Project 365: Day 147 Taman Mini

OK, this is one of two big posts from my trip to Jakarta. Today is Sunday and Phil, I and Dirga went to Taman Mini. Our company provided driver, Dirga, lives within walking distance from the park and was a trooper to wait patiently on us. He walked a bit with us and then sat in the car a while as he's been with his kids many, many times. However he never ceases to visit the komodo dragon and snake exhibit -- definitely a guy place... So here are the images from today. I couldn't choose just a few so I have about 66. You can visit the park's website at http://tamanmini.com/ . There are 26 regional pavilions from as many provinces. I believe there are more provinces though -- not sure.

For my trip, all the images taken on my D200 are both raw format (NEF) and high res jpeg. For today's posting, I used the jpegs as they came off the camera as I'm too tired to process the raw files. I tweaked the light levels a bit in photoshop; otherwise they are as taken. The settings on the camera were set to vivid -- or I set it from normal to vivid somewhere along the way on this day. I hope you enjoy.

This is where we started. We only visited 3 provinces on this trip. This park is too big to view in one day.

This kind of lighting is a challenge. The first few images I took tried to balance the bright sky and made this pavilion too dark. I increased the exposure causing the sky to wash out a bit, which was OK with me as I want you to see the pavilion.

Close up of the artwork.

What is amazing is the very distinct difference between the provinces. Indonesia is an island nation made from very many different islands and each grew up as separate cultures before joining as a nation.

The public removes shoes before entering most of the pavilions. Most people here wear sandals. Fortunately my Sketchers are loose enough to slip in and out easily. Here is some of the wedding ceremonial dress.

Closer view of the guy on the left from above.

Traditional wedding ceremonial dress.

As I was leaving the first pavilion I just caught this image of this cute baby boy as his mother held him. This is at the window viewing all the people as they approach the pavilion.

Here you can see the thatched roof as viewed from ground level. The baby in the image above is in the window at the right edge of this image.

Pondering the sights...

Another pavilion. Everything was written in Indonesian so you'll have to visit the official web site to figure out which province these are all from. Good homework for you. Me? I'm just lazy...

And at the lower center of this image you will see this...

I never found the significance of this face.

And the next structure.

This is a group of about 30 women sitting in the shade on the grass. Not sure, but it seemed some sort of social event.

And as we passed, this young girl started belting out a fantastic song. She could be on Star Search and win. A bit young for the Idol shows, but good enough to compete.

This one is designed for quite a high storm surge or maybe just to sit high in the jungle.

More ceremonial wedding dress. Amazingly bright colors.

Some pottery.

Ceremonial dishes I think.

And a loom. This building was dark and I didn't see the bright blue colors until viewing this image. I used my SB800 speed light and as you can see, it came in quite handy. Last time I didn't have a good flash and it makes all the difference.

Why this image? Well, for some reason and I think it's because I am bule -- slang for white man -- I am some sort of a rock star. I say that because these nice people wanted to have my picture taken with them. This happened to me several times and also on my prior two visits to Jakarta as well. So I asked to take a picture of this family in return.

The center of the park is this small lake. The small islands in the lake are in the same shape as Indonesia. There is also a tram for those brave enough to ride it. We chose not to...

And an elevated rail that runs through the park.

This would put some of the beach houses in Galveston to shame...

And just beyond the above pavilion was a ceremony that was put on for the visitors. We stopped by for a bit, but for 5 minutes all we heard was some guy giving a speech (in Indonesian of course). The two were waiting in the wings getting read for the show. I didn't have the patience to wait as we had a big day, but at least I captured this image of this couple in traditional dress. I have to say that my experience is that the Indonesian people are friendly and open if you accept them.

I never did find out what these are...

And yes, I'm famous again. The three gals in the middle wanted my picture with them. I asked for theirs in return and waved the whole family over. Really nice and friendly people. Even with the language barrier it's amazing how well you can communicate.

I tried my best to capture the beauty of this artwork. These white feathers we exquisite.

And looking out the window of the pavilion I saw these youth having a good time. What you don't see is the third friend who was at the lower right to this image. And she was taking a picture of her two friends. What struck me is that youth is universal. This is no different than watching my kids grow up and having a good time with friends and having fun.

Yes, that's a coconut tree.

CFC -- California Fried Chicken.

We decided to stop in at the bird display. This area is entirely enclosed in a geodesic wire mesh dome. Don't get to see a peacock in full display very often.

And yes, I caught a few good images.

As you can see. The signs were in Indonesian and we had no translator at this point. Oh well...

Exotic bird.

That's as technical as I get.

I loved the vibrant colors on this peacock.

I took this image through a wire mesh cage. Taking a photo, you can almost make the wire mesh disappear by zooming in. I've used that technique at ball parks.

Eagle.

Here you can see the geodesic structure. There were many domes linked together. Quite a nice display.

No off to see the Komodo Dragon, snakes and such.

We visited the Komodo Dragon's lair.

And here is Phil wrestling a Boa.

Not to be outdone, I joined in the fun...

You can feel the immense power of the musculature.

The light was great so I took this portrait. She are her family were enjoying the snake exhibit as well.

ANd what was everyone watching????

Feeding Time! Awesome!

That's a chick being served as the main course.

And here is the "nutritionist" keeping his babies in tip-top form.

A brilliant red dragonfly.

Fond memories. I couldn't help but reflect on the turtles that Sean has kept in our backyard for the past 20 years or so. These are similar to the red-eared sliders he has -- named after some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course.

That was all for the park. Now off to lunch.

Now those are some cool shades.

(hint: enlarge the image.)

Just hanging out.

Hangin' in the vegetable truck

Street scene.

A&W to the left. Dunkin Donuts to the right. But no, were going to dine at a fine local Indonesian eatery.

Lunchtime at Kudus Block M. Block M is the area where we did some shopping at the Pasaraya Mall. There are other shopping areas there as well. Some where you can get the knock offs etc.

Soto Ayam (chicken soup with rice) with a bunch of other "stuff".

Other stuff. That's eggs from some sort of bird. Actually not too bad. No one ate the thing on the bottom. When the locals don't eat it, I don't even ask...

Proof I was there...

Dirga.

He was our company supplied driver. He has two small boys and was fantastic. Knowledgeable and has a a good sense of humor as well. He took us on many a back road -- safely I might add.

And I loved this diner's no smoking sign.

We finished off the day with a little shopping at the Pasaraya Mall. This was the floor with the silver. I bought my sweetheart a pair of earings. I won't tell you of the many hours of watching Phil buy shoes for his wife...