Although Salomé takes great delight in the accidental muddling of the English language in Balinese signage, she is sure it pales next to her own butchery of Bahasa Indonesia. For more happy accidents, check out this post by Paisley's friend Richard Hancock.
Resembling a Medieval weapon, the durian fruit is renowned in South East Asia. The odor is formidable, "No Durian" signs are often found in public transport stations and hotels. Paisley has found there are two camps, those who love its pungent custard-y taste and those who despise it. (Paisley's in the "love" camp) The fruit can grow up to 12 inches long and can weigh up to 7 pounds, which makes being a durian picker one of the most dangerous jobs Paisley can think of.
In Paisley's opinion, the Mangosteen is the "Buah Raja", or king of fruit; so delicious its rumored Queen Victoria offered knighthood to anyone who brought her a fresh one. Break one open yourself and inside you'll find a fleshy white cluster of fragrant, sweet, citrus-y fruit.
Until 2007, the fruit was banned from the US because of the Asian Fruit Fly that sometimes lives within its thick skin. Now that irradiation techniques have been approved by the USDA, the fruit is available in the US, but can often fetch prices of up to $45 a pound. (Just one more reason to come to Bali)
More fun was had at the Dewata Scooter Club Rally this weekend. Live music, contests, parades, and even the planting of 500 trees took place amidst the usually more reserved town of Ubud. Salomé commented on how pleasant, friendly and respectful all the "Scooterists" were. "They may look edgy, but they're sweet as pie".
Last night Paisley and Salomé took in a show, and saw the greatest living delta blues guitarist in Jakarta, (he says there's one other guy but he's not as good). Check out Adrian Adioetomo's MySpace page for a flavor.
The Dewata Scooter Club Rally is being held this up-coming weekend, (Dec. 27 and 28, 2008) in Ubud Bali. Interesting scooters are already arriving and Paisley is looking forward to the festivities.
During his recent trip to Bangkok Thailand, Paisley made some new friends at Cabbages and Condoms, part restaurant part health awareness program. Founded by former Thai senator Mechai Viravaidya who believes "birth control should be as cheap as vegetables", it's now run by Thailand's Population and Community Development Association.
Salomé and Paisley wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Why not start the new year with a new desktop wallpaper? "Chroma" was inspired by a bubbling pot of melted chocolate sauce and is part of the Source One wallcovering Exclusive2 Collection. (Visit this page for the actual recipe)
Paisly loves pattern and in Bali, patterned textiles are everywhere. People wear them, statues wear them and even buildings wear them, (on special occasions).
The most traditional Balinese textile is the Endek, or weft Ikat. While the warp is one color the weft thread goes through a complicated process of pre-stringing, binding and hand dying to create a multicolored fabric. The characteristic "fuzzy" edge of the final weaving is the result of the slightest stretch or misalignment of the thread during the weaving process. Each linear foot of Endek ikat is the result of many skilled hands and many hours of work.
Everyone who enters a temple in Bali must be attired correctly, even foreigners. Here we have a handsome group all dressed up for the three day Odalon temple anniversary ceremony. The purpose of the ceremonial dress, (or adat dress), is to focus the chakras, or energies of the body toward a higher purpose. Both men and women wear a cloth called a kamben, (as opposed to a sarong, a more casual option). Women wrap it tightly around their hips and tied on the left, men fold it into drapes and tie it in the center.
Various layers of different textiles are also worn according to the ceremony and are often symbolic in nature. For instance different parts of the male headdress, the udeng, symbolize the Ulu Candra (a Balinese letter), the gods Siwa and Brahma, the male lingga AND the female yoni. Phew.
Dear The Googly, For the second year in a row, we are not sending out Holiday cards. Instead we have started a blog. Is this a good replacement? ~Salomé Bambang
Dear Salomé, Anyone who spends at least 20 minutes a day, tinkering with html, gadgets, widgets, midgets (and whatever the heck these blog programmers invent next), will forever be held in the highest regard by friends, family and the public at large. Broadcasting the minutia of your daily lives is a calling answered by only the most self obsessed of net pioneers, and you should be commended for your contributions to the digital gestalt, the memory banks of a vast array of web servers, and the coffers of Amazon.com. (By the way, where is your Amazon link?) Yours truly, The Googly Send YOUR burning questions to The Googly, click the contact button
A variety of stories and legends exist regarding Saint Nicholas, (or Nikolaus, spellings vary). He is the patron saint of sailors, having saved a fellow sailor from drowning.
In another story, he takes pity on a man with three daughters who was too poor to afford proper dowries, (almost certainly condemning them to a life of prostitution). When each girl came of age, he secretly left a small pouch of money, (being too modest to help the man publicly). The third daughter's dowry was dropped down the chimney, in order to remain anonymous, (word got out that the father was laying in wait to discover his benefactor). Legend has it that the daughter had washed her stockings and had hung them by the fire to dry, and that's where the money landed.
The feast of Saint Nicholas is held on December 6th a day medieval nuns used to anonymously deposit baskets of food and clothing on the doors of poor families. In many countries Saint Nicholas' Eve remains the primary occasion for gift giving, remaining separate from the typical American Christmas celebration. (click on the image above and drag it to your desktop to use it as an ipod wallpaper).
Nothing says Merry Christmas like an insulated lunch bag made of Indonesian litter.
80,000 tons of flexible plastic packaging are manufactured each year in Indonesia and proper recycling is practically nonexistent. The XSProject is working with Trash pickers and craftspeople in Jakarta, paying them a fair price and producing very well made, funky, (and CLEAN) items.
Paisley buys his in Bali, but you can visit the excellent XSProject website and online store to see the entire line of bags, wallets and other carry-alls. According to the site, all orders are processed within 24hours, (Paisley suspects US orders are shipped from the US), so there's still time enough to make it under the tree. (Paisley accepts no advertising, favors, candy, etc. for any endorsements)
