Sprawling along the northern coast of West Java is JAKARTA Indonesia Capital city and home to around 15 million peoples. Originally the port of Sunda Kelapa, it's potential as a trading post was recognized by the Portuguese, who were thrown out by Sunan Gunung Jati of Demak Kingdom in 1527. In commemoration he named the city Jayakarta: "City of Victory", and changed into Batavia, the old name of this city during Dutch occupations period, and named Jakarta after independent.

Now JAKARTA is the capital of Indonesia, but well known as the main gate of the tourism and business of Indonesia, from where you can travel and catch the direct flights easly from Jakarta to all tour destinations of Indonesia such as: Yogyakarta, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Kalimantan and Papua.

JAKARTA HOLIDAY THE ON LINE TOUR OPERATOR AND TRAVEL AGENCY

JAKARTA HOLIDAY is the 24 h x 7 days on-line Indonesian tour operator and travel services/travel agency in JAKARTA, founded by it's expert Mr Dewo Bagus Javoto (Mr. DBJ), inspired by the experiences and capabilities more than 15 years joining in local handling services and providing travel services throught Indonesia from Jakarta, Ujung Kulon National Park, Krakatoa/Krakatauto, Bandung,  Borobudur, Bromo to Bali for the INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AGENCIES  and INTERNATIONAL TOUR OPERATOR from all over the world.

JAKARTA HOLIDAY (JAKARTA Tour Operator and Travel Agency) offers you better the travel services to help you visit and travel to INDONESIA especially Jakarta and Krakatau its Bandung, Yogyakarta in:

1. Getting HOTEL ACCOMMODATION in Jakarta, Ujung Kulon (star or non star hotels), Bogor, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bromo and all Indonesia. click here

2. Getting the TRANSPORT SERVICES, Car hire in Jakarta, Rent Car in Jakarta, Bandung and all Indonesia with AC coachs We offer only the reasonable price for all transport services. click here

3. Designing Jakarta Tour Packages such as: JAKARTA TOUR, JAKARTA SEIGHTSEEING TOUR, BANDUNG TOUR, and adventurous tour: Ujung Kulon Tour, Krakatau/Krakatoa Tour, and Java Island overland tour: Yogyakarta Tour, Bromo Tour, another tour packages of tour destinations of Indonesia tour packages with various tested tour arrangements, such as : Java (Jakarta Tour, Bandung Tour, Yogyakarta Tour, Bromo Tour, Surabaya Tour) Bali Tour, Lombok Tour, Sulawesi Tour, Kalimantan Tour (Borneo), Sumatera and Irian Jaya Tour (Papua).

4.Tourism Information Center in JAKARTA or other tour destinations in Indonesia, to help you tour to Jakarta and travel to all Indonesia. Use our jakarta tourist information because it's real, reasonable and up to date.

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ALL JAKARTA TOUR PACKAGES

Driving through the bustling city, pass Merdeka Square, National Monument, Presidetial Palace and visit National Museum (close on Monday) that is reputedly to be the finest in the South East Asia. See the world's most complete collection of Han, Tang and Ming porcelains. Also visit Sunda kelapa Harbor where the Portuguese traded with the Hindu Kingdom of Pajajaran in the early 16th century. Dutch domination of Jakarta old fort and warehouses of Dutch East India Company (VOC) can still be seen. Our final stop is batik workshop where you can see the process of making batik either in hand drawn or stamped with characteristic as traditional cloth from Indonesia.

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Day 01. ARRIVAL JAKARTA AND JAKARTA CITY TOUR

Arrival in Jakarta International Airport. Meet greet with our tour guide. Lunch at Raja Kuring Restaurant. Afterwards having Jakarta city tour by visiting Sunda Kelapa Old Harbour and Fatahillah Square. Check in at hotel in Jakarta

Day 02. JAKARTA ART CULTURE TOUR

Having Jakarta full day tour visiting TMII or Indonesia Miniature Park and proceeding to Museum Purna Bhakti Pertiwi where the collection of medals from former Indonesian President Mr. Soeharto afterward passing by MONAS or Monument National. Back to hotel and free program.

Day 03. TRAVEL FROM JAKARTA TO BANDUNG

Depart from hotel in Jakarta to Bandung via Bogor and Puncak, Visit to Bogor Botanical Garden. Located about 50 km south of Jakarta in the city of Bogor, it is a huge, world-class botanical garden covering an area of around 80 hectares. Founded in 1817, the gardens contain streams and lotus ponds and it has a collection of magnificent palms. The garden's orchid houses are reputed to contain more than 3000 orchid varieties. Drive to Bandung pass through Puncak to enjoy the tea plantation. Overnight at Bandung

Day 04. BANDUNG VOLCANO TOUR

Our first destination is Tangkuban Perahu where well invite you to have Volcano tour there. It's very famous with the biggest crater Ratu Crater. Proceeding the tour to Ciater Hot Spring . Lunch at Indonesian food restaurant. Afterward back to Bandung. And watching Angklung Udjo Performance. We invite you to sing and playing angklung there. Back to hotel and free program.

Day 05. BANDUNG CIWIDEY TOUR

We'll invite you to have Ciwidey Tour by visiting Kawah Putih with its white crater. Proceeding the tour to Strawberry Farm. Guest can buy fresh strawberry there. Lunch at local rest. Proceeding the tour to Cibaduyut Shopping area. Back to hotel and free program.

