fortress.

26 November 2007 · by Tintin Wulia · in hands-on thinking, jogja

There is a certain wave in Jogja that tells motorbike riders when a traffic light is about to turn green. This wave is very practical when it’s sunny and very hot, especially around the gates of the old walls surrounding the palace area.

It is a unique experience of sound (and obviously sight) to pass through these gates. When you close your eyes while passing through Plengkung Gading (a.k.a. Plengkung Nirbaya – the closest gate to this studio), for example, it would sound a little bit like this:

… ee – oo – ee …

And when the traffic light turns red, the whole experience of passing through the gate would sound somewhat like this:

… ee, k, oo – oo – oo – oo – oo – oo. oooo, wheeeeee …

This is as close as possible to what I think it sounds like. But written language is limited. Pictures speak more:

I wonder how the Bajaj, Jakarta’s most noisy vehicle, would sound when passing through these gates. Perhaps we would hear a lot of swearing, or perhaps no one would even want to be around. A standard Bajaj heard from the inside would really hurt your eardrums. A standard Bajaj going through a standard gate, that might help you reach deafness faster.

No, this is not the noisiest view. I went up to the roof of Plengkung Gading, and found that the ditch between the wall and the outer buildings were all covered with concrete already.

What I found there was quite a long and hot pathway (especially at high noon) with quite interesting views. Mostly of garbage.

Forever uncollected, uncollectable garbage.

And others.

Last night, when I biked back to the studio after Mas Landung’s birthday dinner, I passed by this famous Plengkung Gading again. I was very tempted to go up and see whether youthful couples would have ritually converted the space into something more suitable for nomadic romance.

But well, it was too dark, I was too coward, the wind was too cold, the bike too expensive, and the bed too comfortable.

fortress.

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