grammaire aka grammar is obviously not my thing!

so, this is just another personal documentation.
the piece has been published in sunday post edition,
the jakarta post, april 10, 2011 (peek it @ here).
but somehow i prefer the original version (complete with mistakes i made ),
plus the unpublished photos (upload still in progress ).
please, do enjoy.
*comments and critics are highly welcomed.

Finding Nemo in Nusa Lembongan

 
an underwater idyllic paradise
(*photo courtesy of Isao Soga)

A plan to go diving was already in my mind when I took a flight from Jakarta, landed in Bali, set off straight to Sanur and east-crossed the Badung Strait by public speedboat. It was Nusa Lembongan I headed to, an island neighboring Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan in the southern-east of Bali.


Yup, the island was well-known for its numerous dive spots. There are at least 7 dive spots stretch around the island, offering various attractive aquatic creatures and a wonderful underwater landscape. One of its spots is Manta Point, lies on the southern off-shore part of Nusa Penida, a world class diving spot to get acquaintance with the gigantic manta rays. And if you come in the right season, from Mei to September, there's a great probability you'll bump into the famously unique sunfish, also known as the mola-mola.


But it has been 4 years since my last diving (okei, i made mistake here. it should've been 'dive', and not 'diving'. noted. ) and I almost forgot everything I learned (so obviously it's not just a simple past tense. yup, my grammar is screwed ). Therefore, refreshing the lesson in the pool first before take a plunge into the sea is a must. A little bit nervous, I reluctantly fought the anxious feeling when I repracticed (is there a word such as 'repracticed'? ) the skill of controlling the buoyancy and mask clearing. Everything went well in the pool, but who knows what'll happen in the sea? (okeiii, i messed up the past, present and future tense! )


The next morning, along with a bunch of other divers on the boat with Lembongan Dive Adventure, we headed to Toya Pakeh, a dive spot lay between the Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida.


"The water's crystal clear," said Annastinna, a 40 year old Canadian, inspecting the water from the boat. She was right. Cluster of corals and anemones hazily swayed through the surge of water, as if calling for divers to explore.


Before we jumped into the water, Emo the divemaster (slash husband . okeii, i admit it.) briefed us about the dive, including the signals we use to communicate underwater. Feeling both exciting and edgy, I took my turn to do the back-roll entry. Thrilling, for I could hardly wait to embrace the under-sea-water experience again, and a little bit tense for fearing my diving device would go malfunction, or else, I forgot the skill I've refreshed earlier.


But the awkwardness was all gone once I sank myself down into the cold salty water, noticing the view around. The visibility was clear, and it was astonishingly wonderful!


Vast slope of various forms of corals rested below. A couple of majestic table corals popped amid sea of pale purple cabbage corals.


I gaped in awe as school of colorful fishes whizzed here and there, while anemones waved in dawdling motion. Three clarks anemonefishes (lat. Amphirion clarkii) -- yup, the star of Finding Nemo animation movie was here. Many of them! Probably his relatives -- hovered amongst tentacles of peachy anemones.


And you could easily found the gang here. A Dori-like blue surgeonfish and a flock of moorish idol fishes (lat. Zanclus cornutus) -- one of Nemo's tank inhabitants -- scurried around the corals. A blue starfish hung droopily on the corals. Fortunately, there was no hungry-but-pretend-to-be-a-herbivore shark near in sight (the editor changed it with: "hungry sharks masquerading as herbivores". yup, the edited version is waaaay better! ).

 
School of Oriental Sweetlips
(*photo courtesy of Isao Soga)

And there was a herd of funny black-and-white-and-yellow stripped skin Oriental Sweetlips, swung in an arrow formation. A big titan triggerfish with its glaringly colorful skin -- yes, its patent and contrast colorful skin was as if it wore a fully make-up -- swayed nonchalantly, confidence enough to move alone.


The scenery was so full, yet so quiet. The only sound I heard was the bubbling breath from my second stage mouthpiece. It was indeed an idyllic paradise.


The second dive took place in Mangrove Point, a spot just right in front of mangrove forest in the north-eastern part of Nusa Lembongan. The drift was stronger here. Since putting the hardest effort to kicking (another grammar mistake! you could never combine "to + -ing verb"! well, i've just realized that grammar isn't my thing ) against it was pointless, we threw ourselves joining in the stream, wandering into the miracle once again.


But time did flies! The 40 minutes dive felt like it was only 5 minutes, and the 200 bars of fresh air in our tanks was already hit the caution zone. Time to go up!

"It's amazing. I should one day be back here again," said Eva, a 28 year old Czech Republican who along with her Jamaican husband was in her last days of leaving Indonesia. "It turned out that 3 weeks of traveling around Indonesia isn't enough. I should have extended my vacation to 3 months!" she exclaimed.

 
*the anchorman, heads to the shore after diving
(photo courtesy of vyara)

She's got the point. My two weeks vacation on this very island alone felt like a blink of an eye. I swear I'll be back here soon, to hunt down the famous mola-mola, and the gigantic manta ray, of course!

