Shopping in Bali

Less known for its shopping than for its pristine waters and white, fine sand, Bali is actually a shopping paradise.  The Kuta/Legian/Seminayak area features kilometers and kilometers of provisions shops and souvenir stores existing side by side with boutique shops selling art handicrafts, furniture, designer clothes (usually at a steep discount) and even imitation designer footballs.  One can literally shop until he/she drops.  These photos go out to M, as well as all die-hard shoppers out there!

Art Gallery

Beer Bintang mercandise shore in Legain

Sales were everywhere

Antique shops.  Several of them in Legian and Seminyak

.

Japanese fashion-inspired designs.  Best of all, they were on sale!

Outfitting your new home?  Check this store out

Not a problem if you need artefacts made to order too

Balls for Sale

If you have not been to Bali yet and wonder how the shopping there is, well, it is pretty awesome.  You can get all sorts of things, including those that you would have never thought existed, such as (fake) LV and Burberry soccer balls.

Not sure how popular these are though. Most tourists, Jeremiah feels, would prefer the real thing.

Branded Balls for Sale at a Boutique Shop in Kuta, Bali

Rumah Makan Satsuma

Chance discoveries are usually always the best.  Jeremiah stumbled upon this small eatery offering simple but excellent home-cooked Japanese fare (bento, raman etc) a stone's throw away from the Tune Hotel in Kuta, where he was staying.  Having been deprived of Japanese food for a few months, Jeremiah gulped down his first bowl of ramen and was back for more the following day, right before he set off for the airport.  It was that yummy!

A map of Rumah Makan Satsuma is available here.  Rumah Makan Satsuma is conveniently located at the back of Kuta Square and about 7 minutes' walk from the Kuta Beach main gate and 4 minutes' walk from Tune Hotel Kuta.  The mains are modestly priced at about US$3 each; the service was Japanese-style, i.e. impeccable.  Ichiban.

Welcome to Satsuma

Japanese-style interiors

Hokkaido ramen with pork.  Broth was perfect.

Special version of okonomiyaki, filled with sotong.  A Satsuma creation.

Pergilah Kau

 

Jeremiah just couldn't get this Indonesian hit out of his head.   The title translates to "You Go (Away)".  A simple translation courtesy of Google Translate is appended for ya yang belum dapat berbicara Bahasa Indonesia.



I do not want to believe again
In all of your affection
I do not want to be touched again
By all of your confessions

You would not understand this pain
Lies from your sweet mouth

Go you
Get out of my life
Bring all the guilt
Go you
Get out of my life
Bring your secrets that you do not want to be known
Not again will I be hooked
In all your promises
I do not want to be associated anymore
In all of your games

Many years together
I believed in you
I was proud of you
Gave you everything
I do not want anymore
I do not want anymore huoo ... Yeee ... Hee ...

Go you
(I) do not want to know

Have You Ever Wondered What Goes On in Schools?

Earlier this year, Jeremiah visited a pesantren or Islamic boarding school in Jakarta.  That school prides itself on aiming to provide its students with a modern education and equip them with skills relevant to the 21st century, including English and Arabic language skills.  An "international area" was demarcated in the school compound where the students are only allowed to communicate in English and Arabic.  The training aids include a big board printed with English expressions and their Bahasa Indonesian equivalents.

Sounds good so far?

Look again carefully at the close up of the board (the third photo), between the lines "Don't waste your time" and "Don't be longing (sic)".  Good Lord!

Yummy Food in Makassar

Renowned for its yummy seafood, Makassar is home to many yummy eateries.  Unlike "food paradise" cities in Indonesia, however, these yummy eateries are convenient clustered in an area around Losari Beach.  Despite the prime location, the food was modestly priced. Thank God there is a gym at Jeremiah's hotel.

The road sign reads " Special Food Zone. Makassar"

This is an Ambonese speciality - nasi kunning ayam telor or yellow rice with chicken and age.  The damage?  Rp 15000 or S$2.30.  Quite a good deal for a hearty meal.

Kios Semarang is a watering hole overlooking the beach.  At dusk, this place is packed with locals and foreigners grabbing a cold beer alike while watching the sun set.

Fried succulent squid and fried kangkongwith seafood for dinner - Rp 50,000 or under S$8

Kota Solo: Rival Sibling of Yogjakarta

Located some 60 km east of Yogjakarta, Solo (Surakarta) was once the heart of the Mataram Kingdom. Its predominance was challenged by Yogjakarta, when the Mataram Kingdom split into two in the late 18th century, with the court in Yogjakarta gaining control over half of the kingdom. Yogjakarta never looked back since then. A quieter sister city of Yogjakarta, Solo nonetheless still rivals Yogjakarta as the "soul" of Java and remains a centre of Javanese culture and art.

The prime attractions in Solo are the Keraton (the Sultan's palace) and the Istana Mangkunegaran (palace used by the Sultan's extended family). A fire 25 years ago destroyed much of the Keraton, though some structures of the inner palace were rebuilt. The musuem there that houses precious artwork and heirlooms of the royal family.

 The tower in the background is a restricted area used by the Sultan for mediation.

The Solo court has traditionally been close to the Netherlands.  Statues like this are plentiful at the Keraton. 

 A gold-plated artwork depicting a traditional Javanese marriage at the Keraton musuem.




Like the Keraton, the Istana houses a musuem, where exhibits such as prized kris and spiked genital covers are displayed.  Part of the personal quarters at the Istana are open to the public, allowing the visitor to get a closer glimpse into the life of the royalty.

Charming garden ...

...with a friendly royal parrot

 Guest room at the Istana ....

... with a elaborately-crafted tusk

T

The Istana musuem

Goodbye Yogja

Jeremiah had never imagined that he would actually come to miss Yogja when it was time to leave, but he did. The above are some of the more memorable photos that Jeremiah took in his last few days in Yogja. Bye, bye Yogja.

Captions
1) Patriotic graffiti on the exterior walls of a junior high school
2) Construction workers building a traditional bamboo structure the traditional way, oblivious to the modernity around them.
3) Innovation use of an old campaign poster. Taken from the small shop where Jeremiah has his daily breakfast treat of mee rebus pakai telur dan teh tawar hangat
4) Sunset in Yogja

Such is His Sorry State

In case you are wondering how Jeremiah is doing, he has been studying hard, real hard, over the past few weeks.  Just look what has become of his English-Indonesian dictionary, which is only about four months old.