24 November 2006: Prambanan & the Ramayana Ballet

Yogjakarta is universally considered by Indonesians to be the cultural center of the country. Inasmuch, this is the place where historically all Eastern religions meet and mingle. There are Buddhist Temples, Islamic Mosques and Hindu Temples all competing for space and beauty across the entire city. One particularly famous temple is the Hindu Prambanan Temple. Although this temple has fallen victim to the most recent earthquake and many of the structures are surrounded by scaffolding, it is nontheless an amazing glimpse into the history of Indonesia.

Missing the arts of London, we decided to attend a Hindu ballet called Ramayana that famously performs at night with the Prambanan as a backdrop. Unfortunately, it is monsoon season and our show was performed indoors. However, despite the indoor stage, this was one of the most amazing dances I have ever seen. In the Orissi style of Indian dance, all the movements are incredibly slow and deliberate. The motion of a hand, the flicker of an eye or the flip of a foot are all it takes to tell the story. These slow and intimate movements combined with intricate makeup and beautiful costumes are simply mesmerizing. In the background is a gamelon orchestra (typical Indonesian music compilition with large brass dongs, bamboo zylophones, a drummer and various human singers and noise-makers) setting the tone of the story. I was rapt for two hours. Nick took some amazing photos. The evening was memorable to say the least.

23 November 2006: Bird Breeding in Yogjakrata

A breeding pair of songbirds.

Central Java is home to Indonesia's highest concentration of bird enthusiasts. As a result, there are tons of small-scale breeding operations. Many of the operations are conducted in people's homes and backyards with the whole family participating in the process. The breeding pairs of birds typically produce 3 clutches (depending on the species) and can be quite a lucrative endeavor. One gentleman we met with sent his son to University thanks to the amourous inclinations of 5 pairs of canaries.

Pac Harto feeding 10 day old chicks.

To inhance survival and encourage a new clutch, the chicks are removed from their parent's nest after birth. These chicks are then raised by hand. Chick-rearing is incredibly time-intensive as they require constant feeding (at least once an hour) and the perfect amount of light and heat (difficult when electricity is not nearly as constant as the chick's needs). In one home we visited, the electricity went out and the family had to put an oil lamp in the nest box to keep their newborns warm.

2 day old chicks. Their eyes do not open until day 10. By day 21 they are looking and acting like full-grown birds.

To some, this whole bird-breeding & keeping practice may seem wholly unusual and cruel. However, from a conservation standpoint, this process may be saving Indonesia's wild bird populations. The local bird-breeding association is attempting to require that every songbird entered in a competition is banded with a solid ring. Solid rings can only be put on a very young chick while its 'thumb' is still in the cartilidge stage and hasn't solidified into bone. Although this may not stop people from collecting very young chicks from the wild, at least the wild breeding parents will have chance to produce more clutches. Photos such as these and others in Nick's portfolio will be used in articles and books to entice people to choose bird breeding over wild-harvesting.

Bird Singing Competition Photos

Yelling at the birds.



Yelling at the judges.



A bird awaiting its big moment in the arena.



Judging the birds.

19 November 2006: Unimagined challenge

Our first full work week in Indonesia has been highly eventful. We spent the beginning of the week doing some admin stuff at CIFOR (Center for Forestry Research) a branch of the UN that my friend Wendy has been interning for. (CIFOR not only has the fastest internet service in perhaps the whole country, it also has one of the most beautiful compounds complete with a swimming pool, gym and extensive air conditioned library. One needs not go too much further to understand some of the benefits of working for the government in conservation issues.) Tuesday Nick did some photo work around Bogor (our home base for the time being) while Wendy and I prepared for a trip to Borneo where we arranged (through Wendy’s extensive network of Indonesian conservationists) to visit a protected areas for Orangutans and do some cultural sight-seeing.

