places faces
can’t remember the title of the song, but it’s a song sang by michael jackson, and there are lyrics sayin’ "…places faces…" BOOM! suddenly remembered the title of the song… "Black & White."
da 1st 6 months of 2007, i’ve visited Sukabumi, Bandung, Bogor, Batam, Tapanuli, Semarang, Medan. In others, the western region of Indonesia.
seen different faces of Indonesia, different environment and people. Tapanuli, thus far, struck me as most interesting. the characteristics of this region are definitely strong. i love places with their own unique characteristics. for that reason, i also strongly dislike Batam.
Batam, in my own personal opinion, ain’t worth a sh*t ‘coz that place has no unique characteristics. well, there are characteristics, but ain’t unique and special.
Batam for me felt more like an island with floating characteristics. it is tryin’ to define and shape itself, but it’s doing a lousy job at it. floating… floating… floating…
another thing that struck me as different about Batam is the sense of its lawlessness and wildness. we called it ‘liar’ in Indonesian language for wild or untamed. i tend to define ‘liar’ in Batam as shapeless and shifting lawlessness. i don’t like it. if this is gonna be the next Singapore or 1/2 similar to Singapore, i say Batam really got a whole lotta catchin’ up to do.
perhaps some years down da road, Batam will have its own unique characteristics. but until then, it ain’t gonna be a place I wanna visit again unless out of necessity (job/business related, or transit to Singapore).
i definitely wanna visit Sumbawa, Lombok, East Kalimantan, Manado, Makassar, Jambi, Lampung, Ambon, and Papua. i’ve been to Jambi and Lampung before, many years ago, but the only thing that stuck in my mind was this tradionally man-made wooden bridge, that’s really long. why do i still remember the bridge? ‘coz my memory recalled someone said that they used the chopped-off head of young children as offerings to the river spirits or somethin’ like that. well, as a child that scared the sh*t out of me. hahaha. but.. come to think about it, maybe that bridge ain’t located in Lampung/Jambi, maybe Bangka-Belitung.