###

How to get here:
Take a public boat or speedboat from Sanur beach. the public boat departs to Nusa Lembongan every 8 am and 10.30 am, while the speedboat departs at 9 am, 12.30 pm, 2.30 pm and 4 pm everyday. Meanwhile, there are 3 departures to Sanur from Nusa Lembongan jetty at 8 am, 10.30 am and 3 pm everyday. Of course, the schedule depends on the weather.


If you want to dive, there are several dive operators on Nusa Lembongan. Pick one that best suits you.


There are at least 7 dive spots around Nusa Lembongan. Here they are, along with creatures spotted recently:

1. Crystal Bay : mola-mola, manta ray, worty frog fish, turtle, nudis, eagle ray.

2. Manta Point manra, turtle, blue spotted stingray, nudibranch, sea snake, nurse shark.

3. SD : breaching mola-mola, turtle, clouded moray, triggerfish, lionfish, yellow edge moray, tuna, barracuda.

4. Toya Pakeh : giant trevally, batfish, nudibranch, mantis shrimp, ribbon eels.

5. Mangrove : puffer, angelfish, reef shark, moray eel, barracuda, triggerfish.

6. Pontoon : lionfish, crocodile fish, rigid shrimp fish.

7. Blue Corner : marble ray, eagle ray, barracuda, turtle, nudis, angelfish, batfish, sea snake, eel, reef shark.

pathetic, but exciting. exciting, yet pathetic.

so there we are. you, me, them

under a wing named a big company

walk proudly with magic badges

let go of the thing once called freedom

pathetic, us, yes it's true

yet exciting

but pathetic still

#no pain no gain [sigh]

black swan: there's somethin' about ballet

 
no, no, no, you're wrong if you think i'm gonna babbling about the movie natalie portman did great in her role as the swan queen in. nope. not at all.

i just need to say that there's something about ballet that even an amateur spectator like me could appreciate. well, i'm not a big fan of ballet -- i think i'd snore if i have to watch the whole act of a ballet show --, let alone a ballet novice. i don't have the slim and delicate figure, nor the elegant and pliancy movements. hey, but i do the taps and the leaps sometimes and i think i did great so far! (in my wildest dream, of course, ha ha)

so, you see when ballerinas dance with their chin up and hair wrap up neatly in a sweet bun high above the head? all their muscles emerge, but not in a rough and masculine way the roman sculptures amaze us. it’s the other way around. they’re so strong yet so weak, very muscular yet so fragile like a porcelain doll and must be light enough to be lifted by a male ballerina (what did you call a male ballerina? a ballerana? T_T). 
 

anyway, i found it’s captivating to see the poses of a ballerina: whether it’s a tap of her flippers on the hard floor, a bend of a body with arms dangling effortlessly in a sophisticated way that you just could imagine they’re stretched away by knots of rope, or very powerful and quick repeated loops with the tutu swings gracefully.   

don’t ever forget the face. the expression of the face: the wrinkle of the eyebrows, the seducing yet menacing look or even the submission stare from the eyes, the pulling of the tip of the lips that depicts a vaguely smile you could just smell her pain…

it’s the feel. the feel’s just there. and it connects the hearts. the hearts of the ballerina on the stage and the audience trapped in their seats, so that they quietly shed tears, or even applauded in a standing ovation by the end of every act.   

and it’s the same feel that arouses the sense to capture the picture of ballet movements i saw in sketches. i know they weren’t perfect. it’s just that i needed to let the hands speak for themselves through the lines of sketches. (well, so sorry for being a narcissist. i’m just a human, and need to exist, in a way or the other. don't we all?)

 don quichotte, des '99

le lac des cygnes (swan lake), des '99

psst, just so you know, to this day, i’m still wondering what those ballet slippers had in their front part. is it steel? or a solid wad of cotton so that ballerina can stand up on their toe without fearing they would broken their toenails and their feet fingers?

you tell me.

Sapi Sono', For The Love of Cows

they ignored my script. but that definitely won't stop me from writing more
so, please enjoy one of zillions of beauty of indonesia...
#i loooove my country!  



Sapi Sono', For The Love of Cows


The high pitched tune of slompret, a Madura small trumpet, usually made from teakwood, burst in the air. The sun spread its beam among the clear blue sky. It was a perfect morning in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java province, to start the sapi sono', a beauty contest for female cows. Unlike the famous kerapan sapi bull race, in this contest, cows are judged for their beauty.

In the backyard of Bakorwil field where the contest took place, the business started. The crews were ready to put on an elegant pangonong -- a colorful fine crafted wood to harness two cows together -- around the pets' neck. Rumor has it that it took a certain time and special spell to put on the sacred pangonong. The scent of flowers mixed with menyan -- incense derived from gum benzoin -- aroma that vaguely floated in the air, strengthening the mystique atmosphere.

Once the pangonong, including the bling-bling accessories around the body was set, the group then paraded around the compound. The tukang tongko alias the jockey danced to the sound of saronen -- the Madura gamelan -- while controlling the cows' steps using rope. A girl danced tayub -- the social relationship dance where the female dancer used to ask male onlookers to join the dance -- en collecting money showered from men who danced around her.


