Archive for October 19th, 2006
Sunday night here in Seminyak Bali we had a very refreshing downpour. I didn’t see it, only heard it, as I was in bed, but it was pretty decent. Though temperatures are still comfortable, way more comfortable than in Central Java (40C) right now, the mercury is creeping up.
I’ve noticed that while typing on my porch I need a fan now. A month ago I didn’t need one. Probably be using AC in a month’s time to sleep. The wet season in not here yet though, and for tourists that’s great news. Here’s the 10 day weather forecast for Bali.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006
After the Dutch got a foothold in the Banda’s, they went all out to gain a monopoly on the spice trade. Here’s how it happened.
•Dutch Conquest:
After the ambush, the cheifs and much of the population, deserted the spice gardens around the fort, and fled into the hills. In retaliation, the Dutch survivors blockaded the islands, attempting to persecute and starve the Bandanese into submission. Punitive expeditions were launched against the islander, but the stubborn Bandanese resisted, expelled the Dutch from the island of Ai, and continued to trade with the British. The Dutch were getting nowhere in this war of attrition, and at last decided to take more drastic measures. The new commander, the ruthless Jan Pieterszoon Coen, had witnessed the murder of Verhoeffe during the 1609 expedition. This man, of whom, the Dutch historians have said ‘his name reeks of blood’, gave no quarter. Invading the Banda’s from Batavia (Jakarta) with a force of 2,000 men, Coen’s mercenaries rampaged through the islands razing villages, burning boats, raping and looting. Two-thirds of the population was wiped out, the remainder sold into slavery or driven to the hills, to die of exposure. Only 1,000 Bandanese survived in the archipelago out of an original population of 15,000.
•Monopoly:
In Coen’s attempt to impose a monopoly once and for all in the Banda’s, British factories and forts first had to be destroyed, stocks of spices confiscated, and their merchants and seamen beaten and thrown into chains. Coen began setting up a closed horticultural preserve to control the growing and sale of spices. To keep the supply down and prices up, nutmeg groves on all but the 2 main islands were destroyed. Coen carved up the remaining gardens into 68 concessions, or perkens which were offered free to Dutch planters called perkeniers, mostly rogues and drifters. In order to work the nutmeg trees on these now unpopulated islands, each land grant was provided with 1,500 imported slaves. The Dutch East India Co. controlled demand and fixed prices, ensuring a guaranteed income for the perkeniers and astronomical profits for the company.
Hooray for capitalism! This type of struggle, complete with the disregard for locals, is a story repeated 100 times in the European conquest of the world. All the same, the impact the tiny Spice Islands had on world history in immense. Christopher Columbus was actually searching for the Spice Islands when he discovered America.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006
Reading through an account of the history of the
Spice Islands, the name
Banda come up. Indonesia is such a fascinating place, and the European conquest of the country, started with the search for spices. Banda is located in
Eastern Indonesia, close to Ambon.
A book I’m reading, about the European struggle for control of the spice, offers an account of how things developed.
•History:
The Banda islands derive their name from Nusa Banda (Islands of Wealth). Spices are bound up inextricably in the history of these islands. For centuries the Bandanese had been selling their spices to such traditional trading partners as the Bugis, Chinese and Arabs, in exchange for medicine, ceramics and textiles. Scholars believe the Hindu-Javanese merchants were the first to introduce nutmeg and mace in the internatioal emporia, the commodities reaching Europe around 500AD.
The demand for spices as preservatives accelerated in Europe to such an extent, that by the 16th Century, expeditions were dispatched in search of te source. The Portuguese captain, Antonio d’Abreu discovered the Banda’s in 1511, inaugurating a profitable Bandanese-Portuguese trade, which lasted nearly 100 years. The Portuguese controlled the Indian Ocean for a century with a string of ports stretching to Japan. Atypically, the Portuguese did not leave a trail of intrigue in the Banda’s as they did in the other Malukan spice islands. The Portugese kept a tenuous hold on the islands until the arrival of the Dutch in the early 17th century.
•Early Dutch Expeditions:
The Dutch first attempted to lure the Bandanese away from the politically and economically bankrupt Portuguese. In 1599 the Dutch Vice Admiral van Heemskerk arrived with 2 ships and 200 men to barter iron goods, heavy woolens and velvets, gunpowder, mirrors and trinkets. For these inappropriate and unwanted goods, the Dutch demanded the islands’s entire crop of nutmeg and mace. The village elders signed a written treay under pressure, not realizing the Dutch considered the document, to carry the full force of the law. After signing, the Bandanese ignored the treaty and went back to freely selling spices to their traditional buyers, which included the British on the island of Run. When the Dutch found out, they were outraged, threatened reprisals, and demanded even more stringent agreements.
