Pandoraspace

Dearest Uncle G,

On our way to Borobudur, there was a truck carrying two cows.  For a good twenty minutes, all I could see was the back of the cows.  Then, Danang suddenly pulled into a side street and stopped.  He then announced that we were having lunch.  When I got out of the car, I saw a sign that read Warung Makan Purnama.  I learned that warung means store and that the names of most restaurants have the word warung in them.

The food in Warung Makan Purnama was on display and all you had to do was point to the food that you wanted so the server could place it on your plate and hand the plate over to you.  As usual, I did not recognize most of the dishes on display.  As I was not feeling particularly adventurous, I ordered fried chicken and rice.  Danang ordered the same thing except that he had some curry sauce placed on his rice.  He also took a piece of what he told me was deep fried egg tofu.  LS, who I recently discovered is a picker eater than me, refused to eat anything and settled for just a cup of cold tea.  

There was nothing unusual about the way the chicken was cooked but it seemed tastier because it was a native chicken (free range).  I did try some of Danang’s egg tofu, which was actually very good.  The tofu had the consistency and taste of egg custard, which is different from the consistency and taste of soya tofu.  I would have, however, preferred to eat it warm.  Danang’s egg tofu was cold.  I also ate my meal with kerupuk.  

I do not know if you would like to eat in a warung, but as for me, I do not mind eating there again.

Love, Pandora

I had to eat corn to see Gunung Merapi

I read somewhere that to get to the Indonesian volcano I wanted to see, Gunung (the Indonesian word for mountain) Bromo, I had to take a five-hour bus ride from Jogjakarta. Danang later told us that Gunung Bromo is actually much farther than that, i.e., a ten to twelve hour ride to a town beside Gunung Bromo and a two hour trek to get to the viewing point. As we had limited time on our hands, I decided to forgo with the visit to Gunung Bromo on this trip.

As he sensed my disappointment, Danang suggested we see Gunung Merapi instead. I knew nothing about Gunung Merapi but decided to see it.

On our second day in Jogjakarta, LS, Danang and I headed for Ketep Pass in Kaliurang, Jogjakarta. We left town at 8:00 a.m., fell asleep on Danang a couple of times during the two hour drive to Kaliurang and stopped by a Museum before we actually got to Ketep Pass. When we got there, Gunung Merapi was covered by a huge cloud. We took a look around the Ketep Volcano Centre for about an hour before deciding to head on to Borobudur. On the way out, I saw someone selling roasted corn on the street. As roasted corn is one of my favorite food, I told LS and Danang that I would treat them for corn. After pigging out on corn, we walked back to the car.  On the way to the car, I saw Gunung Merapi. It waited for me to eat corn before showing itself. I was extremely pleased and grateful.

Gunung Merapi is not a perfect cone-shaped volcano like Mt. Mayon in Legaspi, but, Gunung Merapi is massive and radiates energy.  Thick smoke plumes are seen coming out of its mouth. I sensed that, anytime, it could explode. I did not, however, sense any anger or negativity from the volcano only passion and fire. I was not, therefore, surprised to learn that merapi is the Indonesia term for “full of fire”, and, Gunung Merapi is just that – a volcano that is full of fire.

Star posted a comment about my 29 April 2009 article, Borobudur has taught me Buddhism. I was about to reply to her comment and post several pictures. Alas, this dinosaur does not know if it is possible to post pictures together with a comment and does not have time to learn about it now.  I am, therefore, posting my reply (with pictures) to Star.  You may find this bit of information interesting as well.

Star -  Wow!  I did not realize there is so much one could learn from a lotus.  Incidentally, I learned a pose in my yoga class some time ago.  The pose is called Padmasana.  Padma means lotus and asana means pose.  In his book, Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says that Padmasana ”…is one of the most important and useful asanas.  It is the posture for meditation and the Buddha is often depicted in it.”  While the position of the hands of the buddhas in Borobudur change depending on the direction they face, all of them sit in Padmasana.  This is yet again another reason for me to believe that Borobudur takes its inspiration from the lotus.  

Incidentally, I find Padmasana very difficult to do.  I always feel as is my legs would get stuck in that position and I would not be able to untangle myself.  As a result, I have yet to be able to meditate in this pose.

