Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Jakarta Bird Market Part 2!
Hello everyone. So it has been two weeks since I've had high speed internet. Today is the first day that I can upload photos, without the signal being dropped. As simple things as high speed internet, we really are lucky in the US. Can you imagine trying to work or surf the web on dial up? Actually it is not just the high speed access. Everyday I experience or see things that we take for granted back in the US. Working overseas in the third world countries really have opened up my eyes to the realm outside of the US. We really are in a bubble - a comfort zone and are extremely lucky. So the next time you feel sorry for yourself because life is not so good, just remember how lucky you are to begin with that you are living in the US. At least you can still go get a job at Mickey D's and have food in your stomach. Others in third world countries are not so lucky.
Ok let's finish off my trip to the Jakarta Bird Market.
So this was the highlight of the trip - I got to see a close up of the giant fruit bat, the flying fox. I remember back in Tonga days that these cool creatures were protected. The horrible thing was that the king was allowed to eat them. I guess since the king made up the rules, he can have a clause to have him exempt - the benefits of a monarchy!
This is an inverted picture of the giant bat perching upside down. He looks pretty scary, like a devil with horns and wings!
Here is a close up of the face. Kind of looks like a chiuaua with evil eyes!
Check out the claws on its feet!
These look like mockingbirds. Reminds me of a novel that I read back in high school by Harper Lee.
A view of one of the alleys in the market.
Canaries anyone?
Some of the vendors keep birds in these cages. Reminds me of the pet stores in the US.
Of course you can't sell birds without selling bird food! Lots to choose from.
Hey it's "Woody woodpecker"!
Check out this beautiful parrot from Papua (Irian Jaya). This area of Indonesia is still a mystery for the most part. They are always finding new species of wildlife in the jungles and in the waters.
Another beautiful parrot from Papua. This one could really talk!
Me and my wife Anne in front of the bird market.
Ok so I really felt bad about these rabbits. As a kid, I used to raise them. Heck, I rescued one from the streets in the US and even trained him to go potty in a litter box. So he used to run around the house like a cat and always use the litter box to go to bathroom. Then I found Joy, my dog, and "Bugsy" had to go to the backyard. Interestingly in Vietnam, rabbit is a stable diet but here in Indo, I never see them on the menu.
As we were walking back to our car, these two guys were making all kinds of noise with a drum and a loud "keyboard".
They were trying to get attention from the people. These guys go around the neighborhoods usually with a monkey. The monkey does simple tricks and people give tips. You won't see this in the US!
Kind of sad for the monkey though. But at least he must be well taken care of, as the monkey is probably the sole income for these three guys.
Conclusion
Ok guys that is all for this topic. I hope you enjoyed this thread. I will be making another trip soon to bring you more pictures.
Cheers,
Eddie
Ok let's finish off my trip to the Jakarta Bird Market.
So this was the highlight of the trip - I got to see a close up of the giant fruit bat, the flying fox. I remember back in Tonga days that these cool creatures were protected. The horrible thing was that the king was allowed to eat them. I guess since the king made up the rules, he can have a clause to have him exempt - the benefits of a monarchy!
This is an inverted picture of the giant bat perching upside down. He looks pretty scary, like a devil with horns and wings!
Here is a close up of the face. Kind of looks like a chiuaua with evil eyes!
Check out the claws on its feet!
These look like mockingbirds. Reminds me of a novel that I read back in high school by Harper Lee.
A view of one of the alleys in the market.
Canaries anyone?
Some of the vendors keep birds in these cages. Reminds me of the pet stores in the US.
Of course you can't sell birds without selling bird food! Lots to choose from.
Hey it's "Woody woodpecker"! 
Check out this beautiful parrot from Papua (Irian Jaya). This area of Indonesia is still a mystery for the most part. They are always finding new species of wildlife in the jungles and in the waters.
Another beautiful parrot from Papua. This one could really talk!
Me and my wife Anne in front of the bird market.
Ok so I really felt bad about these rabbits. As a kid, I used to raise them. Heck, I rescued one from the streets in the US and even trained him to go potty in a litter box. So he used to run around the house like a cat and always use the litter box to go to bathroom. Then I found Joy, my dog, and "Bugsy" had to go to the backyard. Interestingly in Vietnam, rabbit is a stable diet but here in Indo, I never see them on the menu.
As we were walking back to our car, these two guys were making all kinds of noise with a drum and a loud "keyboard".
They were trying to get attention from the people. These guys go around the neighborhoods usually with a monkey. The monkey does simple tricks and people give tips. You won't see this in the US!
Kind of sad for the monkey though. But at least he must be well taken care of, as the monkey is probably the sole income for these three guys. Conclusion
Ok guys that is all for this topic. I hope you enjoyed this thread. I will be making another trip soon to bring you more pictures.
Cheers,
Eddie
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Jakarta Bird Market Part 1!