Day 06. BANDUNG FULLDAY SHOPPING TOUR

Having Bandung full day shopping tour. Visiting Cihampelas Jeans Center that very well known with Jeans product. Procceding the shopping tour to very well known factory outlets in Bandung such as Heritage etc. Back to hotel and free program.

Day 07. BANDUNG - OUT

Free program. At the appropriate time then check out from hotel and we drop you off to the airport for your next flight.

End of Tour Program

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The Krakatau Island are part of the Ujung Kulon National Park, to anyone interested in natural proses, Krakatau /Krakatoa is one of the most fascinating areas in the world. The cataclysmic eruption of 1883 captures the imagination, and spectacular volcanic activity continuous to the present. To those interested in biology and the way island are colonized by plants and animals - not only the island from which life was eradicated by the 1883 eruption, but also the new island of Anak Krakatau - the area holds a unique attraction.
Learn more the Krakatau/Krakatoa click here !

TOUR TO UJUNG KULON NATIONAL PARK AND KRAKATOA/KRAKATAU FROM JAKARTA

UJUNGKULON TOUR  is the  ADVENTURES TOUR to visit and discover UJUNG KULON National Park and MT. KRAKATAU/KRAKATOA managed and operated by JAVASOLTOUR is the Indonesia Tour Operator and Travel Service located in JAKARTA, have the good experiences to help you in arranging the reliable, safety and comfortable adventurous tour to World Heritage (natural) site in Indonesia, Ujung Kulon National Park considered as the habitat of most exotic animal in the world Java Rhinoceros and Mt.Krakatoa, with collaboration CRACATOA TOUR the tour operator specialized in discovery Mt Krakatoa, Krakatau Tour from JAKARTA and the best co-operative JAKARTA TRANSPORT (reliable transport, car hire, rent car in JAKARTA ) and co-operative supported by JAKARTA HOTEL ACCOMMODATION (the Whole Saler Hotels and Accommodation in Indonesia located in Jakarta) supported by UJUNG KULON NATIONAL PARK Ministry Forestry Of Republic Indonesia and My-Indonesia.com
Get more reliable and complete Ujung Kulon National Park tourist informations only in www.ujungkulontour.com and get the reliable travel services to Ujung Kulon National Park and Krakatoa only with UJUNGKULON TOUR managed and operated by: JAVASOLTOUR ( Tour Operator and Travel Services in JAKARTA). Visit the main website Click here

UJUNG KULON TOUR PACKAGES

The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of being fired "into any part of the world." The announcement caused great concern in the United States, and started a national debate over the "missile gap" between America and Russia.

For years after World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union had been trying to perfect a long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Building on the successes of Nazi Germany in developing the V-1 and V-2 rockets that pummeled Great Britain during the last months of World War II, both American and Russian scientists raced to improve the range and accuracy of such missiles. (Both nations relied heavily on captured German scientists in their efforts.) In July 1957, the United States seemed to win the race when the Atlas, an ICBM with a speed of up to 20,000 miles an hour and an effective range of 5,000 miles, was ready for testing. The test, however, was a disaster. The missile rose only about 5,000 feet into the air, tumbled, and plunged to earth. Just a month later, the Soviets claimed success by announcing that their own ICBM had been tested, had "covered a huge distance in a brief time," and "landed in the target area." No details were given in the Russian announcement and some commentators in the United States doubted that the ICBM test had been as successful as claimed. Nevertheless, the Soviet possession of this "ultimate weapon," coupled with recent successful test by the Russians of atomic and hydrogen bombs, raised concerns in America. If the Soviets did indeed perfect their ICBM, no part of the United States would be completely safe from possible atomic attack.

Less than two months later, the Soviets sent the satellite Sputnik into space. Concern quickly turned to fear in the United States, as it appeared that the Russians were gaining the upper hand in the arms and space races. The American government accelerated its own missile and space programs. The Soviet successes--and American failures--became an issue in the 1960 presidential campaign. Democratic challenger John F. Kennedy charged that the outgoing Eisenhower administration had allowed a dangerous "missile gap" to develop between the United States and the Soviet Union. Following his victory in 1960, Kennedy made missile development and the space program priorities for his presidency.

"Russia tests an intercontinental ballistic missile." 2008. The History Channel website. 26 Aug 2008, 04:38 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2771.

On This Day

55 B.C. - Britain was invaded by Roman forces under Julius Caesar.

1743 - Antoine Lavoisier was born. He was the chemist that proved that the union of oxygen and other chemicals is used in burning, rusting of metals and breathing.

1883 - A two-day eruption of the volcanic island Krakatoa began. The tidal waves that were associated with the eruption killed 36,000 people when they destroyed the island.

1920 - The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in the voting booth.

1937 - All Chinese shipping was blockaded by Japan.

1957 - The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled out.

1998 - The U.S. government announced that they were investigating Microsoft in an attempt to discover if they "bullied" Intel into delaying new technology.

1998 - Sudan filed a criminal lawsuit against U.S. President Clinton and the United States for the bombing of the El-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries Company. The Sudanese claimed that the plant was strictly civilian.

Washington urges Hessians to desert

Falsely confident that the British would not attack New York’s Manhattan Island, General George Washington pours additional reinforcements into the lines around Brooklyn Heights, then considered part of rural Long Island, on this day in 1776. Washington also ordered the dispersal of certain documents among the Hessians, about which he wrote "The papers designed for the foreign (Hessian) Troops, have been put into several Channels, in order that they may be conveyed to them, and from the Information I had yesterday, I have reason to believe many have fallen into their Hands." The "papers" induced Hessian troops to desert the British army.

