Lovina Beach

Lovina Beach (or often simply Lovina) is a coastal area on the northwestern side of the island of Bali, Indonesia. The coastal strip stretches from 5 km west of the city of Singaraja to 15 km west. Singaraja is the seat of Buleleng Regency. The Lovina area contains the small villages (from east to west) of Pemaron, Tukad Mungga, Anturan, Banyualit, Kalibukbuk, Kaliasem and Temukus. It is becoming more popular with tourists but remains far quieter than the tourist hotspots of the island's south side.

The area takes its name from a home owned by Pandji Tisna, a Regent of Buleleng and pioneer of tourism to Bali in the early 1950s.

Popular activities for visitors include early-morning boat trips off the coast to see dolphins.

kampung naga

kampung naga

The splendidly scenic highway from Garut, east to Tasikmalaya snakes through the mountains along the winding course of the Ciwulan river. Snug againts the Ciwulan's banks lies tiny Kampung Naga, one of the most beautiful and most traditional villages in West Java.

At Neglasari near Salawum a path known as Jl. Naga lead down a concrete stairway in the hillside. Turn left and follow the path, staying on the same side of the river. It is about 15 minute walk each way.

In spite of its proximity to modern society, Naga has retained its traditional custom over the centuries. The odd residents if Kampung Naga maintain one of the few village built according to the very old Sundanese custom. All the 102 houses are laid out in neat rows, each has same size and the same style.

The walls are made of bamboo as using brick is considered taboo. Furnishing houses is not allowed as it is against their ancestors custom. Guests sit on the verandah carpetedonly by pandanus leaf mats. Also the mosque is built on stilts along an east-west axis, using woods, bamboo, and thatch. Terrace walls and walkways are fashioned from viver rock.

The people of Kampung Naga follow traditions of the karuhun or forefathers, and kokolot or the eldest head of the village who is very much respected. They preserve many indigenous traditions. One of them is a monthly pilgrimage to the grave of the village founder Embah Dalem Singaparna, who lies burried atop hill to the 12th if Maulud.

Women hull their rice manually in the lesung, a wooden trough set in a small gazebo above the river.

Kampung Naga is a very peaceful place that has preserved its traditional village layout, architecture and way of life. The village is scenically located near the road connecting Garut and Tasikmalaya.

From Tasikmalaya, travel about 30 km toward Neglasari-Garut. From here it is a fifteen minute walk to Kampung Naga.

A flight of stairs leads down from Neglasari to the valley of the Ciwulan River. Approach the village by walking along the river as it gushes over big boulders and eventually pass a group of ponds. On the dams between the ponds, a little huts have been erected under coconut tress when women pound rice with sticks in wooden troughs called lesung (rice hullers, a very traditional ways).Kampung Naga

The uniqueness of this village lies in the uniformity of the houses; the direction they face. Their design and the building materials. All the gables of the houses face the river and are aligned along an east-west axis. The thatching material for the roofs is ijuk (sugar-palm fiber). There are no tv, radios, motorcycles or any other vehicles in or near the village; they could not negotiate the stairs, anyway. The narrow lanes between the houses are made of round cobble stones, as are retaining walls and the stairways which lead to the upper parts of the village.

In the village center, right next to the assembly hall, is a small stall selling handicraft items made from split bamboo at very moderate prices. A curious specialty is the collapsible sun hat.

The Kepala Adat, the man in charge of traditional cultural affairs, has his house just bellow the village assembly hall and might be willing, if he is there, to brief you in aspects of the old Sundanese culture as they have been preserved in Kampung Naga. Among these is a monthly procession to the grave of the village's founder, Sembah Dalem Singaparna, located on a hill top to the west. Another tradition is a festival called Pedaran is memory of the ancestors; it is held each year during the lunar month of Mulud (the Islamic month in which the Prophet Mohammed was born). On the 12th of Mulud, weapons and heirlooms are ritually cleansed in the river

kasongan,

Kasongan, Hunting Ceramics in Kundi Community

In the Dutch colonial time, in one of the areas at the southern part of Yogyakarta there was a shocking and even threatening occurrence with the finding of a dead horse owned by a Dutch detective on a rice field of a villager. Being afraid of punishment, the villager gave up his land ownership and did not acknowledge his land anymore. This was followed by other villagers. This given up land was then possessed by people of other village. Having no more fields to cultivate, the local people ended up with becoming ceramics craftsmen to make toys and kitchen sets until now. This was revealed in an interview by Prof. Gustami at all with local elders in 1980s.

