Wide Eyed Adventure

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(photos by Diah R. Sulistiowati)

You come in the wrong time. That’s what people said to me, MbakDiah and MbakTeja. We came to Alor when the west monsoon came. The sky was grey all the time and the dark clouds kept sending heavy rain. The sea was welling up albeit remaining calm.

I could have drown in sadness and regret, but I just forgot to do so. Every thing I saw was quite new and I love the scenery. I indeed said to myself that it must be more beautiful to see them when it is not raining. But strangely enough, I just forgot to feel resentment.

All things bright and beautiful, even in bad weather.

I was surprised to find that even this old grey brain played a tune to the trip. I didn’t give command to open the file. It just played John Rutter’s song over and over: Look at the world, everything all around you. Look at the world and marvel every day…

Sleep Is...Overrated!

Garut, Jan 2012

My Nabire Diary: Day 5

06.00. Pagi ini asrama sepi. anak-anak banyak yg masih tidur. Hari ini libur. Libur apa, aku tanya. "Ini hari Injil Masuk tanah Papua, kaka." kata salah satu yg sudah bangun

Lucunya, pagi itu pas baca The Malay Archipelago sambil minum kopi, aku baca Wallace menulis tentang pelayarannya ke Papua. Dia mendarat dan diundang makan oleh Otto dan Geissler, dua misionaris yg datang ke Papua tahun 1855. wow, it's a coincidence!

Seperti Wallace, hari itu, aku pun berlayar... kali ini island hopping!

Nunggu kapal isi bensin lama bgt... 1 jam lebih! Untuk isi waktu, aku lihat-lihat sekeliling. Ada liveaboard nganggur di pantai. "Punya pemda," kata pemilik kapal. (Suatu hari, aku bakal keliling Papua naik liveaboard!) Teman-teman ada yg lagi asyik kumpulin benda-benda menarik di pantai. wow, ini pemandangan Stones and Sea: In the beginning, i was counting the stones on a seashore, looking for the precious things...

Saul the boxer nunjukin sesuatu yang bikin aku takjub. Dia pecahkan buah ketapang dan di dalamnya ada semacam kacang, seperti pistachio. "Coba makan," katanya. Hmmm...enak! kok bisa ya?

Aku pun coba mecahkan sendiri ketapang dan makan lagi bijinya. aaah enak! serasa pistachio goreng tanpa minyak!

Belum mecah ketapang ketiga, kapal datang. semua naik. aye aye captain!

Perjalanan 1,5 jam. Pulau Ahe di depan mata, tapi kapal belok ke pulau lain. pemandangannya indah. lagi-lagi kulihat pepohonan kelapa menjulang di antara pohon-pohon lainnya. gak kulihat tanda-tanda ada bakau, tapi tak apa.

gugusan kepulauan ini bagus banget. ada beberapa pulau kecil yang tampaknya spt limestone, ditumbuhi semak-semak dan pohon kelapa. apa mungkin ini mirip Raja Ampat? pantai-pantainya pasir putih, kontras dengan pantai di mainland yg warna hitam. 


Kapal menuju pulau yang berpenduduk. Siang itu panas banget, leherku sudah tersengat. terlihat di pantai, penduduknya lagi duduk-duduk di dipan raksasa di pinggir pantai, ngobrol dan tertawa bahagia. laki-laki, perempuan, anak-anak, 20 orang lebih. atap-atap rumahnya seng. Menara gereja terlihat paling menjulang di antara bangunan lainnya.

"Ya, mereka sudah lama tinggal di sini. air tanahnya bagus sekali di sini," sahut Pak Ernest menjelaskan alasan mereka tinggal di pulau, bukan di mainland. "Di samping karena ikan banyak ..."

kapten turun dan bilang, akan ke ketua adat, minta izin masuk Ahe....15 menit kemudian dia balik, bawa kabar: ada bule sewa Ahe. ah well, aku sedikit kecewa.

kapal ke arah utara. "kita ke Pulau Paput saja," kata kak Yoke. Sekitar 20 menit kemudian, di depanku pulau yg berhutan lebat, dipuncaki pepohonan kelapa, tampak tak berpenduduk. pasirnya putih. kapal merapat. di bawah padang lamun, jernih, tapi lantai lautnya tiba-tiba menukik tajam ke kegelapan. berarti jangan jauh-jauh renangnya, Sem, kataku.

pasirnya empuk! jadi tiap melangkah, kakiku terbenam sampai semata kaki...

