an iceberg in paradise

luminous days

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:38:02 GMT

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:29:18 GMT

Bangkok 09'

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:10:08 GMT

Been a long time since I've posted pictures: in part because my old camera finally chose to rest its circuits, and also because facebook has an alluringly straightforward photo uploading system. but since i've already let the blogspot RIP, i suppose i should make a little effort keeping this one afloat.











Gold Mount Temple, and the view from the top.







Sois



Catucat







somehow, there seemed to be a lot more mosques than i remembered the last time

life sucks

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:08:48 GMT

From the Serat Centhini

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:07:45 GMT

(Its interesting enough to cross post with my blogspot =P)

An excerpt from a condensed, translated version of "Serat Centhini", an 19th century Javanese epic which contains both sections of religious exploration and erotic activity. In the condensed version published in 2006, the epic is restructured into a journey where the travellers develop "their mental and spiritual development".

In the following passage, Mas Cabolang and his follower Nurwitri interact with Ki Adipati, who had previously engaged them to conduct a rebana performance where "The spectators... moved in rhythm to their instincts and impulses and did strange things. Pickpockets and sexually inclined people were in their element."

===

Ki Adipati was sitting with Nurwitri in the rear hall of his residence. The regent was half drunk and Nurwitri looked more beautiful to him. An unusual feeling of love bega n to stir within him and he said: "I'm sleepy. Give my leg a massage and sing for me, my sweet." Nurwitri was thrilled that Ki Adipati called him his sweetheart. In his heart, he believed the regent had fallen in love with him. It did not take long before Ki Adipati's hands were reaching for Nurwitri's neck and he was kissing the santri [Nurwitri] over and over again. Remembering his experiences with the waroks ("Tops" believed to have supernatural powers) of Selaung, Nurwitri was able to guide Ki Adipati in his new sexual escapade. The regent, having forgotten his wife and concubines, kept Nurwitri in the room for two days and two nights.

Meanwhile, Mas Cabolang could do as he wished. There were many women - girls, widows, even married women - who had fallen in love with him and he was able to satisfy them all. Even the regent's concubines, especially Jahe Manis, and Ki Jamali's youn wife did not escape his spell for he possessed a special knowledge. He knew the pangontong-ontong spell, which allowed him to chnage the size of his manhood to fit his partner for the best result and satisfaction...

On the third day, Ki Adipati summoned Mas Cabolang [on a pretext;] his real purpose in sending for Mas Cabolang was to fulfill his sexual desires with the handsome santri.

After sending Nurwitri to rest in another room, Ki Adipati said: "Tell me, Cabolang! So far you have always played the female role. I wonder whether it feels different, I mean, in terms of the sexual enjoyment. Whose enjoyment is greater, a man's or a woman's?" Mas Cabolang replied: "To be honest milord! The woman's enjoyment is greater and more fulfilling. That's why many boys choose to become jathil (Bottoms for the Top Waroks mentioned above)" Ki Adipati said: "If that is so, give me that experience." Mas Cabolang could not refuse because he, too, wanted to experience what it was like to wield power over the most influential man in the territory. Preparations were quickly made.

When they were ready, Mas Cabolang entered the regent from the rear. He then pronounced the pangontong-ontong spell, which caused Ki Adipati unbearable agony. He grunted and groaned and bled profusely when Mas Cabolang withdrew. He fell on the floor, writhing like a worm and totally humiliated. Nurwitri brought some herbal ointment, which helped ease the pain a little.

The painful experience, however, brought the regent to his senses and reminded him of the love and care that he gets from his wives and concubines. He dismissed Nurwitri and Cabolang.

-
From "Mas Cabolang", in The Centhini Story Translated and condensed from the original Serat Centhini by Soewito Santoso

Solo, [Surakarta]

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:15:46 GMT

So yeah. this and the two posts below are my very very overdue livejournal posts of my trip to Solo with the NUS Singanglaras Gamelan Ensemble. Totally zesty trip, and i'm glad i went with the group, since Solo is sort of a place where modernity hasn't really been kind, but luckily the unkindness takes place mostly along the bigger, dirtier streets. the small lanes inbetween houses, which you get to simply by turning off, are still absolutely charming, and totally confusing - oftentimes the becak/taxi drivers themselves get lost in the maze of streets.

other related posts and places i've put the photos: [blogpost], [photoset 1], [photoset 2]

need to brush up my bahasa, and maybe think about a dharmasiswa scholarship there...

anyway, to give you a sense of the coolness of the place:



Old plus New



Jalan Punk Rock; THE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN PWNZ U



a parade there for some big conference



big streets where the modern capitalist revolution has taken place...

-



taking a becak down the smaller lanes...

Various Places in Solo

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:58:17 GMT

Cakra Homestay, Institut Seni Indonesia (Surakarta), Museums and Performances, Gamelan Workshop

Breakfast essential for getting around.



