Margarineflies

Why people called the lovely winged insect butterfly is not my problem. The problem is they seem to be virtually unseen in the city like this.

last trip to Cilember (2006) and recently to Pulau Pramuka brought me some hope, especially when reading "Butterflies Sanctuary" boards.

"You're late, Mas. It's long been deserted. Look at the dome," said a mister at Cilember.
The dome was half open so was that at Pulau Pramuka.

The moral of the story: butterflies are meant to be free (or people should care for the wires)

Xem

Fig-uratively speaking

Apis: Vit, have u been to Untung Jawa
Vit: Yes, but nothing to be seen
Apis: But the water front looks nice
Vit: Ask Sem
Sem: Haha, like i'm the expert of it
Apis: I read it has a colony of monkey
Sem: not sure. what's the date of the article?
Apis: 1995 or 1994

Speaking of monkeys, when i saw this tree of fig family, it reminded me of Borneo orangutans at rehabilitation and African apes I watched on Animal Planet (it's the only thing i miss from that mad karaokeing woman's house). This fig tree produces fruits seemingly for nobody. Perhaps bats eat one or two, I just wish that the govt brought some apes to populate the small island and harvest the entire tree.

About the monkeys at Untung JAwa Island, perhaps they have found refuge on the neighboring island, Rambut, where it reportedly house some big wild cats and monkeys, along with its mascots, sea birds.

the tree of this kind lives solely on Pulau Karya. It reaches abt 6 m high and 4 m wide.

Bamboo Song

Japanese garden has it and a hotel in Bali does too. and my discoveries at Mirota, Kaliurang, Yogyakarta are samples of genius. I've never seen this kind of version.
bamboo has long been known to be one of the finest wood to produce great sound. Think of bamboo flute, angklung, etc.

if i had a garden of my own, i will plant some ornamental bamboo like Heksa did in front of his house. Oh, with tortoises too!

Hocus Lotus!

you know, it smelt so strong that I had a mild headache. amazing, no?
(this plasticlike thing is real, I used VGA cam)

Orange Delight

Oh boy, finally I knew its name. It's not the clown fish (locals affectionately call it kelonpis) but it is kerapu. the stripes makes this ubiquitous fish easily spotted from the pier.

"We fry or grill it," he said, smiling triumphantly over his lunch. It only took minutes for him to catch it with squid lure.

Fish are abundant to the waters nearby Pulau Pramuka.

Historians were Right

I felt terribly sorry when I found out that the fishes I bought in Magelang died--possibly because of oxygen shortage and shake (I went home by bus). That morning I let the river took them (larung). I don't remember with whom I went home (Kak Es n Mami or with Papi). Thankfully my turtoise Ucha survived.

Perhaps that's why most tour operators ban animals and plants on their vehicles or why there are quarantine centers on ports.

what i'm talking about is about plant and animal spread. these plants on the boat were going to be transfered from mainland Jakarta to Pulau Kelapa, 40 miles apart.

It reminds me of a story in Album Walt Disney back when I was child. Kwik, Kwek, Kwak tried to escape from a villain that held them hostage. the illustration of the hardship was a rat climbing a rope. It was about to get onboard but suddenly find a barrier in the shape of a sharp and wide disk attached to the rope. "Even rats can't escape the island..."

Historians believed that's one of the ways of migrations. Simple at it may seem on the photo, those pots of aglaonemas and jasmines were making journey to find a new place at the island and will adapt soon. Their presence would affect the entire island. Think of bees who never taste jasmine, for example, or young couple in love sniffing jasmines.

If I were the major of Kepulauan Seribu, I will order hundreds of sukun tree to be planted on the beach as wind breakers and source of carbs (and income) and order some hundred thousands of Florida mangroves to be planted on the beaches (they reportedly grow faster).

Oh one thing. those eggs also drew my attention. Now I know why eggs are pricey on the island (a sunny side up costs Rp3000).

The destiny of those eggs will not be inside the hatchery. They will end up on plates :)

The Right Hermitage

Hermit crabs (locally known as keong, umang, or kelomang) have long been hunted for pets. Usually people sell them out at elementary school gates to ever curious children. I kinda disagree with this practice especially knowing that they usually die when kept at cages without seawater or fresh seawater fish. Perhaps they die because they overgrown their "houses" (shells).

Well, it's getting hard to find living hermit crabs at the beaches I visit. But a recent discovery made me promise I won't collect any shell where they are abundant.

i was surprise when finding ones at a remote beach of Pulau Pramuka. They're here and there, roaming.

Sadly, they inhabit long neglected homes (shells with holes or broken "walls")

Based on my experience of renting room, it is hard to find the most suitable one. so I asked my friends to scatter the gathered shells for them because when they overgrow their homes, they need to find new ones and inhabit it fast otherwise they will fall victim to the heat (their abdomen is very soft), fishes, or other creatures.