BANDUNG DAILY PHOTO

Inappropriate Language

2010-07-30T21:40:00.002+07:00

I have previously posted several stories of the notorious ANGKOT (small public transportation bus) and its erratic behavior (click the angkot label below if you want to know more) and of funny Englishes that you can find in this city. What happens if both are combined?

Voila! At the back of this pink Angkot is written - please excuse me for writing it here - "Don't kiss my ass". What!?

I couldn't help but laughed when I saw and took this photograph.

Such is the street life in this city. There's always something going on if we really look. ^_^

Accidental Installation Art?

2010-07-29T12:45:00.005+07:00

While I was walking down the Asia Afrika street the other day, I spotted this interesting piece of - shall I say - art?

A painter was apparently trying to sell his painting on the pedestrian walk and hanged it on the steel bars of a closed shop. He also hanged his helmet next to it, therefore accidentally creating some sort of installation art (?). The vertical steel bars, the abstract painting, and the black helmet somewhat made an eye-catching composition that transformed the otherwise dull look of rusty steel bars on the sidewalk into something that's worth stopping and looking.

I don't know if the artist did it on purpose (he was not there when I took the photo, perhaps away for lunch). Being an artist, perhaps he did. If he did not, he certainly had accidentally and out of aesthetic instinct created an installation art display.

Installation art, as I understand it, is a three dimensional work of art that is designed to change/transform the perception of a space. It is usually made indoors. Those outdoors are usually called land art.

Family Fishing Trip

2010-07-26T10:29:00.003+07:00

It looks like people don't need to go to the rivers, lakes, or the sea anymore now to go fishing. This family seem to have a lot of fun fishing at Bandung City Square (the 'alun-alun'). Look what they are fishing though: magnetized plastic fish?

Making Batik

2010-07-24T11:14:00.003+07:00

These students of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education (UPI) are learning to make batik. The tool they are holding in their hands is called canting.

Canting is an Indonesian batik-making traditional tool that is used to apply wax in fine dots and lines on a cloth. It has a brass wax container head with needle spout and a bamboo or wooden handle (see picture).

If you are interested in learning how to make batik, here is an excellent illustrated step by step article that you may want to read.

Indonesian batik was designated by the UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2, 2009.

Basreng (Baso Goreng)

2010-07-22T20:21:00.004+07:00

An Australian student of mine once commented that Bandung's foods seemed to be eclectic. "They are made from this ingredient and that and various mixes and matches from ingredients of the existing recipes."

I didn't realize it then. But I think he's right. And basreng (baso goreng) can be an example. Baso (meat balls) is usually served steamed with noodle soup. Someone must have thought that there must be a new way to serve it. Hence he or she had this idea to fry it and serve it with spicy peanut sauce. And voila, it's basreng, fried meat ball served in or with spicy peanut souce.

Basreng is quite a popular street food. It's usually sold by a street vendor like in these photos.

Pre-wedding Photography Session

2010-07-21T21:57:00.006+07:00

What are the most favorite locations for pre-wedding photography sessions in Bandung?

Quite a few, I'd say. It depends on what kind of backgrounds and atmosphere you'd like to have in your photos: nature (pine forests, water falls, volcano craters, lakes, paddy fields) or urban environenments (parks, art deco buildingss, etc.). All of them are available here and can be reached within a couple of hours drive. Just discuss it with your photographer and she/he'll take you there.

Within the city, Asia Africa and Braga Streets are probably among the most popular for their oldies look because of the number of art deco buildings that line up these streets. Look at the photo above, which I snapped on Braga Street recently on one of my photographic walks. The paintings at the background - offered by art street vendors - make the location even more attractive to many.

The Ninjas of Bandung

2010-07-20T22:36:00.003+07:00

These authentic-looking Ninjas (Shinobis) in action are not real humans. These figures are only dolls made of pieces of cloth and bamboo sticks. They are made-in-Bandung souvenirs. They can be easily found on Cihampelas Street and other places of interest. They are inexpensive too. So next time you visit Bandung, you may want to get them for your friends and relatives at home.

A Super Train

2010-07-17T16:06:00.003+07:00

There are a number of trains that connect Bandung and its eastern and western suburban rural areas. These are what I'd fondly call "super trains" because they can and do carry anything and everything: people, farm produce, and sometimes even aminals.

The green bundles you see stacked at the doorways are banana leaves ready to be transported to the markets in the city center.

