Pictures of Kyoto, Japan from March, 2004.
The bathroom in my Kyoto Hotel was super tiny!
The Kiyomizu-dera
The Otowa-no-taki
Trying my luck in a Pachinko parlor.
View from Kyoto Tower
The Shinkansen
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Favorite Pictures
Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, California
Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Paris Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Unknown exhibit, Norton Simon, Pasadena, California
Cactus Garden, The Huntington, Pasadena, California
View from M&J’s old house in Te Kuiti, New Zealand
Breakfast in unknown cafe in New Zealand
The day after it snowed in and around Las Vegas, Nevada (12/30/2003)
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Mojave Desert, California
Redlands, California
Redlands, California
Spring in the Joshua National Park, California
Nana’s garden, Te Kuiti, New Zealand
San Francisco, California
Yosemite National Park, California
Interstate Freeway 10 west of Palm Springs, California
Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada
Lake Badwater in Death Valley, California
Artist’s Palette, Death Valley, California
Central Park, New York, New York
Carnival’s Paradise moored at Ensenada, Mexico
Sunset over San Bernardino county
Death Valley, California
Badwater, Death Valley, California
The lowest point (-86m) in North America on land.
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
Night street view, San Francisco, California
Friday, May 15, 2009
Puerto Galera
In November 2003, I spent two weeks on a diving resort on Sabang Beach close to Puerto Galera. Puerto Galera is the main city on the island of Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines south of Manila.
I arrived on the beach from Batangas on the mainland in one of these motorized outriggers.
The beach is lined with coconut trees and fishing vessels.
I stayed in the Villa Sabang Beach Resort. This was the view from my chalet.
One day I rented a motorbike and explored along the coast. I found this hidden picture perfect beach.
The villa operated a diving enterprise called Octopus Divers, a PADI certified school and dive club.
A clown fish.
The iconic and unforgettable Jeepneys.
Heading home…
Sulawesi
Early in 2001, John (a good friend of mine) and I travelled to the Indonesian province of Sulawesi. Below are a few scanned photographs of that trip.
TANA TORAJA
Tana Toraja is a central region of Sulawesi. The region is famed for its traditional villages, unique architecture and fascinating culture.
This family offered John and I shelter during a tropical downpour.
The Tana Torajan Funeral
Tomate (funeral) literally means dead person, and of all Torajan ceremonies the most important are those concerned with sending a dead person to the afterworld. Without proper funeral rites the spirit of the deceased will cause misfortune to its family. The funeral sacrifices, ceremonies and feasts also impress the gods with the importance of the deceased, so that the spirit can intercede effectively on behalf of living relatives.
Sons and daughters of the deceased have an equal chance to inherit their parents' property, but their share depends on the number of buffaloes they slaughter at the funeral feast. The buffalo has traditionally been a symbol of wealth and power - even land could be paid for in buffaloes. The more important the deceased, the more buffaloes must, be sacrificed: one for a commoner, four, eight, 12 or 24 as you move up the social scale. The age and status of the deceased determines the number of animals slaughtered. Large ceremonies, where more than 100 buffaloes are slaughtered, are spoken of with awe for- years afterwards. The type of buffalo is also significant - the most prized is the tedong bonga (spotted buffalo), which may cost many millions of rupiah per head.
These kids had a front row seat.
Baby Graves
Babies that died during child-birth or at a young age are buried in small compartments carved in trees. Overtime the compartments gradually close entombing the baby. A specific tree is selected for this purpose because the sap has the same appearance as milk.
The Graves of Lemo
According to local legend, these graves are for the descendants of a Torajan chief that reigned over the region hundreds of years ago.
A buffalo cools off in a mad pool.
The Londa Burial Caves (6km south of Rantepao)
The Toraja believe that you can take possessions with you in the afterlife, and the dead generally go well equipped to their graves. Since this led to grave plundering, the Toraja started to hide their dead in caves or hew niches out of rock faces.
These caves were hollowed out by specialist cave builders who were traditionally paid in buffaloes, and since the building of a cave would cost several buffaloes, only the rich could afford it. Although the exterior of the cave grave looks small, the interior is large enough to entomb an entire family. The coffins go deep inside the caves, and sitting in balconies on the rock face in front of the caves are the tau tau - life-size, carved wooden effigies of the dead.
Tau tau are carved only for the upper classes; their expense alone rules out their use for poor people. Traditionally, the statues only showed the gender of the person, not the likeness, but now they attempt to imitate the likeness of the person's face. The making of tau tau appears to have been a recent innovation, possibly originating in the late 19th century. The type of wood used reflects the status and wealth of the deceased; nangka (jackfruit) wood is the most expensive. After the deceased has been entombed and the tau tau placed in front of the grave, offerings are placed in the palm of the tau tau. You can see the carvers at work at Londa.
If there are no rocky outcrops or cliff faces to carve a niche in, wooden house graves are created, in which the coffin is placed. Most of the hanging graves, where the wooden coffins are hung from high cliffs, have rotted away. Sometimes the coffins may be placed at the foot of a mountain. Babies who have died before teething are placed in hollowed-out sections of living trees. Examples of these graves can be seen at Pana.
