Archive for July 10th, 2006
Indonesians are renowned the world over for their textiles. In Bali, the Balinese produce textiles for a variety of markets and,, one of them the tourist trade. But for the Balinese they like to dress as pleasantly as possible and especially at ceremonies and other special events in their daily lives.
Various forms of cloth are produced on the island of Bali and each one beautiful in its own right. Batik is a textile is manufactured mainly in factories these days but there are some smaller places in the outer lying villages where the batik process is still as it has been for centuries. The two main styles of Batik are batik tulis and batik cap.
The main batik manufacturing town on Bali is at Gianyar where many factories can be found and visited. Be warned though, the price you pay at the factory is inflated and you would be better of checking the street prices in markets such as Sukawati first. Balinese women wear a length of batik around their waist much in the style of a skirt.
Grinsing is one of the rarest weaving techniques practiced and you will find this textile in the traditional village of Tenganan, East Bali. Gringsing is also known as the ‘flame cloth’ and in this elaborate dyeing process both the warp and weft threads are carefully bound before dyeing. This creates numerous patterns that once finished seemingly fit together perfectly and harmoniously.
Tenganan is the only place in the world where the double-ikat process is practised. There are not many women left in Tenganan who know this practice of weaving but it is being handed down to the next generation. To weave a piece of gringsing could take up to three days but the finished product is superb. When you visit the village you are welcome to have a look at this weaving process and of course for a fee!.
Endek is a tie-dyed woven textile popular with most Balinese. Wooden hand-operated looms are used in the process of the weft-ikat method. This is where sections of the cloth are tied and then wrapped before immersing them into tubs of dye. The basic designs are irregular and soft wavy patterns. Also created are diamond designs and a zigzagging pattern. Endek is a versatile cloth for the Balinese because it can be worn for both daily use and ceremonial purposes.
Songket is a brocaded silk that has interweaving patterns of silver and gold thread and is classified as the ceremonial dress of all Balinese. Worn mainly on religious occasions, it is also worn to weddings, tooth filings and other important ritual events. The cloth is tapestry in appearance and has various motifs including wayang figures, birds, butterflies, flowers and leaves. The process of weaving is done on back-strap looms. Because of its thread and quality it is generally accepted that it is a wealthy man’s cloth.
Interestingly, the kain songket is bought in two pieces and then sewn together. The men wear the songket saput. This is a narrow piece of cloth worn over a sarung. Together with a songket udeng or head band this is for more formal and ceremonial occasions.
Decorated with silver or gold thread, kain prada is a lustrous fabric woven of cotton or silk. A ceremonial cloth, it is generally two meters in length and can take up as long as three months to weave from start to finish. Various patterns include lotus blossoms with swastikas as border decorations. These are however the most common motifs.
July 10th, 2006
When you get off the plane at Denpasar and get outside the terminal, it is one of the first odours you notice along with that of hibiscus and frangipani. Of course I am talking about clove cigarettes.
Although I have quit smoking now for some time, I always used to smoke clove cigarettes or as they are called,
Garam. There is quite a history behind these pungent coffin nails. When I was travelling around the north of Java I visited a town called Kudus and visited the Djarum factory there, another brand name. I must admit to being totally fascinated by the whole process of women rolling these cigarettes by hand!.
Rokok is Bahasa Indonesia for cigarettes, kretek is clove flavoured, so rokok kretek means clove flavoured cigarettes. For many millions of Javanese and Indonesians kretek is an enjoyable companion, tasteful and it gives a feeling of relief, relaxation and its price is nothing compared to the comfort given.
One of my favourite Javanese websites, Joglosemar, has an excellent article about these delightful products which will help you better understand their addictive attraction to so many Indonesians:
Brief history
Rokok kretek was invented by a man from the town of Kudus, 50 km eastward of Semarang in the early nineties AD. The man Noto Semito was from a long time suffering from cough and asthma. Desperate to cure his illness he rolled tobacco mixed with crushed cloves in dried corn leaves - this is the original kretek cigarettes.
The rokok klobot (klobot is dried corn leaves). After smoking these kretek he was cured and become healthier. He began to manufacture his new kretek cigarettes with trade mark of Bal Tiga (three balls). He actively marketed the kretek every where, through radio, touring vans with music and dancers and even by air dropping promotion leaflets.
