Java Jamboree: One Early Morn

Would you wake up at three or four in the cold, dark and dreary morning just to visit a place? Just the other day, a friend asked me to join him in a one day trip to Ikea, the Swedish-Dutch company specialising in furniture in Kuala Lumpur but I declined since I had to wake up at four a.m. for the trip. In Surabaya, Indonesia, however, I remember having to wake up around this odd hour just to make a trip. It was after the sumptuous dinner in the Javanese restaurant and we had left immediately for our hotel. I remember the white walls of the little room, the not so clean white bed linen and the not so comfortable bathroom but we really were in need of a place to clean up and to rest our tired bodies. The room did not come cheap; in fact it was one of the most expensive we had paid while in Java and we had only but a few hours to catch up on sleep. I can't remember sleeping well and suddenly, it was time. Groggily, I made my way to the vehicle which would take my friends and I to watch the sun rise from behind Mount Bromo...


Watching the sunrise in Mount Bromo...

Traveling Tip: Wake up early if you must!

Reminisce: Rendezvous at KLCC

It was towards the end of 2004. Taipei 101 in Taiwan had yet to be completed. The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which had been designed by Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli was still the official tallest buildings in the world. It was under this circumstance that I met up with Mau Wei and Hoi Thien. Both of them were planning on a trip to the historical town of Malacca which was 148 km south of Kuala Lumpur. I was in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, putting up the night with my nephew and Mau Wei was around somewhere in Kuala Lumpur too, putting up with her friend. Hoi Thien was taking a bus down from Taiping and we had made a pact to meet in KLCC - that was Suria KLCC, the shopping mall below the twin towers. It was very convenient to take an LRT from Wangsa Maju to KLCC and I was there in no time. Then, Mau Wei came and then, Hoi Thien, with her bag of clothes and all! She lugged that along when we strolled round KLCC park and even when we were in a cineplex watching a Japanese movie! When the show ended, we called it a day. The girls asked if I would go to Malacca too but I declined, wanting very much to do something else. That, perhaps, ended with the utmost regret...


Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers...

Mau Wei and Hoi Thien at KLCC Park...

...Queuing up to buy tickets for aJapanese movie...

Java Jamboree will be back!

Take Five! Seafood

Java Jamboree is taking a break!

In Malaysia, seafood restaurants could be found all over the country especially in coastal towns where seafood almost always come fresh and cheap. In Kuala Sepetang, once known as PortWeld, for example, there are seafood restaurants run by Chinese which serves other than fish and prawns, crabs, cuttlefish, shellfish etc. etc. Often when my friends and I meet up, we would frequent the restaurants and yes, it is a delight to just sit, eat and talk!



For more stories on Kuala Sepetang, visit Beautiful World!

Java Jamboree: Javanese Delights

I remember having a rather sumptuous Javanese dinner on the last night in Surabaya. We had returned from the Agro Park and it seemed like in no time at all that we landed on this spacious posh Javanese Restaurant. Walking into its big hall, we were confronted with tables and chairs where patrons could sit and enjoy their food while enjoying a performance on the stage. Traditional handicrafts like masks and wayang kulit puppets spruced up the place and there was a crowd of smiling young men and women dressed in traditional Javanese costumes to wait on the guests. Very soon, we were ushered into a room of our own. There were antiques like old gramophone etc. and on the table was a spread of Javanese food. Of course, there was tempeh or tempe, this popular Javanese food made by fermenting soybeans. My friends were visibly delighted with the dinner...

At a Javanese Restaurant...

Traveling Tip: Try something local!

Java Jamboree: Around Surabaya

Surabaya, formerly Soerabaja, is believed to have derived its name from the words sura or suro which means shark and baya or boyo which means crocodile. According to a local myth, a giant white shark and a giant white crocodile fought each other to gain the title of the strongest and most powerful animal. Today, the two animals are used as the city's logo. A statue of the two could be found near the entrance to the city zoo but my friends and I had not the privilege to see it despite the fact that we took a tour round the city. We did not visit any zoo, not even the Bonbin Surabaya which is supposed to be one of the famous zoo in South East Asia. We did take a peep at the inside of a modern shopping complex and browsed through Monkasel or Monumen Kapal Selam a.k.a the Submarine Monument. Nurseries offering ornamental plants and garden paraphenalia lined a long stretch of road somewhere in the city and everwhere there seemed to be mosques. The mosques in Surabaya seemed rather colourful and each and every single one, big and small, seemed rather bold in colours, unique, I would add but we settled only for the Masjid Al-Akbar. We stopped there for a while to take snapshots of the holy place. I suppose that must be the Grand Mosque of Surabaya, the largest mosque in East Java...


Having a field day in Surabaya...


...Submarine Monument...

...inside a shopping complex...

...Masjid Al-Akbar...

Traveling Tip: You can't have it all!

