Came 7th August '09, we gathered at Suvarnabhumi Airport to depart for Jakarta.
Checking in with good spirits.
Attendance was good - more than a hundred and probably 1/2 from Malaysia.
Though several topics were covered in Bahasa Indonesia, the visual projections helped to keep interest alive.
Participants gathered for a photo shot after 2 days.
The third day was an optional tour to farming areas to the western end of Java - the town of Panimbang, along the Sunda Straits between Java & Sumatra.
The journey there took perhaps 4 hrs, so you can imagine the outcome of the first toilet break midway.
Norodin Top's wanted poster was prominently displayed on the toilet walls outside. Andy posed beside and thought he has the bounty on his head!
Along the way we visited a small processing center at a village en-route.
The ladies continued with their work pretending we were not present.
Of course snapping photos of each others was another activity.
P'Moo posed as the new owner of the processing biz!
We had sea food barbecue - Indo style for lunch. Simply delicious with various sauces.
Getting off the bus finally reaching Panimbang.
This huge bird house is said to produce 70Kg per harvest!
Most Indo bird houses we saw have small entrance holes, located at multi-levels.
'Saw-tooth' metal plate installed on top to protect against burglars.
Not far is what the locals named "Malaysian Complex", a group of bird houses by Malaysian investors. The compound is protected by 4m wall all round. I am impressed by their enterprising spirit, come this far from Malaysia! We don't know its existence until now.
This bird house has sliding metal barrier gate to keep owls out, manually lowered each evening.
Pak Hen's bird house in the area.
This swiftlet was seen struggling to get off the 'parabolic' wire mesh. Something to watch out for in selection the wire mesh.
We find this Ferris wheel on a tricycle more interesting than bird houses actually.
On the day before departing, we dropped by at EKA Walet's shop to check out what are in store.
Fascinating to see these newly incubator hatched chicks.
We purchased 100 eggs back to experiment with. They will be distributed in some of our bird houses to hatch.
Overall, it was an informative and enjoyable trip. I need a full day to recuperate after wards - a group of enthusiastic farmers kept Pak Hen at the bar till 1 to 2 am each night! Those were the best times getting to know each other. Nobody get tired talking about swiftlets all night!
