Kopi Luwak: Indonesia's rich cup or 'crappuccino'?

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Monday, February 21, 2011

(CNN) -- If you are a coffee lover you might be tempted to pay for a cup of the most expensive coffee in the world. Indonesia's velvety tasting brew, Kopi Luwak, gives new meaning to rich coffee. It can cost up to $50 per cup.
"The supply is very limited in the world that makes the price is very expensive," Kopi Luwak brand managing director Henry Fernando said.
The reason the supply is limited has to do with how the beans are initially processed. Just a warning here, it isn't pretty.
Kopi means coffee in Indonesian and Luwak is a wild Asian palm civet, a fury creature that looks like a cross between a cat and a ferret. The civet climbs the coffee trees to find the best berries, eats them, digests the berries and eventually out comes the coffee beans in its stools. Farmers then pick up the civet droppings and take the beans to a processing plant. Something about the gastric juices in the civet's stomach gives Kopi Luwak its unique flavor.
We do the cleaning process before we do the roasting. It's not a problem, and now the Kopi Luwak is certified Halal.
--Henry Fernamdo, Kopi Luwak brand managing director
"I do like it. Compared to other kinds of coffee, it has a more distinctive coffee taste and aroma," customer Yotje Hartono said as he sipped his coffee after watching the ritual of making a cup of the expensive brew.
At a Kopi Luwak Café in Jakarta the staff brings out a gold-lined cup, a hot thermos of water and vacuum packed sealed package of the Kopi Luwak. The package is opened and poured into the cup and then the hot water is poured in. It is stirred and then covered. You have to wait two minutes before sipping it.
When I first saw it being made I recoiled. I thought: "I'm paying all this money for instant coffee, no way!"
But after taking the first sip I felt a little better. It is very smooth with hints of chocolate and caramel flavors and it doesn't have that acidic aftertaste that coffee sometimes does.
For years it has been more popular overseas than in Indonesia but that is fast changing as the economy in the country continues to grow at a rate far faster than those in the west.
"We opened Kopi Luwak Café in 2002 and already have 20 stores," Fernando said.
It has become even more popular around the world after it was featured on "Oprah" and in the Hollywood movie "The Bucket List" where Jack Nicholson's character was obsessed with it (not knowing of course what made it so special until the end).
Kopi Luwak's growing popularity and the way its made has run into trouble. It has been given some nasty names such as "crappuccino" and inspired two of Indonesia¹s main Muslim organizations to consider putting a fatwa on it because the process appeared to be ritually unclean.
But that all changed, Fernando said, after a bit of explanation about the bean when it is excreted.
"It still has the skin, inner layer. And we do the cleansing process, before we do processing and roasting. It's not a problem. And now, the Kopi Luwak is certified Halal," he said.
And it is being enjoyed for a heck of a lot less in its home country than elsewhere. A cup costs about $8 in Indonesia as opposed to up to $50 in other countries.
"I feel it's the type of thing you have to do once at least," an American customer who happened to visiting Indonesia said.
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top ten chart music ( billboard) in this week

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Saturday, February 19, 2011

Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Teenage Dream

Bruno Mars

Grenade

Bruno Mars

Wiz Khalifa

Black And Yellow

Wiz Khalifa

Enrique Iglesias Featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E

Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)

Enrique Iglesias Featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E

Rihanna

S&M

Rihanna

Loud

The Black Eyed Peas

The Time (Dirty Bit)

The Black Eyed Peas



Britney Spears
P!nk  

F**kin' Perfect

P!nk

Cee Lo Green
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New E7 nations 'will overtake G7 by 2050'