Semua langsung makan, mengingat ini jam 14.40. Nasi hangat, tumis kacang panjang, dabu-dabu dan ikan goreng. makanan terlezat di pulau itu! ;) emang enak bgt!!!!

Abis makan, istirahat 10 menit, langsung nyemplung. waaaaaa bagus bangett! langsung nemu bintang laut biru. gak lama, angelfish yang gede-gede, teripang, dan....ular laut!!

nemu tiga bintang laut lainnya yang blm pernah kulihat seumur hidup. Seperti gunung, dengan duri-duri tajam di atasnya. yang terakhir malah punya ratusan alat hisap yang menempel kuat di telapak tangan...indah banget!

Ah, maunya sa bawa pulang semua! kataku, berandai-andai.

"Jangan kaka! nanti ko undang hujan besar dan petir!" kata seorang anak kecil.

oh ya? kenapa?

Dia jelaskan kepercayaan orang lokal: kalau ambil biota, laut akan marah, mengirim hujan besar dan petir.

wow.... aku pun menyebutnya kearifan lokal...

15.30, kami pulang...singkat memang, tapi aku senang. lain kali, aku kembali!

Again, To Dive For

(photo by Adrian Nugraha, Ricka Ristianti)

Phie suggested newbies to refresh diving each 6 months. With the exception of Rian and Ocha, none of us had dived since last April. we could not wait to plung. So here we were again. Too bad, Anien, Cupliz, Chokin, and Maria couldn't join the wet fun. 

Island hopping: Belanda, Magaran, Harapan, Kaliage, Kotok.

after the last dip, i climbed to the boat and lied exhausted. thought, ii'm going to die. but when i gazed skyward, saw a sea hawk soaring gracefully above Kotok. beautiful. thought, yesterday when i woke up , in my head was playing that song "my soul soars like an eagle up in the sky"

No more instant noodle during dive trip

I've a hate and love relationship with instant noodle. It is one of tastiest foods. it takes less fuel to prepare it, compared to preparing rice. everybody knows hungry travelers love instant food. yet one day i realized how uncool it is.

The night before, Rian and I were in the state of can't-sleep-without-stuffing-stomach-first. Ocha, Ricka, and Sena had gone to sleep. so we decided to unpack Trangia and cook two pcs of instant noodles. we crushed some chillis to add sting to the boiling noodles. we ate and then had a good night sleep on the island."Heavenly!" I said. "Hellish!" said Rian. "Sem, it's really hellish!" added he. he was referring to the hot broth.

came morning and we rushed to pack everything. we won't be returning to this island, so better hiurry, said Ricka. again Rian and I prepared instant noodle.

in the first dive, i coughed and i could smell the instant seasoning-flavored oxygen. it was hellish. i surfaced, feeling weak. Rian did too. on the second dive, i was completely weak and all i breathed tasted like neoprene.

thus i learned: avoid it during dive trips.

La Mer! Quelle Belle! (pt 2)

After some delay, we changed boat. it rained hard. we forgave the boat for having no plastic roof. it could speed! okay, we were already wet anyway.

landed we on that island with beautiful front whose shape is the its namesake. it belongs to somebody rich of course. we asked for permission and set up tents. Mamet and Echi fried the smaller fish and the rest of us were hungry cats. Now i knew the secret ingredient missing: salt. Tetty poured a pinch and the rest was history (all fish devoured).... Think i've come to know the meaning of "you are the salt of the earth". lol

after that Tetty and Umi decided to swim. some wind blew tetty's safety vest to the sea and she urged me to retrieve it! the sea was being unfriendly and the vest was drifting further. i jumped and grab it. sadly, i couldn't climb up the pier, so i had to swim to the shore, like 30 m from the spot. iws shocked to find everyone was posing and taking pics, ignorant to my suffering! damn! :) there was nothing relieving than airing my anger while joining the posing. it was a lol moment for us.

then we stare westward. the sky was bright with a golden ball. i couldn't say it was not beautiful. it was a mere sunset. i din find it romantic or whatsoever. i found it interesting only when friends began to mount their cams on tripod and meditated on the monitors. the sky changed colors like a lizard would: gold, yellow, pink, orange, dark red, blue. we watched it until it turned completely dark blue. thought, now that's beautiful.

