Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Jogja Trip part II - The people We Met

This picture was taken 5 min. before landing at Adi Sumarmo Airport, Solo.
The flight KL-Solo took 2 1/2 hours. That mountain is not Merapi.

As our plane touched down at Solo, we we greeted by Anang our would be 'supir' for 3 days. Anang was born and brought up in Jogja. He is a true Jogja born Javanese, descendent of great Java warriors during the peak of its civilization. His knowledge about his hometown is well respected.

On the street in Jogja.
This is a traffic light junction musician with a home made instrument.


Another traffic light junction musician going from window to window asking for charity.


Pengayuh Beca waiting for customers. There are so many beca and a very limited number of passengers. The rate for a day rent can go as low as Rs 25,000 that is equivalent to RM 11.


She is waiting for a ride but look! The Pengayuh Beca is sound asleep.
This place is within the walls of Keraton, Jogja.



Jogja was the capital for many rulers of Java. A land full of history of many religion from Hindu to Buddha and later Muslims with lot of artifacts and structures of old empires to be seen. At Prambanan, we can see Prambanan Temples and Chandi Seribu. An hour drive from Jogja you will find The Borobudur and Chandi Mendut. At Kota Gede about 15 minutes from Jogja lies the royal mausoleum of The Mataram Kings.

At Kota Gede.
Guests are required to change into traditional costumes before being allowed to enter the mausoleum of the Mataram Kings.


One morning at Borobudur.
Visitors are trying hard to reach the statue inside the stupa. It was said that it brings luck to those who succeed.The guide is doing his duty telling the myth.


People of Java speaks bahasa Jawa and bahasa Indonesia. According to Anang Bahasa Jawa is supposed to be more detailed than Bahasa Indonesia. The usage of its vocabulary depends on the person to whom one is talking to.


Buying Apem at a pasar.
The people here are very polite and friendly (berlemah lembut dan bersopan santun).
This girl had just finished her upper secondary and had to work.



At Pasar Batik.
This nenek sells anak itik. She was trying hard convincing us to buy the ducklings.

Working hard to get sesuap nasi at this age.


From our transport, a 'Kijang' we realised that there were almost no wooden houses. It seems that the Javanese had mastered the art of masonary hundreds of years ago thus buildings were made from bricks and rocks. Keraton a place where the royal family dwells is surrounded by layers of stone/brick walls. Within the walls there are shops, houses, gardens, farms, administrative buildings and of course the royal palace.


Pasar di Jogja.
Selling vegetables at the market. They are really friendly but camera shy.



Still at the market not far from our hotel. She is selling timun, serai, huge tempe etc.


Her product is just banana, leaves and the fruit. I wonder how much she makes a day.

23 comments:

Mama Sarah said...

Apem dia sama dgn Malaysia tak? Dengar cerita teh tarik tak sama.. :)

Paul Moss dah dapat bantuan 3 Qul (or 4 Qul) kesian dia dah toned down sikit sejak balik dr Indonesia.

Or perhaps he's eating his heart out after seeing your better photos than his???

Mama Pongkey said...

Gorgeous photos. I love the first pic, it looked magical, with the lights twinkling and turquoise greenery. I like your people pics too, they seem like they are going to step out of the pics at any moment now. I wouldn't be surprised if I hear the old lady's pleas for me to buy her ducklings!

Mama Sarah said...

KKL, scary lah u ckp camtu (seem like they are going to step out of the pics)
bunyi mcm cerita the ring je!

Anonymous said...

The turkuaz colour? I think I know how he got that. Ok, I`ll shut up.

Jo Kontan said...

Whoa Ho Hoaa !!. Look at the Jpg's..

Beautiful.

