- Tokyo, 10/08/08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226831_jmSrC#401788826_icRJz)
- Kyoto, 10/9/'08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226846_w7EfE#401793812_Pq9d5)
- Kyoto, 10/10/'08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226850_jqYSL)
- Tokyo, 10/12/08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226858_YLTnu#401813555_EbtSB)
- Flying from Tokyo to Bali, 10/12/'08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226864_Zpurp/1/401798738_pQEbx#401798738_pQEbx)
- Sanur, Bali, 10/13/'08 (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6226870_2rJ6u#401816590_zrRTc)
- Bali Orchid Garden (10/14/'08) (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6359663_RKDRt#401811407_yu3Hr)
- Kuta, Bali (10/16/'08) (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6359706_Pz5vc#401817800_qWm4A)
- Ubud Palace, Bali (10/16/'08) (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6359727_u2S5i#401820498_gY7iA)
- Kecak Fire Dance, Ubud, Bali (10/20/'08) (http://fonduefighter.smugmug.com/gallery/6359714_PS8qo#401820335_zj8bg)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
pic upload
The internet connectivity in Indonesia has been really slow so far, so we're taking the tack of uploading low resolution versions of our pictures for now (thx for the suggestion Toma!). When we return home in January, we'll upload the high-resolution originals/negatives. The internet connection in Malang is the fastest so far in Indonesia, so I uploaded these albums:
Friday, October 24, 2008
mmm...malang
we have arrived in malang, found a hotel with hot water and a fast internet cafe. yay! the last few days have been jam packed with adventure, so i'll try to get my thoughts in order and write separate posts on them.
we arrived in town in the afternoon, found a hotel, grabbed some food and then walked around. there is a lot of dutch colonial influence here and it can be seen quite clearly in a lot of the architecture. not to mention all the tulips in one of the traffic circles! we wandered through a bird/fish/animal market and saw birds, bunnies, crickets, cats, a squirrel (we think) and don't really want to imagine where these animals go when they are sold.
we also had an adventure crossing the street. it's sort of mayhem and since they drive on the left side of the street, it seems like anytime is a good time to make a left turn. the lane markers also seem to be for decoration rather than anything else, so between the cars and motorbikes, it can be much like a game of frogger to get across the street! the sidewalks are also not very well maintained, so you need to keep an eye out where you're walking.
malang is a much larger city than we had imagined from the guidebook. we're not sure how long we're going to stay - maybe leave tomorrow or the next day - before heading to solo or yogjakarta.
well, i'll try to work on the other posts now. hope everyone is having a good october! please comment or email us, we miss you!
we arrived in town in the afternoon, found a hotel, grabbed some food and then walked around. there is a lot of dutch colonial influence here and it can be seen quite clearly in a lot of the architecture. not to mention all the tulips in one of the traffic circles! we wandered through a bird/fish/animal market and saw birds, bunnies, crickets, cats, a squirrel (we think) and don't really want to imagine where these animals go when they are sold.
we also had an adventure crossing the street. it's sort of mayhem and since they drive on the left side of the street, it seems like anytime is a good time to make a left turn. the lane markers also seem to be for decoration rather than anything else, so between the cars and motorbikes, it can be much like a game of frogger to get across the street! the sidewalks are also not very well maintained, so you need to keep an eye out where you're walking.
malang is a much larger city than we had imagined from the guidebook. we're not sure how long we're going to stay - maybe leave tomorrow or the next day - before heading to solo or yogjakarta.
well, i'll try to work on the other posts now. hope everyone is having a good october! please comment or email us, we miss you!
sunrise in the mountains
so, up we were at 3:15am and ready to take an hour long jeep ride up the mountain to see the sunrise. when we got there, we realized we left the camera in the room, so we rented a digital one and then had the pics burned on a cd (which is why they've uploaded so quickly!). the sunrise was awesome. it was a bit cloudy, but still worth the trip. we were amazed at how many people were there, as cemoro lawang seemed somewhat deserted. the jeep then took us down to bromo and we opted to stay on the ground rather than go with the throngs of people up those stairs again. we enjoyed people/jeep/donkey watching.
upon return to the hotel we had breakfast with the dutch man that rode the minibus from probolingo to cemoro lawang with us. he had been traveling for about 2 months already and gave us some good insight into thailand. we then rested up in our room (nice little power nap), before packing up and heading out.
we met up with our motorbike guides and hopped on the back. i rode with my backpack strapped to my back, and joe's bag was in front of his driver. we made our way down that very steep rode and across the sandy sea (as they call it) and were completely amazed by the sights. sheer beauty. amazing changes in scenery. it was breath-taking and jaw dropping. we made our way up into the mountains on the other side of bromo and through several villages. we stopped and trekked down to a beautiful waterfall. we saw the farming change from chive and greens, to palms (we think for palm sugar) back to rice. words completely fail to describe how awesome it was. i will work on that though!
