This is it, I glued together some videos I took in Bali. A bit of temple dance, a bit of cock fighting, gambling games played inside the temple , green rice fields and the creepy music of those big bamboo wind flutes.
Are bataks born with the gift of music or it is just a side effect of drinking tuak instead of water? I met this 8 years old kid , not spoiled by tuak yet, and he shown me that his talent is in his blood since he is young, drinking tuak being actually the side effect when growing old. Left handed, he naturally turns the guitar up side down and left to right then plays . In the first video he plays along his brother, 16 years old. Their dream: one day will have enough money to join a music school somewhere in the crappy city of Medan.
On the other hand they already have a music school in place, a very different one for sure. At dusk their family gathers in the small restaurant…the show starts. There is their mother advertising the show, their uncle improvising, some friend playing a guitar also and those white guys joining from time to time. Not sure Medan, with its music school, will bring any good to them.
Bellow some more videos…with those kids, uncle, friends and audience.
Somehow they don’t really need their guitars in tune or all strings attached …making show out of nothing is in their nature… and damn it, how do their tunes resemble the Caribbean ones?
I’m quite bad when comes about figuring out chords by year. A bit of training should be all right. The quiz I made, the one bellow, should be the simplest chord quiz, since it is just about finding out if the chord you hear is a major or a minor one. Still remember some music theory from school? As a hint..some people say that a major chord has a happy vibration while a minor chord has a sad one. It’s not about its pitch, is rather about the feeling one has while listening to it. From a completely different point of view, a major chord is a chord having a root note, a major third , and a perfect fifth. A minor chord differs from a major one in having a minor third above the root instead of a major third. So, give it a try?
Here are some examples:
A : an A major ( La major) vs. Am : an A minor ( La minor)
D : a D major ( Re major) vs. Dm : a D minor ( Re minor )
by the way…you may cheat if you want…
A quiz on chords
1 . Major or minor
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Question 1
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 2
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 3
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 4
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 5
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 6
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 7
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 8
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 9
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 10
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 11
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 12
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 13
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 14
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 15
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 16
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 17
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 18
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 19
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 20
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 21
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 22
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 23
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
Question 24
Listen it and decide if it is a major or a minor chord.
major
minor
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..and seventy something pictures from Lamalera…
Couple of weeks ago I watched “The Cove”, a documentary about a place in Japan where dolphins are slaughtered using a very precise and efficient procedure. Somehow strange to head to Lamalera after. Lamalera is a small village where locals hunt whales and dolphins, and hunting here is not banned by any international commission. It is not banned since the hunters of Lamalera still do it in a traditional way, by using wooden poles and handmade steel harpoons, paddling hard to propel the heavy wooden boats .
It starts every May, and there is a whale hunt almost everyday in Lamalera. Then it stops when the rainy season starts again. Not all hunts are successful, only 15- 30 wales per year are taken. No engines while whaling, no guns, no sonars, no radars… rowing boats and throwing harpoons . After couple of hours people of Lamalera eventually win, and the whale is dragged to the shore, where it is chopped and meat shared within all families in the community. It happen to be different. One time the boat was dragged by a whale, and it was dragged in Australian waters. A sperm whale or a pilot whale is the most common hunt, however orcas and others are taken from time to time. The only moment they stop the hunt is when a rare white whale approaches. If so, boats are heading to the shore, and no hunt is starting until the white whale is gone.
We arrived a little early here, so no whale hunt is regularly done. Even so, occasionally, one whale is seen by the patrol boats and a hunt is started. I’ve been in one of the patrol boats and no whale has shown. Being in the middle of hundred of dolphins, which are whales in a way…, the hunters did their job. The wooden pole and harpoon was thrown and , after couple hours, one dolphin was caught. Dolphins were chased for almost an hour, and they still look like they are playing kinda game with the boat. Jumping, swimming around , they seaem not to fear . But still ..some pack instinct kept all of them one foot away from the harpooner. At a moment the hunters were tired and almost abandoned the hunt. As they found a place full of sharks they tried their luck for catching one. But dolphins were back in the game, and the hunt resumed. Then one of them surrendered. A jump a bit too close to the boat, a spin in the air, and the human spring triggered. The Flipper figure pop up in my mind. For a moment I hoped that the harpooner will miss again, but back on the shore those kids waiting, kids that never seen Flipper series, were hoping the opposite. Their daily series is surviving , in a place where one dolphin surrenders and one community lives. But things are changing, and this is not necessary a good change.
It is morning and there is a strange silence in Lamalera. Is not because there is no sound, but the sounds are so different. People , carrying bags full of souvenirs are heading to an addhoc market. This is strange since we are the single white guys in town and we already have kinda reputation as bad buyers after negotiating too much for some craps and those 5 liter canisters of tuak . Guru Frans elucidate the mystery: a schooner carrying nine tourists is arriving today. The addhoc market is all for them. Over priced gadgets, bottles with whale oil, ikat, wooden whales and so took place of the regular tuak canisters and vegetables. For the right price the heavy traditional boats are lunched in the water, which is rare in off season, for demonstrations.