"Washington urges Hessians to desert." 2008. The History Channel website. 26 Aug 2008, 04:34 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=50706.

Democratic convention besieged by protesters

As the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Chicago, thousands of antiwar demonstrators take to Chicago's streets to protest the Vietnam War and its support by the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. During the four-day convention, the most violent in U.S. history, police and National Guardsmen clashed with protesters outside the International Amphitheater, and hundreds of people, including innocent bystanders, were beaten by the Chicago police. The violence even spilled into the convention hall, as guards roughed up delegates and members of the press, including CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace, who was punched in the face. On August 29, Humphrey secured the nomination and the convention ended.

In the convention's aftermath, a federal commission investigating the convention described one of the confrontations as a "police riot" and blamed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley for inciting his police to violence. Nevertheless, eight political radicals--the so-called "Chicago Eight"--were arrested on charges of conspiring to incite the violence, and in 1969 their trial began in Chicago, sparking new waves of protests in the city.

"Democratic convention besieged by protesters." 2008. The History Channel website. 26 Aug 2008, 04:32 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5292.

By 1968 John Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been murdered, and the Vietnam War had escalated into an epic struggle between capitalism and communism.  Anti-war protesters descended on the Democratic convention in 1968.  Before Chicago in 1968 the protests had been relatively peaceful, after Chicago anti-war violence escalated.

“Hello, I’m going to read a declaration of a state of war…within the next 14 days we will attack a symbol or institution of American injustice.” ~ Bernardine Dohrn http://www.upstatefilms.org/weather/main.html

This is a full length film documentary and has graphic violent content.

“The Weather Underground”

Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society, 1962

Introductory Note: This document represents the results of several months of writing and discussion among the membership, a draft paper, and revision by the Students for a Democratic Society national convention meeting in Port Huron, Michigan, June 11-15, 1962. It is represented as a document with which SDS officially identifies, but also as a living document open to change with our times and experiences. It is a beginning: in our own debate and education, in our dialogue with society.

published and distributed by Students for a Democratic Society 112 East 19 Street New York 3, New York Gramercy 3-2181

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/huron.html

“Violence didn’t work.”  Mark Rudd

A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.
Mohandas Gandhi

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
Mohandas Gandhi

*

The Yankees!

*** 

My mother has loaned me a book about the August 27, 1883 explosion of the volcano Krakatoa. It's already a real barnburner. I've decided to include an Interesting Fact From The Krakatoa Book My Mother Loaned Me in each new blog for a little while, so that we can all learn and grow from this experience together. The first Interesting Fact From The Krakatoa Book My Mother Loaned Me:

There exists in the world something called The Wallace Line. This is a picture of the Wallace Line:

The Wallace Line is named after a man named Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered [and 'twas no rabbit he pulled out of the hat, gentle readers, but years of work!] a major natural demarcation line between the two areas you see above. They are not that far apart-- certainly not so far apart as, say, Africa and the Americas--but their plant and animal life is very different on each side of the line, having thusly developed due to--if I understand correctly--continental drift?

I'll stop now. 

***

The news-papers have been full to the very brim with the exciting news of the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt, who was a hostage of the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] for six years, and freed last week [along with 14 others]. The story is straight out of the moving pictures, and I have spent 95% of my time for days-and-days reading about it and reading about it, until I wake up with my face on the computer keyboard, clutching a rifle-mounted bayonet. You can read about it in detail here, if you have not elsewhere:

Bold Colombian Rescue Built on Rebel Group's Disarray

[Just so you know, every headline ever should be--well, that one, basically. "Bold Colombian Rescue"? "Rebel Group's Disarray"? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

The Colombian government released a video of the rescue [two of the agents involved were posing as journalists]. It is blurred, confusing, and one of the most strangely moving things I've ever seen. One of the hostages, a man named Raimundo Malagón, had been a captive of the FARC for ten years. He approaches the cameras at one point, "pleading to tell his story to the journalists" [quoth the New York Times; it's in Spanish]. You can see the guerillas in the background, guns held aloft. The hostages board a helicopter, hands bound, believing that they're simply being transported to a different location, since their rescuers are pretending to be captors. Ingrid Betancourt and her fellow hostages were marched through the jungle for years, sick with tropical diseases, tortured--they were apparently chained to trees by their necks. This is the short list. One thinks of these things, watching the video: and then they are free. You've never seen anything quite like it. I cried my eyes out. 

Watch:

It is not the case that Colombia was never on my mind prior to this point. However, it was not on my mind enough. "Colombia: On My Mind Enough, And In Addition I Need To Do Something About It, Volunteerism-Wise, For the Love of God and All His Angels In Heaven" is my new life motto.

Too long?

***

When I was a freshman in college, I was introduced to the poet Philip Larkin  by my roommate. She owned his collected works, which I read as though they were cool, clean water and I was a wayfarer in the Strzelecki Desert. [Thank you, Jessica.] That was the first time I received an inkling that poetry and I were meant to be together forever, or "4-ever", if you would like to get all technical about it and things. The poem below is the first Philip Larkin poem I ever read. I memorized it, then and there, and have known it for years. Whatever else has come and gone in my memory, poetically-memorizingly, this has stayed.

My mother, watching a History Channel series on the Revolutionary War while I was home:

MY MOTHER: How in the hell did we win this war?