He became a very successful business man, a billionaire. His steps were followed by many others and soon kretek industry was mushrooming also in other cities. The fate of Noto Semito, the Father of Kretek, ended tragically. He was bankrupt in 1953 crushed by his invented kretek vast industry.
The Present Day Kretek
The kretek follows ‘modernization’ in the cigarette industry. The new filter kretek are major products, the contents of crushed cloves are smaller, changed with clove essence. The crushed cloves are kept to maintain the voice of burning kretek - crackling : tek, tek, tek, from here comes the name of kretek.
The leaders of kretek nowadays are Djambu Bol, Sukun, Nojorono, Jarum (in Kudus and Central Java), Bentoel (in Malang), Gudang Garam (in Kediri) and Sampurna (in Surabaya). There are also smaller manufacturers, such as Menara (in Solo), Pompa (in Semarang), etc. More than 95% of local smokers prefer kretek than rokok putih or white cigarettes - non clove cigarettes.
No one denies that kretek industry brings a huge sum of tax to the state purse and millions of people depend their income to this chains of business starting from the tobacco and clove farmers, workers at the factories, sellers in many shops and stalls, truckers involved in this industry and it’s worth to note - their families.
Tobacco Connoisseur
The kretek factories absorb a lot of tobacco. The buyers - mainly the kretek producers, they hire several connoisseurs, experts of tobacco, to secure the quality of their products. They are very well paid. No doubt of their specific expertise. Only by smelling the wet tobacco leaves or dried cut tobacco leaves, high qualified connoisseur should know precisely the origin of the tobacco. It is from Wonosobo , Magelang or Boyolali (Central java) or from Besuki (East Java) and knows the harvest year of every tobacco tested. The testing is important as prices differ from region to region.
Pawang Hujan
Is someone endowed with magic power to prevent rainfall in a certain area (hujan is rain).The competition in cigarette manufacturing sector is quite tough. A good quality tobacco is the product of tobacco leaves harvested in dry season. The rain before harvest shall lower its quality.
A vast of tobacco farms, thousands of hectares, in a certain area belonged to a big kretek factory, should be continuously supervised and guarded by a pawang hujan assigned by the factory. The pawang hujan should say his spells and does all necessary things, whenever a dark cloud is hanging over the farm. He could move the cloud ready to pour rainfall to other area or he should postpone the rainfall for a certain period of time.
In tobacco plantations, ‘a war between pawang hujan‘ sometimes happened (the service of pawang hujan exists also in big cities for instance for protecting some big parties or ceremonies, private or public ones).
Kretek and Health Care
Despite any criticism from health organizations recently that cigarettes smoking including kretek is not good for someone health, a lot of kretek smokers - men and women alike are still enjoying the habit of kretek smoking. They say that kretek is ‘a cheap entertainment’ they can effort to buy.
It is effective to eradicate stress in this tensed life. Moreover, the fact that shows many old people are kretek addicted has discouraged some people to give up kretek.
Sources : www.baliblg.com
July 10th, 2006
Wherever you travel in the world, it is always handy to have some information on your proposed destination before you leave home and venture on your journey.
Information like the great places to eat near where you are staying or even about places along any journey you might take within that country you are holidaying in, whether it be a day trip or for a few days. Of course most importantly is your accommodation If you have booked your trip through a travel agent then your accommodation is usually included in the final price. Those of you who choose not to use agents then finding good and reliable information about a hotel or losmen is important.
Then there are other details you will need to know about the place you visit, those enjoyable activities and necessary places. For instance, Internet Cafes so you can keep in touch with rellies so they won’t freak out on Vallium wondering what the hell you are doing or where you are at that moment in time. Banks, Money Changers and hospitals or medical clinics in case you decide to rough up your body a tad during your activities are always important to know of and their location.
Of course we can’t forget the important places (and especially for you ladies) such as shops and markets. You might be after a particular item or just feel like lightening your credit card balance a little or emptying your partner’s wallet giving him cause to drown himself in alcoholic beverages at the nearest watering hole.
Naturally you will want to do some sightseeing whilst in the country and so knowing where the museums, shrines, temples and the like are located. It’s good also to have a bit of the history. Then there are those out of the way places, the beaches where you can get your gear off and walk around au naturel undisturbed.
Nowadays most people reach for a guidebook of which there are many. Personally, I rarely use guidebooks but when I do it is always a Rough Guides because I find they are straightforward and honest in their knowledge of places and hotels. Of course the most popular is Lonely Planet. There are a host of guidebooks on the shelves of every bookshop.