It is that area that we know it as Kasongan until present time; a village in Kajen hamlet that is situated in low mountains with limestone soil. It takes 15-20 minutes drive from the city center.

Kasongan village is the dwelling place of kundis, which means earthenware jugs and later refers to people who make any earthenware jug-like as kitchen tools and ornaments.

"Beginning from our ancestor's habit to knead clay that turns out not to break when it is united, and begin to make some functions for kid toys and kitchen tools. The habit was then descended to current generation," said Giman, one of the workers in Loro Blonyo workshop.

Visiting Kasongan village, the tourists will be welcomed warmly by local inhabitants. They may have a look the showroom crowded with ceramic handicrafts. If they are interested in seeing the ceramics making, tourists can visit some ceramic galleries that produce the special handicrafts at site. The processes are material kneading, shaping, drying that takes 2-4 days and burning before finally being finished using wall paint or roof-tile paint.

Working collectively, a gallery is usually a family business run from generation to the next generation. Even though ceramics making is now involving neighbors of surrounding dwelling place of the gallery owner, the family is still responsible for material selection and production monitoring.

Touch of Modern Design

At the beginning, these ceramics did not have style at all. The legend of the dead horse, however, inspired the craftsmen to create horse motifs on many products, especially the horses carrying earthenware goods or roof-tiles complete with bamboo basket placed on the horseback, in addition to frog, rooster and elephant motifs.

The entering modern influence and culture from outside through various media and the first introduction of Kasongan to public by Sapto Hudoyo around 1971-1972 with artistic and commercial touch and commercially sold in major scale by Sahid Keramik around 1980s enables tourists to see various ceramic motifs. Tourists can even order motifs to their like such as peacock, dragon, rose and others. The types of self production include so many forms. They do not only make kid toys (sounding toys, frog, and money box) and kitchen tools (kuali, pengaron, kendil, dandang, kekep, and others). Entering the gate of Kasongan village, you will see ceramics galleries that sell ornamental items alongside the street. The forms and functions have varied, from small ashtray to flower vase as high as one's shoulder. The ornamental goods either have functions or merely as ornament.

Loro Blonyo Ceramic Statue

One of famous ceramic displays is statue of a couple sitting in polite position. This statue is named Loro Blonyo at the first time by Loro Blonyo gallery owned by Walujo. This statue is adopted from a bridal couple owned by Yogyakarta Kingdom. In Javanese language, Loro means two or a couple, while Blonyo means to be made over through bathing and making up. "The real meaning of Loro Blonyo, however, is still in question among craftsmen in Kasongan," Giman said.

The existing belief of Loro Blonyo statue that brings luck and perpetual family life when located at home, as Giman told YogYES, brings positive impact on the sales of this statue. Some foreigners place order of special statues in certain forms such as dancer, guitar player, models and others. The clothes are not standard Javanese anymore; special clothes of some countries are adopted; statues in Balinese and Thailand clothes are found most. Some ceramic galleries sell this statue in different styles.

Tourism Village

Since the end of the twentieth century, after economy crisis hit Indonesia, tourists may find other products other than earthenware goods. The entering of new comers who open galleries in Kasongan is one of the influences. They sell local products such as handicrafts from coconut tree, dried plants or shellfish. "Business catches up with trend and development, looking at opportunities," Giman adds. Earthenware goods, however, are main means of livelihood of local community. "We have the gift for that; furthermore we have no other skills. Most of us do not finish Senior High School. Only few of them," he adds.

Ceramic handicrafts with various forms and modern as well as artistic motifs and other handicrafts are magnets of Kasongan at present time. Kasongan is a tourism place full of stories and beautiful goods resulted from skillful hands of local community to knead clay.

Two months after the quake, many galleries in Kasongan begin to actively revive although some of them are still in reconstruction stage. By far, there is no more fear of both owners and workers. Local community expects tourists to visit Kasongan as they did before the quake.

pantai kukup

In Bali, there is Tanah Lot. In Gunung Kidul Yogyakarta, there is Kukup beach. To reach this beach, it only takes about two hours road trip from Yogyakarta. It is situated about one kilometer on the west side of Baron beach. It can also be reached by small path that is connected to Baron beach and Kukup beach.

Visiting this beach, you will step by your foot to the white sand that you will be remembering forever. Moreover, as you step up to the coral stone connected with a bridge located on the east side of the beach, you will find the amazing view from the above.