 
Two tayub dancers dance to the sound of saronen
en collecting money from men around.


At precisely ten am, the contest began. Three pairs of cows marched slowly on a 20 meters length grassy soil divided by three columns of ropes to a gate in front of the juries. With the sound of saronen still hanging in the air and the man-in-command behind them, the cows swung their legs step by step.

Apart from the fine appearance of skin, shape and the accessories the cows' wear, which most of all cows had, the juries would calculate moves they made. "Every pair of cows had a 100 as their initial score. Every mistake like stepping onto the rope would reduce their score by 5 points," revealed H Zainuddin MT, 54, the chairman of Sapi Sono' Association of Madura, one of the jury. "The smoother they sway, the greater they score."

Right beneath the end gate, the cows must step their feet all together onto a small wooden platform. "It mustn't necessarily the right foot or the left which came first. What matters most is that they step the same foot together in unison on the platform. The firmest the better," Zainuddin explained.

The accurate time of walk procession also counts. Pair who exceeds or lessens the one-and-a-half-minute time, would reduce the score.

Even so, every participant, including the saronen team, brings home the award. "It is our tribute for them. Because the practical aim of the contest is to encourage Madurese to nurture cow, to maintain the cow population in Madura," Zainuddin said firmly.

Sapi sono' derived from Madura word srono, means to enter, while sapi is Indonesian word for cow. Initially, sapi sono' which symbolized the Madurese politeness and respect used to be held to welcome guests in their home. Since 1970s, sapi sono' was declared as a mass entertainment and held a day before the kerapan sapi took place, usually in October or November after the tobacco harvest.


 
One pair of sapi sono' contestant


Although sapi sono' isn't as famous as kerapan sapi, more and more Madurese choose to take part in the contest. "It's cheaper than kerapan sapi, which is rich men's hobby, while sapi sono' is accessible by all ordinary Madura men," stated H Abdul Ami, a Pamekasan who took part in the contest.

According to him, compare to kerapan sapi that needs millions rupiah per month, taking care a pair of sapi sono' cows only costs around 200 thousands rupiah per month. The price goes to buy shampoo, eggs and additional food and vitamins. "I used to feed them with eggs to boost their stamina," he cited.

But the cost would be doubled if the owner hires a special nurse and adds special food and vitamins for his cows. "I spend not less than two millions rupiah per month to take care of my cows," said H Miftahul Arifin from Sumenep who sent his pair of cows named Laskar Joko Tole to join the contest. "Besides the milled paddy, I used to feed them with eggs, corn porridge and tofu," he mentioned number of vitamins his cows had.

But still, maintaining sapi sono' cows is way cheaper than kerapan bulls. Because, while sapi sono cows only earn a bucket of porridge made from milled paddy, kerapan bulls deserve jamu kuat -- strong vitamin -- contains a blend of tens of eggs, coffee, palm sugar, betel , ginger and wine everyday.


 
A tukang tongko aka the jockey dances before the contest


But the cost gap doesn't mean that sapi sono' cows' treatment is less complex than kerapan bulls'. Like supermodels, sapi sono' cows also had a shampoo shower and massages everyday. "So that they have shiny fur and healthy skin," said Samsul Arifin, 25, the sapi sono' jockey who used to look after Ninis Jaya, the pair's name belongs to hiss boss, H Abdul Ami, for the past year.

"And you don't force sapi sono' cows to work in the paddy field. They mustn't work hard, so that their body would stay delicate and graceful," he pointed out.

To understand what the cows want is also important, added Samsul, so that the cows would willingly follow their master's commands in their daily practice.

"They're like human too, you know," Samsul said with a slightly smile, patting his cows tenderly. "Whenever they feel tired, you should give them time to rest, or food and drink whenever they're hungry and thirsty. You speak to them with love and affection..."

# # #

*all photos by vyara wurjanta

  

it'll take a while

1st day, an almost perfectly calm sunset on the shore






2nd day, an abruptly fiery miserable rain






3rd day, a gloomy cloud filled the atmosphere





...


it'll take a while

before i get used to the life

on this beautiful island

how book connects our hearts

he hates me when i read
and i loathe him for that

yet our hearts connect through it

life of pi, he brought
when i almost forgot about a life story i've heard
about a boy named pi, and a bengal tiger named richard parker
on a dingy across the pacific ocean

 
a thousand splendid suns, he presented
a miserable life of maryam and laila
in afghanistan when taliban rules after the soviet invasion

 

last, the white tiger he surprised me with
even with the better blackish cover
even when i've already pre-ordered and then abruptly cancelled it
when i've yearned for the book for the last 2 months

...

just could hardly wait
for the next mystery book to come

...

still, he despises me when i read books
and i detest him for that

*photos' source: internet

hear the wind sing...

"Haven't sensed the sweet breath of summer for long. The sweetness of the waves. The faraway steam whistle. the touch of girl' skin. the lemon smell of hair conditioner. the evening wind. Faint hope. Summer dream... all disperse bit by bit like the bygone days."
(hear the wind sing, haruki murakami)

*the paragraph made me yearn for the book [sigh]