King Sidabutar on Samosir Island, Indonesia

King Sidabutar on Samosir Island,

King Sidabutar was the Batak king who adopted Christianity. On the left of this picture is the grave of the missionary who converted the tribe.

Samosir Island in Indonesia : The Beatiful Island

The Beatiful Islan of Samosir Island in Sumatera Indonesia.

Melbourne, a grisly view from a bridge: Father throws 4 year old daughter off the city's West Gate bridge

A horrific act that Australians are at a complete loss to comprehend has dominated the media for the last day: a 35 year old father threw his 4 year old daughter off Melbourne's West Gate bridge. Witnesses reported seeing the guy, an IT consultant, stop his white Toyota Landcruiser at the top of the bridge, get out of the car, and drop her over the side. His two young sons, aged 6 and 8, were in the car. And apparently he then drove off, handing himself in later on. The little girl, Darcey Freeman, was rescued from the water, and ambulance officers spent 45 minutes trying to revive her, but she died hours later of massive injuries. The safety of the bridge is now being questioned. But, while I may have lived overseas for 11 years, I can't recall anyone throwing a child off the bridge before. I imagine a man who could conceive of throwing his child from a bridge, would find some other way to rid himself of her. I could imagine such as man placing the little girl in front of his vehicle and running her over. One wonders what went on in that car that morning, and before. What was going through the man's mind. It appears the man "snapped". He'd been through a custody dispute and the decision had just been made to allow joint custody. Had the man wanted full custody? Or did he not want custody at all? Did he secretly realize he wouldn't be able to cope? One journalist reporting on the tragedy wrote about the sweltering heat of the night before, as if to partly blame the weather. Whatever the cause, we all want to know it. Thousands are covering the story, millions are mourning the loss of this little life: 'A Nation Wants Answers' are the headlines today.

South Australia: from heavenly summer days to the living hell of a heatwave

A couple of weeks ago we were holed up writing in an apartment overlooking the sea at Glenelg beach, Adelaide, South Australia. While the days were warm and balmy, topping 30 degrees celcius, a little higher than the typical heavenly summer temperatures they get here, the evenings were deliciously cool. Cool enough to pop on a cardigan. We've been on the road in South Australia for a week or so now and it's a completely different story. We're making our way across the southern coast to Victoria and the Great Ocean Road, and it's been hot - scorching hot! And that's saying something coming from someone who lives in Dubai. It's so hot Australians are calling it a heatwave. The heatwave - and it's very definition (several days of continually high, above-average temperatures) - is being discussed endlessly by everybody it seems. These are record breaking temperatures. In the south here that means mid- to high-40s, but in some parts it's reached as high as 51. We listen to the radio a lot as we drive these days (we're bored with our music and podcasts; it's our third month on the road, after all) and the heatwave and ensuing chaos are all that's discussed: the affect upon health, cancellation of major sporting events, the threat of fires, total fire bans, the need to be 'fire ready', to put 'bushfire contingency plans' in place, train and tram cancellations and derailments (tracks are buckling), traffic light outrages, the accidental blackouts, and the planned power cuts. It's hell here. And in the midst of this chaos and suffering, Australia's 'power wholesaler', the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO), which controls the country's electricity usage decided to impose further planned power cuts (um, 'load-shedding') to 'protect the security of the grid'. (Interestingly, their share price subsequently went up.). NEMMCO has been providing the radio station with lists of suburbs that will lose power for 30 minute intervals, so they people can prepare themselves. The problem is that these people are calling the station and sending SMS messages complaining that they've already been without electricity for 24 hours. They are irate. It's like living in a third world country, they say. Now we're bored with the radio too. Whenever we go to the bakery, tourist office, service station, or check into a motel, we're asked how we're coping with the heat. We live in Dubai, we tell them, but how are you? A few years ago Australians would ask "Dubai, where's that?" We'd need to qualify it by saying "the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, that tiny country above Saudi Arabia and below Afghanistan and Iran". But now they not only know Dubai, they have family who work there, friends who have just been there, or are planning a trip themselves. "It's this hot all the time?" they ask. "Yep, plus there's high humidity, up to 90%. Our glasses fog up every time we leave an air-conditioned building." "Well if we can handle this..." they say. How things have changed. This time I'm not talking about the weather.

Bromo Mountain : The Great Mountain in East Java

Bromo Mountain :
Mt. Bromo is without doubt East Java's most well known attraction. The pre-dawn departure and trek across the mountain's 'sand sea' to watch the sun rise at the crater rim has become a daily ritual, joined by visitors from all over the world. Although by no means the highest mountain in the region, Bromo has gained a reputation on account of its fantastic surrounding landscape. Little wonder that this mountain has been revered for centuries by the local inhabitants, the Tenggerese, who claim descent from a princess of Majapahit. Each year, on the fourteenth day of the Tenggerese month of Kasodo, which falls in December, a special ceremony is held on the sand sea below the crater of Bromo. Livestock and agricultural produce are offered to the spirit of the mountain as a kind of thanksgiving, and as a request for a bountiful harvest in the coming year. The Tenggerese believe that failure to observe this annual ceremony will result in a calamity.

