Pasar Malam Besar

Every year in May or June is the Pasar Malam Besar in The Hague. It is a big event during 12 days, and it is the biggest Indo festival in The Netherlands. This year it is the 50th time it is celebrated, and it will start on May 21st and will last untill June 1st. There is always a lot of music, dance and food from Indonesia. It is also a big cultural festival. On the pictures I made are two Keroncong singers from Indonesia. Keroncong is musical mix of Portugese and native music.

Hofvijver

I was walking through The Hague when I noticed the reflection of the light in the fountain. I could not resist to make a picture. The fountain is situated next to the Houses of Parliament in The Hague. The time was around 9 am.

Pasirputih

In 1999 I was on my way from Jogyakarta to Bali. My driver, Mudan, suggested to stay in a small hotel at the beach in Pasirputih on the North Coast of East Java. Pasirputih means white sand. Unfortunately the sand was as black as could be. I must have been quite a treat for mosquitos during the night, because when I woke up in the morning I had mosquitobites al over my body. When I got up around 6 am I looked out of the window of my hotelroom and I saw the boat on the picture above. So I did not let the opportunity pass and made this picture. After a morningshower I went for a stroll along the beach when I saw the boat on the second picture. It could have been the same boat.Around 7 am Mudan and I continued our trip to Bali.
The link to googlemaps for Pasisputih is: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=nl&ie=UTF8&q=pasir+putih&ll=-7.749094,113.477783&spn=1.080423,1.851196&z=9&om=0

Pangandaran

This picture was made around 6 am. I stayed in Hotel Panorama near the eastern beach of the
peninsula at the southcoast of Java. I woke up at 6.30 and went for a stroll along the beach when I saw these people hauling in their nets. (I wonder how many of the people on the picture survived the May 2006 tsunami.)

Malabar Tea-estate

South of Bandung is the Malabar tea estate, established in 1896. The first manager was K.A.R. Bosscha whose tomb is on the estate. Bosscha was also the founder of the Bosscha observatory near Lembang. In 1992 Hella Haase, the Dutch writer, wrote a boek: "Heren van de thee", situated in this area. In the neighbourhood is the township of Pengalengan, which is famous for its dodol susu, a Indonesia treat.

Dieng

The Dieng Temples

The Dieng temples originated in the 8th century and are the oldest temples of Indonesia. They are build on the Dieng Plateau, which is a marshy plateau in the Dieng vulcano caldera. The Dieng Caldera is part of an active vulcano complex located near Wonosobo.
There are 8 temples. The Arjuna complex is the one on the picture. Behind the temples rises a mosque symbolic for the Islam overtaking the old Hindu religion.
Dieng is derived from "Di Hyang" which means "abode of the Gods".

Bromo

Bromo and Semeru

The Bromo in East Java is a active volcano. It is part of the Tengger Caldera. I made this picture in 1998. To be able to tahe this photo I had to get up at 1.30 am. I went with a mini-bus and 2 other guests from the Hotel Helion in Malang to the Caldera. We arrived around 5.30 am and watched the sunrise over the mountains.

The Semeru is the tallest mountain of Indonesia and also one of its most active vulcanoes. The Tengger Caldera is 16 km wide extending from the Semeru. It dates back 820.000 years ago.

Near the Tengger Caldera live the Tenggerese people, they are descendants of Majapahit princes. The tenggerese profess Hindu as their religion but with Buddhist and animist influences.

At the foot of the Bromo is the Sandsea caldera which is 9 x 10 km wide. On this Sandsea caldera is a Hindu temple. Once a year the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from their main God, and they present him with offerings of livestock, rice, fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The Hindu temple at the foot of the Bromo

Wikipedialinks are : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenggerese

and; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bromo

Angida, the snakecatching Lohan

Angida is my favourite spiritual being, he is full of joy and pleasant to look at. He is also called: "the Laughing Buddha". Another name is: Lohan of the calico bag.

Buddha of infinite life,

Valuable bag containing secrets of heaven and earth.

Happy and contented,

Cheerful and joyful is he.

According to legend, Angida was a talented Indian snake catcher whose aim was to catch venomous snakes to prevent them from biting passers-by. Angida would also remove the snake's venomous fangs and release them. Due to his kindness, he was able to attain bodhi. Bodhi is the sanskriet word for awakening.

Lohans are followers of Bhudda's 8-fold path who have reached Nirvana, the state of freedom of worldly longings.

There are 18 lohans. The 18 Lohan were first painted in 891 A.D. by Chinese Buddhist monk Guan Xiu.

Angida is called Hotei in Japan.

Cremona

View of Cremona

I made this picture after I went by bike along the river Po. On the picture you can see the famous Torrazzo, the highest belltower in Europe. My sister-in-law Anna was born here.
Cremona is a city in the north of Italy, situated in Lombardia, on the left shore of the Po river. It is the capital of the Province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments. The economy of Cremona is deeply linked to the agricultural production of the countryside. Cremona is first mentioned in history as a settlement of the Cenomani, a tribe that arrived in the Po valley around 400 BC. According to the 13th edition of the green Michelin guide I own, it has one of the most beautiful places in Italy: the Piazza del Commune: "Elle est connue comme l'une des plus belles places d'Italie." Cremona is also well-known for its school of violin builders. Amati, Stradivarius, Guarneri lived and worked here, and Cremona has a collection of violins build by them in the Palazzo Communale. A saying in Cremona goes: "Rich as Stradivarius". The composers Claudio Monteverdi, Amilcare Ponchielli and the singer Mina were born in Cremona. Cremona is also well-known for its torrone, made from honey and almonds and mostarda.
A link to the Wikipedia page of Cremona: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremona
a link in dutch is: http://www.stedentipsvoortrips.nl/italie/cremona.htm

Taman Safari Cisarua

This is a picture I made in Taman Safari in Cisarua. Cisarua is a town along the road from Bogor to Bandung. I belief the road is called Jalan Raya Puncak and after Cisarua and Cipanas the road is bordered by tea estates. During the weekends the road is very crowded and it will take several hours to get to your destination. The road is leading to a pass called the Puncak Pass and on top of the pass is a hotel called Puncak Pass Hotel (off course) where you can enjoy the view. The restaurant of the hotel serves Dutch treats like bitterballen.

