May 7, 2011 -- The Exchange Begins

DATE: Saturday, May 7, 2011

LOCATION: Bali to Bandung

AUTHOR: Nancy Brown



Sanur Beach, Bali



Today, May 7, is the official start of the Greater Orlando Friendship Force exchange to Bandung and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Twenty-two ambassadors from throughout the US and around the world are participating in this exchange. Twenty of us began this exchange in Bali and two entered Indonesia by way of Jakarta -- they will be joining us in Bandung on May 8.




Hotel Sanur Beach, Bali

 

Ambassadors flew into Bali throughout the first week of May. Most of us stayed at the Sanur Beach Hotel, which was a  very convenient place to gather and a wonderful place to rest up after a long flight.

The hotel has a really nice breakfast buffet beachside, so we had a chance to meet each other in a beautiful, relaxed environment before embarking upon the home-stays. 

Late afternoon on May 7 we met in the lobby of the Sanur Beach Hotel to catch our transport to the Bali airport in Denpasar for our flight to Bandung. Since both Bandung and Denpasar are in Indonesia, we went to the domestic airline terminal. Suffice it to say that the domestic terminal is not the same as the international one – where all the tourists enter and leave Bali!! It was very crowded – wall-to-wall people, not a lot of signage and very little English. The scene reminded me that Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world -- and it seemed like half of them were going from Bali to Bandung that evening.

Have you ever gone through the check-in process for flights with five people on the same record locator number? It was an interesting experience, but we did all manage to get checked in.

We laughed a lot going through the final passport check -- where you pay 40000 rupiah exit tax to leave Bali for another location in Indonesia. You are supposed to have the correct amount of rupiah-- no making change. I counted out my rupiahs and had Mary Jane recount to make sure I was right -- we both agreed and were very proud of ourselves for figuring this all out -- only to have the man laugh at me when I tried to pay. Apparently, I was a decimal point or two off in my calculations. Maybe within the month we will get better at counting rupiahs -- maybe.

After numerous delays, we did finally leave Bali -- around 10:00 PM. It was less than a two hour flight to Bandung and our hosts were there to meet us, despite the late hour. After a little confusion with sorting out which hosts went with which ambassadors, we made our way to our homes. Our host insisted on feeding us when we got to her house, so it was about 1:00 AM by the time we got to bed. Long day/late night, but everyone is happy to be here.

May 8, 2011 -- Bandung

DATE: Sunday, May 8, 2011

LOCATION: Bandung

AUTHORS: Lesley Pratt & Janet Gow

After our late arrival last night, the call to prayer from several mosques near by, rudely awoke us around 4.30 am  - days start early in Indonesia!

However, we had had a good sleep - in our self contained unit across the yard from our host's house. Our host was Mrs Harmini, who is a widow. Also living next door were her son and his family, and her daughter lived very nearby. We were both glad our unit included a western toilet and learned to use the spray or bucket of water with `saucepan` to wash/shower. They rarely have hot water. Furniture was limited - Lesley slept on a mattress on the floor upstairs, (not uncommon) but no other furniture! whilst Janet slept on a fold out settee downstairs - but had no bedding. We did ask for towels and Janet managed a bed-cover. Janet did have a table, chair and a sink as well as the large drinking water bottle upturned and with controls for very hot water (ok to make tea) and cold (but always lukewarm) water.

Our busy program had been planned to have the first day free with hosts. However, some hosts decided to get together, and four cars set off at about 9:00 for the Tangkuban Prahu volcano, a two hour drive away.  It rained hard but there was much interesting scenery to be seen en route. The rain stopped just as we arrived at our destination. We parked the cars and coped with the local toilet facilities.



We all transferred into the back of an open-sided truck to arrive nearer the actual crater. An interesting drive up through the forest. We then walked down many steps to the rim of the crater, which is now filled with sulfur water. Years ago, the centre of the volcano collapsed under the weight of the built up ash and instead of the usual conical volcano shape, it has a flat, elongated summit with a huge caldera. Tourists were being offered face masks, as the crater,  an impressive sight, still emits sulphur fumes .



The beautiful, milky-turquoise sulfur lake at
Tangkuban Prahu crater.



A local entrepreneur with good photographic equipment sold many of us photos of our group, which he had just taken. We stood around and waited as he printed the photographs. The marvels of modern equipment! 

We then climbed back up the many steps to find our truck, and as the rain came pelting down again, we soon stopped to let down the plastic sides of the truck.