When First We Faced, and Touching Showed

When first we faced, and touching showed
How well we knew the early moves,
Behind the moonlight and the frost,
The excitement and the gratitude,
There stood how much our meeting owed
To other meetings, other loves.

The decades of a different life
That opened past your inch-close eyes
Belonged to others, lavished, lost;
Nor could I hold you hard enough
To call my years of hunger-strife
Back from your mouth to colonise.

Admitted: and the pain is real.
But when did love not try to change
The world back to itself--no cost,
No past, no people else at all--
Only what meeting made us feel
So new, and gentle-sharp, and strange?

Philip Larkin

Era ceva peiorativ ? Rădăcina cuvântului “ bizantinism”, anume termenul ‚bizantin’,  cu o supărătoare conotaţie negativă, a fost inventată de francezul Charles-Louis de Montesquieu (1689-1755), apoi  popularizată fervent, în aceeaşi negativitate, de către istoricul englez Edward Gibbon (1737-1794).

Se ştie că Montesquieu continua cugetările despre romani ale moraliştilor francezi din secolul XVII. Probabil că inventând conotaţia negativă a termenului  ‚bizantin’, francezul Montesquieu vroia  să dea  şi o anumită legitimitate istorică tardivă titlului de „împărat roman” al lui Charlemagne. Dar pentru noi, românii, poate că importanţa majoră a operei lui Montesquieu constă în aceea că prin ‚ideologia bizantină” pusă pe piaţa culturală a Europei, el face total disponibil numele istoric Romania (cum se chema în realitate ‚imperiul bizantin’), nume care va fi apropriat de principatele dunărene unite în secolul XIX.  

Iar 'Romania Neoacquistica', spre care ţintea Pohta lui Mihai Viteazul, este o ‚imagine de marcă’ pe care am dobândit-o poate cu denotaţia  negativă pusă acolo de Montesquieu. Fraza citată din Hermann Alexander Keyserling era de fapt o recunoaştere a programului Romania Neoacquistica pentru România. Este  o ţintă ce poate fi atinsă?

În literatura noastră, căderea Constantinopolului la anul 1453 era  anunţată  de Marea  Mediterana : „Trece valul sângerat / […] / Val pe val înştiinţează că  Bizanţu’ s-a predat.” ,  aşa consemna Dimitrie Bolintineanu (1825 - 1872).  

În Orele astrale ale omenirii, scriitorul austriac Stefan Zweig (1881 – 1942) atribuie căderea Bizanţului unei erori tactice : O poartă a cetăţii nu era păzită. În realitate nu s – a întâmplat aşa.  Tradiţional, toate porţile cetăţii erau foarte bine păzite, iar strategia a fost păstrată. Dar cumva Stefan Zweig are intuiţia că evenimentul căderii Bizanţului nu a fost o necesitate, ci o contingenţă, adică un fapt care  putea să se întâmple, ori nu.
În cartea „Ultimul mare asediu, 1453”, autorul Roger Crowley explică întoarcerea bruscă din drum a trupelor veneţiene contractate pentru suportul Bizanţului prin fenomenele optice bizare observate pe cer, descrise şi de cronicarii vremii. Roger Crowley găseşte corelaţia cu explozia unui vulcan insular din Pacific, care a trimis în atmosferă o cantitate uriaşă  de pulbere ce a produs efecte optice. Demoralizante pentru mentalitatea medievală. La fel s-a întâmplat de altminteri şi la sfârşitul secolului XIX, când praful vulcanului Krakatoa a dat culoarea deprimantă  a cerului din  tabloul Skrik (Strigătul), pictat de norvegianul Munch.  

Titus Filipas

We hear so much about anthropogenic (a long word for human made) carbon emissions but what about those created naturally. Human emissions change the carbon balance by adding extra carbon dioxide into the air which was not there for millions of years, because it was stored underground. As human populations grow the vegetation resources of our world – especially the tropical jungles – get smaller and with them the ability to soak up so much carbon dioxide.

What about nature? It too draws up green house and climate change gases from deep inside the earth where they have been safely stored for millions of years and throws them into the air. I am talking about volcanoes. 

Volcanoes emit carbon dioxide when they erupt. They also emit sulphur, water vapour carbon monoxide and other gases which do not have a benign effect on our climate. Mostly volcanoes provide water, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide.

The emissions can be terrible in a locality but usually the effect of emissions is tiny compared to man’s emissions by burning fossil fuel. Each year, nature, through volcanoes emit around three quarters of one percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that people create, so they are not in the grand calculations of emissions terribly significant. The figure is that of the University of North Dakota.

Of course you can have terribly large volcanic eruptions. In 1883 Krakatoa erupted and the volcanic ash and debris together with the effect of sulphur emitted by the volcano on high level clouds filtered out sunlight, which caused the lowering of average global temperatures by over 1 degree Celsius for five years. Fortunately for us these massive scale eruptions are few and far between.

I have been living for the past two weeks in the shadow of a volcano, in Mexico. It is called the Volcan de Fuego, is about 12,600 feet high and is still active. On some days you can see steam venting from it.  Like most volcanoes it lives happily with the surrounding Mexican ranches and villages, proving a hard volcanic rock that is used in building and in making cooking ware. the rock is much harder than the volcanic pumic of Vesuvius or the volcanic rocks of Hawaii. 

