Makassar market mugshots

Plastic containers and suchlike.

A Ramadan-special dessert, I was told. I think it might be dodol (a rice flour based glutinous sweet, sweetened with coconut sugar).

A proud mum. And more plastic containers?

A dreaded chilli stall.

What's he selling? Tropical fruits I think. Maybe I've caught him by surprise.

Unhappy chooks.

Ladies' clothing. I liked the way the people blended into the scene with the mannequins.

Ramadan sunset in Parepare

I was in Sulawesi right in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and during this time of course, devout Muslims need to fast through the daylight hours.

I'd been a little concerned that it might have impinged on my own desires to feed and water myself whenever I felt the need, but in practice there was no problem. There are a fair few non-Muslims around, much goodwill and tolerance, and enough food and drink vendors willing to service us.

The bulk of the Parepare locals were observing though, and as sunset approached, the excitement was palpable.

It was five minutes to six. The seafront food stalls were full of happy groups, anticipating the party to come. The cooks were cooking up a storm.

Still one minute to go. The food is out there on the tables, right under people's noses. They're holding their nerve.

Suddenly a siren sounds and everyone's into it! It's a six o'clock swill, so to speak!

Except for the group below, who obviously were last to place their orders, and were still sitting there patiently, awaiting their turn.

Makassar

I spent a happy couple of days in South Sulawesi's capital, Makassar, on my recent Indonesian trip. It's come a long way since my last visit, 30 years ago, when I mostly remember muddy streets and becaks (cycle-rickshaws) as the main mode of transport.



For a visitor like me it's largely about the waterfront sights and food stalls. There are also a big theme park and an underground shopping centre.

There's also a 'floating mosque', and another, even more spectacular disneyesque mosque seems to be under construction.








One of the things it's difficult not to do is to get picked up by one of the tourist becak drivers, and taken for a ride, farewise, as well as to the schooner harbour and the fish market. The sights and photo opportunities make it well worth while though.








The Makassans are of course famed for their seafaring prowess, and were trading with the people of northern Australia hundreds of years ago.








Last time I was there, Makassar was officially Ujung Pandang. That never quite worked, and it was changed back to Makassar in 1999 by then President B.J. Habibie, who was born nearby. The two names are now used interchangeably, and Lonely Planet assures me there are no political connotations in which one you use.

Flying the Garuda bird again

Garuda is a legendary bird-like creature in Hindu mythology, the king of birds, in fact. He was a protector with powers to go anywhere. He's also part of  Indonesia's state insignia, and with particular importance in mainly Hindu Bali, where they're constructing the world's biggest statue in his image.

Here's a smaller version, courtesy Wikipedia, of a National Museum of India Garuda.

Back to Indonesia, and it's of course also the national airline. I'm more than happy to fly Garuda these days on my annual Indonesian explorations. They had an unfortunate bad patch for a while, with a few (unprotected) planes falling out of the sky and coming into unscheduled high speed contact with planet Earth. Along with all other Indonesian carriers they even got banned from flying to Europe. But that's all changed now. They haven't had a crash for a good while, they've been winning various international airline awards, and my experience this trip was one of efficient, friendly and comfortable service, and almost perfect on-time flying.

Indonesia's major airports too have made massive advances. They have some of the world's biggest, and most comfortable and best-organised ones these days. Vastly better places to deal with than Sydney's tired and crowded international airport.


On the subject of airline safety, there was an extraordinary incident at an Indonesian airport last week, when passengers on low-cost Indonesian airline Lion Air took it upon themselves to evacuate onto the wing of an airliner, after a disgruntled passenger claimed to have planted a bomb because there was no room in the locker for his hand baggage. Watch here: Lion Air evacuation





Another Garuda bird about to fly? Actually no. This was a tourist in Bali posing as one, I think.










My Garuda-enabled trip this year took in South Sulawesi and Bali. Watch this space for further reports.

Another day, another Adani demo

It's extraordinary that they're still needed, but they are. The massive Queensland coal mining project fails to 'stack up' in so many ways, economically and environmentally, that it should have been put to rest long ago. For one thing, the greenhouse gases it would liberate would be greater than the sum total generated by many quite large countries (Belgium and Austria were mentioned).

The Liberal Party of course is full of coal-loving climate-deniers, but even the Labor Party hasn't quite managed to oppose it very whole-heartedly. In particular, Anthony Albanese, alleged left-wing leadership alternative to the right's Bill Shorten, has said little, and couldn't be enticed to address this rally in Marrickville. This is within his Inner Western electorate of Grayndler, which  could well fall to the Greens at the next election, especially if its member stays missing in action on this matter.

He wasn't there in person, but his effigy was.







A couple of hundred people can make quite a lot of noise, and I hope Albo heard us, wherever he was hiding.







Musical accompaniment was from the Riff Raff Radical Marching Band, and they did a great job!

More Doom but no gloom!

Back to the Temples of Doom the other day - that wonderful playground of giant sandstone 'pagodas' that form a natural climax to any Gardens of Stone bushwalking adventure.









Here's my old friend, visiting from England, taking in the very un-English scene.







And here they all are, using the bathroom facilities.



We're in the Maiyingu Marragu Aboriginal Place (many spelling variations on that one). It's part of the area, north of Lithgow, which is still threatened by damage from coal mining, and which should rightly be protected within an enlarged Gardens of Stone National Park.

Still a powerful museum experience

Not just a science museum, Ultimo's Powerhouse Museum is the main site of the Museum of Arts and Sciences. It's housed in the old powerhouse building of the electric tram system, and it's quite an institution.

As well as science and technology, it deals with transport, decorative arts, design, media, communication, and lots more. A visit is quite an education.

I first visited the Powerhouse in the 1980s, shortly after it was rehoused in its current spectacular lodgings. I've been back once or twice, and last week it was time to catch up with it once more. It might be the last time too, with much talk of its impending destruction and/or exile to Parramatta and/or duplication. Who knows what the final outcome will be, but the State Government seems to have all kinds of secretive plans for it, all probably involving wins for property developers and losses for us, the public.

Among the probably immovable exhibits is the enormous Boulton-Watt steam engine, said to be the oldest working rotative one in the world.

There's even a nice little corner devoted to space exploration. It includes a section of International Space Station mock-up, which pretends to rotate around you, giving you a very disorienting experience to simulate, sort of, not knowing up from down, as you wouldn't.


And there's the obligatory section of hands-on science education exhibits, like the 'Zap the plasma ball' Van de Graaff machine.