Tour of Culinary

Here’s several of my culinary tours with my friends around Bandung couple weeks ago, we were touring for food and seeking passionate places for food while refreshing our exhausted days and having fun. But actually there are plenty of special and unique culinary places in Bandung that we’ve never been before. I guess we’ll keep looking for and dine.

Maxi’s Resto

Starbucks Coffee – Paris Van Java

Fashion Pasta

Sushigroove – Paris Van Java

Newspaper – Paris Van Java

Café Terminus

Shin Men – Paris Van Java

Congo

Black Canyon – Paris Van Java

Gianni’s Tjihampelas

Waiting for the stars

Hari ini sedang malam

Matahari pergi tidur

Kemana ya ia pergi tidurnya?

Kurasa disana dibawah kita.

Kubah langit yang gelap ini, luas dan tinggi

Angkasa yang sunyi

Hanya ada nyanyian jangkrik dikejauhan

Seolah mengajak aku dan kunang-kunang

Untuk berdansa kecil

Terima kasih kunang-kunang

Cahayamu menemaniku

Kau seperti ikan kecil bercahaya

Yang berenang di samudera malam

Mengapa kau terjaga seperti aku?

Apakah kau juga menanti?

Menanti nyala bintang-bintang diatas sana

Apakah kau juga membawa pesan?

Pesan untuk disampaikan kepada bintang-bintang.

Goes to the historical Museums

Yesterday I went to the historical museums, I went together with my community ( Bandung’s Devotee Community = Komunitas Pencinta Bandung ).It was more like a tour of knowing the histories, because we were visiting 4 museums and 1 residence of the governor ( Gedung Sate ). The museums that we were visited : Museum of the Asian-African Conference ( Museum Konferensi Asia Afrika ), Museum Mandala Wangsit, Museum of Geology, and Museum Post of Indonesia ( Museum Pos ). These museums were storing amazing histories that so influential to the country and preserving the historical documents that could be the substances of extracurricular educations for the students. And at the end of the tour we went to the top (uppermost) building of Gedung Sate. It could be gratified us because not everybody permitted to entering that uppermost building.

We were starting our tour to the museums by gathering on the spot of 0 kilometer at 08:30am when the weather was bright and clear.

My community has already settled and put everything in order about this visiting with the manager of the museums. In each museum they will prepare a guide for each group of us. We were divided into 5 groups, each group consist of around 20 peoples, and each group leave in every 15-20 minutes. We were walking in a march to the museums, passing by hilariously the streets.

Museum of the Asian-African Conference

The Asian-African conference which held in Bandung on April 18-24 1955, has attained a great success. As well in unify the attitude and arrange the important orientations of co-operation between the nations of Asia-Africa, as well as involved actively to support creating the orderliness and peace in the world. This conference has giving birth to an agreement which called “Dasa Sila Bandung” that become a compass for the colonized nations in the world struggling to obtaining their liberty, and then also become the basic principles for the nations to improve the peacefulness and co-operations in the world. The success of this conference wasn’t only appeared on that time period, but also visible on the time afterwards. Until the spirit and enthusiasm of this conference becoming one of important elements that determine the history ways of the world.

In a frame of conserving the event and moment of this conference, it is very important and appropriate if the Asian-African conference within its events, problems and the influences that covered on it being eternalize into a museum in a place where the conference has taken place, in “Gedung Merdeka” in the city of Bandung. The city that being trusted as a capital and source of inspiration for the nations in Asia and Africa.

Museum of the Asian-African conference was legitimately establish by Soeharto the president of Indonesia on April 24^th 1980, as a summit commemoration of 25 years the Asian-African conference.

Museum Mandala Wangsit Siliwangi

This museum is a historical museum. About the Army and the struggling of West Java society opposing the colonizer. In this museum stored all sorts of things and weapons that used in battles and struggles in the past. The collections of this museum consist of many things and equipments which used by the troops of Siliwangi. From the primitive weapons such as spears, arrows, keris, kujang, Molotov bombs until the modern weapons such as panzer, artillery pieces, cannon, riffles, guns and many more.

The name of Siliwangi was taken from a King and founder figure of Pajajaran’s Kingdom, He was wise, prudent and heroic in command. He also had a huge authority. While the meaning of Mandala Wangsit means a place to preserve the trusteeship, mandate, or advices from the warriors and heroes in the past to the upcoming generations through the things that they were left.

The entrance or access to the museum located on the building’s rear. The building of this museum is possessing an architecture style of late romanticism, was built in the year 1910-1915 on the period of Dutch colonization as a residence of Dutch officers. After the liberty has taken over by the troops of Siliwangi, this building was used as a headquarter of Siliwangi military in the year 1949-1950.

