Bandung – A Place Called Home

Bandung is a very interesting city. It offers you plenty of things to enjoy. Bandung is a heaven for shopping lovers. It has a lot of places where you can go shopping conveniently, such as malls, factory outlets, and distribution outlets. For culinary lovers, Bandung is a right place to explore them. All kind of food can be found here, and most of them are highly recommended. Bandung also has a very beautiful view. You can enjoy the view at night from cafes and restaurants, especially in northern Bandung.

Having only 167.67 kilometers square, Bandung shouldn’t be difficult to be explored. Unfortunately, Bandung has a very complicated highway networks as a spider web. There are a lot of short roads, crossroads, and one way roads. Newcomers can easily get lost in Bandung if they don’t have good maps. Newcomers without personal vehicles should have a public transportation’s route info to guide them because Bandung has a lot of public transportation vehicles with different colors for almost every different direction.

Bandung is a very pleasant place to be stayed. Although it has a very unpredictable weather, the temperature is mostly constant. Bandung has good schools and universities for education. So, parents don’t have to worry about their children’s education. Bandung also has complete facilitations which can easily be reached. Because of these conveniences, Bandung is a good place to be called home.

Well organized, thanks for posting.

My Little Hometown

Located some 22 km from Medan, my hometown is a small city of only 250,000 soul and its area coveres about 9000 hectares. It is bordered by Langkat regency to the west and north, and Kabupaten Deli Serdang to the south and east. My hometown is, of course, a far cry when compared to Medan. Medan as the capital of North Sumatra that ranks third as the largest city in Indonesia, is a sophisticated, hectic city. When you live in Medan, a vehicle is a necessity, as in Jakarta. In my hometown, you walk everywhere. Not because you can’t afford a car, but merely because the city is so small that any place you visit regularly from the market-place, schools, grocery stores, supermarkets, banks, boutiques, temple, church, to dentist and doctor, is within walking-range. Perhaps you’re wondering about the malls, shopping centers, theme park, and other means of amusement. Well, in my hometown there’re none. It certainly stands no comparison with Medan. (Too many topics in this paragraph)

My hometown is a small city with little amusement and even fewer tourist attractions. No worth-visiting place that I can think of, not even a decent shopping center ––all the city has is a mini-market and two supermarkets––, and the only historical building left ––a water tower built by the Dutch, which was used as a water source for the local population–– was demolished only a few years ago and on the site of the tower several distasteful box-shaped townhouses were built. So what can I really tell you about my hometown? Perhaps that it is well known for its superior-quality rambutans. If you have heard of Binjai (chances are you don’t have a clue), well, that’s where I was born and that’s where I grew up.

There’s really nothing much I can tell about Binjai. About two years ago I moved to Medan. Sometimes I went to Binjai to visit my grandparents. I guess Binjai is just like any other small city, with several banks, several traditional markets, several schools, several hospitals, and several other common building but none of them is really anything special. Nothing interesting at all. The rambutan farms are too far from the city center, consequently I never visited them at all. A statue of independence fighters welcomes visitors from outside the city. The only thing I really enjoy there was the cuisine. At night, Bangkatan, which is a street parallel to the main street, would lighted up while every other streets in Binjai were pitch dark. Bangkatan is quite a long street, and is rather peaceful during the day, unlike the main street. However, at night, on both sides of the street, food stalls appeared, starting from 5 p.m. 8 o’clock in the evening is usually the peak-time, where citizens came here to dine either by foot or riding their vehicles.

Moving to Medan, I experienced a new lifestyle. From window-shopping after class, movies every week to night parties. But after a few months the novelty wore off. It took me almost an hour just to get to school, while for comparison, in Binjai I used to take a two-minute-walk to school. The traffic jams are just exhausting, the streets so unbearably hot and dusty you can never walk anywhere. When you read the newspaper, the crime news fills half the paper. Then I started to think perhaps, no matter how dull, my hometown still makes a great place to live. It is, no doubt, a great place to grow up.

Thanks for posting, you need to be a bit focus on 'one' topic for each paragraph.
Long ago, when I was young (1983) I spent about 1 week in Binjai and I love it. I also spent 3 weeks in Bahorok. At that time it was really nice to be there.

Sumenep, My Hometown (Elfa Nugraha)

Sumenep, My Hometown

Sumenep is a quite, little town in the province of Eastern Java. It is located furthest east of the island of Madura, surrounded by islands and beaches, which causes the weather in Sumenep to be very hot. It has an area of 2.093.45 km², and has a small population of about one million people.

Sumenep has quite a few unique places which tourists should visit. In the heart of Sumenep, one can find the Great Mosque, and the Adipura Park right across it. The architecture of the Great Mosque is influenced by Islamic, Chinese, and European architecture. This can be seen from the style and colours of its gate. The Adipura Park, like most (“alun-alun”) parks of towns in Java, is a place where one can find many people “hanging out” and taking walks. There are many kinds of food sold around the park. The Royal Palace (Kraton) of Sumenep is located about one hundred meters east of the Adipura Park. This palace was built in 1762, when Tumenggung Arya Nata Kusumo was in power. The gate which leads to the palace complex is known as “The Smiling Gate”. There is also a park located in the palace. This park has a swimming pool, which was specially used by princesses. Now, the palace is used to keep old weapons, ceremonial attributes, clothes, and attributes of old kings. About 30 km east of the town, one can find the Lombang Beach. This place is still very natural. One can simply enjoy the white sands of the beach, enjoy the breeze, while drinking coconut juice straight directly from the fruit at a cheap price.