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Friday, February 18, 2011

The G7 group of rich nations will be overtaken by an "E7" bloc of emerging economies by 2050, presenting a major challenge to a swath of Western companies and workers, according to research published today.
The collective size of the economies of the fast-growing septet - China, India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey - will have surpassed the Group of Seven by as much as 75 per cent by the midway mark in the century, it said.
The report, by the accountancy firm PwC, said the rise of these economies was beneficial to the West but warned there would be winners and losers - among companies and individual workers. Its report, which it said showed an urgent need for boosting skills levels, came as the online retailer Amazon.com said it was moving its main European customer service centre from Slough to the Irish Republic because of a shortage of multilingual workers.
PwC found that people with low- or medium-level skills would come under threat - both from having their jobs moved overseas and having them taken by migrant labour. Eventually, even high-skilled professionals such as lawyers and accountants could find their livelihoods under threat.
"Premium incomes currently earned by highly skilled and educated professionals - senior lawyers, accountants, bankers, financial market analysts - will tend to be gradually eroded by an increasing number of equally well-qualified, extremely highly motivated and hard-working English-speaking professionals from the E7 countries."
But it said that many business sectors and trades would be better off as long as Western countries adapted.
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INDONESIA , AMAZING COUNTRY

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Saturday, February 12, 2011


Indonesia adalah negara kepulauan terbesar di dunia yang mempunyai 17.508 pulau terbentang sepanjang 3.977 mil antara Samudra Hindia hingga Samudra Pasifik antara 6 °LU - 11° LS, dan dari 97°BT- 141° BT serta terletak antara dua benua yaitu benua Asia dan Australia.letak indonesia ini terbilang cukup strategis. Apabila perairan antara pulau-pulau itu digabungkan, maka luas Indonesia menjadi1.9 juta mil
persegi,dengan 5 pulau besarnya :Sumatera 473.606 km²
Jawa 132.107 km²
Kalimantan 539.460 km²(pulau terbesar ketiga di dunia)
Sulawesi 189.216 km²
Papua 421.981 km²


Indonesia dibagi menjadi 33 provinsi . dengan ibukota beradi di DKI. JAKARTA . Sebelum tahun 1999, Timor Timur merupakan salah satu provinsi di Indonesia, yang kemudian memisahkan diri melalui referendum menjadi Negara Timor Leste. Inilah data ke 33 provinsi Indonesia :

Sumatra
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) | Sumatera Utara | Sumatera Barat | Bengkulu | Riau | Kepulauan Riau | Jambi | Sumatera Selatan | Lampung | Kepulauan Bangka Belitung
Jawa
Jakarta(DKI) | Jawa Barat | Banten | Jawa Tengah | DI Yogyakarta(DIY) | Jawa Timur

UBUD BALI
Kalimantan
Kalimantan Barat | Kalimantan Tengah | Kalimantan Selatan | Kalimantan Timur
Nusa Tenggara
Bali | Nusa Tenggara Barat | Nusa Tenggara Timur
Sulawesi
Sulawesi Barat | Sulawesi Utara | Sulawesi Tengah | Sulawesi Selatan | Sulawesi Tenggara | Gorontalo
Kepulauan Maluku dan Papua
Maluku | Maluku Utara | Papua Barat | Papua
Indonesia pernah dilanda krisis ekonomi yang melanda Asia pada 1990-an.Indonesia mempunyai sumber daya yang berlimpah , diantaranya minyak mentah, gas alam, timah, tembaga dan emas. Indonesia merupakan pengekspor gas alam terbesar kedua di dunia, meski akhir-akhir ini ia telah mulai menjadi pengimpor bersih minyak mentah. Hasil pertanian yang utama termasuk beras, teh, kopi, rempah-rempah dan karet.
Indonesia terdiri dari berbagai suku bangsa, agama serta kepercayaan yang berbeda. Diantaranya Batak, Karo, Minangkabau, Melayu dan sebagainya.Agama yang diakui di Indonesia yaitu Islam, Kristen, Hindu, dan Buddha bahkan kini Kepercayaan Konghucu juga diakui. Sebagian besar masyarakat Indonesia beragama Islam .
Dikutip dari internet dengan perubahan .
Maaf apabila terdapat kesalahan informasi


