Jakarta Seminar 2010 - Part 1

It was a late decision to participate - more of catching up socially with friends from other countries. How often can we all meet together? Informal learning through after diner discussions are very informative too.

The flight from Bangkok arrived late at night. We checked into hotel past midnight. Good that the seminar was held there. Getting up late for breakfast only to find seating space at the rear. An opening remark from Ben Chai - "It has changed from a hobby into a business." Good for him!















Attendees seemed to have doubled compared to our last attendance. P'Jiap noted, many here are multiple bird house owners and some are builder/developers. Very true too, as we met more people to gain an insight to their activities.















Many of us at the back were not paying attention - created a bit of nuisance to new attendees.















See..chatting away caught on camera! I were just as guilty as a party to it here.






The most interesting gadget to me is this feeding hopper demonstrated.





















Many crowd around to get a close look. The conical pan to retrieve fallen pellets; its catchment area can be increased with extension plate attachments.














See the food pellets at the base of the cone, blown into air space above like a fountain.















The air blower doing the job mounted below.





















When the event was over, everyone puts up broad smiles to remember the day.














Visited EKA Walet on day before departing for the airport. This entrance hole steel frame caught my eyes. Its design is small and narrow to prevent burglars entry - only seen in Indonesia.

Jakarta Seminar 2010 - Part 2, the field trip

The field trip was to Panimbang again, western tip of Java. I wasn't keen initially but changed my mind when I heard Pak Hen was going to show us his revamped bird house. That would be an eye opener.

The two large tour buses were in full capacity for a 3 hr ride.














A routine stop for toilet break & refreshments, nothing fancy.





















Just few steps behind, the scenery in the backdrop was beautiful.




























See the crowd gathered in front of Pak Hen's bird house, waiting for their turn to enter.














A small group of five at a time... notice the bazooka beside entrance pointing towards a neighbor.





















I can't take the heat waiting in the yard, so I wandered off to check the neighborhood.





















When the internal tour was over, we visited another part of the town with cluster of bird houses. A re-visit I would say.





















This looks like a fortress!















Bird house, bird house & more bird houses!





















To local residents, it seem like an invasion of camera wielding aliens.















An alley fronted by bird houses both sides.






















Row of bird houses along the road. Residential houses are amply overshadowed.















The village money changer sells LPG gas too!














This is supposed the 70Kg (probably per harvest) bird house. Local residents said the sight of birds is awesome on rainy weather. We all decide to wait.















Boredom sets in as everybody idled to kill time waiting for the swiftlets to return.















It was a bit of anti-climax as not many birds as expected. Maybe we set our expectations too high in the first place. By then it wasn't bright to take good pictures so I gave it a miss.