the wind blew stronger and the wooden pier creaking. i chenged clothes and lied on the pier. Hamok and Tetty and i were talking of such and such, gazing at the starry sky.  then joined Bolang. and we talked of Mars, comets, stars--bright objects Ayu Utami termed "God's lamps". then joined Eep. how the topic changed i can't recall. reckon Hamok first brout it up: crossdressers or lady-boys. he talked of Madame X. another lol moment.

meanwhile friends were preparing dinner. my duty was collecting firewood to keep the flame. the smell was so inviting. who could resist grilled fish with soy and chilli sauce. yummy. and the boys played farah quinn. this is it.

i washed the dishes on the beach and was awed by the plankton. they twinkled in the saline water and on the sand. beautiful!

after the happy dinner, everyone busied themselves. Tetty asked for company to the pier. she wanted to shoot the stars. so Akbar and I went along, bringing sleeping bags to the pier. the wind blew strong and the chill pierced the bones, so we rolled into the bag. up there was only one bright star. Akbar left for some jacket. we talked about things including Wallace and stereotypes. a really hard talk. a bit unnecessary. lol. i guess i was carrying the weight of the world to this short holiday. lol

couldnt stand the wind. i farted time and again. so we returned to the campground, heating ourselves with hot tea and laying near campfire. heavenly! rain came, we went into the tents. sleep time.

Morning broke. Umi cooked water and i made coffee. it never fails to "push" some sensation. i relieved myself  on some secluded beach. i must say i love this experience :)

then Umi, Bolang and I plunged to the sea. the owner made many wave breakers that this particular beach was calm, while outside the borders the wave blew strong. under it was not impressive but i love the sight of millions of silvery roast. they're so tiny! then everyone joined the wet fun except for Mamet who slept again. it was a very pleasant dip.

we breakfasted on instant noodles and sandwich (bread + fake cheese + condensed chocolate milk). tasty!

we packed things and left. we bid farewell to the old guards. they were very old and nice, albeit demanding.

with that fast speeding boat we sailed to Pulau Kayu Angin Bira. suddenly i got too emotional. last november 2009, we camped there. from our tents, we had to walk 5 m long to the beach. now the spot was gone. Abrasion is swallowing. A sad scene. Last year we could easily find clams on the beach. now no longer

Kayu Angin Bira is a conservation island but unlike Semak Daun, it is not properly maintained. there's no sign of any attempt to plant mangrove seedlings.

after one hr, we left for P. Harapan. sailed to the mainland.

while we were eating, thought of this: always hard lessons i get while holidaying, especially when i heard someone, why can't you see the sign? it was talk about salt. again. lesson learnt.

all in all it was a pretty nice holiday.

La Mer! Quelle Belle!

did look forward to it although i knew that quick packing would result to  disappointments. At least i leave for the sea, thought. rushed to D'Best where Budi waited. and there was Akbar. off we went to Muara Angke.

The air smelt familiar but had no complain. it was a relief to be here. only there was one sad scene. the ambulance behind my cab was delivering someone to his/her final place. they brought that someone into the boat and off it went possibly to Tidung.

then came Bolang, Eep, Tetty, Umi, Hamok, and Echi. as always, Mamet was struggling with her time management. the air turned a bit cheerful. and we climbed up to the roof. all of a sudden, some men in uniform came and acted uncool. we were forced to climb down. i had no probs with it since it means the boat became rather full. not overpacked. funny that after some minutes, the boat headed back to the smelly port. Mamet somehow was a lucky devil. she jumped three boats to join us.

i slept most of the time. when we arrived something weird happened. "Mister, mister, good morning!" screamed some schoolgirls. I looked around, there wasn't any bule. my, they were calling...moi! i bet it was my hat, hiding my black hair? or was it our distance of a well of 20 m? i din want to make my small audience upset. so i spoke some english and they became more excited. alas, it lasted brief. as i approached they sensed something. i could see it in their eyes :) "not bule!"

Meanwhile we stuffed our stomach with loads of rice and sweet drinks. Umi tried to contact our boatmen. the contact denied our pleasure. he canceled the boat. how rude! so we waited for an hour for the next boat. and to cheer her up, i told my two stories: about a cranky-man-in-taxi-who-forgot-his-wallet-and-forced-to-owe-some-money-to-strangers and a man-who-thought-he-was-oh-so-fashionable-that-he-wore-swimming-trunk-and-did-mall-hopping.