Electrical Generator Repair Station

2010-07-16T20:21:00.003+07:00

Having a car is expensive. Insurance, maintenance, and repair costs are especially of concern to many car owners. In Bandung, however, this doesn't have to be the case. Those who do not have an all-risk insurance coverage, can't afford to go an authorized repair station, or those whose cars are simply too old to be qualified for an insurance coverage can always get help from road-side repair stations like this should their cars ever need to be repaired. One should always exercise caution with this kind of repair stations of course. But many of them are very good and reliable, and charge only a fraction of the cost that you'd normally pay at an authorized service station.

In this photo is an electrical generator (dynamo) mobile repair station at Banceuy Street.

Banceuy Autopart Mall

2010-07-13T01:30:00.004+07:00

An all in one stop autopart mall is currently under construction at Banceuy. A clean, airconditioned, multistory building is soon going to replace and compete with store owners and street vendors who have traditionally been in business on this street for at least the past 50 years. As with the previous post, the photo here is also originally posted at my Bandung Street Photography Project blog.

A Street Portrait Painter

2010-07-10T22:58:00.003+07:00

This photograph is the latest addition to my Bandung Streets [Photography] project for the 200th anniversary of Bandung. To see the photo in larger size and other black and white photographs from the streets of Bandung, please visit the link. Thank you.

Ubi Cilembu

2010-07-05T17:35:00.003+07:00

Ubi Cilembu is a cultivar of sweet potato that is originated from the Cilembu village of the Tanjung Sari subdistrict, Sumedang, West Java. This cultivar of sweet potato is very special and highly in demand because of its special characteristics.

Ubi Cilembu has granular/crumbly and fluffier flesh texture and tastes typically sweet - some say it tastes like honey, therefore it is also called "ubi si madu" (honey sweet potato). Because of these characteristics, ubi Cilembu is best served roasted.

Ubi Cilembu is very popular among locals and visitors alike here and as such is highly in demand. Unfortunately, this cultivar has not been successfully cultivated anywhere else but in its native area. The yields of those cultivated elsewhere do not taste as good as those grown in their area of origin. Some say it has to do with the soil condition and characteristics. Ubi Cilembu is best grown on dry land. Therefore, it is available in abundance typically only during the dry season, between June and September.

If you happen to visit Bandung, you may want to taste it. It is usually sold in small roadside vendors like that on the above photo.

This is what the flesh of ubi Cilembu looks like when roasted.

Finding Opportunities

2010-07-04T13:07:00.005+07:00

I did not post yesterday because I had to go to Depok to attend a one-day workshop on the teaching of translation at the University of Indonesia.

The University of Indonesia campus at Depok is a lush, green, and forested campus with a man-made lake at the center. It also has many well-landscaped tropical gardens dotted with interesting sculptures like this one that I found in front of the building where we had the workshop.

The plaque at the base of this sculpture says that the title of this mixed-media sculpture is "Mencari Peluang ..." (Finding Opportunities). It was crafted by Iriantine Karnaya, one of Indonesia's top sculpturer, in 2007.

Creative Clay Lamp Cases/Lanterns

2010-07-02T21:51:00.003+07:00

I don't know what to call them, lamp case or lanterns? But hanged up there against the clear blue sky, they certainly look cute.

This is a Skywatch Friday post. Please check what other participating blogs have here.

CDPB July 2010 Theme Day: Watery Reflection

2010-07-01T15:52:00.002+07:00

In a reflection, everything is upside down and left side right, but everything is true to original.

This is CDPB July 2010 Theme Day post. Please "Click here to view thumbnails for all participants".

The World Cup Fever

2010-06-30T22:43:00.003+07:00

Children playing football at the parking lot of Stasiun Bandung.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup currently being held in South Africa seems to have got everybody infected with the football fever. A lot of people would watch the live broadcast matches on television even late into the night.

Football aside, playing on a busy parking lot like this is of course dangerous. Unfortunately, Bandung doesn't have enough open spaces and parks even for children to play, and the goverment doesn't seem to really care about it. All they care is about building malls, hotels, and shops. Sighs.

A 1968 Vintage Vespa Scooter

2010-06-29T11:35:00.002+07:00

A few days ago, while photograph-hunting on the streets, I came across this guy with his old vintage Vespa Scooter stopping on the northern part of Braga Street. Admiring his well-maintained scooter, I asked if I could take a photograph of him and his scooter. He agreed. I set my camera to sepia tone for the top photo to make it look old.

After taking the photographs, we talked a bit. He told me that he had two of them and that he was a member of the Bandung Chapter of Scooter Owners Group Indonesia. He also said that the group is an international group with branches in many other countries in the world. Members from other countries - especially those from the neighboring countries of Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia - often come here in search for old Vespa scooters, which, he says, are relatively easier to find and less expensive here.