The other source of information is the internet with heaps of travel websites and probably more than the average person could handle. Without a doubt the best of these is BootsnAll. They also have a great forum so you can ask questions from travellers who have been there and have the knowledge you require. On the BootsnAll website you can book your flight, a hotel, obtain insurance and find out just about all the information you will need to travel.
Then there are forums like the Bali Travel Forum or the recently created Bali Chat Forum, the latter probably being the better. The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum is also excellent but not up to the standard of BootsnAll.
So, if you are looking for information for on your next trip, check out the sites I have recommended.
sources : www.baliblog.com
July 10th, 2006
Frightening as every aspect of terrorism is, it has become a part of our daily lives and whenever we travel, it is not far from our thoughts. The Indonesian police recently released details of Azahari’s documents where he recorded detailed plans of his attacks.
Dr. Azahari bin Husin the mastermind behind the Bali bombings was killed in an anti-terrorism raid last November. He resembled an academic with the stereotypical spectacles and groomed moustache, it is because he was one.
He was a lecturer at the Malaysian Institute of Technology in Johor, Malaysia and he was clearly talented in his field as he studied to become a mechanical engineer at the University of Adelaide and subsequently received his PhD from the University of Reading in England.
But academia took a back seat when Azahari ventured to Afghanistan in 2000 where he learnt bomb making techniques. His death during an anti-terrorism raid in East Java last year revealed a 34 page document on the second Bali bombing.
Dr. Rohan Gunaratna from the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore had examined the documents and expressed his thoughts to Tempo magazine.
“Azahari had detailed the steps which would have to be taken before, during and after the operation. He has outdone Abu Khabab al-Masri, his bomb making instructor in Afghanistan. He had perfected the art of the bomb attack from his teacher.”
The report was divided into five chapters beginning with the reason for choosing Bali as the target.
As many had expected Bali was chosen for its large presence of foreign nationals and more importantly the international coverage Azahari and his accomplices would have achieved should the bombing take place there.
So how did Azahari plan his attack?
His followers surveyed between up to 20 night clubs in the Kuta Square, Jimbaran and Ubud areas. The targets were selected because they were frequented by European guests. Even the types and brands of clothing, shoes and bags used by the guests were noted. The suicide bombers planned to wear similar clothing. This is how they would be able to move through the crowd without arousing suspicion. The suicide bombers themselves were sent to make the survey so that they could become more familiar with the targets.
When the plans were finalized the bombs were prepared and a boarding room was reserved. The suicide bombers soon returned to Bali. The next few steps of the plan revealed how meticulous Azarhari was in strategizing the attack.
Agung Rulianto from Tempo magazine explains.
“The bombs would be detonated during the busiest hour at the targeted nightclubs. Azarhari had determined the timetable down to the minute starting from the time they left the boarding room until the time the time of detonation. The route to be taken by the bombers considered the position of the chairs and tables in order to obtain the maximum effect.”
The plan went according to schedule and on Sunday 2nd October 2005 the explosions went off in Menega Restaurant and Nyoman CafĂ©, both in Jimbaran beach, at 7.40pm Western Indonesian Time. The explosion at R.Aja’s Restaurant at Kuta Square took place three minutes later.
Agung Rulianto from Tempo magazine explains:
“According to a Tempo magazine source in the police department a black wallet belonging to the perpetrator in R.Aja’s in Kuta Square was found. Inside it was a note written in Indonesian on a scrap of paper, reading ‘Date with Ratna at 17:32.’ The police interpreted that Ratna is a heavenly bride. That means they were ready to carry out suicide bombings. This time was not much different than that found written in Azarhari’s document. There is a note on page 27 that stated that at 17:25 Western Indonesian Time the perpetrator must pack and arrange to check out of the boarding room. At 17:30 they were to take a motorcycle taxi to Legian beach. According to the plan the bombs were to be detonated simultaneously at 19:34 that evening.”
The revelations of Azarhari’s documents on the Bali bombings may send a chill down many spines. But such information has proved vital to police fighting terrorism, especially in capturing individuals with bomb-making techniques.
It can be seen from these documents that the attacks were calculated and planned down to the smallest details. If more terrorists are to be captured then these documents might prove invaluable to future investigations.
sources : www.baliblog.com
July 10th, 2006