PRAMBANAN TEMPLE

RAJA AMPAT PAPUA




ENGLISH
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago nation has 17,508 islands that extends along 3.977 mile between the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean between 6 ТАLU - 11ТА LS, and from 97ТАBT-141ТА BT and is located between two continents, Asia and Indonesia are quite Australia.letak strategic. If the waters between the islands combined, the vast Indonesian menjadi1.9 million miles square, with 5 large islands:
Sumatra 473 606 kmТВ
132,107 Java kmТВ
KmТВ 539 460 Kalimantan (the third largest island in the world)
Sulawesi 189,216 kmТВ
Papua kmТВ 421 981

Indonesia is divided into 33 provinces. with capital beradi in Jakarta. JAKARTA. Before 1999, East Timor is one of the provinces in Indonesia, which then through a referendum to the State of Timor Leste. This is the data to the 33 provinces of Indonesia:

Sumatra
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) | North Sumatra | West Sumatra | Bengkulu | Riau | Riau Islands | Jambi | South Sumatra | Lampung | Bangka Belitung Islands
Java
Jakarta (DKI) | West Java | Banten | Central Java | Yogyakarta (DIY) | East Java
Kalimantan
West Kalimantan | Central Kalimantan | South Kalimantan | East Kalimantan
Nusa Tenggara
Bali | West Nusa Tenggara | East Nusa Tenggara
Sulawesi
West Sulawesi | North Sulawesi | Central Sulawesi | South Sulawesi | South East Sulawesi | Gorontalo
Maluku Islands and Papua
Maluku | North | West Papua | Papua
Indonesia was hit by the economic crisis that hit Asia in 1990-an.Indonesia have abundant resources, including crude oil, natural gas, tin, copper and gold. Indonesia is the second largest natural gas exporter in the world, although lately he has become a net importer of crude oil. The agriculture products include rice, tea, coffee, spices and rubber.
Indonesia consists of various ethnic groups, religions and different beliefs. Among the Batak, Karo, Minangkabau, Malay and Indonesian sebagainya.Agama that is recognized in Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism and Confucian belief even now well recognized. Most of the people of Indonesia are Muslim.
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Facebook launches pages redesign

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Friday, February 11, 2011


Facebook has wanted to redesign Facebook Pages ever since it launched the profile redesign.
Facebook has wanted to redesign Facebook Pages ever since it launched the profile redesign.
 
-- Facebook has begun rolling out a full redesign of Facebook Pages. The changes will make the Pages look and operate more like user profiles. The new Pages redesign was first seen in December, when Facebook accidentally launched it and quickly took it down. The update not only removed tabs, but it gave page admins the ability to post and comment on other Facebook Pages through a "Login as Page" feature.
Those prototype features have made the cut for today's launch. As Facebook's Rohit Dhawan, the lead product manager for Facebook Pages, explained to me earlier today, the company has wanted to redesign Facebook Pages ever since it launched the profile redesign.
"We strongly believe you should have consistent experiences when possible," Dhawan said.
The big difference everyone will notice will be the new layout. The left-hand menu for editing pages has been removed in favor of a new navigation menu that replaces the old tabbing system.
And like the Facebook Profiles redesign, the left-hand "Information" box is also gone. However, page admins can now add info about their brand at the top of the page under the main title.
The right-hand menu has also been tweaked. There is now a section that features the page's admins (if you so choose) as well as a section that shows users how many of their friends have also "liked" that particular page.
Finally, just like profiles, a page can now feature relevant photos at the top. This could lead to some very creative uses for Facebook Pages.
Log in as your Facebook page
There are some other notable differences between the new Facebook Pages and the old version, especially for page admins.
The "Login as Page" feature gives admins the ability to interact with the rest of Facebook as a page, not an individual. For example, I could log in as Mashable and start commenting and "liking" things on Facebook Pages that have "liked" Mashable.
Admins will also see a different News Feed if they are logged in as their page; It will display the most important news from the pages you've "liked."
"A page can now use Facebook as if they were an individual with the ability to interact with other pages," Dhawan said. "It provides interesting content when people are visiting the page. "
Mashable: What the new Facebook pages mean for users & owners
Pages can't do everything a user can, though. Most importantly, they cannot post on a user's wall or comment on his or her status. The lone exception is for a user who has opted for the "everybody" privacy setting; Pages can comment on status updates for those individuals.
The other update Facebook is adding is an "Everyone" filter that brings the most interesting and engaging posts from a page's community to the top of the page. This makes it easier for users and admins to easily find the most "liked" and commented-on conversations on a particular page.
The new Facebook Pages are also smart enough to filter out posts that are not in a language you speak.
The new design launches today as a preview for Facebook Page admins. Before switching, they can check to see what their page will look like and tweak elements of the design before launch.
The company is also releasing a Page Tour and a manual to explain the new design. Admins will have until March 10 to switch over though, before Facebook automatically updates every page to the new design.

