Lei View of the World

I’m on the road (or rather on a plane) again. This is the last leg of my travels for this project, I hope.

I’m going to Manado, this time not accompanied by our government counterpart. It was only yesterday that I realized how far Manado is. Jakarta to Makassar takes 2:20 flying time. And Makassar to Manado takes 1:30. If combined, it has the same flying time from Singapore to Manila!

Before this trip, I was in Cirebon with Savitri from the government. We stayed at Hotel Santika. The food is very good. I had grilled chicken in sambal matah. This sambal is delicious. It is composed of shallots, red and green chilli, lemon grass stalk, and lemon leaves sliced very thinly, sauteed in oil.

Delicious! Try this, with grilled chicken or grilled shrimps or grilled fish.

After dinner, on our way up to our rooms, there was this saxophonist and pianist playing at the lobby. They were playing old tunes with a jazz arrangement. They were good, but there was nobody to listen to them. So we talked
with them for a while, then requested “Summertime”.

The piano accompaniment was very good. While listening to this, my friend said she only knows the old songs of the
Bee Gees and the Carpenters. And then I suggested that “This Masquerade” fits their arrangement. So she requested this song to be played, and she sung.

Just for fun, at least she can say she performed at Hotel Santika in Cirebon! It’s good it’s already closing time, I have an excuse not to sing

I enjoy my travels here in Sulawesi.

The past 2 days I was in Makassar where I stayed in one of my favorite hotels, facing Losari Bay in Makassar. In the afternoon, young boys, as may as 30 of them, would use the breakwaters as their diving board. The water in the bay is not so high, they can be 500 meters off the beach and the water is still shallow.

I can also see a lot of fishermen’s boats passing. It looks like a very prosperous area with plenty of boats and fish to catch, and the children happy with their improvised diving board. At sunset, the breakwaters would be lined with people to watch it, some having nasi goreng or pisang epe by the road side. It’s such a happy site that I can see from the 8th floor of my airconditioned hotel room where the food was delicious.

This morning, I moved on to Kendari, some 45 minutes flight away from Makassar. Before going to our meetings, our host brought us to have lunch of broiled fish. They have a unique style here in their fish restaurants.

While waiting for the fish to be cooked, we are free to peel the shallots placed on the table complete with a knife, mix your own tomato-shallot-chilli-garlic bumbu. By the time we finished our bumbu, the grilled fish is ready to be served.

This evening, we went to another such restaurant, this time along the Kendari Bay. After dinner, we drove around the city and stopped by a durian and rambutan warung by the breakwaters. Their durian is delicious- small but tasty and the smell is not that strong. They even gave me rambutan for free! I hope I won’t get indigestion after all the fruits I ate today!

How do you like my travels so far?

The Great Wall extends 5,660 km from east to west in north China. It took more than 2000 years to build this Great Wall, starting from 7 B.C. to 1644. It was built mainly for self defense, in parts. It grew in length during the Qin(221-206 BC), Han (206 - 220 BC) and Ming Dynasty
when it was unified into one line.

Juyong Pass in Changping County is more than 50 km from downtown Beijing. It is situated in a ravine between two mountains, and it functioned as a very good lookout against invaders. Genghis Khan once visited this pass. This area has some parts that served as quarters of the soldiers. But today, there are structures for restaurants, stores and offices. They were designed to blend with the wall so they all look harmonious. Today, there’s a railway and a toll road along this area.

Before getting to the Great Wall, I was worried there might be a lot of climbing to do. My legs are not that strong anymore, they get tired easily. But my driver, Li, was very good. He brought me to the Juyong Pass portion of the Great Wall, where the car was able to go as far up as the steps of the wall. All I had to do was to do some walking, with a lot of photo stops along the way to allow time for my legs to regain their strength.

It started to shower when we got there, but my driver was ever ready with his umbrella. The shower made tourists at the top to go down, so when I was at the wall, the place was almost deserted, allowing me to select my positions and shots with the least interference from the crowd. After the rain, the air also cleared, and the sun shone giving the top of the mountain where some walls could be seen, better lighting.

This picture of a mother feeding her child was taken at one of the shrines on top of Swayambunath, a Buddhist shrine in Kathmandu. She was sitting inside the area where the prayer wheels and the oil lamps are. Devotees would turn these prayer wheels while reciting their mantras. They would also pour oil on the cups and light them as an offering.

I don’t know the effect of this picture on you. But while looking at the picture, my eyes wander and my mind thinks about what it sees, why this poor woman decided to feed her baby at this spot, where there were other places in the area. It seems to be a living picture to me.

This is a thangka painting. Thangka is a kind of painting on cotton canvass. It usually depicts the image of different gods, godesses and the significance of philosopy related to Buddhism. This kind of painting started in India, China, Tibet and Nepal.

In Nepal, thangka painting has survived because it is the birthplace of Buddha. The Tamang, Newar and Sherpa ethnic groups of Nepal have contributed a lot in promoting this kind of painting. Thangka painting used to be done only by the Lama, the Buddhist priest. The art was passed on from generation to generation. At present, because of the popularity of this kind of painting, it is now being taught to lay people.

The thangka painting is a mandala (literally meaning a circle) or a tantric meditation device. It is a visual aid for concentration and introvertive meditation leading to the attainment of insight and to the activation of forces culminating in “Siddi” supernatural forces. There are many types and varieites of mandalas depending on the nature of the central deity.

The mandala represents a place of purity, a magic sphere cleansed of spiritual obstacles and impurities. The square of the “sacred palace” proper is enclosed in multiple circles of flame, vajra, eight cemeteries, lotus, then the inner square to reach the deity of the mandala. Vajra, representing “thunderbolt”, is the symbol of power of Buddha’s all pervading knowledge over the divine strength of Lord Indra.