"Take us somewhere nice where there are nice corals," inquired we. so the boatmen took us to the middle of the sea where the corals are dull and the current was strong. "OK, better take us somewhere to buy fish!" said Umi. So we ended up on a floating house. the "keramba" was neat and clean. about the size of a unit in an apartment. it perches on a solid formation of corals with white sands as its floor. it was probably the most comfortable keramba i've ever seen.

the fishes here were expensive so we chose not to buy any but to ...swim with them instead! oh yes! the owner collects some cool looking fish like parrotfish, clonfish, "ikan roa", and a barracuda! everyone jumped into it and made some mess, the white sands flew here and there. it was fun!

After that the shopping continued....there was two boats unloading their catch and we were fortunate enough to buy 7 kg fish. 5 "ikan salem" and 2 "ikan selar". Umi, Bolang, n Mamet fried some on the boat. and i could say it was the tastiest fish i've ever tasted: juicy, fresh, savoury and in a way, sweet....

The Wall

an awesome trip. unthinkable. how my buddies and i got through it is a wonder and we were glad we were able to enjoy each dip.

of course it will be ungrateful of me if i din thank the Lord for it. i still want to know what was on his mind when he created the life in the wall and the floor. moreover, what was on his mind when he created the universe? it's like this: where could i go? where could i run? nothing is beyond you!



as of today (earth day), I think he is thinking, what was on my mind when i created the universe?



(photos courtesy of thedivingdugongers)

First Dips

luv it! me and 9 other buddies had a big time UW at the Bush and Leaf and the Scout.

and I said to myself, what a wonderful world!

I have no fear of drowning
It's the breathing that's taking all this work

(Work, Jars of Clay)

Nobody's an Island (Kepulauan Seribu)

Nobody's an island, so ayn't I.

and then so ayn't my friends.

So together with Umi, Phie, Mamet, Echi, Rudy, Toto, Tetty, Uwi, Ifan, Leo, Yudhi, Ipul, I went on island hopping at Kepulauan Seribu.

At first, I din expect much considering the mighty west wind I 'encountered' with at Tidung. I only hoped for nice weather so I could observe more species in nice environment. And.... so be it: clear sky and waters, plus mild wind and undercurrent.

At the first plung, I instantly fell in love with the corals, fishes, and echinoderms. I also joined in the exciting echinoids (bulu babi) hunt. It's surprisingly edible and tasty! Using a stainless steel tongs, I disarmed four urchins!

When the night came, life at the beach was also wonderful. The water twinkled here and there with red LED-like flickers as though someone igniting matches in the water. Amazing!

The island hopping continued to the ever famous Pulau Putri with its submarine-like 'seaquarium'. After that, they jumped to the water. the corals and the fish are colorful here and the site is vast. I felt blessed at the sight of a neon green clown fish aka nemo aka ikan guri, swimming here and fro, guarding his anemone. (It was a good beginning too for me for I swam around sans life jacket!)

In the sea of Broccoli (Tidung island)

i rolled into Methods of language Research or MPB (worth 4 credits) class back in the college years. did it simply because I wanted to .... travel.

alas, the class din go to Tidung nor Cirebon for field research.....

but years later came my time to visit this Maldives of Jakarta. Maladewa!

my heart din lie so din my face. i couldn't wait to pack things into my new 30 liters backpack and went straight to Muara Angke onboard the ship. i slept at 00.00 and woke up at 05.00. the alarm cut an ending of an exciting dream (well, i woke up smiling and eager) i couldnt remember. i was also happy for my new bag and sandals, also life vest and snorkel. and goggle

arriving at 6.45 and the engine had already been coughing constantly, I was relieved to see Marley's face, also others' which I recognised from previous trip: Rian's, Nya Nyu's, Ricka's, Titiw's, Tessa's, Anin's, Ime's, and later Nugi's. I also saw new friendly faces.

SAIL AWAY
half an hour later the boat set off and i tried to amuse myself with ever unreadable The Great Gatsby. i also tried to converse with Riri. She studied sea stars and is an avid diver. but then i yawned and yawned. the conversation was interesting but my eyes just wouldnt tolerate. so i excused myself and laid asleep for the next 2 hrs. i woke up and abt 30 min later the boat kissed the pier. i made some acquaintances and got ready for lunch and bike.

BIKE
It took a boring moment for the delivery of the bikes. i felt fatigued and wanted to do it (biking) without further ado. the bikes finally arrived and everyone got one. i took the lead. the tracks were exciting: tall grasses, masses of coconut trees and occasional sharp surprises of pandanus leaves. it was fun that i din realize the front tire has flatten!