Ikelah said...

mama sarah

to indon garoda and naga are mystical creatures. they are 'alive' looking after their kings. sultan jogja yang paling terkenal adalah sultan hamengku buwono ke9.

apem dia bercampur kelapa dan tak macam apam kita lembut then only cicah kelapa, tapi sedap.

teh tarik? mana ada teh tarik!!! teh susu pun rasa 80% susu, 5% teh, and 15% wangin macam jasmin.
Me, "say nak teh susu(i know teh tarik tak de)". hawker jawab, "apa dia pak?". Me, "awak buat teh dan campur susu". hawker puas hati,"oooo dicampur susunyaaaaa".

the rest got their air mineral. i usually ask for coffee but since the coffee taste awful, i opt for teh susu instead.

the lady came and place the glass. i stared for a few seconds thinking that maybe i need to stir it. I kacau, still nothing. i kacau lagi kuat and start seaching a tea bag inside. still nothing but i took a sip. hahahaha.... air dicampur susu pekat dan kita stirrrrr....
i called her to add tea inside and i got my tea about 5 minutes later.

kenakelayan
turquiose tu due to reflection for using super expensive filter(hahaha...actually cermin tingkap airplane). the polarizer took care of it in such a way the colour chances.
for ur info, polarizing filter is good to:
1. bring out the cloud and make the sky more blue.
2. take out reflection from water, glass or any shining objects.
3. make the colour richer but it will cut the light up to 2 stops(depends on polarizer).
4. act as a neutral density filter as in 3, where in a very bright day teh photographer wants to open his aperture wide to narrow the DOF.

mama sarah again
bila ada eye contact, i pun mula rasa seram.

paul moss
hahaha... thanks... we tried hard to get rid of it but the reflection was too strong. after viewing the map of java and solo, we actually should take the seat on the left on our way back. merapi can be seen from there, eventhough its far.

jo

thanks....

slight post production tweak pun penting kalau kita shoot normal setting.

mynn said...

wah, ingatkan silap masuk page national geographic tadi!

what a good idea, visiting a country and taking pictures of the locals & studying the culture. When people go travelling they normally only take pictures of themselves posing infront of various monuments and buildings ...

doing it like you have is much more significant & memorable.

Anonymous said...

Mynn, sindir saya ke? Saya la tu who "only take pictures of themselves posing infront of various monuments and buildings ..." sampai monuments and buildings tu pun kata (agaknya): "Hoi!! who's the attraction here, YOU or ME??" ;))

Honestly Ikelah, your people pics are superb. Take 'the buying Apem at the pasar' pic for example...I can actually see the politeness in the girl's facial expression and her body language.

And the nenek, at that age, trying hard to sell her ducklings. Tak sampai hati lah tak beli. Tapi nak bawa ke mana anak-anak itik tu ye??? ;((

Izhal said...

i dont know, but judging from the pictures, the weather looks cool there, not?

i wonder how the traffic light musicians instrument sounds like... i wonder how their music sounds like too...

dith said...

Pycno- hehe, if only those monuments could talk! But I still think the best pictures of buildings/monumets are those with living objects around ..:)

Ah yes that apem seller, she's a sure gem, polite and so humble!

Mama Sarah said...

This is to Paul Moss. Please accept my apology.

I thought by apologizing would help you from the wicked spell.

(i feel bad, seeing Paul Moss' VERY short comment)

Mama Pongkey said...

Mama Sarah and iKelah

Bila sebut The Ring, I pun jadik seram sejuk! :D

Ohh guna polariser ke? (Chee wahh saya cakap macam tahu jek benda2 ni, walaupun O-K ada satu polariser, tapi saya hanya tahu 'menepek' polariser tersebut di atas lensa kamera).

Kawe akan cuba ingat ni. It actually complements my work (microscopy, so byklah prinsip optics and post-acquisition processing).

Pycnogenol

Ambik gambar posing? Tu pun saya jugak!! :D Cuma holiday hari tu sebab playing around with O-K's new gadget, maka byklah gambar lain pun tertangkap. Kalau tak adalah byk gambar posing seadanye!

dith said...

Ok my request: the next time someone pose for a camera, plz pose ala Jefridin ke and post an entry ok? Jgn lupa letak tangan kat dagu ek!

KKL- So kerje awok menempek lense jek ye? Baru tai kita org ke rumah awok jumpe Pa, Ma and OK! Sihat semua!

Mama Sarah- You jgn risau pasal Paul Moss. Dia keras hati and kulit tebal!

