The Melbourne International Flower show includes a view over the veteran Exhibition Building.  The straightforward style, yet with restrained elegant decoration - not so apparent in this photo - is unique in this country in my humble opinion.

.....blinded by the light....

Word of the week: Jabodetabek!  The region of Jakarta and its outer areas.  Most likely a veritable 'powerhouse'. The population is bigger than that of our entire continent.
Acronym: Jakarta etc.
Photos from cinemas in Bandung.
    

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;   Bring me my Arrows of desire;
 Bring me my Spear  O clouds unfold!   Bring me my Chariot of fire!

England once transformed many a country and promoted development far and wide. 
Now the Old Dart itself has been 'colonized' by Europeans and others which has naturally led to difficulties and for various reasons the UK may go it alone without the EU.
 That has been our experience in Australia. We stand alone limited by a mere 24 million in population. American culture floods in but it won't alter the situation very much.   
 As foreigners, our visa requirements for the UK have been tightened up recently.  Some recruits were acceptable as are tourists.

The photo is of a probable administrative centre, the one and only Gedung Sate in Bandung, Indonesie.   Only a small part of the building is shown. It has a pole resembling a sate skewer on the roof line. The pedestrian crossing is rather intrusive and that's from aiming low so as to reduce the amount of sky and the glare rightly or wrongly - nothing technical.


 

 Buildings with striking names such as Gedung Merdeka and Gedung Sate demand attention.          Gedung Merdeka (hall) in Jl Asia Afrika has an interior and a story with international themes.
In imagination an interior related to pre-war Germanic aesthetic.
School girl visitors and teachers shared good will and photos with us.
Displays tend to focus on historical figures and incidentals rather than policies and plans and are apolitical, well, that is my fleeting impression.    

 

Another corner in Jl Asia Afrika, Bandung.

Cold Bintang is terrific for the fluid intake and considered safe on some scores.
 According to the menu, several hotels served Australian beef as well as New Zealand Lamb conjuring up indigestion over live export.  But another hotel was drawing attention to some competition namely beef from the USA.
 Could be that Chicken is the closest that an average person might get to meat consumption and fish is available fresh and dried.  In fact, supermarkets stock a good range of bulk foods that are a real novelty in my eyes.  Gratuitous processed foods with redundant additives have made serious inroads with a price tag to match. 
 Trivial, but individual serves of butter had origins in New Zealand, France and some other place.  Our country has missed the boat over that export.  Of all things, Arnotts Tim Tams were there seemingly
 made under license. 

 The Savoy Homann is a knockout to those keen on buildings of this vintage. Unexpected in Bandoeng or Bandung, Java of the 1930s. Dutch city fathers delivered and established a city of note.
The streets are now akin to a drag racing strip which detracts just a tad from the good vibes.
Another sight was a tad disturbing namely a convoy of big luxury black Mercedes, maybe seven or ten with a police escort, conspicuous, all out of proportion in a scene of inequality.
   

 

When it comes to fashion, Indonesian women usually looked dignified, be that an out of date description.  And apart from all other considerations about dress codes, Islamic fashion is elegant and flattering.
 The storm clouds did not amount to much rain, just threatened and scattered everyone.  Maybe there was a drought.  One garden was hand watered. Should have taken more notice of this corner for this street and our suburb was never exactly located again! Effortlessly.

And this building is not a parody.  So many of them should be a parody. (I am so judgemental).
Below. Right in the hub of lavish interior design/soft furnishings was a more humble shelter. Jakarta.
  In Indonesia, more often than not luxury equals ostentation - and how.

 The smell of spice was stong and pleasant in one part of the Old Town in Semarang.  Spice is grown in the hills.

 Respite from the jaunt was found in a highly appropriate retro cafe that was mute and cool and held a good collection of this and that.  Local timber furniture is notable for design and strength.

Villa Isola.  Art-Deco 1933 Dutch colonial heritage. Outskirts of Bandung.
 The building is on the splendid campus of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia where we met an academic who really enjoyed recalling her days of post graduate study in Melbourne.
  The exchange of university students between Indonesia and Australia could be a terrific means of furthering contact. Any means of creating a more inclusive region would be a very welcome move.The University of Newcatle appears to enrol a number of Indonesians just from my observations.

 From the villa to the city beyond.

.

The Grand Paradise Hotel, Lembang, Java, capturing the mountain airs and hot springs of 'Bandung Heights'. Unbelievable. A modern water fun park is in one corner.

The idiosyncratic Green School is beside a river spanned by bamboo bridge. Nearby, a smaller suspension bridge was maths project.

Students participate in school activities that are not risk free that would send our protective parents into a frenzy.

This is notable.  A bamboo creation at the Green School, Bali

It is confusing when the accommodation and the dining area is akin to a Balinese Hindu shrine. And is appealing.
  Vast numbers of Hindu sacred spaces are all pervasive. In monumental stone work.
  Perhaps it is true to say that the built environment is made up of fifty per cent as habitation and fifty per cent as shrines.  

 Sign of the times.  Very old signage came to light  Watt Street.

Twenty first century minds and technology flew above 33,000 feet: while medieval tribes and the dark ages were below on ground level.

 Union Steam Ship Company Watt Street Newcastle. Of course, that company has gone finis.
Low-Rise. Newcastle won't be in the running with Dubai and the like - and that's AOK.

Court Chambers on King and Bolton streets.

This could be a  perfect day for airing and washing doonas and blankets. Brisk and chilly but sunny. Could have prepared for winter before this - better later than never!
Spell check on this site can't deal with the word doonas. What's needed is a local edition of spell check.

Also on the other corner of Newcomen and Hunter we can see a make over has begun.  Whatever do they have in mind?  Hope they notice some worth already in place. This may have been a clothing department store named The Huslers or similar. Although Breckinbridges was another contender.

King street again. Something like the sixties in Eastern Europe in appearance? What will Putin do? Doing. It's unbelievable. Boycott the Para olympics in Russia. And more. Would Putin even notice that? And I would like to think well of Russian culture in its bleakness.