Source Article: Http://www.eastjava.com/books/wilds/html/incomparable.html
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The Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

The Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park :

When you are in Kuala Lumpur and need to get away from the city, the Lake Gardens offers you several places to commune with nature.
One such attraction is the Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park, just a stone's throw from the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. The Butterfly Park houses more than 6,000 butterflies from 120 exotic species.
The park is an imitation of the butterfly's natural habitat. It includes more than 15,000 plants from 100 species that has been painstakingly landscaped to resemble a Malaysian rainforest atmosphere.
Contributing to the Butterfly Park's beautiful landscape is a uniquely designed hydro-pond built with a limestone path right in the centre. Surrounding this hydro-pond is a gazebo, commanding a breathtaking view. There is a nursery and breeding area for the butterflies. The park includes both preserved and live specimens, totaling 1,230 species in all. Facilities include an informative insect museum.
There is also a souvenir shop near the exit selling lots of local handicrafts and framed butterflies and beetles. You can enjoy a glimpse of butterflies at this unique park!

Penebel Butterfly Park in Bali

Penebel Butterfly Park in Bali :

Penebel Butterfly park, this place is best place for couple. Penebel Butterfly park is 5 kms
from Tabanan city Bali. we can find it near the street, not so difficult to find it. maybe all of you know Jatiluwih(Tourism objek in Penebel), if you go to Jatiluwih, you will pass this park.
so many kind of butterfly there. all kind of Butterfly from indonesia here. everyday they free 100 butterfly there, wow sound much isn it?? not only for refreshing, in this place many scientist do a reseach of bugs. they have alot kind of butterfly and another bugs.
one of famous kind of butterfly call heaven bird wings (Omithoptera Paradise). people there
said, this butterfly is so beautiful. but, bad time, when i go there, i cant find it. we can see it puppa theres. there is one box house that is placed for the puppa to metamophs to be a butterfly. we can find that every kind of butterfly has different puppa. wow. the butterfly that just metamorph still there until they can fly by it self. if you lucky, when all of that puppa was metamorph in the same time, all of the butterfly will come to you body, maybe you can be butterfly man, hahahaha.
we can se another bugs there, like grasshopper, bugs and scorpion. there are alot kind of grasshopper, like grasshopper that looks like wood, until looks like leaf. you not only can see that bugs, but you can touch to, like this grasshopper. if another bugs, we can find in inside the glass box, like scorpion, we can only see them, you want to touch?? iam not. thanks, dont want to touch them. there is a cave that containt a bugs, you can see them all there.
the ticket not so expensive, it depend on what kind of tourism you are. if you international tourism, its around Rp. 50.000,00 - Rp. 100.000,00, but if local tourism around Rp. 20.000,00 - Rp. 50.000,00, and also what time are you go there high season or low season.

Beautiful Rice Field of Jatih Luwih

Beautiful Rice of Jatih Luwih :

Jatiluwih, first time i see this place, just one word "WOW". this place realy great, Jatiluwih is groups of rice field that looks like stairs. this rice field use terasering concept. in around of Bali, we can only see this beautiful terasering concept in this place. its great place for our eyes. this is a great place to for landscape photograper.
beside rice field, the landscape include mountaint and forest behind the ricefield make this landscape more beatifull. this place 700km above the sea, thats make the air of this place so fresh, and also its cold there. where is this place, not to far from tabanan city Bali, its only about 24 kms from Tabanan, and all of tabanan people know this place. so dont be afraid if you lost, just ask the people there. if you go there by car, plis use car that has high suspension coz the road there not so good.
if i can describe this place, this place around the street, so you dont need to go inside the forest or walk so far. you can see this place from the car too. Jatiluwih acctualy is the name of this vilage. this village has great view of of ricefield. but there is a great spot there, near the Jatiluwih restourant.
so dont forget go here.

Beautiful Terasering Land's in Indonesia

This is a Beautiful Terasering Lands in Indonesia. Every one can see and look at the pictures.

Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur
The PETRONAS Twin Towers was designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates (USA) in association with KLCC architects.

The tower's floor plate design is based on simple Islamic geometric forms of two interlocking squares creating a shape of eight-pointed stars. Upon the eight-pointed stars, are eight superimposed semi-circles softening the inner angles.

These semicircles are themselves anchored by the arcs of the main structural columns of the buildings. The semi-circles were superimposed in the inner angles of the interlocked squares to create more usable floor space.

The design details continued to dictate the way in which the buildings would rise in as graceful a fashion as possible. To maintain the vertical axis and tapering of the design, each tower is set back five times in its ascent.

Architecturally, these forms reflect the paramount Islamic principles of "unity within unity, harmony, stability and rationality."