Even the horses needed raincoats.

En route, back to Bangdung we stopped for lunch - rice and kebabs - the start of three rice meals every day!  (Good for Janet and I to lose weight on a rice diet!) 

In Bangdung we visited the home of the Surachmans, where Maria and Leyla were being hosted. For Maria this had been a special day. She had arrived in Bangdung armed with details of the hospital where she had been born and the house in which she had lived as a small child. With the help of her hosts, she was able to locate both and people at the house (now a business) were able to talk about some of her family.

Mr Surachman is a Pediatrician, plays the violin, sings and owns several properties, including a restaurant where we ate later in the week. He also designed the splendiferous house - and the many rooms amply catered for the Naming Ceremony of his small grandchild that afternoon. The house was filled with guests, family and friends and most of the FF ambassadors.  A truly welcoming and interesting experience for us all.

The view from an upper balcony.

Other FF members also had other interesting experiences during the day - we felt so welcome everywhere.  And so, the back to our temporary homes, tired but exhilarated by our first day's experiences.

May 9, 2011 -- Bandung

MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011

LOCATION: BANDUNG

AUTHOR: Phillip Taylor

Today began with visits to the Geology Museum and the Gedung Sate, the regional head office of the West Java government. The term "sate" comes from the metal spike sticking from the top of the building resembling a giant meat skewer. It would be more correct to say we "tried" to visit this building - many government officials and visitors had taken all the available parking spaces. We were informed to "come back at one o'clock."  We filled the morning with a visit to the Asia Africa Museum where some of us learned the method for creating batik dyed cloth. The highlight of lunch was the exotic fishpond that was the floor of this unusual Grandia restaurant. We got to our table by way of large stepping-stones built right over the water.

Grandia restaurant -- fascinating rooftop pond
with a great view of Bandung.

Our afternoon visit back at the Gedung Sate featured an official meeting with a government leader. This formal meeting was followed by a climb to the top floor of the building. We were rewarded for our effort by a spectacular view of the city of Bandung.



View from atop Gedung Sate



Later, we were welcomed at a Spa/Salon where we dressed in traditional attire and posed for several group pictures.



Very Handsome!!



One of the highlights of the entire trip occurred that evening when we were each handed a musical instrument called the "angklund." Though none of us had even seen the instrument before, a talented musician taught us not only to play our instrument, he conducted our impromptu orchestra through several familiar pieces.



We won't be performing at Carnegie Hall anytime soon, but it was fun.



He did not, however, lead us in our special version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Another highlight that evening occurred when Mrs. Benny, our Expedition Director and club president, graced us with a dance to music provided by a Balinese band.

May 10, 2011 - Bandung

DATE: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

LOCATION: Bandung

AUTHOR: Dan Coughlin

At 8:15 we were picked up at the bus terminal and taken to City Hall. We arrived at 8:45. We were taken into the Conference Hall and all 21 of our people plus our Bandung hosts were seated along with 8–10 assistants and interpreters. Needless to say, a box of food and water were immediately given to us. The Mayor was unable to meet us so the First Assistant Mayor spoke to us about the happenings of the city. After the speech we were all given presents from the city and taken out front for a group photo. MANY pictures were taken. Was this when we made the two camera rule? :)



Government officials, Bandung hosts and nearly all the ambassadors --
who was missing today?

After the picture taking we left on a three-hour ride on a large bus for the tea plantation which is set in the mountains and is comprised of 1350 (3375 acres) hectors of tea trees.

The tea plantation -- in this area, the plantings looked
more like bushes than trees, but these were mature
plantings where hand-picking was being done.

We were taken to the home of the man who originally founded this plantation, Karl Rudolph, Bossch. This home is approximately 110 years old and is set on top of a hill and preserved as it has always been. We had a little talk about the history of the plantation, how the trees had been brought from Africa to start the plantation and how, after the Indonesians took over the plantation from the Dutch in 1950, the government took over the management of the plantation. From the porch of the house, we could look to the top of the hill and see Mr. Bossch’s mausoleum and where he is buried. Around the side of the house, there are visitors’ rooms for people who wish to come and stay there. The prices are reasonable and the rooms are nicely furnished. We then left the home to drive through the plantation stopping where the original tea trees were planted.  We were shown how the new trees were created from grafting.

We then visited the tea factory. We saw how the leaves come in, are sorted by size, and dried, tested, and graded. There are seven types of teas from white tea to black tea. The tea is then put into 100 pound white sacks and stored to be sold. Ten per cent of the tea is sold in Indonesia and the rest is exported, making this a large export commodity for the country.

