Shy Kong

Come out and play!
(Gorilla at Schmutzer Center, Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta)

Eye(let)s Wide Open

in full display: peacock at Ragunan Zoo

Everytime I see peacocks, I remember biblical comics I used to read in elementary school. Solomon owned many and they were seen in Eden and Noah's ark. Also, it reminds me of Bill Burrud's serial with the iconic soundtrack. Whoaa I love that man's work! Whales spraying on my BW TV. Phenomenal.

Of course the Javan species is more common than the albino and Indian species. I like the latter. It has blueish gemlike neck feathers and looks more attractive. I learnt that the best way to make them open their fans (peacocks only, peahens are less glamorous), exposing their many an eyelet, is to rouse their temper--it works best with male turkeys. But I won't risk my life if there are no metal wires that separate me and the fowls :)

Smells Strong: Frangipani

I admire frangipanis but they'll be in the bottom of my favorite flowers list. I always put edible plants first if I must choose plants for my garden :)
Frangipanis are indeed curious sappy plants. but I've never had no problems with them. When I was small, I used to climb to get the freshest smell of its waxy flowers. one tree on the left bloomed maroon bouquets while another did white. They were about 4 m tall, tall and graceful in front of my church.

People often say that they grow themselves on cemeteries, where they are commonly found. I din and don't buy that. perhaps people plant them because it requires the littlest care. Rain or shine, just let them there.

They are also notorious for its smell. I ever sniffed the aromatherapy that claims to be its essential oil which I regret. One writer even described the smell as whorish. But i disagree. They smell best when fresh. It is like a mixture of tuberose and a tint of jasmine.

Eyes on the . . . Crows

My sister called me and said she spotted some olive and red colored honey eaters. She tried to photographed them but the zoom didn't help.

I thought to myself, what a wonderful world! (She lives in Bali)

Here in Jakarta, all I see are sparrows. They perch and feed in front of my room mostly in the morning. in the evening, i often hear a laughterlike sound of nocturnal birds but their shape remains unknown to me.

last week i spotted a tiny red honey eater in the dump site about 200 m from my room. it was beautiful and dainty. the last time i saw this kind of bird was about 7 years ago in front of my room in Depok. Honey eaters are very small, hummingbirdlike, and have bright colored feathers and they move energetically. so beautiful.

and then i remember when i went to Malacca, i saw numerous crows and starlings (jalak). I wondered how this could happen. they roamed freely! (This is almost impossible in Indonesia. Go to bird markets and you will find even sparrows are sold! my!) I asked some locals and they said, they had no intentions or thoughts to kill the birds for food or pets. They added, the colonial govt urged them to sustainably live side by side with nature. I've never heard of that, but i think that's a good idea.

We should have this kind of policy in Indonesia. I want to see birds more often.

Got Milk?

in the wild, parrots are known to munch clay and mineral rocks as parts of their diet. here at the Taman Safari Bogor, they sip minerals from milk.

Drinking milk makes sociable scene apparently.

Sem

Dolphins Lullaby

This whole world may never change
The way it's always been
I know all the ways of war
Cannot change it back again

I've been searching...for the dolphins in the sea
Sometimes I wonder do you ever think of me...

I'm not the one to tell this world
How to get along
I only know that peace will come
When all the hurt is gone

I've been searching...for the dolphins in the sea
Sometimes I wonder do you ever think of me...

Sometimes I think about
Saturday's child
And all about the time
You and me were..black and white

I've been searching...for the dolphins in the sea
Sometimes I wonder do you ever think of me...


this is my current fave song, by Beth Orton and Terry Callier
it's folksy and sedative, a song to lull me to sleep

my experiences with dolphins have been pleasant.
when i was small, my parents brought us to Jakarta and their friends took us to Ancol
it's one of my cheered memories

i was kissed my a sea lion. this was how: Pi held me and the beast's bristles. The wet snout then kissed my right cheek. (i no longer regret the lost photo because Engkong loved it too)
and i watched hippos and all amusing animals, the clever dugongs, ferrets and parrots. that was years ago :)

you know, i still feel the urge to approach the pool to be kissed by the dolphins. when i was small (again), i want to be kissed by the dolphins but i retreated, got no guts because i was worried my clothes would get wet or i would stumble into the deep pool. i was afraid that my cheek would bleed because the dolphins looked like made of steel. silly thoughts.

so when i got aboard on Kambuna to Medan, i set aside time to dolphin watch for four days. i kept a small diary on what i saw: mostly jellyfish and flying fish and an unidentified floating object that resembled small shark (?). no dolphins at all. but the lines of Summer of Jubilee ("Atta boy!") were still on my head.

so i haven't seen any dolphins in the open sea.

for a long while i din see any until i went to Taman Safari Bogor. A dolphin on the mountain! really and its residence has the shape of Noah's Ark! my, that's interesting. he was about 3 m long and swam alone.

i was so excited that i put my hand into the pool to attract his attention. but he ignored me and swam around in the same manner over and over.

i was worried he was sick or depressed.

the man said that the dolphin had just arrived. "he won't be lonely," added he. " another is on the way"

i hoped so.

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Spiny Delicacy

i went for an afternoon walk at sandy beach of Nusa Dua. the air was dry and it smelt like salt. i saw many a little pool in where fishes, kelps, and small crabs trapped. and i saw old ladies gathering something. I approached one of them.

next to her on the yellow sand were ball-like sea creatures cut to half. i asked her, what it was. she said a strange name i couldn't remember. she would take one, cut it into half with blunt knife, and take whitish "meat" into plastic bottle.

she threw the halved balls into a shallow pool. the halves would wriggle and move their spines for some minutes. i thought they could regenerate or grow its lost "limb". but that never happened.

what for?

dinner, she said.

(my!)

she said, she needed about 100 spiny balls (the creatures belong to Echinodermata, the same family in which bulu babi is) to fill half of 600 ml plastic bottle.

that's a lot, i said. how does it taste?

like fish. only with stronger smell.

how do you prepare it?

it tastes best when mixed with grated coconut and chilli, she said.

(curious, eh?)

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