(photo Matt Rahmat)

there i went, heading to the wooden bridge. i couldnt count how many coconut trees were "sacrificed" to make it. it's in the poor condition, some planks disappeared and it is weathered down so to speak. there were workers dragging concrete columns. they are replacing the planks with those slender pieces. the water under the bridge is crystal clear and the visibility is high. grasslike vegetations thrive in the shallow water and near the orange boat grow a cluster of broocoli like reefs. superb!

PLUNG
i plunged into the sea in the afternoon, day 1. the visibility was about 1.5 m (sun was setting) and the temperature of the water varied: warm, cold, lukewarm within meters. it was great to try my life vest for the first time.


exhausted from biking and diving (I rode with front tire entirely flat!), i ate much. the grilled tongkol (of tuna family) tasted so good. crisp outside, tender and smoky inside. and the taste of the sambal was terrific! the hostess also cooked us a huge pile of scallop (kerang darah), caramelized.

DAY 2
in the morning we rode again (i got a new bike) in search of sunny side up and its golden rays. we arrived ath the bridge at 6.00 and later we got the sunrise show, followed by a morning meal delivered to us: simple dish of rice, kerupuk, and fried egg, sambal and hot tea.

we biked to the tomb of a local warrior, the first settler of the island. it was faithfully guarded by an old man people call Engkong. he's got a big cat and clean front yard. then we walked to the beach and the bladelike grass greeted my bare leg. funny though. i combed the beach with Adrian and found some spot full of sea stars! amazing. five points and all i remember was my conversation with Riri. I spotted their eyes!

Adrian and I took some plung at the edge of the reefy beach. shallow waters with full of corals, colorful and most of them were new to my eyes. love it!

despite some bruises and cuts I loved the experience. so i raise my glass again for MPB and again for the islands!

Into the Blue (The Story of Sasha, Donita, & Chris)*

Pak Salim: so you want to release them?
Moi: Yes
PS: but the weather ain’t good. Wait til 4
M: but we are leaving at 1
PS: Okay, go on, quick, select 3. one for each of you.

Cika and I were quite puzzled to select which ones. I was confused. I felt like I had a great responsibility. I felt like a god, that I can choose my best picks. I also felt like stupid, because even if I had set my eyes on the chosen ones, I didn’t know them! At all.

So I chose two which responded to my finger’s call. They flocked everytime they see something moving on the water.

PS: sign this, quick!
M: OK (a bit intimidated: what for?)
PS: here, here. They prefer calm water, quick.

I think quick is his favorite word.

We could not get more excited to feel the living cute creatures on our palms. I divided my attaentions to Fi and to these tukik (fledglings).

Young man: You must name them.
M: Okay… Sasha and … Donita! (after Pivovarova and Rose, sooo obvious!)
Cika: Chris!

M: Ah, well....

YM: they will return to this place 20 yrs from now.

We clapped our hands to boost their morale as they marched into the sea—a place they had known long before they hatched, I guess. They marched like they responded to a call. Soo amazing!

Sasha—the biggest in size—was the fastest. She (or he?) reached the water first and swam right away. Chris—the smallest—followed and roamed a while. While Donita stayed.

YM: perhaps she gets a little bit depressed. You handed her too long.

M: My apologies, Donita!

I thought Donita needed some encouragement, so I took her to the water and she remained a bit calm before set sail eventually.

Bye bye friends! Bon voyage!

(I think of them often. They must find their own meal for the first time. Godspeed!)

* Sasha, Donita, & Chris are hawksbill turtles. They are 3 month old. Hawksbill are native to the islands. Eggs hatch after 55 days. Each has 13 scales on their back. They are migratory and have keen navigation and they usually mate when they reach the age of 30.

(all photos by Fi)

Pulau Pramuka Pt II

morning on the pier

Previously I thought you need a blue sky hoooooliday . . . (citing Powter's Bad Day)

Well, there was a new color up above on the last holidays.

perhaps i was way too excited when Vit told me Dania was igniting the idea. the last time we went there was a good two yrs ago.

in my mind was blue and sunny sky and long pistachio (uhm, whitish yellow) beaches.

