PhotoHunt: PAINTED

Street art or vandalism?

along a main thoroughfare in Yogyakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: Self-Portrait

Caught myself "standing on Mt Merapi", a tile on the observation deck of the Ketep Volcano Center detailing where the volcano is located among the many towering heights surrounding the center.

Jogjakarta, Indonesia, June 2007, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: MALAPOT (Thick)

Ang mga kabahayan sa paanan ng Bundok Merapi sa Indonesia ay halos matabunan nang rumagasa ang magkahalong nagbabagang abo, bato, at putik sa isa nitong pagputok. Nang humupa ang pag-aalburoto ng kalikasan, naging sikat na pasyalan ito ng mga turista (kabilang na kami).

May kalumaan na ang litratong ito mula pa noong 2007. Oktubre ng taong ito, muling sumabog ang bulkan na kumitil na ng kulang-kulang 300 buhay. Nawa'y pumayapa nang muli ang Merapi.

MALAPOT = THICK

These homes at the foot of Mt Merapi in Indonesia were almost buried by the fiery mixture of ash, boulders, and water - pyroclastic materials that attract hardy tourists like ourselves.

This photo, taken in 2007, displays an active but rather quiet volcano. However, about three weeks ago, Mt Merapi once again unleashed its fury, killing some 300 Indonesians in the process. Peace, Merapi!

at the foot of Mt Merapi, at the outskirts of Yogyakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: STRIPES

Airports are not always mere drab, uninteresting stopovers en route to somewhere more exciting or visually appealing. If you happen to be in Indonesia, pause for a bit and see the intricate handiwork that graces the ceiling of their main airport.

Jakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

Wordless Tuesday: RICH

While a number of structures around it have fallen to either decay or the ravages of a recent earthquake, this doorway in Kota Gede maintains the original artistry befitting the royal residence and burial sites it leads to.

Yogyakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: TECHNOLOGY

This photo sums up for me where and how technology has made the most impact on humanity: modalities for travel, construction (especially of skyscrapers), harnessing the power of nature (like water), and mass media (including photography).

beside a busy rush hour Jakarta thoroughfare, 2007, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: TULAY (Bridge)

Isang eroplano ang bumagsak sa pangunahing paliparan ng isang mataong lungsod. Ano ang gagawin mo? Ito ang ipinakita ng sandatahang lakas ng Indonesia nang dumalo kami sa isang dalawang linggong pagsasanay sa kanilang bansa. Sa panahong ito na ang unos na gawa ng kalikasan at gawa ng tao ay tila laging nagbabadya, walang hindi napaghahandaan. Paghahanda ang posibleng tulay na magpapahaba ng ating buhay bago pa man tayo tamaan ng sakuna o sigalot.

Sa usapang paghahanda, narito ang paalala ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan ng Pilipinas ukol sa swine influenza virus. Pakikalat na lang sa lahat ng inyong kaibigan at kapamilya.

TULAY = BRIDGE An airplane crashes in the major airport of your populous city- what do you do? This was what the armed forces of Indonesia demonstrated to us in the form of a simulation exercise during a two-week training in their country. In this day and age when natural disasters and human-made calamities are always just around the corner, preparedness maybe the bridge that will extend and even improve our quality of life.

Speaking of preparedness, click here to read the Philippine Department of Health advisory with regard to swine influenza virus. Kindly spread the word- not the germ!- to your family and friends.

at the Adisutjipto Airport, Jogjakarta, Indonesia, June 2007, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: LILA (Violet)

Ito na ang pinakamalapit kong karanasan sa pagiging milyonaryo. Ang isang dolyar ng panahong ito ay katumbas ng 8,500 rupiah. Kaya't nung ipinapalit ko ang aking baong $200 dollars, nakahawak ako ng 1.7 milyong rupiah! Mura ang pagkain at bilihin sa Indonesia kung kaya nama'y malayu-layo rin ang inabot ng aking milyones.

Pakikipagsapalaran lang ang magpapalit ng pera. Madalas ay barat ang mga hotel. Ang mga nasa loob-loobang nagpapalit ng pera naman ay nakakatakot puntahan, bagaman mas galante sila. Nakabisita kami ng di bababa sa limang palitan ng pera bago kami nagpasya na tangkilikin ang isang tinadahan na pinakamataas ang palit kung ihahambing sa aming ibang napuntahan. Masaya ang lahat.

Hanggang sa sumilip kami sa katabing tindahan na ang palitan ay 9,100 rupiah kada dolyar.

Para sa ang aking ibang kuwentong Indones / For my other Indonesian tales:
Sidetrip to Indonesia

LILA = VIOLET This is the closest I have ever been to being a millionaire. At this time that we were in Indonesia, the exchange rate was 8,500 rupiah to a dollar. So when I had my $200 pocket money exchanged, I had 1.7 million rupiah on hand! The food and other goods did not cost too much so much; my millions went a long way.

It was an adventure to have our money changed to the local currency. The hotel's rate was the worst. It was too scary to venture into the innermost recesses of streets which were said to give the best rates. We had to visit at least five money changers before we settled on exchanging our dollars with a store that gave the best value among the others we visited. Everybody was glad our perseverance paid off.

Until we peeked into the shop next door where the exhange rate was 9,100 rupiah to a dollar.

Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, Jakarta, 2007, using a digicam.

Prayer mountain

The Philippines and Indonesia are twin countries- from our languages, to our traffic jams, to our food, to our disaster-prone location. But being geologically older, blocks of stone can be hewn from its mountains, allowing monumental buildings and structures to be erected which have stood nature's fickleness and humanities' ineptitude. The example of which is BOROBUDUR, pictured above. This is in comparison with the Philippines lack of such "indigenous" materials, the awful substitute of which is adobe- compacted volcanic soil- which is so much less sturdy thereby making it less likely to survive the heavy stresses of living in the Pacific Ring of Fire and being the Asian Doormat of Typhoons.

But lest I be misinterpreted, the Philippines has a very rich cultural heritage, albeit different and relatively young vis-a-vis Indonesia's standing existing samples. Who know what can be unearthed by Philippine archaeologists in the days to come...

Borobudur, June 2006, using my Canon A430 digicam.