Henary 2 - Bromeliads and Periwinkles

July 15th, 2009.

Bromeliads at Henary's shade garden.

I purchased the following bromeliad in California last year,

but it didn't survive the heat of Texas and / or was over watered.

Seeing this plant on the other side of the world

makes me think about trying one once more.

I saw this in Lowe's at Lindale, Tx., before I went on this trip.

At Henary's rooftop garden.

They grow these plants on floor rugs made of coconut fibre

and hung them on the wall to cover the hot concrete wall.

Neat!

One corner of Henary's rooftop garden.

The pink and white flowers are periwinkles,

or Tapak Dara in Indonesia.

More periwinkles.

Garden Centre Tours - Henary 1

July 15th, 2009.

We spent one full day touring nurseries and garden centers in North Bandung. North Bandung is sitting on higher altitude, where the hills and mountains are, and the air is always cool and fresh. Our first visit was to a home nursery called "Henary" in Cipaku (about 1km before Ledeng Public Transportation Terminal if you come from Bandung city). This nursery is managed by two brothers who also lead an organization for plant lovers in Bandung. When we came visit, there was a talk held at the nursery and a trip to a garden exhibition in Jakarta was being planned and announced to members.

We first walked to the front yard where we found this unique foliage plant. Pardon us for not taking notes of the name of the plant, but we know it comes from South of America.

We later found the same plant on the rooftop garden,

it's actually a pretty tall tree. It looks like papaya tree from a distance.

Walking further up to their shade garden we found more foliage plants

and surprisingly a lot of them come from South America.

Sundried Cloves

July, 2009.

We stayed in a small clove plantation or, to be precise, a clove garden. It was clove harvesting time when we were there. Workers would climb the trees and pick the flower buds, which what the cloves are, and they have got to be picked before they bloom. After that, they would be stemmed and then sundried. Sundried cloves are ready to use for spices (as a whole or ground), or it could be processed further to make cigarettes or to extract its essential oil for example. The clove fragrance filled the air all the time we were there, especially day time when the cloves were under the sun.

Clove garden with mountain view.

A branch of a clove tree

full of clove flower buds.

Picked clove flower buds in a bamboo tray.

Green and pink clove flower buds

(pink being more matured)

stemmed.

A white and blue kite on sundrying cloves.

Three stages of sun-dried cloves.

The green ones are fresh ones,

the golden browns are medium,

the dark browns are done, ready to use.

Cultural Exposure - A Sundanese Dance

July 11th, 2009.

We were presented with a very sweet and dynamic traditional dance of West Java, a Sundanese dance called "Kameumeut", performed by a mother (Yayu) and daughter (Gita, 9 years old). 'Kameumeut' in Sundanese means loved-ones, or anything dear and precious to you. The color of the costume was specifically picked to match the place and the time of day the dance would be performed. We really did enjoy the performance.

Sunrise in Bandung

July 9, 2009, 6.40 am.

The sun is just coming out of the back of Manglayang Mountain, in Bandung, Indonesia.


A public school building with hills on the background.

Juanda Forest Park, Bandung

July 8th, 2009.

It is a nice, lush, and historic forest park, located on the north of Bandung city. Nice for its narrow trail among tall pine trees with sound of water trickling and flowing from a nearby waterfall (Curug Dago / Dago Waterfall) and a river down below (Cikapundung River). It's lush with vegetation, you can tell by how damp and slippery the ground is as the groundwater keeps it moist all the time. Historic because it hosts two tunnels, or "cave" as the locals call it, built by Dutch and Japanese army to store their ammunition during their occupations in Indonesia in 1940's (part of World War II).

The official name of the park is Ir. H. Juanda Forest Park (or Taman Hutan Raya Ir. H. Juanda). This park is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Juanda, the last Prime Minister of Indonesia in 1957, who was a native son of West Java. "Ir", short form of "insinyur" means "engineer", is the old way to describe a title for Bachelor Degree. "H", short form of "haji" means "haj", indicates that he had gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Some interesting fact to learn.

Here's some photos from the trip.

Tall pine trees with angel's trumpets and mimosa trees

in between at the entrance of the park

(entering from Ir. H. Juanda Street).

Cikapundung River down below viewed from the park.

You can hear its water trickles while walking along the park.

Local farmer's vegetable gardens

on the hills of north Bandung.

The crop supplies to Bandung's main produce market.

The trail is guarded by lush vegetation.

Horse back riding for children is available.

Coming out of Japan Cave (Gua Jepang),

the tunnel built by Japan army.

The entrance to Dutch Cave (Gua Belanda)

the tunnel built by Dutch army.

Poinsettia

Mimosa tree

White-flowered mimosa tree

Angel's Trumpet trees are abundant here.

They grow all year round thus the height (some reaches 10 ft / 3 m).

A row of Angel's Trumpet trees.

A local delight, roast corn,

by the entrance to Dutch Cave.

Lonely Planet's notes about this place:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/java/bandung/sights/442188

WaLe

Bandung, July 7th, 2009.
WaLe, a short form of Warung Lela (Lela's Cafe), a small restaurant specializing in noodles with meatball and/or wonton (dumpling) set on the hill of North Bandung. It serves comfort, ordinary food (also serves rice and Indonesian soup), with semi-outdoor seating, traditional-antique furniture, and breathtaking view. It needs extra skill driving to the place, but it's worth it. The tropical garden is nice and lush, too!

Warung Lela at night.




A bowl of shredded-chicken noodle, comes with a bowl of meatball and/or wonton (dumpling) in clear soup.



Tripadvisor about Warung Lela click here.

Plants and Structures

Bandung, July 7th, 2009.

Clove trees by house and banana trees on stepped foreground.

Coconut tree among others.

Red poinsettia by a goat cage.

Overgrown coconut tree trunk by a goat cage.

Mimosa-like, Bali Bamboo, and Banana trees

Bandung, July 7th, 2009.
These are some of the plants that grow in our home in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

Grasshopper on mimosa-like tree.


Bali bamboo.


Banana trees.