upon return to the hotel we had breakfast with the dutch man that rode the minibus from probolingo to cemoro lawang with us. he had been traveling for about 2 months already and gave us some good insight into thailand. we then rested up in our room (nice little power nap), before packing up and heading out.
we met up with our motorbike guides and hopped on the back. i rode with my backpack strapped to my back, and joe's bag was in front of his driver. we made our way down that very steep rode and across the sandy sea (as they call it) and were completely amazed by the sights. sheer beauty. amazing changes in scenery. it was breath-taking and jaw dropping. we made our way up into the mountains on the other side of bromo and through several villages. we stopped and trekked down to a beautiful waterfall. we saw the farming change from chive and greens, to palms (we think for palm sugar) back to rice. words completely fail to describe how awesome it was. i will work on that though!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
beautiful bromo
when we finally arrived at cemoro lawang (on the crater overlooking mt. bromo in java: http://wikitravel.org/en/Mount_Bromo) at around 4 or so in the morning, we booked ourselves into a cheap room and promptly fell asleep. miraculously, i managed to sleep until 10:30. joe had been up for a bit, so we promptly headed out to grab some lunch before trekking to mt. bromo.
the hike was awesome. it started by walking down a long, steep road to the bottom of the huge crater. we then crossed a very sandy, desert area before making our way to the base of mt. bromo. there was a temple there that seemed in stark contrast to the natural beauty. we wound our way up to the bottom of the steep stairs - there were about 240 of them, and dad, you would have been fine on the way up, but not on the way down since they were so steep! we made it to the top and were rewarded with an awesome view into the volcano. it was spewing sulfur gas, which didn't smell so good, but looked amazing, especially as the wind shifted and you could see more of the inside. there were a bunch of junior high school kids that rode their motorbikes all the way from probolingo (about 1.5 hours) that chatted us up. the funniest part was when they asked joe for a picture. we thought they wanted him to take their picture. nope! they wanted a picture with him! it was so cute! we asked them to take one with our camera, but it didn't come out, so we don't have it to show you all. on the way down from bromo, they asked for joe's card. the one boy didn't have email, but he had a friendster account!
after sweating our little hearts out up that big volcano, we realized we needed some additional input on our next day's activities (sunrise viewing and finding our way to malang). joe thought he saw a hotel lobby, so we went it. we realized after we started talking to the group of men on the couch, that we were actually at the ranger station. yup, it took us a few minutes to realize all the men were in uniform! it was a wonderfully serendipitous meeting, as we got to practice our indonesian (read: try out phrases from the phrasebook) and chatted about politics, how many rangers are in our national parks and enjoyed many laughs.
after that, we chowed on dinner and went to bed early, as we planned on the sunrise trip up to another peak in the area, penanjakan, that left our accomodations at 3:45am! we had also arranged for motorbike transport to a town not far from malang that would leave around 10am the next day.
the hike was awesome. it started by walking down a long, steep road to the bottom of the huge crater. we then crossed a very sandy, desert area before making our way to the base of mt. bromo. there was a temple there that seemed in stark contrast to the natural beauty. we wound our way up to the bottom of the steep stairs - there were about 240 of them, and dad, you would have been fine on the way up, but not on the way down since they were so steep! we made it to the top and were rewarded with an awesome view into the volcano. it was spewing sulfur gas, which didn't smell so good, but looked amazing, especially as the wind shifted and you could see more of the inside. there were a bunch of junior high school kids that rode their motorbikes all the way from probolingo (about 1.5 hours) that chatted us up. the funniest part was when they asked joe for a picture. we thought they wanted him to take their picture. nope! they wanted a picture with him! it was so cute! we asked them to take one with our camera, but it didn't come out, so we don't have it to show you all. on the way down from bromo, they asked for joe's card. the one boy didn't have email, but he had a friendster account!
after sweating our little hearts out up that big volcano, we realized we needed some additional input on our next day's activities (sunrise viewing and finding our way to malang). joe thought he saw a hotel lobby, so we went it. we realized after we started talking to the group of men on the couch, that we were actually at the ranger station. yup, it took us a few minutes to realize all the men were in uniform! it was a wonderfully serendipitous meeting, as we got to practice our indonesian (read: try out phrases from the phrasebook) and chatted about politics, how many rangers are in our national parks and enjoyed many laughs.
after that, we chowed on dinner and went to bed early, as we planned on the sunrise trip up to another peak in the area, penanjakan, that left our accomodations at 3:45am! we had also arranged for motorbike transport to a town not far from malang that would leave around 10am the next day.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
batik
Amy and I had the most wonderful day making Batiks! We're currently in Ubud (Bali) and took an all day course.
