Bandung Part III: Tangkuban Parahu

Tangkuban Parahu

The scenery, amazing, just like a painting behind me! The weather, nice, perfect lighting for perfect camera snapping :)!So here goes, the camera whore and the non-potential-model-to-be in Tangkuban Parahu :P~

Tangkuban Perahu, or Tangkuban Parahu in local Sundanese dialect, is an active volcano 30 km north of the city of Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. It is a popular tourist attraction where tourists can hike or ride to the edge of the crater to view the hot water springs upclose, and buy eggs cooked on its hot surface. This stratovolcano is on the island of Java and last erupted in 1983.Its elevation is about 7,000 feets from the sea and it was a lil cold up there!

In April 2005 the Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised an alert, forbidding visitors from going up the volcano. "Sensors on the slopes of the two mountains - Anak Krakatoa on the southern tip of Sumatra Island and Tangkuban Perahu in Java - picked up an increase in volcanic activity and a build up of gases, said government volcanologist Syamsul Rizal."

There is a local legend of the Mountain.The name translates roughly to "upturning of (a) boat" or "upturned boat" in Sundanese, referring to the local legend of its creation. The story tells of "Dayang Sumbi", a beauty who lived in West Java. She cast away her son "Sangkuriang" for disobedience, and in her sadness was granted the power of eternal youth by the gods. After many years in exile, Sangkuriang decided to return to his home, long after the two had forgotten and failed to recognize each other. Sangkuriang fell in love with Dayang Sumbi and planned to marry her, only for Dayang Sumbi to recognize his birthmark just as he was about to go hunting. In order to prevent the marriage from taking place, Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to (1) build a dam on the river Citarum and (2) build a large boat to cross the river, both before the sunrise. Sangkuriang meditated and summoned mythical ogre-like creatures -buta hejo or green giant(s)- to do his bidding. Dayang Sumbi saw that the tasks were almost completed and called on her workers to spread red silk cloths east of the city, to give the impression of impending sunrise. Sangkuriang was fooled, and upon believing that he had failed, kicked the dam and the unfinished boat, resulting in severe flooding and the creation of Tangkuban perahu from the hull of the boat.

Tho there are many souvenir sold up there, the driver warned us to buy anything from them as most of them were cheating the tourist.Just imagine, the price for a stupid keychain is RM2!And the sellers were like forcing us to buy their things!My friends did buy belerang(sulfur) from the nearby stall as that the ony thing that we thot worth it to buy.Anyhow, we can't get such things from other places in Bandung City for much cheaper price as the belerang were taken from the deep down the dead volcano. They said that belerang is good for our skin. I dunno, i havent try it yet and i dun think i will because i hate the smell.It made me cough and that severe cough still not getting well even after few days at arriving in Malaysia.

p/s- I'm still *sick* today! And i think i'm addicted to cough syrup!help me!

Bandung Part II : Foods Crave

Sleep 'til you're hungry, eat 'til you're sleepy!haha :)

What I like about Indonesia is FOOD. I am never choosy about food. I eat and try everything. On my visit i ended up finishing my money for food :) tho, it wasn't that expensive to eat there. I've tried Padang, Minang, Jogja and Sunda foods and they all were delicious!Teh Botol is Indonesian's favourite drink.Have a sip and you won't regret!

Ok, let me start crapping about the food, the first food i want to introduce is Nasi Mawut.Nasi Mawut means extraordinary rice. It's basically a fried rice, what's extraordinary about it is because there are noodle in the rice and a whole bunch of other unusual ingredients. There are fried shrimp ball (not shrimp, but shrimp ball), sawi (veggies), gizzard and heart (The rice then was fried with the special sauce.It's spicy and a bit sweet. It's served with pickled cucumber (acar), and Shrimp cracker (kerupuk).

Next one i want to introduce is Bakmi.Bakmi is literally translated to English as "meat noodles". Bakmi was brought to Indonesia by Chinese merchants, and is today a common dish especially in Indonesian Chinatowns. The dish has also been further developed to more closely align with Indonesian tastes. Bakmi is between Chinese style noodles and Japanese Udons in thickness, and there are several variants of bakmi in Indonesia.e.g Bakmi Godhok, Bakmi Nyemek and Bakmi Goreng.

One of my favourite food in Bandung is Mie Kocok Kaki Sapi Bakso. Mie Kocok is the special food in Bandung.Something the people in Bandung will talk about.The famous Mie Kocok includes veggie (tauge,sawi), yellow mee, soup and cow's leg.It is usually sold in hawker stalls along the road.It priced between Rp 7,000 to Rp 8000 (about RM2-3).

The fourth dish to introduce is Nasi Timbel. I myself have no idea what does 'Timbel' mean, anyway, nasi Timbel consists of rice (wrapped in banana leaf), lalapan/raw vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber, long beans, Lemon Basil etc), sambal terasi (shrimp-paste chili sauce), tempe (made of fermented soybean), tahu (fried beancurd), ayam goreng (fried chicken) or gurame goreng (fried fish), empal (fried beef), and ikan asin (salted fish). This is one of my favorite Indonesian dishes, Indonesian love hot and spicy foods, most of them always include 'sambal' in their meals, tasty!

The belly rules the mind!

