van Erp. With the assistance of UNESCO, the second restoration to rescue Borobudur was carried out in 1983.

Borobudur is built from two million block stones in the form of a massive symmetrical stupa, literally wrapped around a small hill.

The overall height of Borobudur was 42 meters, but it is only 34.5 meters now (after restoration) and has the dimension of 123 x 123 meters. The building has 10 floors or levels: Hhumtcambharabudara, the mountain of the accumulation of virtue in the ten stages of Bodhisatva. Borobudur is located 41 km Northwest of Yogyakarta, 7 km South of Magelang, Central Java.














Thursday 14 February 2008

Istana Bogor (Bogor Palace)-West Java Indonesia

Istana Bogor (Bogor Palace)-West Java Indonesia

Location : Jalan Juanda – Bogor West Java Indonesia

Istana Bogor is one of 6 Presidential Palaces in Indonesia. The palace is noted for its distinctive architectural, historical, features, as well as the adjoining botanical gardens. This palace was built in 1745 by Governor-General Baron van Imhof in the style of England's Bleinheim Palace. The grounds occupy 28 hectares, where deer wander freely and trees provide perennial shade. The main building and its two wings cover almost 14,800 square meters. Six pavilions were erected in 1954. Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, used the palace as a peaceful retreat. Today it houses his art collection, including 136 ceramic statues and 219 paintings.

Please Note: Bogor, the rainy city or Kota Hujan as the locals say, so always keep an umbrella handy wherever you go - rain may come at any time in the afternoon or evening during the dry season and all day long during the wet season












Wednesday 13 February 2008

Tenggeris People

Way Of Life Tenggeris People-Bromo Indonesia

East-Java


With their settlements built in clusters, Tengger villagers rely on farming as their livelihood, growing crops such as carrots, green onions, corn and potatoes grown on the slopes of Mt. Bromo, creating a panoramic view of waving green carpets.







Farm Tenggeris - People in Bromo





Tuesday 12 February 2008

Bali Dance

Bali Dance

Music, Dance and Drama are closely related in Bali. In fact, dance and drama are synonymous, though some ‘dance’ are more drama and less dance, and others more dance and less drama.

Balinese dance tends to be precise, shifting and jerky, like the accompanying gamelan music, which has abrupt shifts of tempo and dramatic changes between silence and crashing noise. There’s virtually no physical contact in Balinese dancing-each dancer moves independently, but every movement of wrist, hand and finger is important. Even facial expressions are carefully choreographed to convey the character of the dance.







Tari Kecak

















BALINESE TEMPLES

The Balinese temple is a sacred space in which the deities are honored with rituals and offerings. The basic function of a temple to serve as a site where the Balinese pay reverence to the spiritual powers that play such a large role in their lives. There are at least 10,000 temples on Bali with various types
The other word for temple in Balinese is Pura, Which is a Sanskrit word meaning ‚ a space surrounded by a wall’. As in so much of Balinese religion, the Temples, though nominally Hindu, owe much to the pre-Majapahit era. Their Kaja, Kelod or Kangin (alignment towards the mountain, the sea or the sunrise) is in deference to spirits, that are more animist than Hindu.

Almost every village has at least three temples. The most important is the Pura Puseh (Temple of Origin), which is dedicated to the village founders and is the Kaja end of the Village. In the middle of the village is the Pura Desa for the spirits that protect the village community in ist day-to day life. At the Kelod end of the village is the Pura dalem (temple of the dead). The graveyard is also here and the temple will often include representations of Durga, the terrible incarnation of Shiva’s Wife


Pura Tanah Lot



















Saturday 9 February 2008

Pulau Umang- Banten-Indonesia

Pulau Umang – Banten-Indonesia.

Pulau Umang located in Banten-Java Island

I went there with my family..Stefan (my Husband), Gerdi and Jupp (my mother and father in Law)
Pulau Umang is a beautiful island but the problem is... it is so far from Jakarta and took us 5-6 hours driving to arrive there…. feeling tired to get there…but when you have arrived... you can see a beautiful island…

The beach of Umang is rocky so if you want to swim it is a little bit dangerous and you can not snorkeling there. You must go to Pulau Oar ( close with Pulau Umang) for snorkeling.

Here is a beautiful picture of Pulau Umang. Jupp took this picture… it is really beautiful picture and you can get a view about Umang from this picture

it is a really beautiful island, white sandy beach, clear water and wood cottage
Snorkling, Banana Boat, Jetski, Jukung (kayaking), Go Around the Island using Speedboat, go to Pulau Oar and swim there


Pulau Umang-Banten-Java Island







Dinner







Snorkling



Rocky Side of the Island







Sea of Bali-Indonesia

Bali Island is a small and it is part of Indonesia country.

A visit to Bali means that you are in the most visitor-friendly Island of Indonesia

Bali island is surrounded by the sea water from the north side, Laut Bali (Bali Sea ) to the east side , Lombok Strait, and from the south side, Indian Ocean to the west side, Bali Strait. As a small island in the paradise, Bali has beautiful white sandy beaches and surrounded by tropical climate which makes Bali is the best place for holiday in all season in the world.































Friday 8 February 2008

Rice Field Bali-Indonesia

HISTORY

It’s certain that Bali has been populated since early prehistoric times, but the oldest human artefacts found are 3000-years-old stone tools and earthenware vessels from Cekik. Not much is known of Bali during the period when Indian traders brought Hinduism to the Indonesian archipelago, but the earliest written records are stone inscriptions dating from around the 9th century. By the time, rice was being grown under the complex irrigation system known as Subak, and there were precursors of the religious and cultural traditions that can be traced to the present day.

SUBAK / RICE FIELD WATER IRIGATION SYSTEM in BALI
Subak is Balinese traditional irrigation system arranging / managing the division of water to the farmer's rice field fairly and flatten. It is a traditional organization with its specially activities in the rice field inclusive of making and cleaning aqueduct, dividing water, making ceremony and other. All of these are conducted socially, voluntary and together


Dewi Sri, the Rice Goddess who personifies the life force, is undoubtedly the most worshipped deity in Bali. The symbol representing Dewi Sri seen time and again: an hourglass figure often made from rice stalks, woven from coconut leaves, engraved of painted onto wood, made out of old Chinese coins, or hammered out of metal. Shrines made of bamboo or stone honoring Dewi Sri are erected in every rice field.

















A balinese family making fresh coffee, spice garden, Bali, Indonesia


Bali’s home brewed coffee. The coffee making process is similar to what my late Simuk (grandma) used to do. Coffee cherries are hand picked, dried on slow fire and then pounded into powder form.
Coffee Tree
Demonstrate the method of processing
Making Fresh Coffee

Pounding the clean beans to loosen shells