On Sunday 9/7, after having a delicious breakfast included at my hostel of banana pancakes, I headed back to the Sultan’s Palace, which had been closed yesterday. This time I was able to get in and was treated to a performance by the Sultan’s orchestra, who were playing some traditional Indonesian music. It is enchanting in its own way, and very repetative. After enjoying the music for some time, I headed into the courtyard to explore the Sultan’s collection of artifacts. On the way I was stopped by some giggling children who wanted to interview me for an English project they were working on, asking questions about where I was from, my favorite color, how long I had been in Indonesia, and my impression of Indonesian people. Their English was very good, a marked difference from much of the older generation. After the interview, they invited me back to their school, but I think they were surprised when I accepted, as they ran away laughing.
From the palace I took a kecak to the local bird market. Wow, what an experience. The only thing I can equate the market to is a pet store, but it is so much different and much more hectic. The entire market is outdoors and probably takes up several acres of space. Each narrow line of stalls is crammed with bird cages, fish tanks, gerbils, and many other animals, as well as live food for a multitude of animals including worms, beetles, and countless other insects. Birds chirping, roosters calling out, and the banter of locals negotiating with shop owners makes for a cacophony of noises. In the middle of the compound was a very large cage with a crowd gathered around. I walked over to see what the commotion was and saw there were a few large boa constrictors in the cage, along with some birds (their lunch). Unfortunately for the crowd, the snakes must have eaten somewhat recently as they were just lying around.
That evening I headed for dinner at an Italian restaurant with an Irish couple and American staying at my hostel — there were a number of restaurants catering towards tourists on the nearby street, Jl. Prawirotaman 1. It was nice to have a Western style meal to give my stomach a break from the local fare. And in case you were wondering, it was surprisingly good. We shared stories about where we had been and where we were going, and the motivations behind our long-term travel.
Itinerary Highlights
–Sultan’s Palace
–Bird Market
Lessons Learned
–A Western fare every now and then can help you “take a break” from travel in Southeast Asia (can’t believe I am already breaking away from Asian fare to early in my trip)
–In the US I think we often assume that strangers coming up to you are looking for something — that is not always the case, especially in some other countries, as was the case with the “interviewers”
–What is normal to some people (ie the bird market for Indonesians) can be very strange to others, based on your upbringing. But, I assume the more you are exposed to, the more you’ll get used to processing new experiences and the less strange they will seem
What “strange” things have you seen in other cultures or countries?
When I was younger, on one of my trips to Lake Balaton in Hungary, I recall buying corn-on-the cob from a street vendor on the beach, which was considered to be a refreshing snack.
It cost about two cents at the time.
When you were about six years old, we flew through Zurich and had a whole day stopover, so we took the day to walk around town. We saw a street musician playing his saw. He collected quite a bit of money from a huge crowd. I do believe this was his unique talent however and not ubiquitous to the culture.
Gamelan?
yes, exactly! gamelan. i didn’t know what it was called, thanks for sharing.