Student Theatrical Performance, Part II

2010-06-28T19:11:00.005+07:00

Continuing on yesterday's post, here are the photos from the second theatrical perfomance produced by my students from a different class of Exploring Drama. The title they picked was "The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Commedy for Serious People" by Oscar Wilde.

I took these picture in the near-dark of the theater stage without the aid of flash lights. To get these pictures, I was forced to use the highest ISO rating my digital camera would allow. At ISO 3200, the digital noise is very visible.

Student Theatrical Performance, Part I

2010-06-27T22:00:00.004+07:00

Last week, my students from two different classes at the English Education Department of Indonesia University of Education (UPI Bandung) performed two theatrical performances for the final project of their exploring drama class that I taught.

The following pictures are from their performance of Our Town, an early twentieth century play written by an American playwright Thornton Wilder. I am posting these pictures in honor of their hard work.

The Largest Citrus Fruit in The World

2010-06-26T14:33:00.002+07:00

This is pomelo (Citrus maxima Merr., C. grandis Osbeck; C. decumana L.) , the largest citrus fruit in the world. Indigenous to the Indonesian islands and other South East Asian regions, the fruit that is locally known as "Jeruk Bali" (Balinese Citrus) is about 15 - 30 cm in diameter and weighs 1 - 2 kilograms each. The pomelo tastes much like grapefruit, mildly sweet and juicy.

The fruit's English name - pomelo - is derived from the Dutch word pompelmoes. The Dutch, as some of you know, was the former colonial ruler of the Indonesian archipelago.

The fruit is now in season here and many street vendors are selling them on the roadside like this one. I bought one yesterday.

Skywatch: Above The Clouds of Bromo

2010-06-25T23:24:00.004+07:00

Being located in the path of The Ring of Fire, Indonesia has a lot of active and dormant volcanoes. Although they can become a source of disastrous volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, many of these mountains are also stunningly beautiful, like this Mount Bromo in East Java.

My family and I went there sometime ago. This is one of the photos I took there. The mountain protruding from the clouds in the foreground is Gunung Batok (lit. "coconut shell mountain," named so because of its shape and color) and the white fumes at the background are the crater steam (?) emanating from Mt. Bromo.

It's Friday, time for photobloggers from around the world who are participating in The Skywatch Friday meme to show the photos of their skies. Please visit their blogs and check out what they have.

Chinese Checkers

2010-06-23T23:09:00.002+07:00

Contrary to popular beliefs, the Chinese Checkers actually has nothing to do with China. In fact it is just a version of Halma, a board game invented by George Howards Monks, a Harvard Medical School's surgeon, in 1883 - 1884.

The name Chinese Checkers was given - in 1928 - by Bill & Jack Pressman, the owners of J. Pressman & Co., the company that popularized the game. Previously, the game was called Hop Ching Checker Game. It was first patented by Ravensburger, a German games company, under the name Stern-Halma in 1892, only a few years after Halma appeared.

Like any board games, the Chinese Checker is a mind-engaging occupation. It's fun to play when you have nothing important to do like these men.

Old-style Weighing Scale

2010-06-22T16:04:00.002+07:00

These old balance-type scales are the weighing scales I used to see (and use at my mom's small grocery store) when I was a child. They are still very much in use in most traditional markets here, but I don't see them much anywhere else. Modern markets and supermarkets prefer to use electronic strain gauge scales because they are considered more accurate although, scientifically speaking, balance-type scales are actually more accurate because they are not affected by local gravitational force and/or temperature which can affect the spring type of scale, of which strain gauce scales are part. The cylindrical brass in the foreground of the picture, by the way, is called the masses. Here, their measurement is marked in kilogram scales: half an ounce (50 grams), an ounce (100 grams), a quarter of a kilogram (250 grams), a half a kilogram (500 grams), and a kilogram (1000 grams).

Taraje

2010-06-20T11:38:00.002+07:00

This man is selling bamboo taraje.

Taraje is the Sundanese word for ladders. The Indonesian language calls it tangga.

Bamboo ladders like these are as sturdy as and a lot cheaper than their modern aluminum counterpart. Unfortunately, they are not as durable as the latter.

A Skywatch Post: A Wet Summer

2010-06-18T17:52:00.003+07:00

It's been an extremely wet and 'chilly' summer (or dry season) here. Rains have been falling at an unusually higher rate for the month of June, which usually sees a lot of blue sky and sunshine here. I don't know what causes it. Perhaps it has something to do with the global warming (?)

This is the railway track near where I live one late afternoon last week.

Please visit other skywatchers here and see if these somewhat erratic weather patterns are also experienced elsewhere.