Tongkonan

What is Tongkonan ? Tongkonan is a house but just not about house. Tongkonan just not about home, but Tongkonan means a big family in Torajanesse. Tongkonan built by member of a family, consists of Father, Mother, Child, grand child and ....
Tongkonan also as house culture of Toraja. All the material of Tongkonan building consists of wood. Roof from bamboo and others part of wood that also got from Toraja nature.
Build a Tongkonan must to follow the rule of the culture in Toraja. Tongkonan must be lengthwise direction from north to south. I don't know what the reason but with the position like that make the house get ray from the sunrise and sunset.

Dialek Toraja ? Why not ?

Pandangan negatif tentang dialek Toraja sungguh sebuah kekeliruan. Sering dijadikan bahan ketawaan, sering dianggap kolot dan bahkan sering pula dianggap kampungan dan terbelakang.
Dialek sebuah daerah sendiri muncul dari keberadaan sebuah bahasa yang dipakai dalam sebuah wilayah tertentu.
Pada saat seorang memakai sebuah bahasa yang lain dari bahasa yang sering dipakainya maka unsur bahasa yang dia sudah sering gunakan akan terbawa walapun dia sudah secara penuh menggunakan bahasa yang baru tersebut.
Jika seseorang sering menggunakan bahasa Toraja maka pada saat dia masuk ke sebuah lingkungan yang memaksanya untuk berbahasa Indonesia misalnya, maka unsur bahasa Toraja itu akan terbawa dalam setiap kata yang diucapkannya. Hal yang sama juga akan terjadi pada setiap pemakai bahasa daerah lainnya dan akan perlahan-lahan menghilang untuk jangka waktu tertentu bahkan mungkin tidak bisa menghilang lagi.
Sebuah hal yang wajar dan sekaligus sebagai bukti bahwa pengguna bahasa Toraja itu masih eksis. Dialek ibarat asap dan bahasa adalah apinya. Kalau ada asap berarti ada apinya.
Kelestarian akan bahasa dan sastra Toraja pun cukup mengkuatirkan karena semakin berkurangnya pemakai bahasa tersebut oleh generasi-generasi baru dan semakin meningkatnya interaksi antara masyarakat Toraja dengan daerah lainnya.
Memang sebuah hal yang tidak bisa dihindari sebagaimana juga terjadi di tempat-tempat lain. Dan kita juga tidak bisa memaksakan sebuah kehendak untuk menggunakan bahasa Toraja.
Satu hal yang harus kita sadari bahwa bahasa adalah bagian yang sangat penting dari sebuah budaya. Sebuah unsur yang sangat penting. Sedangkan budaya adalah sesuatu yang wajib dilestarikan.
Sepengetahuan saya belum ada satu pun lembaga pendidikan tinggi yang "berani" membuka jurusan Sastra Toraja, sekalipun lembaga itu sendiri berlabel Toraja.

Where is Toraja ?

Toraja highland be located in South of Sulawesi, Indonesia, South East Asia. About 320 kilometer from Makassar, can be achieved by Airplane or by bus.
If you fill bus, you also will enjoy to trace the street from Makassar to Toraja. You can see closed the others ethnic that majority consists of Bugis. Bugis also have unique culture that really different with Torajan Culture.
You will trace west beach of South Sulawesi from Barru to Pare-pare and also enjoy with Bambapuang mountains in Enrekang. Where in the Bambapuang you will start get the fresh air until you find Toraja, a cool climate land.
You can get a few good transportation service that managed with professional.Trip to Toraja that's means, Makassar is a part of your trip, caused by Makassar is an International Airport and also a beautiful city that known with Losari Beach that them say as longest restaurant in the world.