As the schooner left after the cultural encounter, things are going back to normal. Having a coffee in the evening with our friend here, he is pointing the three little lights far in the sea. “Pencuri” he says. “Thieves”. The three heavy ships are there since couple of months, illegally fishing tuna and other large fish. The captain of the fishing boats is foreigner. He is from a country where sea food is precious….but not the one in “The Cove”. The workers on the ships are Indonesians, from Bali maybe, and what’s strange, three large fishing boats like those are impossible to hide from regular sea police that patrols Lembata’s waters. Also four years ago , or so, the neighbors from Lamakera were bombing the waters of Lamalera. They were fishing tuna again, but the customer was not clearly known. Bombs and big fishing ships are noisy, the wales are not so many as in the past. And the rare white whale can not stop the change.
82 pictures from the last leg of our trip…
There was a human skull on the flat stone near the northern beach of Kepa Kecil, but the American tourist took it as a souvenir, that was about 15 years ago. Fifty years old locals still remember those times when fellows villagers were fighting the other village on the hill. Headhunting, very different meaning those times ..however some similarities with the actual term used in human resources exists, was still a practice until 1970. I’m not so sure if they really stop it, since the forests in east Alor are still under a shade of mystic.
Different souvenirs can be taken today. Ready to receive their visitors, the traditional villages near Kalabahi still have their charm. For a hand full of betel nuts, you can buy them for about 25 us cents in the local market, the villagers will happily show you the secrets of the village. House of spirits, bronze drums and all souvenirs they manufacture…souvenirs very different than the one taken from Kepa 15 years ago.
Even a bit longer then 100 kilometer, Alor looks like a place still to discover. 54 languages are spoken on the island and people from Kalabahi still have their mystic beliefs about the people from south and east. The ones in south are blamed for some black magic practice, while the one in east are some kind of flying guys, flying guys can’t be good guys…I presume the flying behavior is because the tree houses they have, from where they maybe fall from time to time. What is sure is that Alor people still hunt with bows and arrows, and after the hunt they put their prey on motorbikes and drive home.
We arrived there not for the villages, no time for the far east. Alor and Lembata is practically the last place to visit …from here it is just closing the loop on our way home . We are here for the, suppose to be, one of the finest diving and snorkeling place arround. So after some short visits to south and north, we moved on Little Kepa island.
There is a wonderful world down there. I promised myself every time…I will not leave home without an underwater camera again. From hundred of dolphins, that join the diving boat, to the extraterrestrial shapes of frog fishes and nudibranchs….everything is just amazing. But those pictures …maybe next time.
The ferryboat takes us to Lewoleba, from where is a short bumpy three hour ride to Lamalera. Where dolphins and their big brothers, whales, are seen from a different angle than we use to.
One thing I cannot clearly get when comes about south east Asian cuisine: where is the cheese? Where are all dairy products? It intrigues me much more since there are a lot of cattle around all those countries. Being in a country where food is such a problem, as Timor Leste is, the lack of these products, actually a complete lack of interest in producing them, intrigues me even more. I’ve been asking some people, searching for a reasonable explanation. Some told me that cheese stinks (well … we all know it), some of them said that milk has such a taste, like poison, that they cannot drink it at all …, human explanations like that. This time I got a nice one, in Indonesian, which is widely spoken in Timor Leste since the 24 years occupation, it sounds exactly as it is:
satu hari … sapi lari
dua hari … sapi lari
something like one day the cow runs, two days the cow runs …when they try to milk it, by the way.
Well, what about the third time? Tiga hari … tidak lari … third day … is not running. So the problem is that cow, which is running away when they try to milk it, and they try it for two days only. Damn it. Well, in this case the food problem should have some extra explanations. What are the cattle for? 77 buffaloes is the right amount for getting married. The groom’s family will collect all those buffaloes to buy a proper wife for their son. Sounds like a place where parents are not so happy having boys. Imagine that a timorese woman give birth to an average of 7 children, one of the highest birth rate on earth, so what if they end up with 7 boys?
Being the newest country, it might be still time for them to figure out some way to solve their problems. UN came here 5 times and they are about to leave the country again after the elections in May 2012 , … as they did it 4 times already … a lot of NGOs tried to help the new nation in different ways, let’s see what happen next when all of them leaves. I have some ideas involving Indonesian and Chinese products infestion. Hopefully the sun will rise for them.
Traveling Timor Leste might be easy. A small country that you can even track from north to south in couple of days. You’ll need time and a hand full of small US dollars notes (official currency here). No ATMs out of Dili and Baucau. Biscuits will be your main food, and another hand full of candles and a good torch is essential, since only Dili seams to have 24 hours electricity.
We heard that the south road is hard to travel most of the time, so we tried our luck and headed south. After two weeks of trekking, hitching, and so … we made the big loop to south to east to north again. We had excellent times up in the mountains (well, excepting that Chinese canned cat bones we’ve got instead of the chicken curry can we bought), excellent views of both northern and southern cost, friendly people in the traditional villages. We enjoyed cooking fish (well…two hammerhead sharks also), crossing those unbridged rivers, sleeping in villages houses, escaping from that creepy place where all inhabitants seam brothers and sisters, swimming in the emerald waters, sunbathing in the pristine beaches, having a Turkish delight lunch with UN guys we’ve meat on the road.