source : cnn.com
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Who Circumnavigated The Earth First?

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Thursday, February 10, 2011

At school we were taught that the first man to circumnavigate the earth was Ferdinand Magellan (Fernao Magallhaes in Portuguese, Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) in 1521. Being killed in Mactan, the Philippines on April 27, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan did not complete the “circumnavigation of the earth”. His farthest previous journey to the eastern part of Southeast Asia archipelago was to Brunei.
The other source of information about this most amazing voyage in the history of humankind is a report written by Maximillianus Transylvanus who interviewed Magellan’s surviving men who managed to return to Spain. The report was printed in 1523 under the title of “De Moluccis Insulis” (“The Moluccas Island”). MaximilianusTransylvanus was an assistant to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1519-56) who was also the King of Spain Charles (Carlos) I (1516-56).
In the record of his world tour Pigafetta wrote that Magellan was assisted by an assistant who Pigafetta said came from Sumatra, Enrique de Malacca, or Enrique el Negro (Henry the Black). In other transcripts he was also called Enrique de Molucca, perhaps by Transylvanus, because it was Transylvanus who declared that Henry Black came from the Moluccas.
Pigafetta wrote one of the reasons Magellan could convince King Carlos I of Spain to finance his voyage was the presence of Enrique el Negro who fascinated the curious king with his physical looks and his multilingual talent. Ferdinand Magellan set out from Sanlucar de Barrameda on September 20, 1519 carrying about 270 men of various ethnic, racial and national origins.
For more than 400 years, no one ever thought about the possibility that Enrique el Negro was the first human to circumnavigate the earth. In 1958, a Malay novelist Harun Aminurrashid said that Enrique el Negro was the first man to have that honor. And he said that Enrique el Negro is a Malayan Malay (Malaysia did not exist until 1963), as opposed to an Indonesian Malay. The Malay writer was polite enough to say that Enrique el Negro was a Malay who came from Sumatra.
In 1980, Carlos Quirino, a Filipino historian and author, said that Enrique el Negro was a Filipino, with the argument that he could directly communicate with the natives when he arrived in Cebu, while Pigafetta’s records clearly stated that Enrique el Negro could not understand what the natives said.
Enrique el Negro is Indonesian! Why was he called black? A Sumatran being black is a rarity. Magellan must have cautiously prepared his voyage westward to the Moluccas and turned back to Spain. He needed a person who understood everything about the archipelago, especially the Moluccas.
One more argument that supports this theory is that during his journey Pigafetta wrote a dictionary of the languages he encountered during the voyage. Of 460 words in his dictionary, only 160 words are not Malay. One can argue that he was assisted by Enrique, who was on the same ship as him for 18 months. Among the words collected, a lot of them came from the Moluccas as admitted by Pigafetta.
Whatever the case, Enrique had completed the 360 degree circumnavigation of the world, because Mactan is at longitude 123 ° 58 ‘E, and Ambon is 128 ° 12’E.
People from the Scandinavian countries were proud about the fact the first European to discover American was their countryman Leif Eriksson, who had visited Nova Scotia in Canada, and not Columbus. We too can do the same thing.
Source: The Jakarta Post (Reinhard R. Tawas)
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Chicken and Egg on Rice