On May 23^rd 1966 this building within its history witness was legitimately settled as “Museum Mandala Wangsit Siliwangi” by Panglima Divisi Siliwangi the 8^th Kolonel Ibrahim Adjie.

Museum of Geology

This museum is located on Diponegoro street 57, Bandung 40122. Officially opened on 16 May 1929, this museum which was once a laboratory stores various stones, minerals, meteorites, fossils, and other artifacts collected since the 1850.

Its prominent collection includes a Homo Erectus fossil, the ancient elephant ( mammoth ) Stegodon Trigonocephalus, and a replica of the largest and fiercest carnivorous dinosaur “Tyrannosaurus Rex”. Visitors can also learn how the earth was formed, how life developed, as well as Indonesia’s geological phenomena and their relations to human life. Furthermore, the museum also performs various exhibitions, trainings, and researches.

Along with the progress of technologies this museum has hand over many contribution, benefit and function as :

- An educational place outside of school which informing many things about earth and its preservation effort.

- A place where peoples can make early studies before arranging a direct research to the field. Where this museum as the information center of geological science and geodesy.

- An interesting object of geological-tour.

Tree House

When I was little I had a tree house

A simple place above the ground

On the leafy arms of a loner tree

On the backyard of family’s old house

Loaded with wild plants, flowers and weeds

That was natural landscape in harmoniously

I’ve been playing in a tree house

A freedom playhouse

A place to curing my sadness

A place to concealing my secrets

A place where fantasies come to life

A place where I can see the sky and clouds more closer

Felt so much joy, restoring my bliss

I’ve been playing in a tree house

The sun beam beautify my tree house

I can listen to the birds singing to the winds

And everything apparently looks different

up in the tree house.

I was remember,

In my childhood escapade

Once I had a tree house

And I would rather play outside

Swinging and climbing up my tree house

All day long,

until the sunshine that enraging all day disappeared.

This is it! …moment to change

I’m concern for changes. Change to discover my hopes, to expand my life, to indicate that I am not an accidentally, but I am a potency. When I’m pursuing of my dream, I would never afraid losing something that important for me. Taking risks and learn to discern the failure only as a step not a defeat. Changes are necessary to life.

Ssstt… Secrets

Sshhttt ….sssttt….sshhh…

Secrets locked underneath my soul

Together with me and my soul

Like my own shadow

Sshhttt ….sssttt…sshhh …

Secrets the ones that reside deep in our soul

The ones that we were bring since the first day of our life

Everybody got their own secrets

We might share them or not

Secrets, they are lurking in the corner of our thought

Secrets, they are embroider our life stories

Secrets, they are special companion

Secrets, they are wedged in our soul

Secrets, they are keeping up

Secrets, they are undamaged

Plenty of my secrets

You don’t have to know

And you’ll never know

Because I’ll preserve them

and keep them definitely safe with me.

Grandma ( an Ode to you )

1901 was your year, you open your eyes

You were my living history book

Adoration of family, my blood related

I saw the old times panorama through your eyes

Through your hand writings

Through your conservative opinions and your old fashioned stuffs

You were always keeping up with me when I was grown up

You were watched me …through the whole years

Carry me into your arms when I was cry

I miss your warm embrace

You were my first teacher in any occasion

Teaching me everything I need to know

I memorized your wisdom words string

You were truly best friend of mine

You were full of love and kindness

You were there when I was awaken from my fever sleep

You were wealthy with stories, fairy tales and nursery rhymes

It was lulled me and sometimes decorating my dreams

You were the sacred one with ten magic fingers

The fingers that used to hugging my face, curing me, and tidy up my curly hair

When electricity going off,

we used to play shadows using our fingers in candlelit

You were storing previous old time stories,

About your young age and youthfully habit of your time

About Saladine versus Lion heart,

About the battles period,

About the period of Dutch colonial domination, Japan occupancy, and Pacific war

I was knowing from you about Titanic’s catastrophe,

far away before the movie was released in 1997,

that you said you were hearing the news from the old fashioned radio box with broken off signal on the living room when you were young

Your stories heard to me like the sound of music box with a dancing ballerina on top, like the rhythm of Glósóli or Frosti, beautiful rhapsody.

Now the box has closed, as your time was done

1995 was your year, you closed your eyes

Thank you for being there beside me since the first day of my life

Your memories will always remain as well as my gratitude and prays to you

Miss you with all of my heart.

In loving memory of Hj Fathimah Hamidin Moesthafa Malik ( 1901-1995 ), my beloved Grandma.