Back in Indonesia , waiting for the ferryboat which will take us to Alor and Solor islands … couple of 100 km diameter islands where about 15 different languages are spoken. Where people still hunt wales using wooden harpoons, where animist rituals are performed and tribes were still headhunters about 50 years ago.
250 pictures from Nusa tenggara, literary the South East Island , the home of many wonders. Komodo dragons , colorful volcanic lakes, giant bats and much more..with the last being the new Homo floresiensis, those bemo and ojek drivers across the island of Flores. There are many theories why Komodo dragons can be found on Rinca and Komodo only. However my point is that they simply try to stay away from the new floresiensis. Just to be more clear: an ojek is a motorbike that you rent as a taxi , a bemo is kinda minibus ..you will travel for hours, squeezed between chickens, goats , vegetables and listen manele ( where the f#(& did they get them?) . Ojek and bemo driver is that guy who pisses you off and the one that the dragons wants to avoid.
Back to the wonders, here is the place where one can dive surrounded by tens of manta rays, climb volcanoes with unreal colorful lakes, castaway on islands that you only dreamt about, breathtaking landscape, rice terraces, crystal clear waters. All those gone almost two months ago. Meantime we’ve been in a country where they like to think that sun rises. I hope one day the sun will rise for them also, but this is a very different story…
Bali is left behind since one month already…However is better like this, I mean posting the Bali stuff after some time. Because being there I was somehow overwhelmed by too many bule tourists around, to many shops, coffee shops, Italian food restaurants , “genuine ” handcrafts and so. That’s how Bali looks at a first glance. Meantime the memories, like good wine- damn it, how much I miss it here- , get some more style, giving the fine aftertaste exactly how Bali should be, or it is.
Bali is many places . Of course there are the beaches .. a lot of them and all with its own charm. Sanur with the stylish buildings, famous by being expensive …we were ok there with 15-20 usd / day. The main cost is not accommodation or food ( some 15 usd for three persons or one dollar for a excellent meal taken at a padang food stall) but the beer. Bali Hai or the regular Bintang Beer will drain you pocket with at least 3 usd each time you open a bottle. And it’s damn hot. Kuta Beach a surfer paradise, with too many parties and all the rest that comes along. Ubud… you need some imagination to segregate the actual beauty out of the actual city scene; all those guys trying to ” transport” you somewhere or to sell you some craft that you don t really need. Then comes the country side , rice fields, volcanoes, cockfighting (YESSS), temples with all those noisy festivities, the east coast still “virgin”.. anyone will find something to feel great.
From Bali we took an overland route to Flores. It took some time, as we made some stops to rest . Flores with it’s contrasts… giant reptiles and bats, extincted mini elephants, and living survivors of Homo floresiensis – an controversy said to be extincted species of Homo..which I’m pretty sure existed, and more.. still exists and ride the ojek-s and bemos ( both being some means of transportation ) and piss you off from down till dusk.
Cockfighting YESSS
here is short video with some snaps from a cock fighting adhoc arena. Not very EU, but very true to the life. Entering the game will cost 250 k rupiah. The winner gets about 3 millions rupiah .. while the loser gets …a good soup.
72 days after its eruption, mount Merapi hides in the clouds.
Impartially, it redesigned its surroundings, killed more than 350 people .. buried alive or burned by hot ash and lava. 350000 people were evacuated at that time but the situation is not OK, yet. The soil is still burning, secondary impacts are in the daily news: new rivers suddenly appear because the new morphology….sweeping villages or blocking roads within a radius of tens of kilometers , new bodies are found in the ground. Optimistic, people are moving back. Rebuilding their houses, planting palm trees in the fertile volcano soil, opening warungs on the “road”, selling dvds and photoshoped pictures with volcano eruption under a full moon or offering “lava tours” for the extremers. Living next door to Merapi has a long history. Their ancestors were the ones that once carved the volcanic tuff with the scenes from a story about illumination, in Borobudur temple, and Ramayana scenes in bas-reliefs of Prambanan , not far from the volcano base .
The pictures here were taken 72 days after Merapi eruption.
. We are here for the, suppose to be, one of the finest diving and snorkeling place arround. So after some short visits to south and north, we moved on Little Kepa island.
. Of course there are the beaches .. a lot of them and all with its own charm. Sanur with the stylish buildings, famous by being expensive …we were ok there with 15-20 usd / day. The main cost is not accommodation or food ( some 15 usd for three persons or one dollar for a excellent meal taken at a padang food stall) but the beer. Bali Hai or the regular Bintang Beer will drain you pocket with at least 3 usd each time you open a bottle. And it’s damn hot. Kuta Beach a surfer paradise, with too many parties and all the rest that comes along. Ubud… you need some imagination to segregate the actual beauty out of the actual city scene; all those guys trying to ” transport” you somewhere or to sell you some craft that you don t really need. Then comes the country side , rice fields, volcanoes, cockfighting (YESSS), temples with all those noisy festivities, the east coast still “virgin”.. anyone will find something to feel great.
