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)

Seaside Rendezvous (Nusa Dua)

I am excited at the thought of having meals by the sea. Beach is my fav holiday spot but it has just got into my mind that to this day I have never munched anything by the sea. Just a regular sip of soft drink at Kuta with Johan and Delsy was blissful. That was a good 10 yrs ago.

Sitting on the sand, not chair, while holding plates and chatting will be more interesting.

La Demoiselle de la Roche (Prambanan)

Part of reason I was curious to come here was to prove an article that described the interesting legend of this large complex of slender Hindu temples in Yogyakarta, Central Java. another part of me was a kind of sweet revenge for myself (I kinda regret the decision of not going on tour with my junior high school friends upon farewell graduation.)

The beautiful Lara Djonggrang is the subject of affection of a rebellious prince named Bandung Bondowoso. Her father’s kingdom was now seized by Bondowoso. And—if i’m not mistaken—her father plotted Djonggrang to marry Bondowoso to save the kingdom. The obedient Djonggrang was willing—with one condition.

Thinking that her condition was impossible to be met, she inquired Bondowoso to build a thousand temples in one night. Determined, Bondowoso agreed.

With the help of giants and devils, he worked hard. In the midnight, Djonggrang saw what was happening and she grew weary. Bondowoso has completed half of her request.

Djonggrang then gathered her entire household and armed them with lesung (wooden stick used to separate rice from its husk). Upon hearing the noisy sound, cocks responded to this with a cockadoodle doos, thinking it was dawning already. The giants and the devils fled instantly for they thought the sunlight might burn them.

The work was left unfinished. But that wasn’t final defeat. Bondowoso lost his temper and cast the maiden into a stone. Now the statue stands beautifully inside the center of the complex.

Perhaps the term “Kalau cinta ditolak, dukun bertindak” (When love is refused, evil psychic acts) was coined from it.

_________________________

Although Djonggrang was ill fated, the story shows that girls must be smart when dealing with lovelorn boys.

________________________

And I have just read Tolstoy’s A Peasant’s Wife and it tells about the same story: A tsar fell in love with Emilian’s wife and he ordered him to build a cathedral in one day otherwise he would take his wife. Emilian succeeded with the help of an unnatural force.

Why in order to win one’s heart one must build something?

__________________________

Back to Prambanan, I visited the temples in March 2005 with Rudy, Merry and Kiekie. A good long time ago. They were right, “if we don’t go now, maybe we have no next time.”

We found it difficult to go foursome to other places after each of us moved to different work places.

The thing is I found it enjoyable and exciting. When I was a kid, I read and reread Cip Cop magazine. I was like about 9 yo. In one article, they wrote about visiting Prambanan and how foreign visitors would rub lotions on her face “that Djonggrang’s face is very smooth”. The article was editorial spread and the picture was B/W. so I was quite surprised to see the temples with my own eyes. But surely I admit that the article provoked my imagination.

Inside the dark chamber I saw Djonggrang’s face was as smooth. And I told my travelmates about the article too. Interesting.

It can be reached about an hour drive or 2 hrs on bus. I was glad I was ready with lotions, drinking water, hats or umbrella—ella—ella, and a pack of only cheerful friends.

Xem

Behind the Boards (Balikpapan)

bird's eye view of the city by the coast

Kittens at Patra Beach

The nationally acclaimed chili crabs :)

I've heard these many times: Dia sudah ada di balik papan (he is already behind the "boards". Boards means coffin) or dia ada di suka bumi (he loves earth) to say that a person has already died. Silly jokes.

This Tuesday to Thursday, I was in Balikpapan! I don't know why but I love this city already.

i hadn't read much about it only remembered that Kompas ever highlighted the city for four days last year. And unfortunately, i forgot to bring my Lonely Planet. So i was left to discover the city myself. and that was fun.

I had not much time, but i've got Patra Beach entirely for myself (i went there at 06.00 am) and local night food market where i felt much at home. You can find "bakso Malang", "sate Kediri", "Bakmi Jakarta" everywhere (One chaffeur joked, Balikpapan is 1/3 part Java, 1/3 part native, 1/3 part oil companies). If you want to find local taste, it is a bit difficult. I expected to find some sauted fern (pakis), fried patin, deer satay, but found no other than yummy chilli crabs. Yum yum! especially deep fried chilli crab with black pepper sauce.

to me: its face is a bit Bintaro here, a bit Malang there, a bit Depok here and there. but of course, local touch (Dayak motifs and carvings) is ubiquitous. Most importabtly: it's clean.

Carbs!

Eye candy: red cenil and green jenang

one day i had nasi (steamed rice), sayur nangka (unripe jackfruit with coconut sauce), tempe (soy cake), and kerupuk (chips) for lunch. and for the dessert: cenil and jenang (meals made of rice flour).

then i was so full and hardly move. i wondered why. my, those menu above are consisted mostly of carbs!


my thesisi: Indonesians are carb nations. we love carbs because it is affordable. Most importantly carbs are comfort food. They have the ability to stuff stomach.

Carbs here also make good desserts, especially traditional ones that we call jajanan pasar. My favorites are cenil and jenang with brown sugar sauce (they're sticky and 'bouncy'), tape singkong or fermented cassava, tape ketan hitam or fermented black glutinous rice (the alcohol level is high, tee hee), gethuk or cassava paste rolled on grated coconut, klepon or rice flour coated brown sugar, and dawet or cendol (rice flour cakes in brown sugar and coconut milk sauce). oh, just mentioning the names makes me salivate. i'm hungry.

the good thing is, I can find them most anywhere.

Sem

Gaudi-ful

by Dadan Ramadhan

Whenever I come home for holidays, I think it should be meaningful ones for me. I always feel I am like a tourist. Back then, I took it for granted. I'd never known what I'd got until I missed it. But it was not too late because I still can come home and spend much time there.

One particular hotel that had long attracted me was Hotel Tugu in the center of the regency. It is a place of eclecticism, full of totems, Bhuddas, miniature Sphinx, chunky Moroccan garden lamps, and all fascinating artifacts.

I love one special spot which in my opinion it draws inspirations from Antonio Gaudi's art nouveau. It was special moment just lingering there.