There are some types of food which are associated with Sumenep. Kaldu, for instance, is a type of food which people in Sumenep like. This food probably became known to people in Sumenep, long ago from Arab immigrants. Kaldu itself is a thick soup with soya beans and tarsal bones of cows. It is a tasty meal which one must try in Sumenep. Sate is known as typical Madurese meal, but one can hardly find this in the town of Sumenep. Perhaps most cooks of sate have moved out, in order to do business elsewhere. Sate itself is pieces of meat served on a stick, most often served with sweet soya sauce mixed with “nut sauce”. Corn cooked in a special kind of way (perhaps fried) is a kind of snack which people in Sumenep like to serve. It is crispy, and tastes salty. Another kind of snack which is favoured by people in Sumenep is fried nuts served with “lorjuk”. “Lorjuk” itself is a snack which resembles “teri”, but black and slightly larger. It doesn’t taste as salty as “teri”, but in my opinion, it is more tasty.

As you can see, Sumenep is a quite interesting place, so you should go there sometime. Try the food, and visit the places!

Well organized, thanks for posting.

Visit Bandung -- My Hometown!

Why Bandung? Bandung, the capital city of West Java, is the fourth biggest city in Indonesia which offers you a cool climate and great tourism sites. It’s not hard to reach Bandung since Cipularang toll road was finished in 2005. By Cipularang toll road, Bandung can be reached in 2 hours from Jakarta, while normally it takes 3-4 hours via Puncak and Cikampek. But if you don’t like traveling by cars, trains and planes are also available from Jakarta.

Instead of seas (Bandung doesn’t have any sea because it is located in the middle of Java Island), Bandung has so many mountains surrounding him, like the famous reversed-ship-shaped Tangkuban Perahu Mountain (left) and Galunggung Mountain. Tangkuban Perahu mountain is still active, but it doesn’t prevent people to visit and see its beautiful crater. The mountain is located in Lembang, north Bandung.

Because it is located on the foot of Tangkuban Perahu Mountain, Lembang is colder than Bandung and its soil is fertile. That’s why agriculture side is growing there. There are a lot of strawberry field you can visit and self-picking the strawberries. Not only strawberry fields, but also flowers and vegetables fields are grooming there.

If you don’t like agriculture, astronomy maybe will attract you. Boscha Observatorium (right), the only one observatorium in Indonesia, located in Lembang too.

If you love to shop, Bandung provides many shopping sites like factory outlets spread in Riau and Dago Street. Or you can find the cheaper one in Pasar Baru or Cimol. Cimol (see picture on the left side of this paragraph), located in Gedebage, is a place where you can find “second-hand but look like new” clothes. Cihampelas Street is also a good place to buy jeans and clothes.

Looking for shoes? Try Cibaduyut in south Bandung. Cibaduyut shoes are well known for its good material quality and reliability, and many of them were exported to foreign countries.

For culinary lovers, Bandung is their heaven. Try traditional foods like peuyeum (fermented cassava), colenak (peuyeum with kinca sauce and coconut grates -- see picture on the left), batagor (soybean curd filled with tenggiri fish fickle), or surabi (pan cake made from coconut milk). Besides traditional food, there are modern foods too -- although many of them are just modified from their origins. Like Steamed Brownies (Amanda is the first brand for it) and Pisang Bolen (banana rolled by pastry -- Kartikasari Cake Shop is the “inventor”).

If you want to know what Bandung like in the past when the Dutch settled in Indonesia, have a walk along Braga and Asia-Afrika Street. There are a lot of buildings that still maintain their identity as "memorial buildings". Those buildings are heritages from Dutch Colonialist Era, such as Savoy Homann Hotel and Gedung Merdeka (left). Not far from Asia Afrika Street, there’s another Dutch heritage site called Pendopo (now it is used as the Major’s Residence) that faces the Tangkuban Perahu Mountain. The famous Gedung Sate (West Java Government building) is also a Dutch building, but it is located on Supratman Street, about five kilometers from Asia-Afrika Street.

When the night falls, go to the north of Bandung like Dago Atas, Cigadung, or Lembang. Those sites will entertain your eyes with a panoramic night view of Bandung. Not enough? Many cafes and restaurants there will provide you great taste of their foods, complete with romantic candles on their tables and the view of Bandung.

Very well written, BRAVO.

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Model Paragraph

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that discuss one (and usually only one) main idea. A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as ten sentences. The number of sentences is unimportant; however, the paragraph should be long enough to develop the main idea clearly.

A paragraph may stand by itself. In academic writing, you often write a paragraph to answer a test question such as the following: "Define management by objective, and give one example of it from the reading you have done for this class." A para­graph may also be one part of a longer piece of writing such as an essay or a book.

We mark a paragraph by indenting the first word about a half inch (five spaces on a typewriter or computer) from the left margin.


The following model contains all the elements of a good paragraph. Read it care­fully two or three times.


Gold

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as uptarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and dentistry.The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for protection when they go outside spaceships in space.ln conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.