Trip to Singapore

A few weeks ago, we made a trip to Singapore for a long weekend.

It is immediately apparent that this city is much different from Jakarta.

The temperature was about 35℃ and the humidity was also higher.  The air, fresh and smog free.  Also to be seen and used, pavements - something we lack, in the busy streets of Jakarta.

So, regardless of the heat, we decided to make the most of being able to use the hole-free pavements and chose to explore the city, mainly on foot.

Our first stop, the famous Long Bar at Raffles, where no visit would be complete without a Singapore Sling, a cocktail created in 1915.  Every table comes complete with a bag of monkey nuts and here you can toss the shells onto the floor.  This is the only place in Singapore where it is permitted to litter!

Long Bar, Raffles

Singapore Slings

We ventured further afield and walked to China Town.

We saw some amazing temples 

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum

Inside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Inside Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

A short walk away was another splendid building, the Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple.

Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple

Sri Mariamamman Hindu Temple

Lunch was spent at the Maxwell Food Centre, where all types of street-food can be found. We tried the Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, which Gordon Ramsey was unable to beat in a competition a few years ago.

Chicken Rice with fresh avocado smoothie

Whilst strolling around we saw some of Sinapore's iconic buildings.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Singapore's Science Museum & Flyer

We visited the green oasis of the Gardens by the Bay. 

Gardens at the Bay

We walked high up in the trees on the 22 meter high sky way.

Super Trees

We visited the coolness of the Cloud Forest Conservatory.

Waterfall in the Cloud Forest

Walkway on the 35 meter mountain

We explored the vast expanse of the Flower Dome which contains flowers from all around the world.

Flower Dome

Sculptures are found amongst the flowers and plants 

At the end of each day we enjoyed evening strolls through the bustling streets of Clarke Key and watched the nightly light/laser show.

Clarke Quay

 Evening light show from our hotel

Singapore is a wonderful city to visit and we still have so much more to explore and experience there.  We are looking forward to returning some day.

Gunung Mas Tea Plantation

Another tour with the Explorer Group of the Indonesian Heritage Society.

This time to the Gunung Mas Tea Plantation.

It was an early start to make the drive out of Jakarta.  Leaving at 07:00 we hoped to miss most of the morning traffic but it still took just over 2 hours to drive the 80 km.

The Gunung Mas Tea Estate is in the hills in an area called Puncak, south of Jakarta.  It surrounds Mt. Gede-Pangrango.

The tour started with a visit to the local school on the plantation.

Normally the children are in school uniform, but on the day of our visit they were in national costumes.

Some of the girls in the class sang a song for us.

From the school we took a path up the hill into the tea plantation.

Only one or two at a time crossing this bridge

The tea plantation we visited is called Gunung Mas meaning Golden Mountain.
The plantation was established by the Dutch in the colonial era, but is now
a government-owned estate.

Here, due to the elevated altitude, the temperature is cooler than the city,
25 degrees, compared to 30+ of Jakarta.













The air is fresh and smog free, if a little grey and damp for our visit.

This is a beautiful mountainous area with tea and other crops covering the hillsides,
such as lemongrass and cinnamon trees.

Mounds of lemongrass

This is a popular place to bring the school children of Jakarta.

A busload of school children arriving for a visit 

You can just see some of the explorer group walking through the rows of tea plants

After about an hour of walking up the lush hills through the plantation,
we started the descent down into one of the villages where the plantation workers live.

The plantation workers village

Hydrangeas growing wild by the roadside

Bananas and a banana flower.
Both of which can be eaten.

Houses are provided for those working on the plantation and their families.

The plantation workers typically retire at 55 years old.
When they retire, they must leave their homes on the plantation.
They can only continue to live here if one of their children, living with them,
is working on the plantation.

Clothes drying on hedges in the garden

Rough stone roads with water pipes running
along the edges

Some amazing gardens in the village

Tea-pickers are mostly women.
Their normal working day is from between 07:00 and 14:00.

It is getting harder to find tea-pickers, so the work is becoming increasingly automated.

Some of the tea pickers.

The morning of exploring passed quickly and we left just as the rain started.

It was wonderful to escape the dirty city for a few hours and experience more of
what Java has to offer.

Jakartan Fish Market

Pelabutian Muara Perikanan Angke

Together with the Indonesian Heritage Society, Diane has started to explore the many things that Jakarta and the surrounding area can offer.

Last week, together with an explorer group of around 15 people, Diane set off for one of the fish markets in North Jakarta.  This fish market is not one normally visited by tourists which made it all the more interesting.

The dock workers and fishermen, took as many pictures of our explorer group as we did of them.

Arriving at around 09:00 the market was relatively quiet.  Most of the buying and selling takes place from midnight onwards, when the boats come in and the fish is fresh.

They sell, amongst other things, snapper, catfish, tuna, crabs, green mussels and oysters.

This woman (the one smoking)
was overseeing the sale of her fish

Just outside the walls of the market is the fishing harbour.

The fishing boats are typically out at sea for a month at a time.  As the fish is caught it is packed in ice to keep it fresh until they arrive back in port.

For some fishermen the boats are their homes with the whole family living onboard.

Children from the boats can be found
playing on the dockside

Several generations of family
can be found on one boat.

Once unloaded, the fish needs to be transported quickly to stop it defrosting
in the heat.  Normal daytime temperature is around 30℃.

Unloading is done by hand

A couple of small sharks in this catch

Men are seen running around the harbour
with fully loaded handcarts, transporting the fish between
boats, markets and buyers

From the handcarts to openbacked trucks

Shop on the harbour.
Flooded by the high tide.

After visiting the harbour we walked along the harbour walls, getting to see more of the daily life here.

Boats arriving, jostling for position
by the harbour wall.

Unloading can be tiring work

Washing the fish scales off the handcarts
in sea water leaking through the harbour walls
at high tide

Boats being repaired in the harbour.
The have a wooden structure covered in fiberglass

Contrasts of the harbour beside the
new apartment blocks and shopping malls

Flotsam and jetsam

The smaller fishing boats in the picture above, are only out fishing for 1 or 2 nights.  The fishing families of these boats, mostly live in a small community near to the harbour.    It is only a short walk to the streets where some of the fishermen live, and also where they prepare and then dry fish before selling.

Local transportation

The children here had their own special ricksaw

Fish remains, only fit for feeding to the crocodiles

Fish being gutted before drying

Interesting characters to be found working here

Works turn over the drying fish

And others sorting through the ready dried fish

Salted fish drying in the sun

Fish skins to be used for wallets, belts, etc.

Vats of water boiling over wood burning stoves for cooking squid

Yet more fish preparation

Fish drying in front of the fishermen's homes

The children had a great time playing hide and seek
with us on their bicycles

Fruit Seller
Good to see there is more than dried fish here

After leaving the full sun of the fish drying area, we came to the heat and humidity of the local market.

People and scooters share the small
passage way in this market

Vegetables and spices sold in the market

Not much business for this rickshaw driver

Finally, we passed local restaurants.  Here you could ask them to cook the fish and shrimp you had bought fresh from the market.

Shrimp, grilling on a bbq fuelled by coconut husks

After a long morning in a fishy environment, all that remained was to throw all my clothes into the washing machine.  It took 4 washes to get the smell out of the soles of my shoes.

A very interesting and worthwhile visit -  if a little smelly!  Mind you, not sure I really want to eat fish for a while.....