This is a very elegant two stories house. It has an internal yard with a nice soft light from the sky. Walking through the rooms, seeing old gramophones, faded mirrors, old family pictures in wodden frame, it is possible to imagine large family gatherings for the Chinese New Year. This is what was once the house of the richest man in town and maybe the whole of Sumatra.
The Tjong A Fie Mansion is a two-story mansion in Medan, North Sumatra, built by Tjong A Fie (1860 – 1921) a Hakka merchant who came to own much of the land in Medan through his plantations, later becoming ‘Majoor der Chineezen’ (leader of the Chinese’) in Medan and constructing the Medan-Belawan railway. Tjong A Fie is said to be related to Cheong Fatt Tze, who built the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang, Malaysia. The building is constructed in Chinese-European-Art Deco style, and was completed in 1900, and said to have been modeled on the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.
In central Jakarta there is an old market, called Pasar Baru (New Market). It has been there for a long time. It is still possible to see the Chinese storage house and some of the old Dutch buildings amongst the many modern ones that have been built during the last few decades. I walked there on a quiet weekend afternoon a year or so ago. I do not go very often to central Jakarta, so it was a bit like discovering a new part of this city,
As @tedforbes says: take pictures with whatever camera you have. This is dedicates to the guy who broke into our house the other night and stole (among other things) my Olympus camera and four great lenses. You are not stopping me, I continue more then ever to take photos of the streets of Jakarta. Here the one I took with my iphone this morning at Halte Senayan!
Great blog
There are many guards in Jakarta. They work at the gate of housing compounds, the entrance of office tower, at the malls and at some less known place like a music school in South Jakarta. They have long shift and sometime really need to take a break, if just for a moment.
Helsinki’s Senate Square (Senaatintori) is dominated by the white church overlooking the surrounding buildings and standing high up on a steep flight of stone steps. A couple of years ago, it was in June I think, I got to Helsinki very early. I flew in from Singapore. I walked to the center waiting for coffee shops to open. It was a bright sunny morning and I headed to Senaatintori. It was early. The square was quiet.
Senaatintori church, Helsinki
Morning reflection
Helsinki University
Senaatintori church, Helsinki
Walking by
Every Friday afternoon I spend an hour at the Dialogue art & coffee in South Jakarta. I sit for 45 minutes, waiting for my daughter to finish her piano lesson nearby. It is a nice, modern coffee. There always new exhibitions. I sit at one if the tables and usually order a sparkling Equil. I then work on a blog or read sonething.
Jumping off the bus, Halte Senayan (Jakarta)
For the last three years I have been cycling to work here in Jakarta. On my way to the office I have to walk across a pedestrian bridge over one of the stations of the Transjakarta bus line, Halte Senayan. A year or so ago I started to carry my camera and take photos from the bridge as well as under the bridge. Having the camera with me and taking photos every day has made me discover all what is going on here every day: the people commuting to work, the food sellers, the crowded minibuses Kopaja, the motorbikes drivers, the musicians, the workers at new Jakarta underground system. When I was walking pass Halte Senayan without my camera I missed most of that. I did not notice it. I was thinking about the day ahead, the meetings, the emails, etc. The pedestrian bridge and Halte Senayan was unremarkable, because I did not noticed all what is there. Having the camera with me was like opening my eyes to a place I am go through everyday, twice a day. Discovering it in a new way. Here some of the photos I have taken so far.