At the uppermost floors, the walls are gently sloped inward to taper and contribute visually to the height and the elegant form of horizontal silver ribbons of stainless steel.

Every aspect of the design contributes to the audacious verticality of the Towers. The decision to symmetrically align the Twin Towers and connect them with a spanning bridge emphasised the classical nature of the architectural design.

The writings of Lao Tse, the ancient philosopher and founder of Taoism in China, tell that the reality of a hollow object is in the void and not in the walls. Cesar Pelli, architect of the Towers, has drawn upon the strength of the void between the buildings -- delineating an invisible axis of symmetry. For the architect, it is this void that gives the PETRONAS Twin Towers their sense of grandeur and unique identity.

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The Exotic Kuta Beach in Bali

Sunset in Kuta Beach bali

People's in Kuta Beach Bali

Kuta Beach Bali Picture

People's In Kuta Beach Bali

Kuta Beach in Bali

Kuta is a town in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations. It is known internationally for its long sandy beach, varied accommodation, many restaurants and bars, and substantial Australian population. It is located near Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport.
Kuta was the site of the October 12, 2002 Bali bombing (202 killed) and the October 1, 2005 Bali bombing (26 killed).
Kuta is now the center of an extensive tourist-oriented urban area that merges into the neighboring towns. Legian, to the north, is the commercial hub of Kuta and the site of many restaurants and entertainment spots. Most of the area's big beachfront hotels are in the southern section of Tuban.
Legian and Seminyak are northern extensions of Kuta along Jl. Legian and Jl. Basangkasa. They are somewhat quieter suburbs with cottage-style accommodations, where many of the expat crowd live. Also to the north are Petitenget, Berawa, Canggu, and Seseh - new and quieter continuations of Kuta's beach. They are easy to reach through Abian Timbul or Denpasar and Kerobokan. Several large hotels are located in this area: the Oberoi Bali, Hard Rock Hotel Bali, the Intan Bali Village, the Legian in Petitenget, the Dewata Beach and the Bali Sani Suites in Berawa.
To the south, Kuta Beach extends beyond the airport into Jimbaran. Other nearby towns and villages include Seseh (6.4 nm), Denpasar (4.5 nm), Ujung (1.8 nm), Pesanggaran (2.0 nm), Kedunganan (2.9 nm) and Tuban (1.0 nm).
The Balinese Provincial Government have taken the view that the preservation of the Balinese culture, natural resources and wildlife are of primary importance in the development of the island. To this end they have limited tourist development to the peninsula on the extreme southern aspect of the island; Kuta beach is on the western side of this peninsula and Sanur is on the east. To the north of the peninsula no new tourist development is supposedly permitted.

Read More : http://en.wikipedia.org

Borobudur Temple Beautiful Place in Indonesia

Borobudur is built as a single large stupa, and when viewed from above takes the form of a giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the nature of mind. Some scholars think that this massive monument is a gigantic textbook of Buddhism to help people to achieve enlightenment. To read this Buddhist textbook in stone requires a walk of more than two miles. The walls of the galleries are adorned with impressive reliefs illustrating the life of Buddha Shakyamuni and the principles of his teaching.

Taj Mahal Beautiful Place in India

The Taj Mahal (pronounced /tɑdʒ mə'hɑl/ ---- Hindi: ताज महल; Persian/Urdu: تاج محل) is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.

Source Article : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

Exotic Sanur Beach in Bali Indonesia

Sea Walker in Sanur Beach Bali

Sanur Beach Bali is one of Bali's biggest traditional villages but it's also one of the most established tourist areas. Sanur was Bali's first beach resort but still retains its Balinese character and old style village ambiance. On the southeastern side of Bali, Sanur beach is easily reachable from Denpasar, about a 5 to 10 minute drive.
Sanur is an excellent site to watch the sun rises, as we jog along the white sandy beach. Being one of the first resorts developed in Bali, Sanur maintains its traditions. Only a stone thrown away from the beach, ancient temples stand as solemn as they have been in centuries past.
Palm-lined beach, facing the Indian Ocean towards the east, Sanur is an excellent place to see the sun rise in the morning. "Bali is the morning of the world", it is the right sentence for Bali if we has visited Sanur. Offshore reefs protect the beach against the waves, and make it popular for windsurfing, boating, and other water sports. It is one of the first areas where one can find good hotels, restaurants, shops, and other tourist facilities.
It's also the place for some of Bali chic fashion shops, hot hotels and well-known restaurants. It is a good location to explore the rest of Bali. Fine hotels, restaurants and modern entertainment venues complement traditional village activities like drama and dance, so it's a good place to enjoy the delights of a tropical island and gain a real appreciation of Balinese culture and local life. Gradual and early development has meant that Sanur has grown alongside the village, with hotels located right next door to local meeting halls and Brahmanic temples. Many hotels have expansive gardens that face the ocean in a picturesque unbroken seaside promenade.