Tuesday, 5Dec06
Highlights: emergency laundry, Padang museum, Bukit Tinggi
Emergency laundry, for me, is a state in which there are no more clean pair of boxers,,, and most everything else (socks, pants, shirts) have been recycled already. If it wasn’t for laundry service, I’d be buying more clothes.
I turned my laundry in yesterday, but it rained,,, soaking my clothes again. Today (thank goodness) I got clean clothes again! whew! I waited a touch too long I think.
Today the museum was open, and I got to walk around & see some interesting things.
The most popular story behind the unique shape of traditional Minangkabau Gadang house is a legend about a conflict between the local Minangkabau kingdom (Sumatra) vs. a Javanese kingdom. To settle the dispute as peacefully as possible, the Minangkabau king suggested the conflict be resolved by a bull fight. Happy to take up the challenge, the Javanese brought over the biggest bull from the island. The Savvy Minangkabau king brought a young calf to the fight, which he had half-starved for a week before the fight, and attached sharp metal to its horns. Thinking the larger bull was it’s mother, the calf rushed to suckle,, ripping the Javanese bull’s belly to shreds… thus winning.
The very name “Minangkabau” can be translated “The buffalo wins!” So the roof appears to represent the horns of the everpresent waterbuffalo here.
Most locals are happy with this story. None of them could tell me which Javanese kingdom though. I think I ruined the romance of the story by asking for details…
The only Javanese kingdom I know of to reach this far is Majapahit, and they reached the pinnacle of their power under their famous Prime Minister Gajah Mada (after whom my old University is named) around 1350-1390.
It’s tough to tease out exactly when the Minangkabau kingdom began (13th cent I think), but what makes it more slippery to nail down is that this kingdom seems to have been a collection of many smaller kingdoms sharing some common traits. The Pagaruyung, for example, was ruled by a queen (Bundo Kanduang) at the beginning of its history.
Another story refers to the shape of ships in which Minangkabau ancestors are said to have arrived in long long ago. Up close, these homes do resemble large ships of sail,,, perhaps Portuguese or Spanish.
Anyways- the story is better the way they tell it… regardless of any connection to actual history. Legends make for better story-telling.
Just a quick comment about public transportation here.. I thought Manado was an anomaly, until I arrived in Sumatra. Everywhere,, from Bandar Lampung, to Palembang, Jambi, and especially here in Padang,,, public vans & busses look like they’re fresh from the “pimp my ride” workshop.
“City bus”, in case I didn’t mention it before, means that it is registered with the city, but privately owned (usually by Chinese), and outfitted however the drivers like. The fancier, the more customers they pull in (as the thinking goes). They do run set routes… and busses are a dime a dozen. You won’t wait more than 5 minutes to go in any particular direction. Getting a patient bus driver, however, is another story. Just wanted to show you what “public” busses look like here (=
Highlights: emergency laundry, Padang museum, Bukit Tinggi
Emergency laundry, for me, is a state in which there are no more clean pair of boxers,,, and most everything else (socks, pants, shirts) have been recycled already. If it wasn’t for laundry service, I’d be buying more clothes.
I turned my laundry in yesterday, but it rained,,, soaking my clothes again. Today (thank goodness) I got clean clothes again! whew! I waited a touch too long I think.
Today the museum was open, and I got to walk around & see some interesting things.
The most popular story behind the unique shape of traditional Minangkabau Gadang house is a legend about a conflict between the local Minangkabau kingdom (Sumatra) vs. a Javanese kingdom. To settle the dispute as peacefully as possible, the Minangkabau king suggested the conflict be resolved by a bull fight. Happy to take up the challenge, the Javanese brought over the biggest bull from the island. The Savvy Minangkabau king brought a young calf to the fight, which he had half-starved for a week before the fight, and attached sharp metal to its horns. Thinking the larger bull was it’s mother, the calf rushed to suckle,, ripping the Javanese bull’s belly to shreds… thus winning.
The very name “Minangkabau” can be translated “The buffalo wins!” So the roof appears to represent the horns of the everpresent waterbuffalo here.
Most locals are happy with this story. None of them could tell me which Javanese kingdom though. I think I ruined the romance of the story by asking for details…
The only Javanese kingdom I know of to reach this far is Majapahit, and they reached the pinnacle of their power under their famous Prime Minister Gajah Mada (after whom my old University is named) around 1350-1390.
It’s tough to tease out exactly when the Minangkabau kingdom began (13th cent I think), but what makes it more slippery to nail down is that this kingdom seems to have been a collection of many smaller kingdoms sharing some common traits. The Pagaruyung, for example, was ruled by a queen (Bundo Kanduang) at the beginning of its history.
Another story refers to the shape of ships in which Minangkabau ancestors are said to have arrived in long long ago. Up close, these homes do resemble large ships of sail,,, perhaps Portuguese or Spanish.
Anyways- the story is better the way they tell it… regardless of any connection to actual history. Legends make for better story-telling.
Just a quick comment about public transportation here.. I thought Manado was an anomaly, until I arrived in Sumatra. Everywhere,, from Bandar Lampung, to Palembang, Jambi, and especially here in Padang,,, public vans & busses look like they’re fresh from the “pimp my ride” workshop.
“City bus”, in case I didn’t mention it before, means that it is registered with the city, but privately owned (usually by Chinese), and outfitted however the drivers like. The fancier, the more customers they pull in (as the thinking goes). They do run set routes… and busses are a dime a dozen. You won’t wait more than 5 minutes to go in any particular direction. Getting a patient bus driver, however, is another story. Just wanted to show you what “public” busses look like here (=
posted by jonathan adventures at 10:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home