This wiki article describes the process a bit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik However, the process we learned was a little different. First you create a drawing using pencil. After much erasing and redrawing, you are eventually satisfied with the sketch and use a black marker to embolden the lines. Then you stretch a thin piece of cotton, which will later become the Batik, over the paper and re-trace the same image on the cotton using pencil. Then you transfer the cotton sheet to a frame and employ a tool to draw thin lines of wax over the lines you penciled in. The wax will act as a negative. Once the wax dries, they stretch the cotton out horizontally and you get to paint on it using a variety of dyes. The intensity of the paint/dye you use will be apparent in the final product, so this isn't just a fill in the dots type exercise. Once you finished painting, you expose the light sensitive dye to sunlight and let it dry. At this point, the dye is dry, but hasn't been 'set' or 'fixed'. Next, you use these large bronze stamps to impress wax in different shapes over the image you painted. Once the wax dries, you paint again using different color dyes. So, each layer that you waxed and painted retains it's color, and the unwaxed portions take on the cumulative color. Finally, you set the dyes (using a chemical) and dip the batik in boiling water to remove the wax, and voila! Amy's came out awesome. It has a tree, stream, and lots of random shapes. Mine came out pretty well too. I tried to replicate one of the orchids from the garden the other day.
A man named Widya taught the course. He was super patient with us first-timers and taught us a bunch of tricks to cover up our mistakes. He even brought us out for dinner and will be driving us to catch our crazy bus to Yogyakarta (pronounced Joe-gug-Jah-kart-ahhh) tomorrow.
This wiki article describes the process a bit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik However, the process we learned was a little different. First you create a drawing using pencil. After much erasing and redrawing, you are eventually satisfied with the sketch and use a black marker to embolden the lines. Then you stretch a thin piece of cotton, which will later become the Batik, over the paper and re-trace the same image on the cotton using pencil. Then you transfer the cotton sheet to a frame and employ a tool to draw thin lines of wax over the lines you penciled in. The wax will act as a negative. Once the wax dries, they stretch the cotton out horizontally and you get to paint on it using a variety of dyes. The intensity of the paint/dye you use will be apparent in the final product, so this isn't just a fill in the dots type exercise. Once you finished painting, you expose the light sensitive dye to sunlight and let it dry. At this point, the dye is dry, but hasn't been 'set' or 'fixed'. Next, you use these large bronze stamps to impress wax in different shapes over the image you painted. Once the wax dries, you paint again using different color dyes. So, each layer that you waxed and painted retains it's color, and the unwaxed portions take on the cumulative color. Finally, you set the dyes (using a chemical) and dip the batik in boiling water to remove the wax, and voila! Amy's came out awesome. It has a tree, stream, and lots of random shapes. Mine came out pretty well too. I tried to replicate one of the orchids from the garden the other day.
A man named Widya taught the course. He was super patient with us first-timers and taught us a bunch of tricks to cover up our mistakes. He even brought us out for dinner and will be driving us to catch our crazy bus to Yogyakarta (pronounced Joe-gug-Jah-kart-ahhh) tomorrow.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Kecak
Amy and I just saw "Monkey Chant" ritual tonight called Kecak, and it was rad! If you've ever seen the movie Baraka, the vocals resembled the ka-ka-ka portion recorded at a temple. It takes place at a Balinese temple and consists of around 100 or so actors and actresses. Around 75 half naked men gather around in a circle and make this repetitive noise that is supposed to sound like Monkey calls. The are sort of like the musical accompaniment to the Ramayana epic that is being acted out by other costumed actors. I found a web page that describes it in a little more detail: http://music.ucsc.edu/swarasanti/bali/kecak.html
At the end of the epic is this huge monkey fight, which was chaotic, funny and a little scary. A bunch of men run onto stage playing the monkeys and take a swig of gas (yes, unleaded petrol) from a glass jar and blow it straight up in the air past lit torches which they are holding. The effect is these mushroom clouds of flame. There was a Japanese couple sitting next to us and the woman freaked a bit because the performers are only about 10ft away and you actually were heated up by the flame. The cutest (yet sad) thing was a young boy viewing the performance who was wigging out at all the scarily dressed princes from the Ramayana. We'll have pictures, and even movies, to share when we return.
At the end of the epic is this huge monkey fight, which was chaotic, funny and a little scary. A bunch of men run onto stage playing the monkeys and take a swig of gas (yes, unleaded petrol) from a glass jar and blow it straight up in the air past lit torches which they are holding. The effect is these mushroom clouds of flame. There was a Japanese couple sitting next to us and the woman freaked a bit because the performers are only about 10ft away and you actually were heated up by the flame. The cutest (yet sad) thing was a young boy viewing the performance who was wigging out at all the scarily dressed princes from the Ramayana. We'll have pictures, and even movies, to share when we return.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)