Not only find the beauty of the beach here, Kukup beach also gives you opportunity to bring souveniers such as sea fish that is offered by the local people.

sumber

sunda kelapa harbour

Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta located on the estuarine of Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" (Sundanese: "Coconut of Sunda") is the original name, and it was the main port of Sunda Kingdom of Pajajaran. The port is situated in Penjaringan sub-district, of North Jakarta, Indonesia. Today the old port only accommodate pinisi, a traditional two masted wooden sailing ship serving inter-island freight service in the archipelago. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta had its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city's development.

According to the Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi, written circa 1200, Chou-Ju-Kua identified the two most powerful and richest kingdoms in the Indonesian archipelago as Srivijaya and Java (Kediri). According to this source, in the early 13th Century, Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java (Sunda). The source identifies the port as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden piles (rumah panggung). However, robbers and thieves plagued the country.^[1]

From 13th to 16th century Sunda kelapa was the main port of Sunda Kingdom. The port served the capital, Pakuan Pajajaran, located about 60 km inland south, along Ciliwung river hinterland, now the site of modern Bogor. The port thrive on international spice trade especially pepper, the main spice produce of Sunda kingdom. Sunda Kelapa, together with Aceh and Makassar, were one of the few Indonesian ports that maintained ties with Europe.

In 1522, the Portuguese secured a politics and economic agreement with Sunda Kingdom, the authority of the port. In exchange for military assistance against the threat of rising Islamic Javan Sultanate of Demak, Prabu Surawisesa, king of Sunda at that time, granted them free access to the pepper trade. Portuguese who were in the service of the sovereign, made their homes in Sunda Kelapa.

However in 1527, Fatahillah, on behalf of Demak attacked Portuguese in Sunda Kelapa and succeeded in conquering the harbour on June 22, 1527, after which Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta.^[2] Later the port become the part of Banten Sultanate.

In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, an official working for the Dutch East India Company, seized the port of Jayakarta from the Sultanate of Banten and razed the city. From the ashes of Jayakarta, the Dutch build a new city, Batavia. The old port served as the main port of Batavia until late 19th century, when Netherlands East Indies government decided to built a new Tanjung Priok port to accommodate the increasing traffic as the result from the opening of the Suez Canal.^[3] The new port located 9 kilometers east from the old port. After the independence of Republic of Indonesia, the Batavia old port is renamed back to its original name, Sunda Kelapa, as a tribute to the long history of the port as the cradle of Jakarta

jakarta old town

Jakarta Old Town (Kota Tua Jakarta), also known as Old Jakarta, and Old Batavia (Oud Batavia), is a small area in Jakarta, Indonesia. This special region spans 1.3 square kilometres of both North Jakarta and West Jakarta (Kelurahan Pinangsia, Taman Sari and Kelurahan Roa Malaka, Tambora).

Dubbed "The Jewel of Asia" and "Queen of the East" in the 16th century by European sailors, Old Jakarta — or Batavia, as it was named by the Dutch — was once considered a center of commerce for the whole continent due to its strategic location and fertile resources.

In 1526, Fatahillah sent by Sultanate of Demak, invade Hindu Pajajaran's port of Sunda Kelapa, then he change the name of the port to Jayakarta. This town is only 15 hectare in size and rendered in traditional Javanese coastal city. In 1619 VOC destroyed Jayakarta under the command of Jan Pieterzoon Coen. A year later VOC build a new town named "Batavia" to honor Batavieren, the Dutch ancestors. This city centered around east bank of Ciliwung river, around present day Fatahillah Square.

The inhabitant of Batavia are called "Batavianen", later known as "Betawi" people, the creole ethnic, the descendants of mixed various ethnicities that has inhabited Batavia.

In 1635 the city expanded towards west banks of Ciliwung, on the ruins of former Jayakarta. The city was designed in European Dutch style completed with fortress (Casteel Batavia), city wall, and canals. The city was arranged in several blocks separated with canals ^[1]. The city of Batavia was completed in 1650. It become the center of VOC in East Indies. The canals was disbanded due to outbreak of tropical diseases within the city wall because of sanitation and hygiene problems. The city began to expand further south as epidemics in 1835 and 1870 encouraged more people to move far south of the port, to Weltevreden area (now the area surrounding Merdeka Square). The city later become the administrative center of colonial Dutch East Indies. In 1942 during the Japanese occupation, the name of the city changes to Jakarta, and now serves as the capital city of Indonesia.

In 1972, the Governor of Jakarta Ali Sadikin issued a decree that officially made the Jakarta Kota area into a heritage site. The governor's decision was necessary in order to preserve the city's architectural roots — or at least what was left of it.

Despite the Governor's Decree, the vicinity remains neglected, as though the majority was pleased just by the issuing of the decree. Not enough was being done to protect and conserve the legacy from the Dutch colonial era.

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