But the night before, it was raining hard. Vit and I got wet even before waking up on the d-day (we went out to eat some instant noodle and were met by heavy rain). I ignored it, hoping that the day after would be clearer.

in the morn, Apis, Adi, Dania and Adi, Lenny, Sofyan, Ninus and Lia met us at Grogol and took a drive to Muara Angke Port. for Apis, Adi, Dania's Adi, Ninus and Lia, it was thier first time.

It was drizzling. We boarded on the top of the boat to get the best view. Thankfully this time we had a nice and fast boat with tolerable engine noise. I hardly slept but Sofyan's demeanor and Lia's makeup session kept me entertained.

two and a half hour later we landed on Pulau Pramuka safely. We had nice housing there by the beach which Sofyan reserved for us. Vit and I darted to Two Flowers Cafe (formerly Two Flower Cafe) and ordered what Vit called affectionately "soto yang ngangenin" (I dont know it in English, perhaps homecoming soup, so to speak). I din know but my appetite soared here. I was constantly hungry.

anak pulau (LR: Lia, Dania, Vit, Adi, Lenny)

the real anak pulau

I saw many a sad face as if they were reflecting the gloomy sky. It was the day of high school graduation announcement. I overheard the crowd, they were in the middle of a hot topic, topic of the island, topic of the week: 97 students din make it (one and only high school in the nearby islands) only 16 made it. (And i felt a bit sorry too.)

We later paid some visit to turtle sanctuary and had a good laugh especially when Sofyan found a new species, Penyu Kundang (perhaps cousins to Malin Kundang). And the tukik (the hatchlings) were so cute and it was the first time for us to see them feeding on fish flesh.

LR: Sofyan, Vit, Ninus, Adi, Lenny

Finally, it was sailing time! We jumped on board. the driver of ojek kapal (chartered boat) was no stranger. He drove us two years ago with the same boat. The clouds was heavy on our head but we din lose hearts. We headed to Pulau Air.


The island remained the same and I had the opportunity to observe the towering conifers (native to the island) from a close distance. The ship was halted to land because a local said "X is here". So we chose a remote spot of the island where the strait was calm and turquois.

the sky above Semak Daun Island

Adi was first to jump into the water and crossed the strait. Sofyan and Lenny later joined and crossed the 10 meters strait. When Pak Salim carried the buoy, I thought I could make it. So I swam. Good Lord, it was a big mistake!

the current below was fast and I began to tremble. I was exhausted in the mid and felt that the current was holding me and drifting me further. But i managed to cross and landed my feet on the sharp reefs. It was no fun at all.

Later Sofyan and I swam together across. Every move seemed to take us nowhere. Stupid eh? I wished I stayed ashore and adopted "turtle laying eggs" style of relaxing :)

Surprisingly, Ninus, Dania and Lia were brave enough to swim across together with the buoy. The current drifted them farther. But their faces were bright with smile. Me ashamed

While laying on the sand I could hear a strange but beautiful music the wind made. It blew smoothly through the conifers and it was like the sound of smooth whistling . . . This music lulled me to sleep as I felt headache and heavy breaths onboard. Apis was also running out of breath, so we slept.

I woke up as the boat reached Pulau Karya (formerly Pulau China). We stopped to drink some hot tea and coffee here to revive our strength. The island itself is relatively small island with a football field in the middle. In weekends it is calm because people (pegawai negeri, government employees) only come to work on weekdays. It was nicely decorated island with some government buildings around. There are Police Office, Navy Office, etc and--I dont know it in English--Departemen Agama where Sofyan, Vit and I took temporary shelter from the rain (I forgot to ask the divorce rate on the islands).

A half round trip (we stopped a while to inspect Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Bayu or Wind Powered Electric Engine to imagine our friends named Bayu work their muscle to power the engine, haha) and we went off to bandeng fishery island nearby. We couldnt land because they were mending the pier, so we went to a giant floating swimming pool.

I thought if we plunged, we would go straight to the ocean floor, but Pak Salim said no. It looked inviting and calm but only Adi and Sofyan dared to swim. As soon as Sofyan plunged, a dead fish afloated. See how strong Sofyan's smell was, we joked.

the night fell and the rain was a loyal friend. We chatted at the saung (gazebo) and later gathered on the terrace to greet four fellow travelers. and in the midnight the rain poured and lightning blasted. we had a good night sleep.

In the morning there was no sunrise view. It was still gloomy but we were happy to take some walk on the pier and the beach, discussing that there was no sleep walking here but sleep fishing. This kind of activity proved to be stress relieving as a local confessed in the night on the pier. He was fishing (squiding?) for squids using mock prawn (plastic) lure.

