See the Giant Puppets At The Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia

Indonesia map from Wikipedia.


Photos by Trevor Sharot.
 http://trevorsharotphotography.com
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Photos from Wikipedia

Jakarta's nickname is The Big Durian.

Durian is called the king of fruits. The name durian comes from the Indonesian and Malay word for thorn because of the skin.

Durians are for sale in Indonesia. (Also sold in Thailand and Malaysia.) Whilst I cannot eat the strong smelling and slimy durian fruit, I love tasty durian ice cream and durian cake, and white or yellow durian sauce, which reminds me of thick egg custard or egg yolk with the flavour of chestnut.

Author of photo, ProjectManhattan in Wikipedia under Durian.

Durian is available in season in Singapore. but banned in the Singapore MRT (train system) and buses and taxis.

Jakarta's motto is Jaya Raya which is Sanskrit for victorious and great. ( I know several people called Jaya.)

Museum in Jakarta.

Photo from Wikipedia: Gunawan Kartapranata - Own work

The parade of Ondel-ondel on main street of Jakarta during car-free day.  The Ondel-ondel (a repeated hyphenated word is a plural) was originally a symbol of an ancestor protecting a village from calamity and danced in the street. In modern times the Ondel-ondel is the symbol of Jakarta and dances to entertain in streets on festive occasions, and at weddings and openings of buildings and events.

Watch a pair of them performing in pairs in a street on Youtube. Notice the musicians in the background.

Ondel-ondel puppets in Wayang Museum, Jakarta. Photo author Taman Renyah, in Wikipedia. These puppets appear in pairs, the red face being male and the female with a white face. The head-dress is made from strips of coconut leaves wrapped in coloured paper. The light bamboo body is lifted by a person standing inside who dances, twirling on the spot, or dancing and hopping around the partner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT0Vtacah7k The puppets dancing.



Transport in Jakarta. Blue three-wheeler is a taxi.
 Picture from Wikipedia.

Useful Websites:
https://www.indonesia.travel/uk/en/home
Wonderfully engaging website pages with great pictures and helpful captions

http://trevorsharotphotography.com
Some serious photography here. Great subjects, great composition and great colours.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Cambodian Place Names - Recognising and Remembering Names

Problem
How do you remember and translate names?

Answers
Cambodian - English
ankor - city
Phnom - hill
ta - ancestor
thom - big
wat - temple

English - Cambodian
ancestor - Ta (like Pa for father in English)
big - t h o m
hill - Phnom
city - ankor
temple - wat

So Ankor Wat is city temple.
Ankor Thom is big city.
Ta Prohm Kei (the one with the trees growing through everything).
Bacon inside Ankor Thom is the one with the face, which is similar to depictions of the king considered and revered as a God (a bit like Jesus and Mohammed - so remember that these places although in ruins were once places of worship and are still regarded with the respect of both royalty and holy religious leaders).

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Art restoration from Australia; & DIY restoring photos, onto canvas?

Art restoration is taking place in Australia for major art works.

In another story, in the UK an old painting with a hole in it was saved and found to be a lost masterpiece.

In London a business restores old photos.

Don't discard damaged paintings and photos. They could be next year's treasures.

I stopped speaking to and seeing a relative who threw away a huge oil painting of my father as a three year old with his grandfather. She said, "We didn't have room for it when we moved. It had a lovely frame, too."

What a shame she didn't offer it to the nearest charity shop, or better still us. She told us over dinner in a restaurant. My father went silent.

My late father. Now I just have a tiny postcard photo of my father. All my life I had wondered what happened to the painting. Dated 1915.  Not speaking to her isn't out of spite on my part. I am just too upset every time I think about it.

Please keep all old paintings. Somebody, somewhere will want them. They can be restored.

Unique art restoration business spreads wings into Asia: South Australia’s Artlab looks to commercial sector to maintain broad spectrum of expertise.

Restoring Photos
To restore old photos you can use a computer program such as Photoshop Elements, the home version, a cut down version of the more expensive professional version.

Photos on Canvas
Other companies will copy your family photo or ancestor photo or holiday photo of a beach scene or castle and print a photo onto a canvas or with a kind of mesh which looks as if it's on canvas so you have the illusion of an oil painting.
http://www.my-picture.co.uk/photo-on-canvas/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.