Wednesday, Wendy and I left early in the morning for our flight to Borneo, with the plan that I would meet Nick in Yogjakarta (his next photo sight in Central Java) on Sunday. I went to bed the night before with a slight upset stomach, which became worse as Wendy and I traveled deeper towards the jungle in Borneo. By noon, we were packed up and ready to hike a few hours into the remote part of the protected area to camp for a few nights in the jungle. I couldn’t make it. By 7 am the next morning, I was in the hospital in Balikpapan diagnosed with acute appendicitis and by midnight, I was in Jakarta being wheeled into the operating theatre.

Appendix-less, I spent the next couple of days in Jakarta’s best hospital room with two of the world’s most loving, amazing friends and a flurry of overly-concerned nurses. Luckily, the surgery only left three small holes and 48 hours later I am back in Bogor resting and catching up on unfinished work. Nick is off in Jakarta taking photographs of a bird market that is famous not only for its birds, but for its illegal selling and trade of both live and dead endangered species. A disappointing experience to miss, but one that I am sure will be well documented by Nick.

On a much more exciting note, tomorrow President Bush will be flying in here by helicopter to meet with the president of Indonesia. The entire city is going to be on lock-down from 6 am to 10 pm. No person may cross the cordon area during those hours, no cell phone or internet service and every 10 meters of the city is guarded by military personnel with machine guns. Coming home from the hospital yesterday, beginning roughly 30 kilometers from Bogor, we noticed armed soldiers in the jungle alongside the motorway. Bridges and overpasses were particularly well fortified. As we drove closer to Bogor, the presence increased to the aforementioned 1 per 10 meter. Our hotel home base is roughly half a kilometer from Bush’s landing spot and our area is particularly well locked down. Tomorrow shall be a rather slothful day next to our pool, unless we decide to attempt to be Reuter’s newest journalist and photojournalist…

There have been mass demonstrations, increasing all week. As I write, I can hear chanting and loudspeakers in the distant. Bush is not very welcome here for some very obvious reasons. But, this anti-Bush sentiment has not translated into all-out, anti-American sentiment. In circumspect, I am not interested in interfering with or experiencing the demonstrations, as mob mentality and behavior rarely reflect the attitude of the individual. But so far, I have felt nothing but welcome in Indonesia by its denizens. Most everyone I have spoken with about Bush’s visit have an informed, cool-headed and eloquent opinion. One that I, and according to the election results, many other Americans share. Hopefully, the actions of a few extreme individuals will not taint the generally open and friendly persona of Indonesia. Only tomorrow will tell…

11 November 2006: On Assignment

Today we attended a bird-singing competition as a part of Nick’s photo assignment. Indonesians love to keep birds and a percentage of bird hobbyists partake in these competitions. It is akin to the western dog show. The birds are groomed from a young age to learn the most exotic songs. They are loved and coveted and fed special food. Young birds are placed in rooms with songbird CD’s playing or preferably with an older bird from the wild, often of another species to diversify the vocalization of the songbird trainee.

The birds are incredibly territorial and upon seeing another, they erupt in a frenzy of songs. The bird singing competitions are held on Sundays and attended by individuals, families and bird-keeping teams. The birds arrive on in elaborate cages with batik covers, sometimes strapped on the back of motorcycles or even by bicycle. The early morning is spent spraying the birds with cool water, feeding them ‘special’ grubs to enhance the voice and preparing them according to each individual handler’s ‘special technique’. The actual competition is conducted in an arena with scaffolding bars built to hang the cages. The classes are broken down by species and around 30 to 50 birds compete in each class.

Once the birdcages have been hung, 5 judges wander underneath the cages evaluating each individual song. The judging, in and of itself, seems to me to be an incredibly difficult task considering the cacophony of 50 birds singing at once. Even more impressive is the amount of yelling and screaming that erupts from the crowds of bird owners that are kept outside the arena by a sturdy, waist-high fence. The excitement has been aptly equated to a football match, with similar concentrations of testosterone coursing through the non-avian masses. The birds are waved at with spastic flickers of the owner’s hand in undulating rhythms across the audience while special bird whistles are repeatedly squeaked. Meanwhile the crowd yells incessantly at the judges to go listen to ‘bird number 62, bird 62!’ The scene is almost overwhelming.