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Tuesday, February 8, 2011


Ingredients (Serves 4)
* 1 boneless chicken thigh with skin* 1/2 onion* 1/2 loaf kamaboko,(white fish paste)* 8 eggs* 1 cup /200ml dashi stock* 3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce* 1 1/2 tbsp sugar* 3 tbsp mirin sweet cooking sake* 1 tbsp sake* cooked rice to taste* mitsuba (chopped)

1. Slice the onion thinly. Cut the chicken into smaller-bite-sized pieces. Slice the kamaboko thinly.

2. Combine the dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar, sake and mirin in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and cook for a short time. Add the onion and kamaboko and simmer.

3. While it is boiling, pour the beaten eggs into it little by little.
Turn off the heat.
The heat of the stock will half-cook the eggs.
Pour it over rice in a bowl. Sprinkle with mitsuba.

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Tofu Salad (encore)

Posted by Srandil Mandala

setelah nonton your japanese kitchen on NHK , nemuin resep yang kelihatannya gampang dibuat . berbahan dasar tahu ( padahal gag suka tahu .weeekkk) .ini sejenis pecel indonesia . tapi versi jepang .hahahaha . . .check it out :



Ingredients (Serves 4)
*Salad   Silk tofu (soft tofu)   3-4 pieces of lettuce   2 small tomatoes   2 cucumbers   Herb mix*Banbanji Dressing   1 tsp finely chopped leek    1 tsp grated ginger    1 tsp grated garlic    1/4 cup consommé chicken soup    3 tbsp sesame paste    1 + 1/2 tbsp sugar    2 tbsp soy sauce    3 tbsp ground sesame seeds    2 tsp toban djan (Chinese chili paste)    2 tbsp vinegar

1. Drain the tofu. Wrap it in paper towel. Put it in the refrigerator to keep it cool.

2. Prepare the Banbanji dressing:put the sesame paste in the bowl. Dissolve the consommé powder in hot water. Add the consommé soup to the bowl and mix well. Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, ground sesame seeds, finely shredded leek, ginger and garlic. Add the toban djan (Chinese chili paste) and mix well.
   *Use a little less toban djan for children and elderly people.

3. Cut the cucumbers. If you aren't using Japanese cucumbers, slice the cucumber in half, lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Then cut the cucumber in 5 millimeter pieces.

4. Cut the tofu in 6 blocks.

5. Cut the tomatoes into wedges.

6. Tear the lettuce.

7. Combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and tofu on a serving plate.

8. Pour the dressing over the salad or serve it on the side.

** Use any of your favorite vegetables for this salad **
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New7Wonders keeps Komodo, but removes Ministry of Culture and Tourism from official role

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Monday, February 7, 2011


New7Wonders today announces the following important decisions concerning the participation of Komodo in the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign:

1
. Voting for Komodo continues as an authorized Finalist in the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign.

2
. New7Wonders removes the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from its status as Official Supporting Committee for Komodo in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign.

Outlining these decisions, Bernard Weber, President and Founder of New7Wonders, says: "Every action by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism last week strengthened the case for us to withdraw from Indonesia completely. If we depended on the Ministry, then today we would be forced to announce a complete pull-out." "Fortunately, in the past days we have received many encouraging and supporting requests from the public and leading individuals to allow Komodo to continue as a Finalist in the Official New7Wonders of Nature," says Weber, adding: "As New7Wonders is the world's first and largest global voting platform, these voices are important to us."

He emphasizes: "The main news today is this: with the removal of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from its official role in the campaign, voting for Komodo can continue."