Some people think that volcanic activity contributes more carbon dioxide than man. It does not, by a long way. Volcanoes do not even come close to what we do. In fact even the terrible volcanic eruptions have had a relatively short term effect on our climate. Nature can cope with a few more emissions but not, it would seem emissions on the scale that six billion humans create.

Source: CG Society

Io penso che nomina sunt consequentia rerum, quindi uno che si chiama Cavalli non può non essere malvagio. Però ci ha messo di suo, questo gli va riconosciuto.

(non sono buffi i due imbecilli qui sopra?)

KANSAS--the only time i have ever been in kansas there was a tornado warning. we sought refuge in the local DQ's walk in refrigerator. they offered us sarapes to keep warm (from the attached gift shop) and free ice cream. thankfully we didn't have to stay in there very long and were shortly on our way to denver.

KOOLAID--my favorite flavor of koolaid is black cherry. i normally don't even like cherry flavored anything. but koolaid is another story. black cherry is the best. but it stains your fingers if you get the powder on you.

KARMA--do good things, good things come back to you. learn it, live it.

KOA--kampgrounds of america. during our camping years growing up we stayed in many of these kampgrounds (with a K). i remember wanting my parents to buy one so i could work in it. i loved the little store. i loved the idea of taking the money and then showing on a map where their spot would be. but the best part of my dream was to be the one who showed the kampers their spot while driving an atv. now it would be a golf cart (which i like even better). the koa's were pretty fun. i remember swimming in an outdoor heated pool while there was snow on the ground. i remember ice cream socials. i remember watching family movies in the rec room. i remember playing in the playground.

KRAKATOA--one of my favorite words. it is an active volcanic island in indonesia. but i like to use it as an exclamation. mostly when a kid trips & falls down, smacks themself in the head, takes the brunt of some unexpected flying object. such as...kid is walking through the kitchen and stubs their toe and trips, landing on the ground flat on their face. proper response would be "KRAKATOA!!"..lol

So, I'm just going to say something briefly about these three as a place marker and promise to write more about them later, in the interest of never writing anything because I let too many ideas accumulate.

The three books are Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost, and Nathaniel Philbrick's Sea of Glory (great title!).

I resisted The Kite Runner a bit because it got excellent reviews and I'm an ornery person and a mercurial reader. Khaled Hosseini's interview on NPR was very engaging, etc,etc and I was hoping that the book would be as engaging as the only other Afghanistan-related media I've consumed: the riveting Hyder Akbar TAL episodes. That is, besides that National Geographic cover.

I was not disapointed: The Kite Runner shares many of the same themes as Hyder Akbar's radio documentary with a dash of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake angsty father son relationship.

There are some difficult to read moments of violence against children (with consequences for the young afghan actors starring in the movie adaptation).

More to say about the nature of immigration and going home, and the Taliban, but it's got to be later, because right now it's onto non-fiction and..........

The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million.

Daniel Mendelsohn travels the world gathering testimony from ailing holocaust survivors of a very small polish shtetl trying to piece together the story of his long-ago perished great uncle and aunt and their four daughters.

In a way, it's a mirror of Ann Kirshner's excellent Sala's Gift, which I had the pleasure of reading this summer. Kirshner and Mendelsohn both write about their family's experiences in the holocaust, but their stories represent opposite challenges. Kirshner's mother endured years of living in forced labor camps. After the war, she made a life in America with a personal archive of letters and photographs miraculously intact, but with an understandable reluctance to discuss any of her experiences with her children.

Mendsohn, by contrast, grew up with a garrulous crowd of relatives, especially a doting grandfather who was always ready with a story of their ancestral Polish village. The grandfather and his siblings all left Poland for prosperous lives in America and Israel long before the rise of the Nazis, save one brother who stayed and was killed with his family. Unlike Kirschner, Mendelsohn has abundant stories of the Old Country, but pathetically few personal items to give any insight about the lost family.

After visiting Poland last year, it was much more meaningful to read about the author's visits to the Polish countryside and to the Krakow ghetto: I had a picture in my mind's eye of what those places look like.

While I was in Poland, it was astonishing to me how much it felt like traveling back in time - so agragrian, such tiny small towns filled with the acrid scent of wood-burning stoves.

More to say, but it'll have to be after Sea of Glory (excellent title!).

In fact, Sea of Glory is what's been holding up the whole blog, because it raises so many topics for discussion .

It follows the four year (FOUR YEAR) U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842 (the "Ex. Ex"), led by one Lt. Charles Wilkes. The vast and varied collection of specimens accumulated on this exhaustive voyage lead to the formation of our nation's first research institutions (notably: the Smithsonian), which allowed for the establishment for the first time of science as a paying profession in our country.

They circumnavigated the globe, found Antarctica, and had all manner of adventures among the pure and profane, but leader of the expedition, Wilkes, was never given much credit or glory in his own lifetime, and now he, and the expedition, are lost to obscurity.

We can chalk this down, as Philbrick does, to Wilke's phenomenally off-putting personality. Equally interesting as the exploration is the sort of case study the expedition presents of employees being trapped in close quarters for years on end with a horrible boss. Really, the worst sort of situation you can imagine, if you've ever had an undesirable boss. Separated by distance and time from familiar society, Wilkes was not only free to unleash his worst inferiority complexes and passive aggression, but he also had the authority to mete out horrifying physical punishment as well.

