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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 11:59:25 GMT
I would venture to say that most people who are not experts of Southeast Asia have never heard of Malang. This seems even more likely since I had already been to Southeast Asia on multiple occasions, including Indonesia once before, and I had never heard of it until my travelling companion Manue decided that it should be on our itinerary between Yogyakarta and Bali. She had done her homework and had determined that it had a number of lovely things to see, and also that it would be a more tranquil place than Surabaya, which had recently reported quite a few aggressive incidents against occidental tourists. Malang is also renowned for its cooler climate and even has the rather perplexing sobriquet of "Paris of eastern Java." However, I don't believe that anybody outside of eastern Java has ever dared to use this nickname. Malang is nevertheless a city of some importance, which can sort of be determined from the names of its three official sister cities: Pécs, Hungary, Manchester, England and Lyon, France. |
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Post by anshjain97 on Jan 21, 2014 13:22:28 GMT
Looking forward to more.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 14:45:16 GMT
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Post by anshjain97 on Jan 21, 2014 15:08:22 GMT
I have never seen a bird market so this is very interesting. The restaurant you showed in the OP reminds me of any small restaurant in any small Indian town- but is cleaner.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 15:32:38 GMT
I've never heard of Malang. Absolutely just love the street scenes. Those birds - they are bought to make pets out of? Kind of surprising really. It's always fascinating seeing the less touristy out of the way places like this.
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Post by bjd on Jan 21, 2014 17:17:02 GMT
How nice. Was the place with all the plants in pots selling them or was it just someone's garden?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 21, 2014 17:17:18 GMT
I would kill for those three metal chairs!
The restaurant looks like the ones where the long-distance buses here in Mexico stop for potty & meal breaks.
Although I hate the idea of birds in cages, the cages themselves are charming. I've never seen a bird market that big!
Looking forward to more of this adventure.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 19:07:30 GMT
Indonesia is the land of bird markets. Javanese culture reputedly believes that keeping birds is a symbol of accomplishment and settlement. In the past, Javanese nobility was recognized by owning a horse, a traditional weapon and a bird. Malang itself is specialised in songbirds, but some of the other cities of Java are more interested in birds with spectacular plumage or other features. It should also be mentioned that the bird markets sell a variety of other animals, but obviously it is the birdcages that one notices the most. I don't even remember what other animals I saw for sale.
In any case, the Malang market has about 170 stands.
It should probably be mentioned what an extraordinary territory Indonesia is. 17% of the wild animals in the world live in Indonesia, even though it represents only 1.7% of the land mass of the planet. And in terms of water creatures, 45% of the fish species of the world live in Indonesian waters. Frankly, it is pretty amazing.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2014 21:38:20 GMT
How nice. Was the place with all the plants in pots selling them or was it just someone's garden? There is also a major plant market but I think that the pictures that I showed were of private "potters." Gardening seemed to be an obsession in this city. |
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Post by lagatta on Jan 22, 2014 0:44:57 GMT
The flora is just lovely. And indeed, it does look very clean for a "Global South" city.
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Post by questa on Jan 22, 2014 6:01:09 GMT
Malang is also a university town with the best Medical school and hospitals in the republic. Friend of mine got a bowel infection which turned a length of her gut gangrenous. She went to hospital in Malang and they did a marvellous job of rapid tests and diagnosis, immediate careful surgery to remove section and excellent post-op care. She was there for 2 weeks, 3 days of which were ICU. Her bill came to under USD 1000 for everything.
I have been to Malang once, but it was an all-night drive from a ceremony at Mt Meru, a holy volcano not far away. I was in the back of a pickup truck asleep. Only saw glimpses in the pre dawn light.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2014 20:44:59 GMT
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Post by questa on Jan 23, 2014 1:25:10 GMT
Oh Kerouac...you are pulling on my heart strings now! My village in Lombok was so like this...the path between the padi and little river, and the cottage with grandmother watching the kids. My house had same tiles, windows, verandah, garden and barbed wire!
Dare I suggest that someone has "souvenired" some statuary from an old temple? There are many of them in this area and Balinese come from Bali to east Java for ceremonies there.
I had planned to go back to live in a smallish village in Indonesia when I retired. Grand children arrived and I was needed for baby sitting etc. Now the visa system has changed and I can't live there as I planned.
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Post by bjd on Jan 23, 2014 8:41:40 GMT
I find your "no real sights" pictures so much better than ones of monuments. It shows what the place is/was really like. Obviously very pleasant.
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Post by lugg on Jan 26, 2014 8:33:58 GMT
What a lovely place K2 . Great photos.
Questa - hope you do get to go back soon , even if for just a visit.
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