After each bird has been judged by the 5 judges, each judge place one red flag (worth 100 points) and a blue flag (worth 50 points) under the birds with the choicest song. A winner is determined and a runner-up declared. If, per chance, two birds remain with the same number of points, a coin is tossed to fatefully decide the winner. There are no third-places. Depending on the coin toss, you either win, or don’t.

These bird-singing events last all day. Nick spent over 6 hours photographing this competition and walked home with incredible images. Most people were amazingly receptive to having their photograph taken and ignored Nick. At times though (particularly after a good winning streak), groups and teams only wanted the classically posed ‘surround-the-birdcage with thumbs-up’ photos that are great for the family album but do little to contribute to the artistic interpretation of the actual contest. Overall, this is a fascinating photo assignment that is both challenging and interesting, both for the photographer and the assistant. (Photos courtesy of Wendy Miles)

10 November 2006: Indonesia

We have left one city in the midst of massive development and arrived in another with the same fierce resolution. The first thing I noticed as we passed through Jakarta was the massive amount of construction cranes sitting atop half-built buildings. In stark contrast to the older, gentler pace of European development, Asia seems to be in a frenzy to catch up with the ‘modern’ world. If Dubai currently holds the highest concentration of construction cranes, then Jakarta must be a close second or third (one would have to travel to China to confirm the status of Jakarta in terms of global crane use).

It is scary to actually witness the boom in global development. One reads the figures in newspapers and hears tales of how advanced the infrastructure has become in cities that were previously avoided by the average Western traveler. If the world has a maximum carrying capacity, we certainly must be getting closer to that figure. I recognize the hypocrisy of even mentioning this fear. As an American, my eco-footprint is already one of the largest in the world. Not to mention that here we are, halfway across the world, having consumed huge amounts of fuel to get here.

After our bike ride across France, Spain and Portugal, the value of traveling conscientiously and purposely became more blatant. Not to mention traveling lightly and leaving little evidence of one’s passing though. This Indonesian trip has a very specific purpose for a limited timeframe, particularly for Nick. Finding ways of stepping lightly and leaving something positive in our wake are both going to be a challenge and one of the most exciting aspects of our time here in Indonesia. We are equipped with 3 cameras, a video camera, a digital audio recording device, a computer, and two creative minds in a stunning locale. Every conversation we have had with other people has sparked a brainstorm of possible projects ranging from photo essays, journal articles, informational videos, radio programs and just about every other form of mass communication. Now, to focus our energy on one or two issues…

8 November 2006: When the oil is gone...

In summary, Dubai is definitely a city worth visiting, especially if you have hosts to take you around to the major sights. But, in the long run both Nick and I concluded that it would be an environmentalist’s nightmare of a home. There are so many opportunities for Dubai to adopt sustainable building and living practices. In many other locations around the world, money may be a constraint to ecologically governed development. But Dubai is one of the richest cities in the world. The UAE have such a vast amount of natural sunlight, yet where are all of the solar panels? A staggering amount of energy is being used to keep the hundreds of malls, thousands of buildings and homes air-conditioned. Yet the technology exists to have a central cooling system function with water and heat circulation. Why isn’t Dubai striving to not only be the top tourist destination in the Middle East, but also a living example of modern sustainable technology?

Nick made the interesting observation that Dubai is a city not unlike one we humans would build if we occupy another planet. By all means, without the huge amount of money in Dubai, this part of the world would be relatively un-inhabitable unless you were a nomadic Bedouin. Without the oil, there would be nothing here. And soon, the oil is going to run out (hence the huge push to make Dubai a tourist hotspot). It will be interesting to watch this city react to a global decrease in oil.

