Quanti abitanti ha Jakarta?

9 February 2014
by Arnaldo Pellini
Landscapes

Quanti abitanti ha Jakarta? C’è chi dice 10.000.000, forse 12.000.000. Altri dicono che se si considera la periferia che si estende a ovest, sud e ad est si arriva a 25.000.000. Ogni weekend 4 o 5.000.000 di abitanti lasciano la città per il weekend e raggiungono le zone di collina, dove la temperatura è un po’ più mite.

La verità è che nessuno sa quante persone abitano qui. Molti arrivano ogni anno per trovare un lavoro, iniziare una nuova attività, oppure per studiare. Molti (ma secondo me sono meno) lasciano Jakarta perché non hanno trovato lavoro oppure perché non riescono più a convivere con il traffico, la quantità di gente, l’ineguaglianza.

Jakarta é il centro di questo paese. Il fulcro. l’ombelico dell’Indonesia. Se la crescita economica di Jakarta rallenta, rallenta anche quella del paese. Una capitale inventata dagli olandesi nel 1619 a battezzata con il nome di Batavia. Una città che oggi fatica a reggersi sulle proprie gambe. Si dice che la città stia lentamente affondando schiacciata dal peso dei grattacieli, dei centri commerciali, le auto, e forse li suoi abitanti. Quanto pesano 25.000.000 di persone?

Vivo a Jakarta da 10 mesi e ne ho una conoscenza abbastanza superficiale. Il traffico, le vie principali, qualche buon ristorante, il museo nazionale. Da un paio di mesi ho iniziato ad andare in ufficio in bicicletta. ho scoperto un percorso alternativo (jalan tiku) che mi permette di evitare per la maggior parte del tragitto traffico intenso e imbottigliamenti. È un modo per guardarsi attorno. Tentare nuovi percorsi ed esplorare zone nuove. Nel tentativo di sentire questa città immensa come la mia nuova casa.

Jakarta, 9/2/2014

Love of light

12 January 2014
by Arnaldo Pellini
Family

Lights in the night

One evening, last year, we went out into the garden in our house in Dumaguete City (Philippines). I tried out writing into the night together with my daughters. It worked!

Birds on Vimeo

8 January 2014
by Arnaldo Pellini
Landscapes

This is sooo cool, I wish I would have a “bird box” like this, such a creative video! You can watch even more of the artist Juan Fontanive videos on vimeo, some even have a 3D effect like the video “Violetear”.

The artists website is www.juanfontanive.com.

Upsidedown

1 December 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Sea
GIli Trawangan, Indonesia

GIli Trawangan, Indonesia

Amazing Gilis

1 December 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Sea

On the north west tip to Lombok there are three tiny islands. Their name Gili, means ‘island’ in the local language. To distinguish them they have been called: Gili Air, Gili Meno, and Gili Trawangan. They are tiny. The largest island, Trawangan, has a circumference of just 7,5 km. There are no cars on the islands but small horse carts. There are many tourists and they put considerable pressure on them. I went for some great dives in the Gilis. Saw small sharks, sea turtles sleeping on the bottom of the sea, hundred of different fishes. However the strongest image is not from underwater but at the water surface. It was the end of the dive at Shark Point. Emerging on the surface. Nine thirty in the morning. The sea is flat as a piece of paper. Intense blue water that you could not distinguish from a blue cloudless sky. At the horizon the shape of the three volcanoes near and on Bali. They were like huge silent statues keeping an eye on the ocean. That image is a memory now. The images I have are to share what a great place the Gilis are.

These photos are dedicated to Mari-Anne Okkolin who has just completed her PhD at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) with a thesis titled: Equality of educational opportunities? Experiences and insights by ten highly educated Tanzanian women. Well done Mari-Anne!

Sunset Buddha in Borobudur

13 October 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Landscapes

Was in Yogyakarta for a week on Bahasa Indonesian language course. I arrived on a Saturday evening and had the Sunday off before the course start on Monday. The temple of Borobudur is just 40 km from Yogya. A good chance to visit the mountain temple complex  I heard a lot about when visiting Angkor Way in Cambodia. Went on late afternoon. Foreign and Indonesian tourists climbed the temple and gathered on the top terrace to observe the sunset across the valley. The Buddhas were watching with their enigmatic stare as they have been doing for the last 1200 years.

What do you see in this picture?

16 September 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Landscapes

What do you see in this picture. You can respond by adding a comment below or sending me an email: arnaldo.pellini@gmail.com

TransJakarta

7 September 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Street photography

TransJakarta is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Jakarta. It was the first BRT system in Southern and Southeast Asia and it was inspired by the TransMilenio in Bogotà. TransJakarta began operations on January 25, 2004 and has now 12 lines. It carries around 310,000 passengers per day but it can do better than that.
I took these photos at various stations and bridges of the TransJakarta network, mainly in Line 1 along Jl Sudirman. To be continued …..

Violin station in Jakarta

28 August 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Street photography
Violin station in Jakarta by Arnaldo Pellini
I took the Transjakarta bus N1 to Blok M yesterday night. While I was walking up the ramp to reach the ticket counter heard the music played by a violin. Nice classical tune played over the Jakarta traffic. It almost cancelled it. Violin station in Jakarta, a photo by Arnaldo Pellini on Flickr.

The art of lithography

25 August 2013
by Arnaldo Pellini
Landscapes

Lithography (from Greek lithos, “stone” + graphein, “to write”) is a method of printing originally based on the fundamental antipathy of oil and water. I took the photos at Mauriartegrafica a company in Cremona (Italy). You can find the gallery here.

The art of lithography