After breakfast, we combed the left side beach and did some shell collecting (Lenny started it when she found a giant clam, complete with both disks. Sofyan also did). I finished first so i waited for them and ordered some hot noodle and tea.

It might not be a blue sky holiday, but we had a very good time here and are looking forward to return there.

Xem

Dip Deep!

You need a blue sky hoooooliday

(Morning at Pulau Pramuka, Nov 2006)

Pulau Pramuka: Turtle & Soto

farewell to Nelly

this is rainy season and i miss Pulau Pramuka (PP). the last time i went there was sunny and warm. i had a vey good time there: swimming, boating, eating, basking, singing, photographing.

my friends and i sailed about 3 hours from Muara Angke pier to PP on that noisy diesel powered boat. we mounted on the top and have the best view and the bluest sky we'd ever seen.

the wave rocked gently and we didn't talk much because the view was so amazing and none of us had ever gone there before.

at 12 we landed on the PP. the surrounding water was clear and schools of fish roamed here and there. and the pink jellyfish added to the beauty.

like many other islands in Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu), PP's beach have been heavily transgressed by the sea water. but it has unwalled, white sand beach on its back side of the island where the abrasion shows no lethal threat.

the island is about half the size of Ragunan Zoo or about 5 ha, .

we stayed at a local house. it was a 5 x 2.5 m upper room with spacey terrace with beach view for only Rp 250,000 or USD 25 for 11 of us.

after securing the shelter, we rent ojek (rent boat) to go islands hopping for the fare of Rp 250,000. we went to uninhabited Pulau Semak Daun and once commercial Pulau Air. we had much fun there, from free diving, photo shoots (we did 2007 calendar), to scavenging garbage in search of cast sandals (Victor and I lost our beloved sandals).

we returned to PP and had lunch, it was soto ayam. this was the spiciest soto (turmeric chicken soup) i'd ever tasted. the coconut milk was thick and the turmeric was so generous with occasional eruption of salt and leek. and the food cost inexpensive even for an island 40 miles far away from mainland Java.

the island itself is one of 10 inhabited islands in the cluster of 108 islands in the Thousand Islands. it has schools, from preschool to high school, cyber cafe, hospital, and football field. so there are plenty activities here.

and the most exciting part is the turtle farewell party. the island houses the best turtle sanctuary in Jakarta. Pak Salim (58) has been collecting turtle eggs around the islands for more than 2 decades. for his initiative and vision, he has been given various awards. he led me to his sanctuary. its garden served as mangrove nursery. the sprouts are kept until they're 3 months old before transfered to the beach. nearby, i saw a caged heaps of sand. it was the site of unhatched eggs. each mound was labeled and dated. then i entered a building with many a blue container in which the turtles live.

i saw many hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). so amazing. the cute reptiles swam here and there and they looked like angels when seen from above. their front feet often rest on the scaly back that they it resembled shoulders. you should see it yourself. really.

when my friends later joined, Pak Slamet said we could release the tukik (hatchlings) to the sea. he arranged them on the beach seawise. in seconds, they turned the direction instinctively and marched into the sea, to the calling of Mother Nature. so beautiful and moving.

i wanna go back there, soon as the rainy season ends.

Sem

Four First (Kepulauan Seribu)

‘seriously?’ asked i.

vit nodded, broad smile.

At our contracted house. Vit played the cassettes and transcripted the conversation.

‘what is cat in your tongue?’, ‘how do people call banana?’ etc came the annoying secret taping. It was dea with a warung owner.

The tale was so exciting: the island’s size is twice soccer field and the area code is 021—jakarta, a spring in the middle of the island, the schools [kindergarten to junior high school] and Nana couldn’t help but inserting coins to call her overtly jealous bf.

They slept at local houses. And they din forget to have fun: renting a motored boat to a nearby island to collect memorabilia. Nimas later told that the turbine was grapped by kelp it couldn’t move that they release all the collected items including the ‘living’ ones: sea stars. Thought it was fun especially when vit showed me the photographs of the boat, the island, and him as a rickshaw [becak]. The sea!

So 3 semesters later I enrolled myself to the class of ibu sri and prof muhajir. Language researching methods. All for the sake of traveling to tidung island: big and lesser tidung at thousand islands [kepulauan seribu]. The class consists of female students except moi. From the beginning I thought to myself, I doubt ibu sri would get us there.