7 November 2006: Where is the sustainable development?

Today we toured some of Dubai’s opulent constructions. First we went to the top of the Burj Dubai, the world’s only 7 star hotel. It is a beautiful structure actually, representing a ship with a sail. At night, they light the sail up from the outside in rotating colors ranging from deep red to aqua blue. If you are one of the decadent guests in this hotel, you are met at the airport in a Rolls Royce and accompanied to your room by your own personal butler.

Speaking of cars, not only is Dubai one of the more traffic-ridden cities I have encountered, it is also home to some of the finest cars on the global market. The Emiratis (natives of the UAE, who ironically only make up something like 10% of the population—don’t quote me on the numbers, I am only recounting what has been told to me by others) and the ex-pat community (another 10% of the population) drive outlandishly large and luxurious vehicles. Unlike the rest of the world that is beginning to awaken to the reality of both global warming and dwindling oil reserves, the UAE seems to be living in naivety. Perhaps it is the curse of the nouveau riche. 30 years ago, Dubai was a small desert city full of Bedouin nomads. The next generation suddenly found themselves endowed with vast sums of oil money and became the recipients of the capitalized world’s finest products and services. Today the wealth is dichotomized with Islamic morals, creating a unique haven in the Middle East for introduced Western industry.

But back to cars. To escape the stifling heat of the desert summer, it is a necessity to have the windows of your vehicles tinted. Preferably the darkest color possible across all windows. Unfortunately the Sheik doesn’t allow this unless one meets some minimum standards. Notably, you must prove that your wife is of such great beauty that no one must be allowed to see her as she conducts her business throughout the city. Her utmost exquisiteness is not only worth concealing, she may cause accidents should others catch sight of her.

Odd rules such as this one notwithstanding, the Sheik Mohammed, ruler of the Dubai province, is a noble and humane lawmaker. The morning’s newspaper reported the Sheik enlisting one law or another that benefited the people. 70% of Dubai’s population consists of foreign workers that work round the clock to build the city of desert dreams. Today, the Sheik declared new labor laws to protect the workers. Yesterday he set the goal of creating 100 new air-conditioned bus stops (mostly used by the workers) by this upcoming summer. Never before have I encountered a totalitarian state that runs so efficiently.

6 November 2006: Dubai City of Dreams

We arrived in the desert city of Dubai on a hot Monday morning. The simple robes and head wear of the officials that met us as we went through customs immediately captivated both Nick and me. The men dress in all white and the women dress in all black, both sexes from head to foot. The combination is alluring. People seem to float like angels.

Dubai reminds me of decorating sugar cookies at Christmastime. As a kid, when the process is still exciting and new, you spread on as much frosting as possible and then dump heaps of sprinkles of all colors and flavors. What you end up with is a bit over the top. Nice effort, but too much of a mouthful of sugar for the average Christmas visitor. Instead of cookies, imagine all sorts of shapes of land. Open sand and desert really. A blank palate, if you are artistically inclined. And the financial means to decorate it however you want. The Emiratis seem to have abandoned questions and instead flaunt ‘why not’ to every possible proposed use of the parcel. It makes for some outlandish (personal opinion) creations. Like the world’s largest indoor ski slope (in one of the world’s hottest countries), the world’s tallest building (rising a floor a day thanks to the labor of thousands of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian workers) and exact replicas of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. Just incase you, like the majority of tourists, are from the UK and France and want to see what your country’s icon looks like in the middle of the desert.

I was swimming in the Gulf today when this man swam up and asked me if I had seen the world yet. I misunderstood his accent. He pointed excitedly seawards where a few ships were milling in the distance. ‘We are building the world over there’ he said. A replica of the world in islands of sand, to be exact. Rod Stewart has already bought England. A Belgian extravagant wanted to buy Belgium, but found the island too small and asked the engineers to build Belgium bigger. He was refused on the basis that you just can’t go around the world making countries bigger than they actually are. Ironically, you can build countries in Dubai in the first place.