footprints of life :: February

fragments of life, di sini senang di sana senangFebruary 6, 2007 2:16 pm

kalau dalam beberapa posting sebelumnya, menemukan fenomena harmonisnya hidup berdampingan antara manusia dan hewan….termasuk di jalanan…ternyata kutemukan sebuah rambu sekaligus bukti nyata apa yang diperingatkannya…

baru pertama kali aku liat rambu ini…he…he…di pulau samosir…eh, sesudah kembali ke BA, kutemukan juga, bahwa ternyata di sini juga ada… emoticon

ternyata sapi diakui resmi sebagai pengguna jalan…he…he…

dunia….dunia….

PS: btw, bisakah anda menemukan SAPInya? maksudku sapi idup, beneran yang sedang merumput…hayo….

fragments of life, di sini senang di sana senang 1:09 pm

tour de tombs

if you look at the compilation of the snapshots, what is your best guess on the object of the shots? churches? huts? houses? tombs?

let me give you a little background on the location. all the spots are on the shore of Samosir Island beaches, with the best view possible to the vast famous Lake Toba. if only we could stand right there on the spot on these buildings, we would have been able to take in the best view of Lake Toba, sunrise, daytime, sunset…simply amazing.

but i guess your guesses will more or less be guided by the title of this posting, tour de tombs…well, yes…if you guess that the series of pictures are all pictures of tombs, then you have hit the bull’s eye…yup, tombs they are. located at the most prime and beautiful spots on Samosir Island, the deads were offered the best view for their final resting place. that would be a beautiful gesture of honoring and loving the ancestors and beloved family members who have passed on to the next life…

if you travel along the road circling Samosir, you would find these tombs scaterred in different places and spots, but you would also find that most, if not all, of them face the lake. there are some tombs that were really huge…i mean huge, like 7 meters tall?? oh yeah, no joking…most of the tombs featured traditional Batak house miniatures and a cross. but many also feature cathedral like structure that can be quite misleading from afar. since this island is populated by mostly christian, churches are also a common sight. the activity of church spotting is quite interesting to do, well…that is as long as you can make clear distinction between the real human church, with the church-like tomb with all its glory…and in the end, i found that tombs spotting is much easier to do, sorry churches… emoticon

if you look more closely, maybe easier when you go to Samosir yourself rather than trying to peer into these snapshots, you will find that these buildings have small concrete doors, in which, i suppose, they put the departed. i am afraid i did not get really detailed in finding out whether they put the body or the ash… emoticon or whatever the custom suggested (but i will get back to you when i get the answer …)

for those Javanese peole, no worries, le tour de tombs on Samosir island is not as creepy as our javanese tombs tour, or well…jurit malam…just picture in your mind the Chinese cemetery we have back home….beautiful, aren’t they? even more beautiful with the backdrop of the vast paddy field, traditional houses and, of course, the great Lake Toba…

hm….journey of a lifetime…

Pulau Samosir, 19 Januari 2006

fragments of life, mouse in the house, di sini senang di sana senang 12:19 pm

Danau Sidihoni

kalau ada yang bisa disebut keajaiban, mungkin bagiku, ini salah satu kebesaran Tuhan yang bikin aku hm…..kehabisan kata…

bagiku, ketika akhirnya bisa melihat sendiri yang namanya pulau Samosir, wow…indah…dan bener-bener mengagumkan bisa berdiri di tepi Danau Toba dan nyeberang ke Pulau Samosir. kadang-kadang aku lupa kalau pulau itu bukannya di laut, tetapi di danau air tawar (terutama kalau ngeliat orang mandi en cuci baju di danau…kadang-kadang lemot banget ingatnya dan terheran-heran…)

yang menjadi bonus adalah tujuan dari perjalanan naik sepeda motor sewaan…Danau Sidihoni. perjalanan panjang, jalanan menanjak, cuaca panas, dan kekhawatiran bahwa kami nyasar akhirnya terbayar ketika kami sampai di sana. setelah berhenti beberapa kali dan bertanya sana sini….kami tiba di lokasi yang dituju. memang kalau dilihat dari ukurannya, tidaklah terlalu impressive..tetapi kalau diingat bahwa danau ini terletak di atas pulau yang berada di atas danau…wow….how great Thou art…danaunya mungil dan sangat mengundang untuk nyemplung. ada banyak anak-anak bermain di air, dan si abang yang biasanya suka nyemplung juga sebenarnya berencana nyemplung emoticon tapi waktu udah sampai di sana, kutanyai lagi, mau berenang? dia bilang: mau tahu kenapa? karena seperti biasa….ada sapi di mana-manaaa…..

akhirnya dipuas-puasin ngamati orang mendayung di tengah danau, foto-foto dan ngitung waktu supaya bisa nyampe di hotel sebelum hari gelap, karena perjalanan kami lumayan panjang…

hm…..saat untuk bersyukur, dikasih kesempatan datang ke sana…dan saatnya lebih bersyukur lagi waktu udah sampai dengan utuh dan selamat di cottage meskipun rute menantang dengan rem dan helm seadanya emoticon (ternyata partnerku emang lumayan jago naek motornya…he…he…)