Federico Garcia Lorca 2

The road from Jaca to Huesca in Spain

La sangre derramada.

¡Que no quiero verla!

Dile a la luna que venga,
que no quiero ver la sangre
de Ignacio sobre la arena.

¡Que no quiero verla!

La sangre derramada is one in a series of 4 poems from Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (Sevilla, 6 de junio de 1891 - †Madrid, 13 de agosto de 1934) and these are the first lines from that poem. The Llanto was written after Ignacio died in the Bullring. After retiring with his health and his fortune he was persuaded to make a comeback on August 11th 1934. This was a fatal mistake as he was gored in the thigh and died of his injuries on August 13th.


La cogida y la muerte

A las cinco de la tarde.

Eran las cinco en punto de la tarde.

Un niño trajo la blanca sábana
a las cinco de la tarde.

This also from a poem from the Llanto.

Hathor

Hathor, Goddess of Love, Music and Beauty...

Thou art the Mistress of Jubilation,
the Queen of the Dance,
the Mistress of Music,
the Queen of the Harp Playing,
the Lady of the Choral Dance,
the Queen of Wreath Weaving,
the Mistress of Inebriety Without End.

Hathor was an ancient Egyptian Goddess, and was worshipped as a cow-deity from at least 2700 BC. Her name can be tranlated as “House of Horus”.
She was a goddess of many things, among them she was a:
Celestial goddess: The Mistress of Heaven
The Goddess of Love, Cheerfulness, Music, and Dance,
The Mother of Mothers, the Celestial Nurse,
The Vengeful Eye of Ra, the Lady of Drunkeness,
Goddess of the dead: Lady of the West

Center of her worship was: Dendera

Kahlil Gibran

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

These are the first lines of the poem "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.

The picture at right, is a painting about Layla and Majnun, a Persian couple. Majnun was a young man, called Qays ibn al-Mullawah, who fell in love with Layla, and who went mad when her father prevented him from marrying her; for that reason he came to be called Majnun Layla, which means "Driven mad by Layla".

For the full story of Majnun and Layla please go the site of Wikipedia, from which I cited, but did not take the painting. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layla_and_Majnun

Another site is called: "Follow your heart" and this is the link to the site: http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/mideast/mi-jcok.htm

James Blaney Davidson

Yesterday Januari 15th, it was 123 years ago that James Blaney Davidson the father of my grandmother passed away. He was born on July 20th, 1825 in Calcutta, son of captain William Benjamin Davidson and Adriana Maria Intveld. His daughter Adriana Cornelia Blaney Davidson was the mother of my father.

L'invitation au voyage

Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe à la douceur
D'aller là-bas vivre ensemble !
Aimer à loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble !

The first lines of a poem by Charles Baudelaire in his fleurs du mal, also a chanson by Léo Ferré .

Pura Ulu Danau in Bali.

Just imagine living and dying near this quiet temple (of course it is quiet at the picture, usually it is crowded with tourists)

Bandung

Bandung Jl Asia Africa corner Braga

I was born in Bandung, Rumah Sakit Borromeus, Jl Dago. I lived in Bandung for 10 years. My parents were thrown out of the country in 1954 and never went back. My first trip to Indonesia was in 1994, the year I became 50 years old. I stayed in Savoy Hotel Homann on the Jl Asia-Afrika. I walked from the Hotel to the house my parents lived in, without having to ask for directions. Imagine, I remembered the city after forty years. I have been back in Bandung 5 times after my first trip.
I fondly remember my stay in 2002 when I was in Bandung with my pacar Tilly. I loved her very much. Unfortunately she passed away in 2005. I will always remember her.
I intend to return to Indonesia someday.

Federico Garcia Lorca

Los caballos negros son
Las herraduras son negras
sobre las capas relucen
manchas de tinta y de cera.
Tienen per eso no lloran,
de plomo las calaveras.

This is the start of the Romance de la Guardia Civil Espanola. My favourite poem.
Federico García Lorca (Fuente Vaqueros, 5 juni 1898 – Víznar, 19 augustus 1936) was a great Spanish poet. He loved Flamenco-music
He was also a welknown playwrighter. For his complete work (obras completas) please go to this site:
http://www.tinet.org/~picl/libros/glorca/gl000000.htm

I met Yenny yesterday

Yesterday I met Yenny, a friend from Indonesia. This was the first time I met her in person, because we had contact through e-mail and IM. Yenny is a friend who is visiting The Netherlands for the 3rd time. I went to the trainstation and took her for lunch at Ming Kee. After a while we were joined by Sita and Pierre, who also had lunch. Of course I had to show Yenny my favourite waterhole: Cafe De Kleine Witte, a tavern in The Mallemolen in The Hague.

The picture shows Sita (left) and Yenny.