Hello everyone. I've been traveling around for the past five days in search of new suppliers. I'm back in Bali now and for today, I'd like to share some pictures from a trip to Jakarta Bird Market. I've been told that in the past, this market had some very unusual animals for sale. From baby leopards to gigantic reticulated pythons, you can basically buy any animal you like. Much of the illegal and super exotics are hidden away from the public. As we entered the market, brokers came up to us offering all kinds of things. What I really liked to see was the baby golden monkey. These are for sale from time to time and I wanted to take a picture. This market actually has toned down a lot over the years. I've been told that much of the super exotics used to be displayed, but not now. The Forestry department has cracked down on the illegal trade of wildlife. The Forestry here would be equivalent to Fish and Wildlife in the US. As a matter of fact, this was my second visit here. The first time, most of the shops had closed early because of a raid by the Forestry! I found mostly birds during this particular trip. But there are really rare birds for sale time to time. We got offers of the endangered Bali starling. Having this bird is like having a super red arowana, a high status symbol. This bird is heavily protected and is only available from time to time from captive breeding.
I'm not a bird expert or anything, so you are going to have to excuse me if I can't id them correctly.
So basically this is the entrance to the market. The "Pasar Burung" means bird market.
The alley ways are lined with vendors selling all kinds of bird supplies. Of course the bird cages are available in zillion different styles and sizes.
First thing I saw was this strange looking parrot with a red head hanging in a cage high up.
Another "parrot type of bird". Not so much color but still nice looking.
I believe these are lovebirds. They look fake with glass eyes!
Another love bird, but different in color. Again the glass looking eyes look unreal.
A pair of white doves with black tails.
These strange looking pigeons had "tufts" of feathers on their legs.
A view of one of the alley ways. No space is wasted. Everywhere, you see bird affiliated things for sale.
Check out this gamebird for sale. I believe it is pheasant.
These yellow birds look like large parakeets, but don't know.
Beautiful sky blue "parrot looking" bird!
Wow, this was a surprise! A live turkey for sale. I was thinking "is it Thanksgiving yet"?
Check out this stange looking four legged fellow! I believe it is a baby weasel.
Here is a close up shot of it's face. It has one blue eye and one brown. I hope it is not blind in one eye!
Some cool looking toket geckos! These are found all over the tropics and they make real loud sounds at night. The sound sound like "toket"! It is said here in Indo, that if you have a toket living in your house, it is supposed to bring luck! In Vietnam, you can find these things pickled in alcohol for drinking!
Here is a view of the underside of the toket gecko. Check out the lines on the bottom of its feet!
Conclusion
Ok guys that is it for today. Tomorrow, we will go over more strange birds and other animal life, including a close up view of the giant fruit bat "flying fox".
cheers,
Eddie
I'm not a bird expert or anything, so you are going to have to excuse me if I can't id them correctly.
So basically this is the entrance to the market. The "Pasar Burung" means bird market. 
The alley ways are lined with vendors selling all kinds of bird supplies. Of course the bird cages are available in zillion different styles and sizes.
First thing I saw was this strange looking parrot with a red head hanging in a cage high up.
Another "parrot type of bird". Not so much color but still nice looking.
I believe these are lovebirds. They look fake with glass eyes!
Another love bird, but different in color. Again the glass looking eyes look unreal.
A pair of white doves with black tails.
These strange looking pigeons had "tufts" of feathers on their legs.
A view of one of the alley ways. No space is wasted. Everywhere, you see bird affiliated things for sale.
Check out this gamebird for sale. I believe it is pheasant.
These yellow birds look like large parakeets, but don't know. 
Beautiful sky blue "parrot looking" bird!
Wow, this was a surprise! A live turkey for sale. I was thinking "is it Thanksgiving yet"?
Check out this stange looking four legged fellow! I believe it is a baby weasel. 
Here is a close up shot of it's face. It has one blue eye and one brown. I hope it is not blind in one eye!
Some cool looking toket geckos! These are found all over the tropics and they make real loud sounds at night. The sound sound like "toket"! It is said here in Indo, that if you have a toket living in your house, it is supposed to bring luck! In Vietnam, you can find these things pickled in alcohol for drinking!
Here is a view of the underside of the toket gecko. Check out the lines on the bottom of its feet!Conclusion
Ok guys that is it for today. Tomorrow, we will go over more strange birds and other animal life, including a close up view of the giant fruit bat "flying fox".
cheers,
Eddie
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Makassar Pictures!
Hello everyone. For today's topic, I'd like to share some pictures from the last Makassar, Sulawessi trip. All the coral pictures are from this trip but the red Bali brains and the cynarina donuts.
So we took this bicycle taxi to eat at a local fish restaurant. It was just me and my wife. We couldn't figure out how much to pay for the fare and all I had was a 20,000 rupiah (a little over $2), so I gave it to the tired bicyclist. He was very happy. The word must have spread that I was a good tipper because the next time we came out from the hotel, we were greeted by a whole bunch of these guys. They were all smiling and pointing to their bicycle rickshaws! I found out that normal fare would have been less than half of what I gave.
We got to the restaurant and they offered us this titan trigger!
They also had an assortment of groupers and snappers.
We ended up choosing a grouper to get steamed. It was ok, nothing like a fresh live one. We also ordered some grilled shrimp. Along with rice and vegetables, it was a pretty good meal.