Tangentially related: it is astonishing, astonishing! that I still haven't read a biography devoted to Captain James Cook. Shame on me. He casts such a long shadow on so many books I've read in the past few years. Not only did he obviously capture the imagination of the public during his own lifetime, but he, the man who "boldly went where no man had before" shows up centuries later in the fictionalized person of Captain James T....Kirk. He inspired men like Charles Wilkes, who read of him. Those who knew him in person, those who sailed with him, appear to have been profoundly influenced by the experience. Sir Joseph Banks, John Ledyard, William Bligh.

Speaking of my bff Ledyard, he makes a small cameo in Sea of Glory (as does my beloved old MGH). It reminded me that I still have not written about Ledyard's adventures after I promised to this summer. I know. It's coming!

Another reason that I was reminded of him is because the same two authors - Henry David Thoreau and Herman Melville- reference Ledyard and Charles Wilkes of the Ex. Ex.

Only one conclusion to draw!

Weirdly, Melville, Thoreau and I share tastes in doomed explorers. It's like we're pals separated by a century. We'd have plenty to talk about, except I haven't written any novels.

I've read Thoreau and gone swimming at Walden Pond and been to Concord, so I feel that I have that base covered, but I don't know anything about Melville except that he wrote Moby Dick, which I haven't read.

So.

I bought it, and started it this week.

That'll be the be next book discussed here.

Meantime, has anybody read any of these books? What do you think of them? Does anybody have any Thoughts, or Recommendations of books or topics?

-         La mejor protección contra la malaria y las enfermedades transmitidas por picaduras de insectos son los repelentes y el uso de camisetas de manga larga y pantalones largos. Como un extra y por períodos cortos, se pueden tomar pastillas, pero éstas no te protegerán al 100%. En caso de viaje a regiones remotas donde sea difícil encontrar o llegar a asistencia médica en menos de 72 horas, se recomienda un tratamiento con Lariam o Malarone (4 comprimidos al día durante 3 días)

-         Durante el viaje solemos beber el agua del grifo o del pozo, la misma que bebe la gente. Lo primero es preguntar a los habitantes del sitio si el agua es potable. Luego observamos el color (transparente) y el olor (ninguno). Durante el primer día bebemos sorbos pequeños, para que el estómago se acostumbre a las bacterias locales. En caso de ser necesario potabilizar el agua y no tener pastillas ni yodo ni fuego para hervirla, también se pueden utilizar cinco gotas de lejía por cada litro de agua (lavandina en Argentina). El sabor no es muy bueno, pero el agua es potable.

-         Comenzar cualquier viaje con todas las vacunas recomendadas por los servicios médicos de tu país, eso depende de donde vayas a viajar.

-         Los seguros médicos internacionales pueden ser muy útiles en caso de una enfermedad importante, pero su coste también es elevado. Nosotros partimos de Barcelona con un seguro médico que cancelamos un año más tarde: sólo hubo que visitar un dentista y costó 10 dólares no reintegrables. Desde entonces asumimos que lo que nos ahorramos por un lado, puede que tengamos que gastarlo algún día. O no.

-         Después de un viaje largo o por lugares complicados, no está de más hacerte un chequeo médico. Análisis de sangre, orina, heces, radiografías... Lo más probable es que tu cuerpo esté en orden, pero podrías tener lombrices en el estómago por beber agua que parece segura (se manifiesta por el mal aliento) o, como me descubrieron los médicos tras el viaje por África, que tenía la cepa de la tuberculosis esperando empezar una fiesta. En este caso se sigue un tratamiento muy sencillo de tres meses y el cuerpo vuelve a estar en orden.

-         Muchos lagos de África tienen bilharzia, una enfermedad que se manifiesta varios años después de haberla contraído. Entre ellos están los lagos Victoria, Albert, Malawi, Kariba y Namugabu. Unos años atrás el lago Bunyoni era seguro.

-         Durante un viaje es muy importante comer con las manos limpias. Las uñas largas son un reservorio de bacterias y suciedad que pueden provocarte una dolorosa infección estomacal. (ver Por fin la enfermedad! http://viajeros4x4x4.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/10-por-fin-la-enfermedad/)

-         Recomendamos también viajar con un pequeño botiquín de emergencia (ver Botiquín http://viajeros4x4x4.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/medicinas/) y, en caso de mantener relaciones sexuales, usar siempre un preservativo.

-         Los médicos recomiendan no caminar descalzo sobre la tierra en zonas selváticas. Nada, ni siquiera ponerte en pie al despertar. Ciertos bichos invisibles adoran el calor humano y se introducen en la planta del pie. No es grave, pero uno es egoísta y no quiere compartir la planta del pie con otro bicho viviente.  

-      Si haces submarinismo recuerda que deben pasar por lo menos 24 horas entre la última inmersión y el vuelo.

-         En Zimbabwe Anna fue picada por un tipo de mosca llamada allí Putsy Fly, que depositó sus huevos bajo la piel. Días más tarde comenzó a aparecer una pequeña bola (llena de pequeñas larvas bebés, aunque aún no lo sabíamos) y fuimos a una farmacia. Allí nos vendieron un antibiótico que provocó que la bola eclosionara (reventara) dejando un pequeño hueco (un agujero) en forma de volcán (Krakatoa) en el brazo de Anna. Es muy importante quitar la bolsa con las larvas sin que se rompan, para no provocar una (jodida) infección.

