Growing of Rice
Few things, if any, have had a larger influence on the development of Asia and Indonesia than the knowledge of how to grow and cultivate rice. Rice is intimately involved in the culture as well as the food ways and economy of many societies. Folklore tells us that when the Kachins of northern Myanmar (Burma) [...]
Tana Toraja Traditional Settlement
Tana Toraja is located in the Northern part of the South Sulawesi Province. Situated between Latimojong Mountain range and Mount Reute Kambola. The arible Toraja consists of three groups. The Eastern around lake Poso, Western Toraja living around the Palu river and Kalawi in Centre Sulawesi. The Specific architecture of Torajan house has its own [...]
The Siberut experience
The first thing I saw was green. Green grass, green leaves, green trees, there was earth everywhere. Between short scraggly grasses and luxuriant ferns, palm trees rose from the ground, uniformly arched; their leaves languidly reaching to the sky in perfect circles. Enhanced by the pale steamy sky, the smell of rain and grass emanated [...]
The Shipwreck Of Panaitan
It is Friday at noon; the team has already arrived in Sumur, a sleepy fishermen town on the West coast of Banten. KM Samudra and her crew are ready to receive the group on board. A small motorized skiff shuttles between the shore and the boat loaded with logistics, equipments, and people. A team consisting [...]
HASHING IN INDONESIA – ways, customs and habits
Rail Jerker’s Diary – – The province of Riau, in the center of Sumatra island, is one of the richest among the 33 provinces of Indonesia. Its wealth comes from its natural resources – palm oil, petroleum and timber pulp; the enterprising Chinese community; and the communal harmony between the Malays, Chinese and other smaller [...]
Cegog – a forgotten village
On a densely populated and highly modernized island of Java, some people are still facing difficult and hard life. With small and no steady income to sustain their economy, people in Kampong Cegog must work very hard to make the ends meet. Kampong Cegog is located in the village of Rancapinang; sub-district Sumur, regency of [...]
The Prambanan Temple Complex
At the boundary between Yogyakarta and Surakarta there are several temples which are scattered within a distance not more than 1 km. It is interesting to note that these temples belong to a sacred place of two religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. The temples were constructed between the eighth century and the ninth century A.D. Prambanan, [...]
Sade, a Sasak village on South Lombok
A visit to a traditional Sasak village is a necessary part of your trip to Lombok. There are two villages like this a few kilometers north of Kuta, called Rembitan and Sade. Even if some of these traditional villages today may have become tourist traps a visit can be an interesting experience. All the guides, [...]
Slash-and-Burn and Budidaya Rotan in East Kalimantan
Forests in Asia and throughout the tropical world are being rapidly transformed through slash-and-burn. Increasing population pressure has made this ancient system unsustainable in many areas. In lesser populated areas slash-and-burn, or shifting agriculture, is less problematic and perhaps even the only viable form of utilisation of indigenous peoples natural resources. Shifting cultivation is a [...]
Balinese Dance and Drama
Arts on Bali flourished already centuries ago, even before the warring but artistic Balinese kingdoms of the 16th century. Inscriptions say that already around 1000 AD Bali had puppet masters, poetic singers and musicians. These artistic activities and endeavors were further patronized by the feudal lords and sustained by their religious rituals. Economic stability of [...]
The Carstensz expedition 2002/2003
Join the Norwegian guys in World Wide Vikings on an expedition to Puncak Jaya, the highest peak in Indonesia, also known as Carstensz Pyramid. The expedition took place in December 2002 / January 2003. Carstensz Pyramid is the lowest peak of the Seven Summits (the highest mountains on seven continents), but not necessarily the easiest [...]
Balinese Painting
In Bali today we can still find the overwhelming variety of traditional arts, from sculpture to painting, from architecture to music, from singing to dancing, and more important is that we can still find those mentioned arts that pervaded and supported by, what the Balinese call, taksu the divine soul of the arts. Painting as [...]
The Bandung Hash and Armed Forces Day Run
The Rules of Hashing:Rule # 36c of hashing states, “When thou shall enter into an unknown territory, thou shall first of all contact, physically or otherwise, a harrier or a harriette, because verily he or she may turn out to be your true friend and protector.” Accordingly, on arrival in the hill region of Bandung, [...]
Malang Hash House Harriers II
Rail Jerker’s Diary — MALANG HASH HOUSE HARRIERS II, East Java, Indonesia. Run # 740 Friday, 6 May 2005. Hares: “Draimulen”; his wife “Mentek”; and her sister “Ayam Mini”. Splendid Inn Hotel is the “Hash Head Quarters & Correspondence” of Malang Hash House Harriers II, a mixed hash, which runs every Friday, with HHH (Happy [...]
Live and Work in Indonesia
To fully enjoy living in a country like Indonesia you need the ability to quickly adapt. Many people will on their first visit to Asia experience a cultural shock, absolutely everything is different. A cultural shock is not just a way of speech, it can be quite real for most of us moving to a [...]
Moving abroad – The spouse situation
This article is basically written for expatriates moving to Indonesia for a shorter or longer period, the article’s main focus is on the wife who decides to follow her husband abroad, as this is still the most common case when a family moves to a developing nation. Every move abroad starts with a decision (still) [...]
Hotel Indonesia, 40 years on
For the past 40 years Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta has been the capital’s major landmark, and its fame is often linked to the country’s political pride. Built to fill the need for an international standard hotel for the 1962 Asian Games, Hotel Indonesia was the first high-rise hotel in the country. At that time, [...]
Toraja identity
One minority group that has been successful in gaining national and international attention is the Toraja of central Sulawesi. This group’s prominence, beginning in the 1980s, was due largely to the tourist industry, which was attracted to the region because of its picturesque villages and its spectacular mortuary rites involving the slaughter of water buffalo. [...]
Religious Affiliation
Religion in Indonesia was a complex and volatile issue in the early 1990s, one not easily analyzed in terms of social class, region, or ethnic group. Although Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions influenced many aspects of life, the government generally discouraged religious groups from playing a political role. The state guaranteed tolerance for [...]
The history of Gamelan
Gamelan music is the sum of diverse foreign influences. Pitch relationships from China, bronze instruments from southeast Asia, drums and modal practice from India, bowed strings from the middle east, and even military styles from Europe contributed to the traditional music we hear in Java and Bali today. The First Gamelan Among the earliest evidence [...]
The Monumental Stone Tombs of Sumba
Untouched white sandy beaches, peaceful villages perched on green hills, and fertile valleys swarming with sculptured stone tombs, these were the breathtaking landscapes of Sumba island. The air filled with sweet smelling sandalwood and proud natives clad in their fine colourful woven costumes, their bodies glistening with beautiful ornaments, warmly greeting visitors. This was the [...]