Intiland Tower

This is one of many beautiful buildings in Jakarta. Known as Intiland Tower. Formerly was Wisma Dharmala Sakti. Placed in Sudirman Street. Content of this building like London School, Bank Mandiri, Tiberias Church, PT Diebold, Prudential, fitness centre, Tantowi Yahya Public Speaking School, Grant Thornton, ERA property service, Garuda Indonesian Airways, China Airlines. Ce Wei BBQ restaurant and many others. This building also placed exactly in cross of Karet Bus Way Shelter. Just about one kilometer from Plaza Semanggi. Only two shelter from Dukuh Atas busway terminal. This building stand in around of others big building like the building in the left side namely Wisma Sudirman. The others building are Sampurna Strategic, ANZ, Plaza Sentral, Wisma Benhil, Wisma Metropolitan, Sahid Hotel and many others. We always find public transport pass this building. From morning until about 10 p.m busway transport and many others after that we will find angkot
until morning. Never lonely.

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Message From Ciliwung

I was sitting in beside of the Ciliwung while enjoy with a cup of coffee. The coffee not from a restaurant but just from a little shop on the street. Beside this river there is a street namely Jalan Labu. This picture captured on one morning. No one else sitting there but in the night in I saw about 20 people fishing. Drizzle like want to made me moved from my place but I felt so good sit there. Wait them got fish. While I heard the water from little waterfall from flood gate. Heard songs by Malaysia singers from the little tape from other little shop.

I ever ask to someone about Ciliwung river caused by I see in Jakarta there many river, with the result Jakarta often said as water city. What the answer of my question? In fact the Ciliwung have changed follow the planning of Jakarta City. This river between the Lindeteves Trade Centre and Jayakarta Hotel. About one kilometer from Olimo Busway Shelter.
Morning before, I'd seen the river over flow. The overflow always happen in time like this every year, the rainy reason. The climate felt cool and if we wanna travel we must bring umbrella. The rain so difficult to predicted. In Jakarta the weather can different between one place with other place.
The place can said part of Mangga Besar region that said as prostitution region by Moammar Emka in his book : Jakarta Undercover. I think that wide of the mark.In fact we'll find many entertainment places here but life of Mangga Besar society not different with otherJakarta society. They also work and business. They can trading in their home or open store in shopping centre like in Glodok and around it, also in the other places. The Mangga Besar society consist of multi ethnical and can live in harmoni between an ethnic and other ethnic. May be Ciliwung can give us message that we'll just not can make friendship with between ethnics but we also can make harmoni friendship with nature.

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Bekasi Dream House

Talk about House, many people from Jakarta want to get property by many way. There are want to get apartment, house in middle of city, or get house in the around of Jakarta. Too many housing that builded by developer in Bekasi, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok. The land and house in outskirts of Jakarta still very cheap than in Jakarta.

That's make the area too fast develop. Bekasi this time is an area that's like big city. We'll find many shopping mall in Bekasi Area like Mall Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi Trade Center, Metropolitan Mall (MM), Grand Mall Bekasi and many other. Too many employee live here and many of them work in Jakarta and of course in Bekasi. Because Bekasi have industrial area in Cikarang, Jababeka or Karawang. Bekasi is an area that's placed between Jakarta and many place in East Java, Middel Java and apart of West Java.

Street Small Shop

At along the streets in Jakarta we'll often find shop like this beside the streets. And I do'nt understand why the shops appear only in the night. I see the streets so busy in by day and inn the twilight the shop like in the picture come to make awning and open about 18.00 until midnight or dawn. So, the streets in Jakarta never vacant.

Yes, the food that on sale in the shop cosier in the night. In the banner we can read "Nasi Uduk". Nasi uduk is Indonesian culinary rice. Nasi uduk is the prime food of the shop. If we'll find the shop like this we'll find the same menu like this :

@ Pecel Lele is a packet content Nasi Uduk and fried freshwater catfish plus fresh fruit and "sambal terasi". Sambal terasi is sauce made with shrimp paste. Fresh fruits consists of cabbage, basil, cucumber etc. The combination of fruits said "lalap"

@ Pecel Ayam is a packet content Nasi Uduk and fried chicken. The difference with the pecel lele, this packet content fried chiken, not fried freshwater catfish.

The others packet is Ati Ampela, Nasi Goreng, Sop Ayam etc.