Mama Pongkey said...

:) Che Ma baru dichaffeur oleh O-K dalam CeeVee. Laju benor awok doh jumpa family kawe!

Kawe memang tukang 'tempek' profesional dan hobi kawe pun 'menempek'. :D

Camane pose Jefridin tu? Cuba tunjuk contoh skit! :D 'Tempek'lah contoh tu kat sini.

mynn said...

psycno
haha, whoops, but like DITH said, it's human presence that makes photos more interesting right?

Ikelah said...

mynn

From student days if i travelled, i just love to take the pictures of the locals, sceneries and a few self potraits. thanks for the compliment.

pycno

Saya sememangnya suka gambar gadis menjual Apem tu. Expression muka dan body language menunjukkan sincerity and politeness.

boogey layan makcik tu, beri a few thousand rupiah and of course without the ducklings.;)

izhal

It was hot but less humid compared to Malaysia. The sound from the instrument tu.... hahahaha... tak yah cakaplah. Some even play the toy guitar to ask for money....hehehehe... tak sempat ambil gambarnya pakkk..

DITH

A monument without a human is lifeless. ;) ... tapi janganlah gambar classroom photo sessions. ;)

mama sarah

paul dah merajuk dengan you. dia tak nak muncul lagi. hehehehe ;)

kenakelayan

minta OK cari 12-24 mm Zoom..... gadget yang menarik untuk OK gunakan.
The polarizer is very useful to reduce reflections. pakai kat microscope pun bagus kut. ;)

DITH

Jadi PR officer nampaknya.

kenakelaya

Kawe ronda semambu dan padang lalang dalam CV deme. nak gi mengeteh dah sebu perut. sedak CV deme.

Jefri din kalau menari terkinje kinje. galau bergambar menongkat dagu. contoh....nanti kut. siapa model nya?


mynn

agreed. memberi cerita yang tersendiri.

Mama Pongkey said...

Jefridin:
kenanganku... hampa belaka... walaupun kini... kau jauh di mata...

ishkk.. lirik lagu ni macam terkena batang idung sendiri... ishkkk... *bengang kejap*

Lens ni macam hediah yang sessswaii untuk beddey O-K yang ke ..ehem ehem. (kenalah jimat duit dari skrang nampaknye).

abdullahjones said...

gambar orang lagi. saya suka gambar orang. saya tidak suka gambar tidak ada orang.

Ikelah said...

kenakelayan
sesuai. RM3,000 for nikor lens,RM2500 for other brands

abdullahjones
begitu lah pilihan tersendiri

Anonymous said...

People have been missing my honest comments already?
I don`t comment much on the Yogya photos because I already know the hows and whys of almost all of the pictures.
Accessments to the photos may vary because different people evaluate from many different perspective. In the end it`s simply whether you enjoy looking at it or not. I hate the turkuaz colour of the image taken from the plane and tried hard trying to find an angle which will eliminate the rainbow colour. Ikelah hate it too and asked me whether I managed to eliminate it. Yet many other people might find the turkuaz colour landscape interesting. So it`s the perspective.
In a magazine I recently bought, there`s this photo which won the 1st prize. It`s a photo of a girl with a green wall as background. Very simple compared to the other entries which looks much more interesting and artistic. I would have chosen the 3rd place entry or the 4th place but never the 1st prize one. Maybe when I have a deeper understanding of light then I would have agreed on the judges choice.
In Malaysian Idol I evaluate the singers performance. I am not required to sing and I`m no singer after all but a composer musician. I just give honest critics. To give honest critics I am not required to prove that I can sing better than the people I criticise. I am only required to have some technical knowledge of the field, observant, self confidence, brave and honest.
My advise, you don`t need to be better to give advise to the better. Tu pasal la leaders kita ni buat ikut suke je kot agaknya because the rakyats think who are we to advise the wiser.

KAMATO said...

nice picture... yang lecehnya kat borobudur tu semua orang dok keliling kita promote barang dia kan....

Mama Pongkey said...

iKelah

Mahalnye! Er.. Saya bayar separuh ajelah *menyengih*

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed a lot! » » »