 

A crash course in religion and faith was not in my Indonesian itinerary.

My itinerary was simple - see Borobudur and Prambanan, go for a swim in Bali, eat and shop.  Of course, I also wanted to see Gunung Bromo but that was too much of an effort for this trip.  Other than that, my modus operandi on this trip was to rely on LS. 

LS surprised everyone by being able to carry a conversation in Bahasa Indonesia at the end of our trip.  As for me, Tito L gave me a tiny electronic translator.  All I had to do was type in the Indonesian word or phrase and I would get an instant English translation.  The lazy me never got to use it.   So, I relied on LS to communicate with everyone new we encountered to get information. I also relied on LS, who read up on Indonesia before our trip, to provide me information about the places we saw and things to do.  I was only emphatic about my views when in came to shopping.  I did a lot of that in Indonesia.

But sometimes, things do not go the way you expect it.  Instead of just coming home with things I bought from the trip, pictures and a few traveler’s tales, I came home with a deeper understanding of different religions and of faith.  And this is not a bad thing.   

Borobudur has taught me about Buddhism

I left Central Java confused about what Borobudur is all about. I did not know whether it was a temple or a monument and why it was constructed in such a way.

Strangely, I came to my own conclusion about what Borobudur means to me while reading a sign in Bali.  The sign spoke of the relevance of a lotus in Hinduism.   The sign reads, in part, as follows: “The root of the lotus sunk in mud represents material life, the stalk passing up through the water typifies life in the astral world, and the flower floating on the water and opening to the sky is emblematic of spiritual being.” When I read this sign, I instant thought of Borobudur.

It is probably because I came across some articles that said that Borobudur is shaped like a lotus.  Frankly, I do not see the similarity in the physical form of Borobudur and the lotus.  I do think that the way in which Borobudur was built emulates the life of a lotus.

Lotuses are not commonly found in the Philippines. It was when I was 25 years old that I first saw a bouquet of green lotus buds being sold in a market in Thailand. The buds were hard and looked liked two palm cupped tightly together in prayer. The buds were beautiful, pristine and sturdy. It was much later that I saw a lotus growing in a pond and observed that it is routed in mud and thrives on murky waters. The lotus later grows round leaves that sit delicately on the surface of the water. It is as if the leaves anchor the lotus above the water and allow the stem to reach out in to the air. Eventually, the lotus produces a huge tight bud, which surprisingly, could be supported by its thin stem. The bud later opens to reveal one of the most beautiful flowers on earth. The flower is ethereal and appears quite delicate. When you touch it, however, you will realize that, unlike a rose petal, a lotus petal is not easily scarred or wilted. It is smooth and firm. (more…)

Some notes on Borobudur

I was a little disappointed at having gone to Borobudur without knowing much about it.  I was even more disappointed when I read about it after my visit and realized that I would have had a better appreciation of Borobudur had I know more about it to begin with.

I put together the few things I learned about Borobudur in this article for you.  Just in case you decided to go there, these tidbits of information may help you appreciate Borobudur more and prevent you from become, like me, disappointed at not having read about it beforehand. (more…)

My initial impression of Borobudur

When I was in grade school, one of my teachers said that Borobudur is one of the seven wonders of the world and it is found in Indonesia.  Friends who saw Borobudur said that it was beautiful.  That is about all I knew of Borobudur when I decided to visit it.  On the other hand, LS seemed to know more about Borobudur and Buddhism than Aisha, our Borobudur guide.

LS and I visited  Borobudur late in the afternoon of our second day in Jogjakarta.  Since Borobudur is in Central Java, we drove two hours to get there from Jogjakarta.  During the visit, I felt like I was cramming for an exam by learning all I could about the place in so little a time. Worse, the place was crowded. It took me a long while to find quite in Borobodur. And, when I did find quite, it was time to leave. I was very disappointed.

It is early morning now and I am looking at the pictures I had taken and remembering what  Aisha told us about the place. Strangely, my pictures tell a different story. It is as if, I had a profound experience in Borobudur. Looking back, perhaps I did but had not known it at that time.

A note on the picture of buddha:  Many of the buddhas in Borobudur are headless.  This buddha seemed to have grown back its head when the bees built their hive on top of its body.