Most tau tau seem to be in a permanent state of disrepair, but in a ceremony after harvest time the bodies are re-wrapped in new material and the clothes of the tau tau replaced. Occasionally left lying around the more obscure cave graves is a duba-duba, a platform in the shape of a traditional house which is used to carry the coffin and body of a nobleman to the grave.
There are many tau tau at Lemo and a few elsewhere, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to see tau tau in Tana Toraia. So many have been stolen that the Toraja now keep many of them in their own homes.
Around Rantepao
Street scene and padi fields on the outskirts of Rantepao.
Manado
North Sulawesi is the most developed region on the island, and probably the most egalitarian in Indonesia; its people have a long history of trade and contact with the outside world. With the Sangir-Talaud island group, North Sulawesi forms a natural bridge to the Philippines, providing a causeway for the movement of peoples and cultures, and as@& result the language and physical features related to the Philippines can be found amor4 the Minahasans.
The three largest distinct groups in the province are the Minahasans, Gorontalese and Sangirese, but there are many more dialects and subgroups. The kingdoms of Bolaang Mongondow, sandwiched between Minahasa and Gorontalo were important political players too.
The Dutch have had a more enduring influence on this isolated northern peninsula than in the archipelago. Dutch is still spoken among the older generation, well-to-do families often send their children to study in the Netherlands.
Below is a picture of the a mini-bus station. Manado had a serious rubbish problem, the stench from uncollected garbage was terrible.
Pulau Bunaken
Bunaken Island is north west of Manado in Northern Sulawesi. Due to the lack of facilities on the island the diving resorts (collection of bungalows) offer full board and lodging.
Picture below is the suicidal boat that ferried locals and budget travelers between the island and the mainland. Safety was not an option.
Tomohon
For an anti-Chinese country Buddhist temple are fairly rare. This one is located in Tomohon, not far from Manado. Tomohon is just a small town sitting on the door step of one big-ass active volcano called Gunung Lokon.
Small Fishing Village
The End of a Long Journey
John and I relaxing in Singapore at Raffles Hotel with a Singapore Sling or two.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Java
Around 1996, some friends and I travelled through Java, Indonesia. These are some scanned photographs from that trip.
Wayang Wong
Wayang wong is a traditional Javanese theatre with people mimicking the actions of shadow puppets (or wayang klitik).
Puncak Pass
A woman picking tea leaves on the Puncak Pass.
Borobudur
The amazing and unforgettable Borobudur temple in Yogyakarta, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
Prambanan
Prambanan is a Hindu temple complex also located in Yogyakarta. Whilst not as large as Borobudur it is equally impressive in architecture.
It is interesting to compare these decade old photographs with recent ones (e.g. 1 & 2).
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Sumatra
These are some more scanned photographs from a trip to Sumatra, Indonesia in 1994.
Bukittinggi
Bukittinggi is a small town in central Sumatra. The region is famous for its curved roofed architecture resembling bulls horns. A style inspired by an ancient legend. The local ethnic people also take their name, Minangkabau (or winning bull), from this legend.
Bali
These are some scanned photographs from an adventure I undertook late in 1994. My voyage took me through Kalimantan, Java and ultimately to Bali, Indonesia.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Malaysia
Below are a few scanned photographs of Malaysia. They were taken in the mid 1990’s.
Batu caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mulu Caves, Sarawak, Malaysia
Penan Woman, Sarawak, Malaysia
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Cambodia
Cambodia is a spectacular country with a tragic history. During my visiting in 2001 I visited the infamous Khmer Rouge prison, Tuol Sleng, and the killing fields at Choeung Ek. Both were very sobering experiences.
The premier attraction in Cambodia is Angkor Wat located near Siem Reap. It is striking in both size and the endless reliefs that adorn the never ending corridor walls. No wonder Cambodian’s placed this structure on their national flag.
When I recall Cambodia I instantly remember the ancient temple ruins in Siem Riep that were engulfed by vegetation. Some of the pictures below have been immortalized in the Tomb Raider movie that were shot shortly before I arrived.
Choeung Ek
Angkor
“Face towers of the Bayonrepresent the king as the Bodhisattva Lokesvara.”
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor
“A bas-relief in a tympanum at Banteay Srei shows Indra releasing the rains in an attempt to extinguish the fire created by Agni.”
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_architecture
Angkor Wat
“The bas-relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk shows Vishnu in the centre, his turtle avatarKurma below, asuras and devas to left and right, and apsaras and Indra above.”
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Waht
The Next Generation…
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Brunei
Brunei was my home from 1994 to 1998, I have many fond memories of the people, food and places. Here is a brief look back…
Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan
Downtown Bandar decorated to celebrate the Sultan’s 50th birthday (in 1996).
Mum and I after visiting the Sultan’s palace during Hari Raya.
Kampung Air (Water Village)
Kids playing on the walkway between houses in Kampung Air.
Surveying the jungle in Temburong
Jerudong Park
A Malay Wedding
Bruneian Sunset