En el mundo hay muchas enfermedades e insectos que interactúan con el ser humano pacíficamente aunque no sean comunes en las ciudades donde vivimos. También hay muchas enfermedades e insectos que interactúan con el ser humano chupándonos la sangre. Es lógico, somos un platillo especial, y si se trata de un extranjero, hasta un platillo exótico, distinto al menú que los insectos comen todos los días. Tampoco hay que preocuparse demasiado. Hoy hay cura para casi todo. Y si descubres una enfermedad nueva, o esa enfermedad te descubre a ti, quizás hasta le pongan tu nombre.

Si quieres viajar, debes hacerlo, ¡que los bichos no te detengan!

PD: Si tienes alguna experiencia de picadura extraña durante un viaje y quieres compartir tus penurias, ¡adelante!, aquí puedes escribir tu testamento.

These days, the visibility at the Pulau Seribu islands are getting worse.  This is due to the reclamation of the Jakarta Bay, where all the silts are sent to the Pulau Seribu waters. Of course this has effects on the reef and the health of the corals; the suspension inhibits sunlight to enter the water. The best visibility you can expect is now down to 8 meters.

Several activities on preserving the corals and making the Thousand Islands attractive has been done by divers. I remember the building structures for reefs near the Kotok Island, sinking a wooden ship (front of Kotok jetty) and VW combi at Kotok Kecil (all directed by Daniel Abimanyu, the founder of Bubbles Diving Center). Beach clean ups were done. But this is not enough to counter what Jakarta Bay sends. It is only up to the governor to do something about the reclamation to keep the reefs healthy and preserve the corals.

 Diving in Pulau Seribu is also now considered expensive.  A lot of divers, especially those who are advanced, prefers to save their money to dive somewhere else like Bali or Menado. 

So, other than Pulau Seribu, where is the Jakartan Divers playground?

The choice is to drive up to Anyer and go by boat to Sanghyang, Tempurung or Krakatau.  Krakatau is now quite active, Tempurung has unpredictable current (lots of stories here!) so this leaves Sanghyang as a place where beginners can safely dive. 

From Jakarta, it takes approximately 2 hours to reach Anyer, and about 1.5 hours to reach Sanghyang or Tempurung and 2 hours to Krakatau.  You can do up to 4 dives, drive back to Jakarta and arrive at 7:00pm.

The last time I dove Sanghyang was in June 2007.  At first, I was reluctant to go there because waking up early in the morning on Saturday is not appealing and I thought it was not worth it.  But I wanted to try out my new camera housing and I haven't been diving for quite a while so I accepted Agung (Planet Diving), Alex and Kiat's invitation.  What I found was quite different than what I expected.

Kiat and I did 3 dives during this trip, while Agung and Alex did 4 dives.  Our first dive was at Tempurung.  I buddied up with Kiat and planned our dive, but our plan was tinggal kenangan: we decended and the visibility was poor and the current was strong, we were drifted apart.  After 30 minutes (don't try this unless you are experienced!), we surfaced and decided to move to Sanghyang.

It was only about 10 minutes by boat to Sanghyang.  Again, we planned our dive and this time it worked: Kiat went deeper, while I just stayed around 15 meters.  The visibility was not perfect (around 8 meters) but the current was none or mild if any.  Sanghyang has a gentle slope covered by soft red and pink corals with mushroom corals and some staghorn corals as well.  There are fair amount of fishes as well, which shows that the reef ecosystem there is healthy.  I was quite impressed because I wasn't expecting anything as pretty as what I saw.   Sometimes you see groups of fusilier swimming, as well as some trumpet fishes.  I also spotted a lobster in a little hole.  No current and mild temperature made the diving quite pleasant.

Our third dive was more interesting.  The visibility was poor but I found a big bommie at around 12 meters depth with lots of small fishes.  I also saw some nudibranches and cute pipe fish.  I realized that if I look hard, there are some macro stuffs at this location.  Still, gentle slope covered with soft pinkish red coloured corals.  Reaching the end of the dive, I saw a turtle swimming across me. 

Alex and Agung continued their fourth dive, while Kiat and I ate kwaci on the boat enjoying the volcanic outcrops (well, as a geologist I enjoyed it, I don't know about Kiat).  On the way back to Anyer, I confessed to Agung that I didn't expect Sanghyang to be that pretty.  It was probably just the timing where the visibility was not that clear, but Agung said that you can get 20 meters vis at Sanghyang.  I also remember one diver spotted a whale shark while diving at Sanghyang.  The more I thought about it, I begin to appreciate Sanghyang more and more, and now I think waking up in the morning is worth having 3 dives at Sanghyang.

There were also 2 other boats full with Jakartan divers during that day.  Most of them were recently certified divers but also some experienced guys.  They were all having a big smile on their faces.  Like me.  So, Sanghyang was not that bad after all! 

I am not saying that Pulau Seribu is not worth diving anymore, but I have to be honest that I go there only to teach.  There are still pretty sites, but unless the reclamation at Jakarta Bay is reduced, the silts are still going to be sent to Pulau Seribu, and eventually damage the reef ecosystem.  And honestly, it will take the government to make a meaningful change to Pulau Seribu.

But we can still preserve Sanghyang and treat it like our playground.   It is still beautiful and there are about 4 or 5 sites worth diving into.  I would recommend newbies to try diving Sanghyang.  Trust me, it is worth waking up early in the morning!

Part 1 in the series is about one of the sweetest eruptions of all time: Krakatoa in 1883. Not is the name sweet and fun to say, but this would make a seriously good movie, here's why:

1. Small eruptions and earthquakes started years earlier...talk about a dramatic crescendo
2. Relations between Dutch colonists and natives would give the film cultural weight the critics love
3. Resultant tsunamis were some of the largest ever witnessed
4. Explosion was the loudest noise in human history
5. After the explosion, the entire island of Krakatoa was gone...forever...