Finally, under the auspices of the Dutch East Indies Co., in 1609 Admiral Pieter Verhoeffe sailed a war fleet of 13 ships and 1,000 men into Bandaneira’s harbor to impose an airtight monopoly on all spices leaving the Banda’s. After cursory negotiations, the admiral began constructing a massive fort upon the foundations of the former Portuguese fort, a premature and provocative act. Under pretense of further negotiations, the Bandanese lured the unarmed Dutch into an ambush in which the admiral and 45 of his entourage were killed. This escalated the pace of events, unleashing a catastrophie.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006
Life is full of possibilities and sometimes, those possibilities manifest themselves as little shocks to the system. Living in Bali, you had better be ready for them.
There is a book entitled ‘Flow‘, in which the author attempts to understand what makes people happy. One of the things he found was that when operating, and achieving at a high level, people often feel they are ‘flowing’, whether skiing, playing guitar, knocking out emails, whatever. Accordingly, one can only ‘flow’ when one is relaxed enough, to find some sort of rhythm. An expat friend of mine said the other day, that he must of done something bad in a previous life, because life in Bali is a non-stop series of dramas.
I can understand where he’s coming from, what with visa changes, terrorism events, etc. Just the other day, an expat friend chatted with me about his living situation. Having been in the same house for 12 years, the landlord’s son came over to remind him about the rent. ‘No worries’, he thought, until the son said ‘Oh yeah, Ba Pak wants to knock this house down next month.’ No 6-month warning, no ’sorry for the inconvenience’, or ‘here’s what we’re planning’. Just walk in, and say, ‘house getting knocked down, you’re out of here’. My friend was spitting bullets.
Finding a place to live isn’t too difficult out here, but when you are settled and comfortable, its another stress to have to deal with. Indonesians have told me that Balinese people often make these types of snap decisions, with no warning. Living in Bali, one has to realize our time is somewhat temporary, or at least, time in one place is temporary.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006
A Australian friend of mine, who is in the surfing industry in Bali, one told me that the 2 best surfing destinations in the world were Hawaii and the Mentawai islands, of the west coast of Sumatra. An article by one of the guys who discovered the Mentawai’s, backs that up.
Before moving to Bali in 2003, my knowledge of the Mentawai’s, was limited to the 10 day jungle trek I did there in 1993. I spent a week at Lagundi Bay on Nias (not technically part of the Mentawai’s, but close) and was vaguely aware, that surfing was going on in the area. I had no idea that the location was held in such high esteem. Part of the reason for the popularity of the Mentawai’s, is the remote location and lack of facilities. This means the only way to surf there is from a live-aboard boat, with hopefully not too many other boats around.
News.com features an article by Nick Carrol, who found the Mentawai’s to be a magical surfing location. For people wishing to arrange a live-aboard to the Mentawai’s, walk around Poppies II and Jl. Benesari, you see a few places offering trips.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006
This evening I had dinner in one of the restaurants, at the back of Discovery Mall in Tuban. Barrie and his family were well familiar with the food options, as they have checked out the restaurants there before. We were joined by 2 ladies (Dina and Ani) from Yogyakarta, close to where Barrie’s wife, Candika lives.
Barrie commented that it was nice to see some people out and about. It was true, even at 9.30pm the mall was still busy with Balinese, Muslim and western shoppers. I cannot remember the name of the place we ate at, but my dish was Woku, at steamed fish dish with rice and a brown/ yellow hot sauce. It was 28,000rp and very good. Sitting there after the spicy sauce kicked in, I was sweating, something that wouldn’t of happened a month ago.
Discovery Mall has great coffee, Starbucks at the front and a cafe at the back, with a great selection of drinks. The beach front restaurants overlook Kuta Beach, and the place is spacious.
After bidding farewell to Barrie and his family, myself and the 2 ladies from Yogya, went to retrieve our motorbikes, from across the street. After riding 10 meters, my bike felt funny, and I realized I had a flat front tyre. The ladies offered to help me, then realized they too had a flat. “Watch out” they shouted, “hurry, they will take the bikes.” What was going on, I didn’t exactly understand, until I saw a squad of black uniformed people, coming back down the street, letting down all the bike tyres! Some kind of neighborhood patrol, but really a pain in the neck.
I took off at a speedy 5mph, and after a mile or so, found a place that had a compressor. For 1,000rp the guy pumped air into my tyre and I was off home.
For families staying in the Tuban area, the open air Mall restaurants and cafes, are a good option. They offer a choice of Asian and western food and are not super spendy. Candika liked the food, and if an Indonesian says the local food is good, its good. The Mall shuts at 11pm.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 19th, 2006