It happened to be true and I’d got C for it! how come? I roared. Jenni and vita resent my resentment, ‘hey come on, you can wash it later’. ‘washing means taking the same credits next semester. C for 4 credits meant a lot. So I sued ibu sri, telling my proposal was for case study not literature—of course I whined about not going to tidung. She gave up and gave me B! hahahahaha. For the first day in the week I could smile. Jenni and vita also smiled.

So, when came the offer from kbspi historia, I got excited: tour to 4 islands for the price of 300,000 rupiahs! I told cika and she got excited too [upon hearing bidadari island]. I wanted to ring vit, but I was sure he wouldn’t come [now I doubt] or martha.

At muara kamal, Cika and I took the front seat in order to get the first view of everything. Eka introduced herself to us. So I shook some hands before returning to my own seat to calm myself from [the boat was rocking and I sat stiff, hahahaha].

4 yrs later on september 16 here I was at onrust island. I couldn’t believe it! hahahahah

Landed and we were hushed to ‘hajj registration office’ to talk of history! I thought, hey let’s take some fresh air before digging the memory!

I thought, it’d be easier to make friends when you are in the same boat—literally speaking, meaning you have a reason or cause to talk to each other. But it never happened.

We din lose hearts especially by taking pictures the way tpi guys did and enjoying ourselves in the beach [if only I swam!] and getting tanned :)

The four islands (Onrust, Bidadari, Cipir, Kelor] were fantastic and mysterious. Why these island? The history boy said, ‘there were only 5 islands used by the dutch: these four and edam which takes an hour by boat’. Sounds like cheese.

ONRUST
meaning not resting, was once used by banten princes for ‘seaside rendesvouz’ due to its cool sandy beach. In 1610, the dutch [east indian company, voc] used the island for commercial use. The Brits destroyed it in 1803, 1806, and 1810. rebuilt, it was later swallowed by tidal waves from krakatoa eruption in 1883.

From 1911-1933, the dutch used it for hajj quarantine. The pilgrims must stay there for about 3 months before leaving for the holy land. the tour leader said that ‘haji and hajjah’ are titles created by the dutch for political reasons [but how about tolstoy’s ‘hajj murad’?]. we slept inside hajj registration office by the pier. It was cool inside, no mosquito. I imagined how the pilgrims slept in barracks with metal roofs and 1.5 m tall walls. The island served as epidemy quarantine (1950-1960) and for beggars quarantine (1960-1965). In 1968 the island was deserted and nearby people robbed the materials that only foundations and toilets left to tell their past glory. Sad, eh?

The island is approx 7 acres from the previous 15 acres in 1700’s.

BIDADARI

Whereas the other island sheds their greenery, bidadari is evergreen, superficial—that is, commercial. We went to a bastion [fortress] where java jive filmed their clip back to 12 yrs ago. Two weeks prior our visit, there was a rave party in the fortress. That was shy I saw garbage, spilt foods and vomits, and nails that ruined the ruins. Very romatic for photo shoots esp pre-weds :) It was beautiful and I like the sight of big lizards [biawak] roaming back and fro the beach.

CIPIR

Or kahyangan island was one connected to onrust. Nothing special but remains of barracks. I noted some bush there: graceful, thornless, evergreen. None knew its name. The twilight was so beautiful, too bad we set wrong size for the photographs.

KELOR

About half a soccer field, 15 min by boat in friendly waves [when tide was high, the waves get mad easily] 5.30 in the morning. The martello fortress was still there, beautiful and 60 % complete. I met a feline there. She has 2 shy kittens that feeds on patinlike fish [ibet the fishermen gave it to the lonesome feline]. How she mated remained a mystery. The beach was beautiful and the kelp grow like mat. Wished I had swam! Next time, I’d wear no goody bag shirts and strike more vogue pose, hahaha.

Listening to the stories was enchanting and a bit scary [especially at night tour]. The islands were bloody, built upon sweat, blood, tears--perhaps, and misery. Still amazed on how the Dutch built the red and yellow bricks. So strong that they withstand the rough climate and years. Some parts of the islands were ‘bruised’ by concrete mixture of wave breakers.

Still curious on how the animals multiplies there. I saw lizards, mourning doves, plenty of fish—caught by fishermens, crabs, hermit [what d you call keong?], and sea snake! Chartered car driver told of __ island, home of many phytons, which none dare to land

I've nothing to complain about now and am looking forward to going there again!

(Sept 06)