Pandoraspace

I am back from Indonesia with an unintended dark tan, lots of Batik clothes, more than three thousand photos and a host of stories to tell. And, yes Monk, this is the start of a long series of articles about my Indonesian experience.

Initially, I did not plan  a trip to Indonesia.  I had planned  to go to Laos with my little sister (LS) who is fourteen years younger than me.  Then, we received, and later accepted, an invitation from family friends, Tito L and Tita D, to visit them in Indonesia.  As it was the first time  LS and I would be traveling alone together and I knew very little about Indonesia, I was plagued with all sorts of worries before the trip.  But, the gods were kind.  LS and I survived each other and Indonesia opened my eyes to a world I had never seen before – a world where identity is not lost in diversity and where harmony exists despite varying beliefs.

I only hope that I would do justice in describing the friends I made and the places I had seen in Indonesia. As truly, my Indonesian experience was a wonderful one because of them.

A note on my forthcoming articles: I gathered more information about the places in Indonesia that I visited to give you a better idea of them. In the course of my readings, I discovered that some accounts about those places vary depending on who is telling the story.  If I had more time on my hands, I would have endeavored to provide the most accurate account. Unfortunately, time is a luxury for me.  Consequently, I only relied on readily available data.  I would, however, appreciate any additional information (specially if it is different from the information I found) on Indonesia, which is a subject I am most interested in.

Even if he knew I was extremely busy, my friend Monk provoked me into doing research about a place I came across sometime ago. To get back at him, I am writing this article to prove Monk wrong.

It all started when I posted pictures about a monument I accidentally stumbled upon. I had absolutely no idea of the significance of the monument or the place where it was located. At that time, I thought it would be interesting to find out how many people actually knew of the monument.

My little sister knew about the place where the monument is located because she is a nerd. Monk knew about the monument and the place as he lives in the area.  According to Monk, the monument, which stands in Pinaglabanan, San Juan, “[i]s a story of a death match between three men for the love and loin of a woman. Unfortunately for the woman, the man she loved was one of the vanquished men.” Of course, the unsuspecting me thought this was all true. I later realized that Monk was pulling my leg when I asked him this question: “What does this monument have to do with Pinaglabanan?” and his answer was this – “Referring to the woman, ‘Pinaglabanan’ siya ng tatlong lalake. (Three men fought over her.) Duh!” As Monk refused to tell me the real story of the place and the monument, I had to find out about it on my own. (Thanks, Monk. Some friend you are.) (more…)

The journey that requires me to travel within myself has not yet ended. I am still on this bus called Yoga and I do not know if and when I an going to get off.  I still do not know what I contain, but I am hoping that Yoga will help me find the answer.