Mekarsari Fruit Park: Bogor, West Java

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Mekarsari fruit park in Bogor is striving to restore its image as a recreational site, not just a place where visitors can pick and feast on fruits of their choice. “Most people seem to think they can get fruit out of season anytime they come here. It’s not exactly right. We are a fruit conservatory, not a fruit farm,” park public relations officer Catherina W. Day.

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Rafflesia Traders: Semarang, Central Java

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | 1 Comment »

Sutrisno waits for customers for his plants in the Sigar Bencah area of the Central Java capital Semarang. He and other residents claim the flowers are rare Rafflesia parasitic flowering plants, known as walur among the villagers and as bunga bangkai (corpse flower) for their foul odor. “I heard that these flowers can be sold so I search for them,” said Sutrisno, a farmer, who was selling five plants on the side of the road for Rp 25,000 each. Two high school students, Heri and Mahrus, said they spent their free time looking for the flowers in the hills around Sigar Bancah.

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Penataran Temple Protected: Blitar, West Java

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

style="margin-right:7px;" border="1"/>Zulaika rested under a tree near Penataran Temple in Blitar, East Java and she appeared to focus on a group of children playing on the temple’s stairs. The temple’s complex is located in Penataran district and locals said it would without doubt see some affects if Kelud volcano, which has been sitting on a top alert status since Oct. 16, were to erupt. Two other nearby temples, Sewu Temple and Ngambar Temple, would suffer the same fate, locals said.

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Indonesians in Focus: Ay Tjoe Christine

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Among the young contemporary Indonesian artists, Ay Tjoe Christine takes a special place. Hardworking, and commanding a variety of techniques, she is also blessed with great integrity. She has exhibited internationally, and her works find appreciation from curators and collectors alike.

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The Link Between Earthquakes and Volcanic Activity

November 1st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Experts say the tectonic quakes that recently struck Java and Sumatra might be responsible for triggering increased activities at several volcanoes on both islands. A seismologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Nanang T. Puspito, said the tectonic quakes that occurred along the West Sumatra and southern Java coasts over the past week have likely increased activity in a number of volcanoes. Nanang said plate movements below the earth’s mantle could increase the pressure of the upper magma pocket of a volcano and trigger an eruption followed by volcanic quakes.

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Indonesians in Focus: Dindin Komarudin

October 31st, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

The problems that street children face are rooted in poverty and social exclusion, and are not amenable to quick-fix solutions. People might assume that street children are not suited to working in the business sector, yet one man holds the belief that going into business will bring street children long-term benefits.

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Indonesians in Focus: Djoni Basri

October 29th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

In most Indonesian cities the principal crossroads are graced — or disgraced if you like — by statues in the style known as Soviet Realism. These show muscle men snapping their manacles, thrusting forward, determined to engage with some enemy. They
are valiant, determined, aggressive and always triumphant.

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The Badui People: Banten, East Java

October 29th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

The remote Kanekes village in Banten, East Java, is filled with steep hills where sugar palm trees, bamboo and wild grass surround a small mountain trail. This is the path leading to the village of the Badui people, an indigenous tribe that lives a strictly traditional life. The area is surrounded by rough mountainous terrain that requires considerable physical effort to trek through. Despite the occasional extreme conditions, the Badui village is still an attractive tourist site as an article in the Jakarta Post explains.

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Simmering Volcanoes in Indonesia

October 26th, 2007 | By Barrie | No Comments »

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The archipelago nation is home to 129 active volcanoes, including 21 on Java. Now, scientists in Indonesia are closely monitoring three simmering volcanoes across the disaster-prone nation, including the offspring of infamous Krakatau off Sumatra island. Ash has been spewing some 200 metres (yards) into the air since Tuesday at Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatau, the volcano left behind after Krakatau blew in 1883 and killed some 36,000 people, scientist Agus Budianto told AFP. Anak Krakatau forms part of a popular international tourist destination about 40 kilometres off Sumatra island. Visitors typically tour the waters around the volcano by boat.

Ampel Mosque: Surabaya, East Java

October 26th, 2007 | By Barrie | 1 Comment »

Ampel Mosque is believed to be the oldest in the country. Its founder, Sunan Ampel (otherwise known as Raden Ahmad Rachmatulloh), was one of nine figures who played a leading role in spreading Islam across Java. Sunan Ampel was born in 1401 in Champa, Cambodia. He is a descendant of Ibrahim Asmarakandi, or Maulana Malik Ibrahim, a Champa ruler. When he was 20 years old, Sunan Ampel moved to Surabaya in East Java, which was then ruled by Raja Brawijaya, a Majapahit king.

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