Bernard Weber points out: "Normally, we would have expected the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as our then-designated New7Wonders Official Supporting Committee, to act responsibly, to honour its many pledges regarding Jakarta becoming the Official Host for the Declaration of the New7Wonders of Nature on 11.11.11. The Ministry's role should have been to support us, and to lead the search for a solution to honour the legally binding contract for New7Wonders Official Host, signed in December 2010 with a leading Indonesian Private Consortium — a consortium endorsed by the Ministry in the first place. Instead, they have reacted with malicious misinformation, invented financial commitments and prejudicial action to cover up for an apparent lack of moral responsibility and duty. In my view, with this behaviour, the Ministry has also reduced the chances for Indonesia to host other major global events that create goodwill in the world, such as the Olympics or the World Cup." 

Regarding the removal of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from its official status in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign, Bernard Weber states: "Under the legal terms of the Participation Agreement, we have the ultimate right to withdraw or modify the status of any participant, and in the case of Komodo the evidence clearly points to the unsuitability of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as our authorised New7Wonders Official Supporting Committee, and therefore this status is revoked with immediate effect. This removal allows us to keep Komodo in the campaign."

Bernard Weber declares: "Once we again see it is possible to do business legally safely in Indonesia, we will consider appropriate associations or foundations or other official bodies to take over the role of New7Wonders Official Supporting Committee for Komodo. As of today, all official promotional activities for Komodo as a Finalist in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign must be directly authorized by New7Wonders until further notice."

He concludes: "In the matter of the pending issues for the legally binding contract for the Official Host, New7Wonders will continue to act to ensure the full recognition of its legal rights, and it expects the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to be fully accountable to the Indonesian people it represents for its moral obligations in this regard."
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The Interchange Skyscraper

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Sunday, February 6, 2011

Special Mention
Special Mention

The Freeway Interchange Tower seeks to reclaim the “throw-away” land often left in the wake of massive highway junctions, typically an abandoned, unattractive space at the center of maze-like crossings. These infrastructure nexus not only serve as transportation nodes, but also act as buffers between differing land conditions, uses, and city environments. In this particular site, the freeway interchange is bordered by low density residential neighborhoods on the south and east sides, a nearby institutional center to the north, and a major drainage canal to the northwest. With such proximity to varying uses and zoning regions, the interchange often becomes the separating barrier.
The intent of this proposal is to elevate the status of the interchange from utilitarian infrastructure to one of regional unifier. By sucking up the visual language of southern California’s formidable freeway system and coalescing it into an iconic high-rise, the tower can act as a symbolic ribbon that ties the area together, signifying the crossing points of the cities of Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana. The mixed-use program of the tower – retail, commercial office and high end hotel near the top – completes the micro-arcology of the area, complementing existing nearby residential and recreational uses. At the same time, the tower reinforces the Southern California automotive culture, celebrating the constant dynamism and technological achievement of its impressive freeway system.
In a vision for the future of the these endless sprawl zones so ubiquitous to southern California, Interchange Tower would be the common place connecting and completing the local ecosystems. With the development of “community towers”, destination nodes would be created that enhance local economic stability (retail), relocate and diversify commercial office space, as well as form areas of vertical social density encompassing high end hotels and condominiums. Ironically, the Interchange Tower would serve to reduce the burden of excessive automobile transportation by creating waypoints; however, this intervention would also begin to render the mega interchange (its habitat) obsolete with the reduced need for such infrastructure.
In conceiving the idea of the Interchange Tower the parti was developed in which the freeway strata was brought quite literally into the tower, forming a symbiotic relationship between site context and object. As the automobiles are brought into the building, they would circulate up to the parking levels which are followed by retail and observation decks, office space, hotel, and final a sky lounge. In order to create a unified language based on the sweeping lines of the freeway below, the tower’s outer skin is composed of a helical ribbon of aluminum panels which serve two main functions; first and foremost a sound damping system to control the noise inherent of its surroundings, and secondly as a sun shading device which is more sinuous at the lower levels to allow more or less light at the upper levels, where solar shading is necessary.