Bags and bags and bags of tea leaves.



After another three hour trip in heavy traffic, we arrived back in Bandung.



We were picked up at the bus station at 5:00 and taken home to spend the evening with our hosts.

It was a delightful day, a pleasant ride in the country and very informative.

May 11, 2011 -- Bandung



DATE: Wednesday, May 11, 2011

LOCATION: Bandung, Java, Indonesia

AUTHOR: Mary Jane DeVault

Off with our chauffeur to Anie's house to begin our day of travel.

First stop the Bosscha Observatory, the oldest observatory in Indonesia, built in 1923. The observatory is located in Lembang, West Java. Upon arrival it appears that Dan Coughlin is mistaken as an American popular personality, school girls gather to have a once in a lifetime photo taken with him.



We locate our drivers and travel up the mountain road, stopping for a police checkpoint for our car and driver's registration. We arrived at Tangkuban Perahu Crater, translated "upturned boat". Once there, we were high above the crater and able to hike along the top edge and, if given enough time, we could have walked the entire circle. This crater was closed to the public as recently as September 1992 because of seismic activity. I also learned that on a very clear day it is possible to see the Java Sea beyond, our day was not that clear. We were approached by vendors, very hard core salesman, later learning each vendor is allowed only one day a week to sell and can sell only one predetermined item, postcards, necklaces, Kleenex box covers, etc.





Tangkuban Perahu Crater



"Vendors Row" at  Tangkuban Perahu Crater

Today for lunch is the only opportunity to treat our host. Our stop is a lovely, fancy Sindang Restaurant, not far from the crater. Myrna, our host, ordered our meal which included a fresh coconut drink, Nancy did not partake of the drink fearing the water used. That did not stop me, it was very tasty. The fish arrived so seriously over-fried that we thought it was inedible, only to discover that it’s normal to fry fish into that crunchy state and you are supposed to eat it all, including the crunchy bones. We gave our host the honor of eating most of the fish. We didn't go hungry, Phil and Bee seated next to us shared their satay and of course we had a big bowl of rice.

The third destination of the day was Ciater Spa Resort Hot Springs. This resort is owned by one of the Bandung FF Club members and other ambassadors have enjoyed the Hot Springs in the past. This beautiful resort is surrounded by tea plantations with horse drawn buggies to deliver bags for resort guests, a very relaxed setting.



Ciater Spa Resort Hot Springs



We arrived at the main entrance, parked, got out of our vehicles and started looking around. Then we are advised this wasn't the right place to park. We got back in the car and drove to the pool/swim area. Got out of the cars, only to discover it’s still not the right place, so we got back in the cars. Then, we drove to the spa/massage area, got out, found a nice seat in the cafe while our hosts check out the spa. Well, bad news, no massages available today – too many guests from Taiwan got there ahead of us and all the appointments were filled. So, back into the cars. Given the fact that we have 12 cars, we looked like a convoy. So the, it was back to the swimming pool and this time we got to stay. About eleven of us had brought our swim suits and enjoyed this great hot 42c water. This was also when we discovered that Roger has a defibrillator! At the pool bar we enjoyed some delicious pink guava juice and visited with our non-swimming friends on the other side of a low wall.

Dinner was a lovely buffet inside the restaurant. After dinner, we got back in our awaiting cars for the drive home.

May 12, 2011 -- Bandung

DATE: Thursday, May 12, 2011

LOCATION: Bandung, Java, Indonesia

AUTHOR: Marie DePasquale

Our bus trip to Sumedang, northwest of Bandung, took about two hours; we traveled on asphalt road, with busy two-way traffic, no traffic lights, a thoroughfare for motorbikes(carrying 1-5 family members), automobiles (mostly Honda, Toyota & Kia) and becaks (three-wheeled bicycle-rickshaws) transporting passengers.

The countryside we passed through was surrounded by hills and mountainsides of green vegetation, with banana trees, rice field terraces and farm lands growing cabbage, corn and tomatoes. Rivers of brown water flowed over rocks and under bamboo bridges, supplying water for the farms. The towns we passed had homes varying in size with plaster, brick, metal and woven bamboo on the exterior. Most front yards were green with a variety of plants, some decorative others practical – often rice. Small food stands, called warungs, were all along the road selling fried chicken, vegetables and fruit.