Cakra Homestay



Breakfast Ah-ma. Flowers in the garden.

-



Institute Seni Indonesia



Performance area

-

Wayang (Being recorded)

The roofing



Glass Cases

-

Gamelan Workshop

Solo: Keraton and Mangkunegara

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:12:00 GMT

Solo has two palaces, the Keraton and the Mangkunegara; the latter is a smaller one. Nonetheless, i hear that in recent times it is the Mangkunegara that seems to have survived better, having more money to upkeep its premises and continue its tradition. Each palaces has a different dance/gamelan tradition, as do the two courts in Jogjakarta.

Mangkunegara



bicycles and buffalos



Keraton

horse carriage juga mercedes saja...



the trees in the courtyard outside the inner palace, still used by royalty today



besides traditional beliefs, they also have 'our lady of the waters'

consumerism

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:44:43 GMT

on my way to surakarta (via silkair), saw this set of photographs in their magazine. i found them quite striking, these visions of children so tiny admist the toys and consumer goods that engulf them within the frame, so packed in that they seem to have no space to move. the article was some inane "pink for girls and blue for boys" kinda kitsch. but to me the photographs point towards the construction of gender (and by extension, identity), through consumer objects: the body--the soul as well?--seems to be the centre of this claustrophobic maelstrom (as we always hope it to be...), but still only a small centre, no more or less significant than the kitsch around it. portraits of commercialism; commercial portraits. and in this airplane magazine devoted to promoting a tourism industry (culture into commodity), these photos become themselves advertisements for commercialism.

sorry for the lousy shots of the shots tho'. cabin dim, camera old, and half my LCD pecha. and sorry that somehow i have forgotten to keep track of the photographer. bleh.

story of my life

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:42:51 GMT

phitsanulok - bkk - suwannabhumi

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:23:24 GMT

erawan shrine

trimurti shrine

suwannabhumi airport

Nakhon Pathom

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:08:59 GMT

silapakorn university

dinner with A. Wirat, A. Wimonsiri, Japanese exchange students

Sri Satchanalai

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:14:24 GMT

Quiet set of ruins a little away from Sukhothai













and me doing the tourist thing:

Sukhothai

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:24:56 GMT

Wat Si Chum

thailand trip - BKK to Phitsanulok

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:16:56 GMT

outdated i know. anyway:

First Bit - BKK to Phitsanulok



Democracy Monument; Traffic on a good day

accident at hualamphong





Praphuta Chinnaraj; Sgt. Major Thawee Folk Museum (Phitsanulok)

Showing off

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:12:07 GMT

So i read this from hirondelle's page and it seems as good a way to show off as any other....

=

According to The Big Read, the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books on their list.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.

(Incidentally, alot of the books on this list are very the aper je)

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien <- and this years before the movie...
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte <- i was supposed to, but i didn't.
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling <- only the first two books, then i didn't catch on.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare <- Chances are, most haven't =P I've read all the tragedies tho, I think.
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh <- But I don't quite remember what its about...
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen <- mengapa ada banyak Austen!
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown <- YUCK. and whats more i've not only read it, but watched the film, that was worse.
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins <- but i got read moonstone!
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding <- and i hated it =P was for O levels
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel <- I wouldn't say its a must read, but is rather compelling
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen <- one senses the influence of book clubs in all the austen.
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck <-really quite moving
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov <- possibly for my thesis...
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy <- because we are too menny...
68. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker <- "UNCLEAN UNCLEAN!"
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom <- eeyur!
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton <- i also got read "the wishing chair!"
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Dharma the Cat

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:15:37 GMT

An oldie, but goodie.

ubin

Sat, 24 May 2008 18:20:46 GMT

been fairly long since i've gone there. little has changed, unlike elsewhere; it still retains a certain amount of character.







chek jawa (at high tide, with nothing exotic to see)



quarries





shrines and stages

kentridge to harbourfront

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:50:33 GMT

one suspects portions of it still lie unfinished, or at least not properly demarcated, as are so many boundaries here. but what is already there is, happily, very pleasant in itself.

you can't scribble in the margins

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:04:55 GMT

From Sheldon Comics

Convocation: Fresh Produce

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:48:58 GMT

from: http://picturesforsadchildren.com/

Recitative

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 04:51:32 GMT

A.E Stallings; R Kikuo Johnson; www.poetryfoundation.org

Of Memory and Distance

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 04:17:35 GMT

Russell Edson, Jeffery Brown; www.poetryfoundation.org

we have diverse and various comics...

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:09:13 GMT

on a much lighter note

http://wondermark.com

kusu island; sungei buloh

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:38:08 GMT

long overdue, i know

actually i realise this (and the mangrovey one above) are the only pics of sungei buloh. the birdwatchers, however, had huge tripod/telescopic lens set ups.

trees and shrines