Maybe I'm wrong, but I see serious potential in this one. The only Krakatoa films in the past have been documentaries and small time stuff. Docs are all well and good, but I say the most violent eruption in modern history deserves a little better than a made for TV budget

(c) ukirsari

crew and guide: pak bakar [captain], min and jum –their job are various; pick us from sites back to cecilia also drop from cecilia to anak krakatau, preparing equipments for divers and snorkelers, cooking and serving meals! and ricardo essa a.k.a reza as dive master and guide

the guests: princess @rie and teddy chocs and friends of mine

enroute: leaving jakarta in the afternoon to carita, aboard close to midnight in cecilia ann, sailing to krakatau within 4 hours 5 – 7 knots, anchoring nearby anak krakatau nearly morning, dive site batu lava, anak krakatau around, trekking to anak krakatau then sailing to ibu [the way local called krakatau], dive site pintu serang, night dive around stay overnight nearby rakata, sailing to direction kalianda, lampung nearby midnight, anchoring nearby pulau sebuku kecil, dive site batu mandi, divers and snorkelers visit wreck hms evert sheene in shallow water nearby pulau sebuku kecil, back to carita and then jakarta

(c) ukirsari

the idea why i join live aboard based on a chance to visit krakatau with a reasonable price and companied by friends. it's not mean i feel afraid to go bluebird --the way me and my beloved one described to go sendiri, by my or his own-- but i think seriously how if the boat owners playing game about the price.

i love the chance to visit anak krakatau and got surprise since this volcano got earthquake 2 times. that’s why, i was not insisted to climb up. the formation of its mountain, made from sands and easy created ‘free-fall’. first earthquake i was on the beach with some fishermen who make a trap for lobsters. second earthquake I was half way to the summit.

A protective reef creates flat-water cruising conditions inside the lagoon with waves on the reef varying from small to mast height. Serangan Island channel is good for speed - the wind here is always a few knots stronger than elsewhere.

Yo-Yo reef directly opposite to Baby reef, providing ideal starboard jumping conditions.

Hyatt reef and Oka point better to kite there when the wind is strong or windsurf when the waves are small because usually they are three times bigger than Baby and Yo-Yo reefs. On big days the waves are like walls. Leave them alone.
Excellent starboard jumping but for experts only.

WIND AND WAVES SEASONAL CONDITIONS

WET SEASON - December to March. The stretch of beach south of Sanur Beach hotel is the best during this time of the year as inside the lagoon, the water is very flat whilst on the reef, the waves are like a ramp The wet season is when the monsoon hits Bali, with westerly side shore winds. Powerful at times up to 35 knots, but a little bit gusty. The windiest months in the wet season are usually December and February. Sails: from 5 m2 to 7.5 m2 freestyle or free-ride (75 kg sailor) Boards: big wave board or freestyle Blue Reef left - Bali’s very own Ho'okipa. Side shore winds, with waves up to 10 feet providing perfect conditions for jumping and wave riding. Looking out to sea its about 200metres, left of the light tower. The waves can be very hollow and over 6 feet so no margins for errors here. Better conditions with wind side shore winds and a medium/low to high tide. Blue Reef right about 300 meters right of the light tower, you will find this wave very nice to ride especially when the wind is little bit side offshore. It’s easier than Blue left, as the reef is deeper and the waves smaller. The peak is pretty far out and the waves not too big. Holds up quite well, Watch out for the big set that closes out on all the line. Jibe and run away!!! Not too good at high tide.

DRY SEASON - June to September. Its all good along the coast of Sanur during this part of the year, but south of Bali Hyatt is still the best. The dry season is also famous as the Kite season (OUR SEASON!!!) Kites can be seen flying everywhere. There's even a Bali Kite Festival in July. The easterly trade winds are very consistent but not so strong, around 9 to 13 knots. The windiest months are usually June and July. Sails: from 6.5m2 to 9.0m2 free-ride or slalom. (75 Kg sailor) Boards: freestyle, free-ride or slalom board. Baby reef - a great spot to learn to jump and practice with the waves. The waves are easy and forgiving also on big days as the reef is mostly covered by sand. The area of flat water between the waves and the light tower, is like a mirror and the speeds you can reach there are incredible.

BINTAN

During the North-East monsoon season, a 45 minutes ferry trip and a short buss ride will bring you to nice beach with clean water and steady wind.

The journey from Singapore starts at Tana Merah Ferry Terminal, where 'airport-alike' check-in is provided. The price for additional luggage (i.e. windsurfing gear) is about $5 (as of early 2003 season). I think that there is a luggage weight limit on 20kg for each passenger (I remember that they grumbled once or twice before when I brought my board plus two complete rigs).

With the assumption that you have made reservation and are staying overnight, the resort would pick you up and transport you and your gear to the resort.

The ManaMana resort is very well equipped with rental gear that can fit any sailor. They have sails in all sizes and a wide variety of boards fitting beginners to advanced sailors. They also have some gear storage space for visitors, but space is limited, so if you plan to keep you equipment there over the NE monsoon, you better negotiate for space early...

Water is clean, and a few reefs combined with an open sea is a good setting for "lots of fun". The general opinion among the frequent visitors seems to be that you normally get a few more knots of wind here as compare to Singapore.