When we arrived at the Sumedang Cultural Center, which was to be our base for the day, we were greeted by the Chairman of the Sumedang Providence Foundation.

We were also greeted with an impressive spread of traditional appetizer/snack foods including:

 §  Ubi Rebus – baked sweet potato;

 §  Kelepon – coconut sprinkled over a green rice roll with a center of liquid brown sugar;

 §  Sale – fried banana;

 §  Keripir Talas – crisp sticks of casava;

 §  Cewdol – jelly made of rice flour and pandan. Pandan is used for the green color that the leaf gives in making the green rice jelly.

 §  Tahle Sumedan – typical fried tofu

 §  Sampeu Wedang – steamed casava with brown sauce.

Lots of new flavors and unusual things to eat.

The museum is a complex of five buildings, each housing historical artifacts – everything from weapons and artillery to jewelry and household goods. One of the buildings contained beautifully carved carriages dating from the 1700s.

They had prepared an extensive entertainment program for us, highlighting many of their more popular traditional performances. Entertainment began with four different dance performances, including:

§  Topeng – a mask dance that reveals concepts of contrast, like good and evil;

§  Jayeng Rara – a dance that depicts a warrior in battle;

§  Suraning Pati – a dance that depicts a Princess training in self-defense;

§  Ngalaksa Ceremony – a dance that highlights gratitude and respect for Mother Earth.

We then, moved outdoors for a most unusual, traditional, dancing horses performance, called Kuda Renggong. The highly trained team of horses and trainers put on quite an incredible show. Two horses performed (with handlers on the ground) with live music on traditional instruments setting the cadence. They also did a bunch of "acts/tricks" with the handler laying on the ground and the horse standing over and ON him -- all very controlled and quite remarkable. That segment was followed by a display of rearing and prancing all very tightly controlled.



Man on a horse on a man!



And this was only part of the day. We left the Cultural Center and drove to a nearby rice field to watch women harvesting rice by hand and a water buffalo plowing a rice field. We also visited a small rice packaging operation, where our hosts bought huge bags of rice, which we brought back with us to Bandung on the bus.



Water buffalo slogging through the rice field.

 About half the group also walked on to see a very old bamboo bridge. As we were marveling at the bridge, we were invited to visit the nearby village. This turned into one of the very special events of our entire time in Bandung. We toured the village, which was very quaint and primitive, but the remarkable aspect was that as we toured, all the villagers gathered to put on a performance for us – dance, music, and children in costumes all magically started to appear in the village’s community gathering spot. It was a very unique, impromptu event that had us all amazed. After about an hour we headed back to the bus and went back to the cultural center for dinner.

The bamboo bridge that lead us to the village.



The first "act" in the entertainment at the village.

 Lunch and dinner today was provided by the local Sudanese Department of Tourism.  Once again, we were treated like royalty with entertainment, a feast, officials giving speeches, etc.

After a couple hours of bouncing around on the crazy roads and avoiding all sorts of obstacles in the road, we were back to Bandung.

May 13, 2011 -- Bandung

DATE: Wednesday, May 13, 2011

LOCATION: Bandung, Java, Indonesia

AUTHOR: Ron Hartley

The day dawned early this morning and progressed to be hot and humid (just like the rest of the days).

We are off in separate cars to gather as a group at Anie’s house, before going on in separate cars to visit TVRI (Television Repubilc of Indonesia).

We were warmly greeted by the staff and shown around the television studio. TVRI is roughly similar to PBS in the US. They are commercial free and do news, weather, cultural events, educational and children’s programming, with some use of puppets. They broadcast 5-6 hours a day with the rest of the content coming from Jakarta. There are 30 other stations in Indonesia, which share some programming.  Locally they employ 17 people and nationally, 300.  Their enthusiasm was high, while there equipment was several years out of date.

Our next stop was Uninus University where we were greeted by the Rector and several senior administration and faculty members. We had snacks followed by lunch, a peculiar habit much repeated on other occasions. We had a panel discussion on the current state of education, organized by Phil, with questions from the audience. Marsha, Alan and Ron also participated.



Just one of the platters of food served right before lunch.





The buffet lunch included rice
wrapped in bannana leaves
and a variety of Indonesian dishes.



This was a particularly hectic traffic day, so rather than go directly home, our hostess, Retty, took us to an exotic restaurant where we had refreshments and a rest.

In the evening we had the farewell dinner and party. There was singing led by Phil and square dancing led by Marsha.



Group photo at the farewell party in Bandung