Here we are at another restaurant. This one specializes in the free range chicken. These are very small birds but taste like candy!
So here is what I do. Walk into the coral ponds and carefully look for nice corals. The floating basket comes in handy. It is kind of like picking fruit, except that the fruit is on the ground. Hours of doing this and my back feels like it is on fire!
Here I am carefully looking for damage on some rose anemones.
Sometimes, there is no place for me to walk. I have to position myself in all sorts of ways to pick the nicer corals!
So Makassar is known for their fabulous Ricordia yumas. Just gorgeous, blue and red with a green rim!
Here is an assortment of some choice corals that I just finishing picking out.
Red yumas are one of my favorites! Check out the size below - wow!
This thing is nearly 4 inches wide, without being fully opened! When it is really happy, it can probably reach 7 inches!
Beautiful symphyllia brain. It even has blue-purple mouths! This coral will go on sale soon in the US from an online company.
Stunning red goniopora! Once is a while I'll run into a super rare one with yellow centers.
Super Acanthastrea echinatas are not so hard to find from Makassar!
Very nice deepwater lobophyllia! These have orange and green. They color up nicely under halides!
Another beautiful Acan echinata. This color morph is referred to as "orange crush" in the US.
The best Acanthastrea lordhowensis comes from this region of Indonesia!
Another beautiful Acan lord. This extra large colony is brick red in color!
Encrusting montiporas are not that common in Makassar. But they do come in sometimes. I passed this one up because it was damaged.
Stunning red Bali brain! This trachyphyllia is known as Wellsophyllia here in Indonesia. There is a green morph, and those are called Jakarta brain.
Another beautiful Bali brain!
Before common, now very hard to find. I was lucky to get these pieces in!
Gorgeous cynarina donuts. This one is super metallic and super large!
Another superb cynarina donut. This metallic orange specimen can open over a foot long! The skeleton base is about 5-6 inches! Both of the two large pieces came in really bangged up from the islands. They are recovering now and will be ready for shipout soon.
That is it guys. I'm going to be busy for the next few days so I will post when I'm back in Bali. By the way, I went and visited the Jakarta bird market yesterday - way cool!. I'll have pictures from that trip along with more corals in the upcoming posts.
cheers,
Eddie
So we took this bicycle taxi to eat at a local fish restaurant. It was just me and my wife. We couldn't figure out how much to pay for the fare and all I had was a 20,000 rupiah (a little over $2), so I gave it to the tired bicyclist. He was very happy. The word must have spread that I was a good tipper because the next time we came out from the hotel, we were greeted by a whole bunch of these guys. They were all smiling and pointing to their bicycle rickshaws! I found out that normal fare would have been less than half of what I gave.
We got to the restaurant and they offered us this titan trigger! 
They also had an assortment of groupers and snappers.
We ended up choosing a grouper to get steamed. It was ok, nothing like a fresh live one. We also ordered some grilled shrimp. Along with rice and vegetables, it was a pretty good meal.
Here we are at another restaurant. This one specializes in the free range chicken. These are very small birds but taste like candy! 
So here is what I do. Walk into the coral ponds and carefully look for nice corals. The floating basket comes in handy. It is kind of like picking fruit, except that the fruit is on the ground. Hours of doing this and my back feels like it is on fire!
Here I am carefully looking for damage on some rose anemones.
Sometimes, there is no place for me to walk. I have to position myself in all sorts of ways to pick the nicer corals!
So Makassar is known for their fabulous Ricordia yumas. Just gorgeous, blue and red with a green rim!
Here is an assortment of some choice corals that I just finishing picking out.
Red yumas are one of my favorites! Check out the size below - wow!
This thing is nearly 4 inches wide, without being fully opened! When it is really happy, it can probably reach 7 inches!
Beautiful symphyllia brain. It even has blue-purple mouths! This coral will go on sale soon in the US from an online company.
Stunning red goniopora! Once is a while I'll run into a super rare one with yellow centers.
Super Acanthastrea echinatas are not so hard to find from Makassar!
Very nice deepwater lobophyllia! These have orange and green. They color up nicely under halides!
Another beautiful Acan echinata. This color morph is referred to as "orange crush" in the US.
The best Acanthastrea lordhowensis comes from this region of Indonesia!
Another beautiful Acan lord. This extra large colony is brick red in color!
Encrusting montiporas are not that common in Makassar. But they do come in sometimes. I passed this one up because it was damaged.
Stunning red Bali brain! This trachyphyllia is known as Wellsophyllia here in Indonesia. There is a green morph, and those are called Jakarta brain.
Another beautiful Bali brain!
Before common, now very hard to find. I was lucky to get these pieces in!
Gorgeous cynarina donuts. This one is super metallic and super large!
Another superb cynarina donut. This metallic orange specimen can open over a foot long! The skeleton base is about 5-6 inches! Both of the two large pieces came in really bangged up from the islands. They are recovering now and will be ready for shipout soon.That is it guys. I'm going to be busy for the next few days so I will post when I'm back in Bali. By the way, I went and visited the Jakarta bird market yesterday - way cool!. I'll have pictures from that trip along with more corals in the upcoming posts.
cheers,
Eddie
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