Java Jamboree: A Secret Garden

My friends and I passed the dying town of Porong again when we returned to Surabaya. We requested for a brief stopover to have a view of the otherside of the embankment but there was a heavy traffic in the area and the guide said we were rushing for time and had thus, not the privilege. However, during both our journey to and back from the Agro Park, we had stopped at a delightful eating shop. It was a spacious place and there was a big crowd both times when we were there. I suppose the specialty was the crispy deep-fried fish. It was really a marvellous lunch. On the return journy, just before we left the place, I went to the toilet and had a peep at the garden. Oh! There was a lovely pond with beautiful lillies. I didn't see it the first time around...

Lunch on the way...

The secret garden!

Traveling Tip: Take a second look!

Java Jamboree: It's the Garden of Eden!

Entering the Agro Park in Surabaya, Indonesia requires a small fee and visitors will be given a welcome strawberry drink and later to another glass of apple juice and the right to pick two apples from an apple tree of your choice. And here then lies our delight! My friends and I, all from the Tropics were thrilled to be able to pick real apples from real apple trees. It was not that there was no apples at home; in fact there was an abundance of apples in fruit shops and supermarkets and while apple trees could not be found in the lowlands, there were a few in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia and these were behind locks and keys. Then, of course, these apple trees were like the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden and you could just peer at the trees and the apples from behind fences, salivate too if you have to but in no condition, would you lay your hands on them! In Surabaya, it was like there was Eve around, now in the guise of the guide, cajoling you to take a swipe of the apples and you'd do just that, even though it was rather expensive considering thatone has to pay about RM 25 for two apples but then who cares. Those two apples would probably remain the most expensive we had ever bought but they did bring the utmost joy and probably, no one would mind growing another Adam's apple!


At the Agro Park in Surabaya...

Choosing your apples!

Apples!

Taking snapshots of the apple you have plucked with your own bare hands....

Traveling Tip: Don't forget the simple joys in life!

Java Jamboree: Apple Trees in the Tropics!

The air was rather cool when we reached there. It was not just that it was going to be evening -An hour or two perhaps, darkness would fall and like all tropical countries, night was always cooler. But the coolness here was different, it was unlike the coolness of the tropical night which was not really cool at all, what with the discomfort brought about by the high humidity and all. The coolness here was more like the coolness in a temperate country and and it was brought about by the high altitude. We had reached the Agro Park and I assume it was the Kusuma Agro Wisata Park we were visiting. The said Park is one of the spots to go to when travelling out of Surabaya and since it had been touted as an apple and orange plantation in the Batu area, this must be it! Here, there were apples growing out of real apple trees and we were in the the Equator!

Visiting an Agro Park...

Apple trees!

Traveling Tip: Revel in the unexpected!

Java Jamboree: For Adults Only

Forget Kelereng, Bekel or Kuda Lumping - these are just traditional toys for Indonesian children. There is a more interesting game for adults and all you need would be just a bamboo pole smeared with oil. Hang some goodies at the top of the pole and get young men to climb the pole to retrieve the goodies and voila! You'd have an interesting game which brings tremendous delights to both participants and spectators! On our way to Batu, we saw just this game and our guide kindly stopped the car so that we could have a first hand view of the traditional game and take snapshots of it. Then, I remember seeing a bicycle hanging at the top of a bamboo pole in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and I figure this traditional game was organised in conjuction with Indonesia Independence Day. Indeed, the whole of Java was having a jamboree!


A game for the adults...

Traveling Tip: Go traditional!

Java Jamboree: The Long Crawl

I remember a long and boring journey out of Surabaya to Batu, a town in East Java, Indonesia which before 1945, used to be a recreation place for the Dutch colonial officers. There was a massive jam especially when we were approaching Porong and at times, when the vehicles came to almost a standstill, enterprising Indonesians would come to see if you'd buy fruits or cigarettes from them. Porong which was 14 km south of Sidoarjo city must be an important area once. There were supposed to be oil and gas fields here and our guide told of a massive gas leakage there which I gathered, resulted in the death of the town. Suddenly, I realised many of the shops there were deserted and there were big embankments by the roadsides. Some locals had crowded at the top of the embankments and the guide gave the impression that they were viewing a dead town at the other side. I could imagine leaveless trees and deserted houses immersed in mud, and with just their roof tops in view. We wanted to stop and join the locals up there but our guide said we lacked time. Perhaps, during our return journey we would make a stop and we really should for this is where I think, we could witness the Sidoarjo mud flow . Since May 2006, approximately 2,500 m³ or 88,000 cubic feet of mud which is equivalent to the contents of a dozen Olympic-size swimming pools, had been expelled and the mud flow though under control then, would continue indefinitely. It was said that on May 28, 2006, PT Lapindo Brantas, an Indonesian oil and gas exploration company drilled for gas here.During the second stage of drilling, the drill string went deep to about 2,834 m (9,298 ft) and without a protective casing, water, steam and a small amount of gas erupted. Two more eruptions then occurred. Hydrogen sulphide gas as well as hot mud, thought to be at a temperature of around 60 °C (140 °F) were also released. The guide said that it is stifling and hard to breath if you were up on the embankment...


A long crawl to a dead town...

Traveling Tip: There are things to see on the way!