Board - 1
Board - 1

Board - 2
Board - 2
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Water Purification Skyscraper in Jakarta

Posted by Srandil Mandala

water-purification-skyscraper-0
The city of Jakarta, Indonesia, was originally designed in the confluence of thirteen rivers which were used for transportation and agriculture. The largest of its rivers is The Ciliwung River, which has been extremely polluted during the last couple of decades, characterizes by hundreds of slums inhabited by thousands of people in marginal conditions.
The Ciliwung Recovery Program (CRP) is a project that aims to collect the garbage of the riverbank and purify its water through an ingenious system of mega-filters that operate in three different phases. The first one separates the different types of garbage and utilizes the organic one to fertilize its soil. The second phase purifies the water by removing dangerous chemicals and adding important minerals to it. The clean water is then fed to the river and to the nearby agricultural fields through a system of capillary tubes.  Finally in the third phase all the recyclable waste is processed.
One of the most important aspects of this proposal is the elimination of the slums along the river. The majority of the people will live and work at the CRP which could be understood as new city within Jakarta. The CRP project will be a 100 percent sustainable building that will produce energy through wind, solar, and hydroelectric systems. 
water-purification-skyscraper-1
water-purification-skyscraper-2
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Asia’s Best English Newspaper?

Posted by Srandil Mandala

Asia’s Best English Newspaper?
The Society of Publishers in Asia Awards for Editorial Excellence (SOPA) has recognized the strength of The Jakarta Globe’s feature writing, news photography, supplemental coverage and breaking news by bestowing five awards, including Best Journalist, upon the newspaper in a gala dinner in the JW Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong.
Dewi Kurniawati received first prize for her feature writing about the Orang Rimba tribe of Jambi. In her writing she illustrated the life of the tribe faced with the destruction of their environment through deforestation and the poisoning of rivers by industry. She then made it a brace of awards by receiving the Best Journalist award.
In the category of news photography, The Jakarta Globe also took first place with the judges deciding that Yudhi’s harrowing image of Min on a filthy bed in a makeshift hut in Kebun Melati, Tanah Abang, was the best of the entrants.
The Jakarta Globe also picked up a third award for Excellence in Special Coverage for the “Water Worries” special supplement. The same special supplement also received an honorable mention in the Environmental Reporting category.
Keeping readers up to date with the events that can affect them is one of The Jakarta Globe’s priorities and its breaking news coverage was recognized with yet another first prize. The Situ Gintung reservoir disaster was judged to be the most effectively covered piece of breaking news.
The up-to-date, dynamic layout of the newspaper also received an honorable mention in the Newspaper Layout category.
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Yes, Harrods Will Be In Jakarta, Sir!

Posted by Srandil Mandala

Yes, Harrods Will Be In Jakarta, Sir!

When I visited London sometimes in 2008, I managed to enter Harrods store, a super-elite department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, and yes, people stared at me.  I bought something  for a price that I prefer to forget. I told myself at it’d be the first and last time I’d spend my money at a store like Harrods.
I visited Harrods store in Singapore at Ngee Ann City and Takashimaya (if I’m not mistaken) several times. I had the impression (maybe it is real) that The Harrods stores at those two places got smaller and smaller. Now it only sells tea, biscuits, jams, etc. I think to myself, even rich Singaporeans still think that items sold in Harrods are too expensive.
So, it amazes me to read at Bisnis Indonesia that Harrods is getting ready to open up store in Jakarta. Seems like Al-Fayyed was amazed by the beauty of Indonesia when “Remarkable Indonesia” exhibition was held there in his store in London.
Of course, Harrods had done feasibility study before they encouraged themselves to move forward with the Jakarta store plan. They may well understand that the number of middle-class people are growing exponentially in Indonesia, something nobody can easily overlook.
Well, welcome to Indonesia, Sir!
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Modern Cities Of Indonesia