Samosir Island, January 19, 2006

fragments of life, mouse in the house, di sini senang di sana senang, English 11:48 am

motoring on Samosir

in a series of photos and writing about travelling on Samosir Island…in case some are still unfamiliar with the name of the island, it is an island in the middle of Lake Toba, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Lake Toba is a crater lake, meaning the body of water was formed in the crater of an ancient dormant volcano (which, hopefully, will be dormant forever…)

on the second day of our visit there, (since we had only four days from arrival to departure so we had to be really quick…), my dear partner decided to rent a motorbike…(hm…sounds familiar?? emoticon ), was complaining a bit about the condition of the brakes (well, his complaints WERE based on some true sense…) and the absence of proper ~~helmets~~ (hm,sounds familiar for the area, but coupled with the absence of good brakes, i think you know why it’s significant…)

going through the island, the original idea was to go round the island, but based on up to date local info, we found out that some of the roads were in deep mud, so we had to improvise. basically we were thinking of going to Lake Sidihoni (of which you might have a glimpse sometime later in the blog). but the journey itself was rather impressive.

the streets were kind of varying in conditions, and of course, beauty…lines of wild flowers lining the streets are not uncommon sight, as well as paddy fields, and impressive Batak traditional houses and TOMBS. oh yeah….

and as the day came nearer to and end, we got a treat of magnificent sunset over the lake, but had to hurry up back to the hotel since we were not very confident driving in the dark with insufficient light and brakes.

anyway, yet another glorious day on a motorbike…

Samosir Island, North Sumatra, January 19, 2006

fragments of life, mouse in the house, di sini senang di sana senang, EnglishFebruary 5, 2007 7:26 pm

lake toba at sunset

lake toba at sunset, sitting around while herding away all the mosquitos and seeping the dusk breeze…what a wonder it is to be able to sit, and enjoy the moment.

while a certain other significant being was splashing around the in *according to him* refreshingly cold water of Lake Toba, i rather feel contented sitting by the pier, trying to perch my camera somewhere steady to get a snapshot.

hmm…..then of course my moment of solitude came to an end when someone came out dripping and shivering from the lake…hm, not very much like a ~~mermaid~~, or…hm…merman?? but quite a cute immitation, except for the pink towel from the cottage wrapped around him.

view from the "pool" of Tabo Cottage, TukTuk, Samosir Island, January 18, 2007.

fragments of life 7:10 pm

ngantor itu…

ngantor itu, ternyata melelahkan banget. setelah bertahun-tahun kerjaannya keluar masuk kelas, dan sempat merasa hectic dan bosan, ternyata yang namanya ngantor itu mengerikan juga yah..he…he…baru nyadar…

seneng banget, belajar banyak banget, tapi pegelnya ternyata lumayan juga kalau dibandingin ngajar sampai 10 contact hours sehari…anyway, sekarang jari-jariku udah pegel banget ngetik melulu dari pagi…mataku udah perih melototi komputer kantor, tapi masih pengen curhat en nulis di blog, gini deh, intermezzo dari keinginan online yang sebenarnya pengen nulis pengantar foto-foto jalan-jalan sepanjang januari, sambil ngelus-ngelus keyboard laptop yang jauh lebih empuk daripada keyboard komputer kantor…hah…

tomorrow is another day!! another great and even, better day!!

fragments of life, mouse in the house, di sini senang di sana senang, Bahasa IndonesiaFebruary 3, 2007 5:25 pm

mid”summer” night dream (Medan at night on a becak motor)

hm…ini adalah salah satu artikel yang keliatannya bakalan memakai bahasa campur-campur, jadi bagi yang kurang suka, mohon maaf gitu…

melanjutkan eksplorasi di kota Medan yang pada dasarnya adalah mengubek-ubek mall (BA is a great city, but you have to admit there is not too much choice regarding shopping centers..), kami memutuskan bahwa rasanya sayang banget melewatkan pemandangan di luar mall. tapi berhubung di siang hari kami harus mengerjakan banyak hal yang ga bisa ditunda sampai malam, dan panas bo’…akhirnya kami memutuskan untuk mendekati salah satu tukang becak yang nongkrong di depan hotel, dan tanya-tanya, berapa sih muter-muter kota selama satu jam? setelah sepakat dengan harga (40000 per jam), kami pun menikmati Medan di waktu malam dengan becak (becak motor loh….kalau becak sepeda, kok ya inhuman banget, alias tidak manusiawi…genjot non stop sejam bayar 40000…hiii….).

apa yang dilihat dan betapa semua terlihat eksotis di waktu malam, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.. sekedar informasi, selain memperkecil size filenya dan ngumpulin dalam satu slide, tidak ada manipulasi komputer dalam gambar-gambar ini…we were so happy…

yang tak terlupakan juga adalah bahwa becak kami disemprit polisi!!! emoticon waduh…. ceritanya di sebuah tikungan ada lampu merah, karena jalan yang kami ambil tu ga pakai nyeberang, hanya ngikuti tikungan itu, nekadlah si tukang becak….tancap bang! eh, ternyata di jalan yang kami masuki ada polisi, dan lampu hijau dari ruas jalan itu masih lama…jadi keliatan banget semua kendaraan lain masuk dari ruas kiri, cuma becak kami membaur dari ruas kanan….dari kejauhan, terlihat seorang petugas mulai menyeberang jalan sambil menyemprit dan nunjuk-nunjuk..waduh…gaswat…kami udah mulai berdiskusi, "Schatz, who will pay the ticket?" alias, kalau ditilang siapa yang mbayar nih? tapi, guess what, itu polisi udah di depan mata (untung cuma berdiri, ndak di atas motor… emoticon ), eh, si tukang becak melenggang…persis di depan hidung bapak polisi…tapi entah karena yang naik becak ada bulenya…kok ya ndak dikejar…he…he…atau juga kalaupun dikejar nggak setimpal gitu…embuh lah….yang jelas, malam itu a magic night in Medan, for the trip, the amazing buildings at night, the "almost" police chase…