Last but not least, the Siomay Bandung.A light meal which has a similarity form like the Chinese Dim Sum, shaped like ice cream cone except the bottom is flat and made traditionally from mackerel fish meat served with peanut sauce. Sometimes the main ingredient can be made from prawn and other fish also. Siomay is eaten with a peanut paste, sweet soy sauce and a dash of lime juice. Other complements to siomay bandung are steamed cabbage, steamed potatoes, steamed bitter gourd and steamed tofu.

There are a lot more food to enlight here but i guess the above ' food tale' is more than enough. Other dishes that i think worth to try are; Nasi Remes, Nasi Uduk (kinda similiar with Nasi Lemak Malaysia), Lotek, Lontong, Nasi Soto Betawi, Surabi, Soto, Bakso, Batagor, Otak-Otak, Pepes ikan, Iga Bakar,Lomie, Nasi Gila, Kupat Tahu,Eskrim Durian and Kikil Cimandiri.

p/s- Food!Food!Food! I Love food!That's why ayeem gemoks!

Bandung Part I : Donuts

yep, yep donuts make me do-nuts :D

What I regonized about Indonesia is DONUTS.When I first arrived in Bandung, I could see donuts and coffee retailers everywhere; from Dunkin Donuts to J.CO Donuts. Even, there are also donuts sales in Pasar Baru!I was a lil envious as in Malaysia we don't have such.I do love donuts so much but in Ipoh i can only get Big Apple Donut, neither Dunkins nor J.COs. At arriving we went to Cihampelas Walk to get a taste of the donuts :) We stopped by at J.CO Donuts to have a bite :P~J.Co is the fastest growing donut & coffee chain in South-East Asia. As of May 2008, J.CO operates 38 outlets through out Southeast-Asian countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The company planned to expand its chain in the Philippines in mid 2008. I've tried J.CO Donuts earlier in Malaysia before. I've went to both of their franchise in Malaysia; in Pavillion KL and Sunway Pyramid, but to eat the J.CO Donut at its originate country was my first time experience, and it was like being in donuts heaven :)

p/s- www.jcodonuts.com/ get a peek of my fav donuts and webie :)

Three Wise Monkeys

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

I found this in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport gift shop. I dunno what to buy as the souvenir during my seven days visits to Indonesia at first, but after a while I found the three monkeys kinda interesting :) so i wasted my 100,000 rupiah (RM33) for these stuffs.“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is a common phrase, usually used to describe someone who doesn’t want to be involved in a situation. But where did the saying originate?Unfortunately, no one knows for sure how it evolved. Because the saying is typically associated with three monkeys one covering his eyes, one covering his ears, and the other covering his mouth it is believed that the saying may have its origin in a 17th century temple in Japan. The Nikko Toshogo Shrine, also known as the Sacred Stable, in Japan has a carving of three wise monkeys. Many scholars believe the monkeys were carved as a visual representation of the religious principle, “If we do not hear, see, or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared all evil." Others believe that the saying originated from a Japanese play on words. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," translated into Japanese is, “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru." The Japanese word for monkey is “saru", and sounds very similar to the verb-ending “zaru". It is easy to see how the saying may have originated from a fun play on words. The only problem with this explanation is that the three wise monkeys aren’t originally from Japan.In the eighth century A.D. a Buddhist monk from China introduced the three wise monkeys to Japan. They were associated with a fearsome blue-faced deity called Vadjra. It is believed that the monkeys’ gestures were a representation of a command of the deity to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."Just as there is disagreement about the origin of the phrase, there are differing explanations of the meaning of “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Some contend that it is a proverb reminding us not to be so snoopy, so nosy, and so gossipy. Others say that it is a warning to stay away from places where immoral acts are taking place. Whatever the origin and meaning of “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," it is one of the most visual phrases in existence. It’s impossible to hear it spoken without thinking of three wise, but very cute, little monkeys :)

p/s - i wonder how these three monkeys came to Indonesia..wonder..wonder..world :)

Best Friend :)

I don't know what I'd ever do without you

From the beginning to the end

You've always been here right beside me

So I'll call you my best friend

Through the good times and the bad ones

Whether I lose or If I win

I know one thing that never changes and

That's you as my best friend

p/s - after 10 years and we are still together :)

Thanks Alin! :)

Chinta

Chinta by Monoloque

kau hadir bila tiba waktunya
tidak diundang tak jua di pinta
walau ku lari namun kau tetap datang jua
keranamu chinta tak mampu menahannya
aku terus mencuba untuk lari dari chinta
kerana perit terasa sengsara tanpa kata kerana dusta

chinta kau luhurkan hati ini membuat segalanya indah
walau sesekali menjengah tiba oh chinta
terasa bahagia
hanya menunggu saat dan tika

aku akan terus melangkah walau tak perlu oh chinta
aku yakin akan agungnya setianya ceritera yang tiada akhirnya

chinta abadi chinta
chinta padaNya
chinta satu
chinta selamanya

Happy

I'm just being happy today..for no reason..i dunno why, maybe it was just dis hormone stuffs :D I found dis quote..Sumthing for us to ponder..sumthing that helps me in my search for my happiness :) I do miss HAPPY..where are you HAPPY??Just smile and everthing will be fine!Aite?

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and, dance like no one's watching. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

~Marianne Williamson~