A little geography lesson

I was browsing the net yesterday & came across these pictures (so sorry, I forgot to write down the URL).

You can see that Indonesia is quite big!!

I googled further, and found out that Indonesia's population of 230 million people makes us the fourth largest country. However, if you look only at the land area, we are ranked 16th overall.

Googling some more, I found out that Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia) ranks in the top 10 of world's most populated cities. Jakarta's population density is around 12,000 people per kilometer square. I guess this explains why there is macet every day.

Well, these small infos were quite enligtening for me.
I knew that Indonesia was large (afterall...we have 3 time zones), but I never imagined that it was as wide as from Ireland to Russia!

*Have you read more interesting facts about Indonesia in my "Did you know that..." post?

Btw, if you don't know where Indonesia is,the picture below may help you :)

What's this?

This is a traditional broom, called sapu lidi (sapu = sweep, lidi = stick), which is made from midribs of coconut leaves that are tied together. It is still commonly used to sweep the yard or to sweep off water on the floor (for example, water on the terrace after it has been raining). It is rarely used to sweep inside the house. For smoother surfaces such as ceramic floor tiles, we use a usual broom.

However, sapu lidi can also be used to help dust off the bed. Of course, we don't use the same sapu lidi that we used for sweeping the yard :)

Photos of the broom being used :
*Because the sticks are just tied together, sometimes they get a little loose, so you need to adjust it a little, as you can see in the second picture.

Seasons in Indonesia

I have been feeling a little bit under the weather these past weeks (explains why I haven't written much). I caught a cold & haven't fully recovered yet.

Yes, eventhough Indonesia has a tropical climate, you can still get the flu. Usually it is common during the transitional periods between the wet and dry seasons.

Indonesia is generally characterized by 2 seasons. When I was in elementary school, I remember memorizing them as such: Dry season (April - September) & Wet season (October - March).

During the dry season, the weather will be very hot with no showers at all, while during the rain season, it can rain for days on end.

Nowadays it is not that simple anymore. As in other places, the weather is becoming quite unpredictable. Just these past 2 days, it has been raining, while actually it should be full of sunshine now. I guess global warming has taken its toll :(

People hanging out of buses

This is a common sight in Indonesia. The boy on top is actually lucky, at least he can sit during the ride!

House of Sampoerna

Address : Taman Sampoerna 6, Surabaya 60163
http://www.houseofsampoerna.com

If you are a museum lover and you happen to be in Surabaya (Indonesia’s second largest city), then be sure to visit “House of Sampoerna”. This museum shows you the story of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk, one of Indonesia’s well-known tobacco companies which shares are now majority owned by PT Phillip Morris Indonesia, a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International, Inc.

Although I am against smoking, I was really impressed with the museum. Not like most museums in Indonesia, this museum is well-maintained, well-designed and informative, with an additional benefit : you are allowed to take pictures!

The museum is located in a compound which used to be a Dutch orphanage before Liem Seeng Tee, the founder of the company, bought it in 1932 to be used as a central location for his tobacco business as well as for his family’s residence.

Besides the central building (i.e. the museum), there are two other buildings in the compound. The building on the left side is until now, still used as the family’s residence, while the building on the right has been transformed into a cafe and art gallery.

Apart from the company’s history, you can also see all things related to the cigarette-making process, and you can even watch the traditional hand-rolling process itself, since the compound is still functioning as a production plant.

Compound in 1938

The Museum - Now

Printing Materials

Tobacco Cloves

The Production Plant at Night - In the day, it is a busy sight

Photos courtesy of Kes...Thanks a lot Kes for your patience uploading them on the web!! :)