Posted by Srandil Mandala on Saturday, February 5, 2011

Modern Cities Of Indonesia

When I was still working in Jakarta, I lived somewhere 30 km away from the city center, where trees and greens were completely part of my surrounding. Everyday I had to drive trough two newly-developed modern town, Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) and Bintaro Jaya. Both have turned itself into modern and self-sustained cities.
BSD City
BSD City
BSD Central Biz District Phase II
Bintaro CBD Phase I
Harvest City Phase I, 25 km south of Jakarta
Jakarta Garden City, East of Jakarta
There are some more ”independent” modern cities outside Jakarta which become new magnets for Indonesian youths to come and bet their lucks, namely Alam Sutera, Modernland, Pondok Indah, Kota Wisata, Kelapa Gading, etc. My only concern is that, maybe it’ll be much better if those many areas are integrated in one single area, and make a new metropolitan like Singapore, which may be Jakarta’s blood sister. Can Indonesia? Yes, it can. Soon.
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Indonesia Eclipses UK On Facebook, At Last

Posted by Srandil Mandala

Indonesia Eclipses UK On Facebook, At Last

Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country that has nearly tripled its number of Facebook users over the past year, has finally eclipsed the United Kingdom as the second-largest Facebook market behind the United States. Its growth underpins Facebook’s emerging strength in Southeast Asia, a region has become strategic, rife with opportunities to push virtual goods and Credits.
As the world’s fourth more populous country, Indonesia promises to be one of Facebook’s key markets for years to come with 29.4 million users. Spread out across thousands of islands, Indonesia is a patchwork nation; the country’s official language Bahasa grew out of centuries of trading between hundreds of ethnic groups. Only a small minority of people in the country actually speak Bahasa as their mother tongue.
Facebook is addicting
Initially when Facebook’s growth began accelerating, Muslim clerics debated the morality of the service, and were concerned that the social network would facilitate gossip and flirtation. The country’s leading Islamic council signaled that they were interested in regulating the social network the way they did with its predecessors Myspace and Friendster.
Nevertheless, Facebook continued growing, adding more than 17 million users in a single year and politicians and leading religious figures have come to embrace the site. The country’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has more than 480,000 thousand fans for his Facebook Page. Some of the country’s top Muslim clerics have started Pages too, like Chairul Tanjung, who sits on the board of Indonesia’s highest religious authority, the Indonesian Ulema Council.
Overall, Indonesia has a fairly young population and on Facebook, the 13 to 25 age groups are over-represented compared to the makeup of the company’s top 16 markets (see below).
Facebook also boasts 67 percent Internet penetration among the country’s 45 million Internet users, according to the country’s ISP association and data on the company’s users there. In addition, the country has a growing number of people accessing the web via mobile devices — about 9 million, according to Onno Purbo, a longtime information technologies activist in the country.
So Facebook’s mobile apps and 0, it’s low-bandwidth mobile site, will play an increasingly important role there. While the iPhone leads Facebook’s mobile presence globally, in Indonesia, Nokia is the device manufacturer with dominant share in the country. Blackberry and Android are also gradually closing in.
Anecdotally, developers tell us that social gaming is an important factor powering Facebook adoption in the region. And Facebook has moved to capitalize on that through a recent deal with Malaysian payments company MOL, which also has a presence in Indonesia.
To read more, and view data on Facebook’s growth and demographics in over 160 countries around the world, please see Inside Facebook Gold.
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Bali, The Best Island In Asia Pacific

Posted by Srandil Mandala

Bali, The Best Island In Asia Pacific

Kompas reported on Bali as the best island in Asia Pacific according to a Hong Kong based magazine, DestinAsia. It’s such an honor, but is it that surprising? Bali has snatched that title four times already. Apparently foreign tourists still love Bali so much.
A beautiful resort in Bali
A beautiful resort in Bali
I bet there are still hundreds, or even thousands, of islands in Indonesian archipelago that would be the next best island, only if they were as well-known as Bali. Check out Lombok, Sikuai Island, and some other natural islands! Don’t be surprised if soon in the future the list of 10 Best Islands would be all Indonesian’s.
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