campus visit to Toraja, South Sulawesi 2011 - part 3

Everywhere i go, i really mean EVERYWHERE, its important to taste the local food. but here in Toraja, its different coz i get to live here for 30 days. at first i was super excited with the food after a while i got bored. one thing that makes me crazy here was the super spicy sambal. when i said super spicy, im not exaggerating it was seriously super spicy, it makes my head spin and i see stars. i live in java my whole life, i heard from some people that the chilli in east Indonesia is 3x spicier than west. and i prove it. it is 3x, wait i think its 5x spicier.

super spicy sambal one of the locals made for us

Matabongi, North Toraja

Writers Document (2011)

cabai Katokkon, super spicy!

source: http://travel.detik.com/read/2010/12/09/093242/1513005/1025/4/pamerasan-rawon-ala-toraja

some weird local snacks we found

North Toraja

writers document (2011)

we found some local snacks, it taste kinda weird.. the chaiya chaiya one looks like it has chocolate flavor but when i ate it, it taste super sweet with chocolate aroma without the chocolate taste. and the shinta jojo well.. shinta jojo is girls name, shinta and jojo, they are youtube sensation in Indonesia. its yellow and smells like cheese, just like the other snack it doesnt taste like cheese...

people here eats fish, buffalo, pork and chicken. they eat chicken rarely while pork is more like everyday meal. on celebration or on funeral ceremony usually each of the guest got a piece of pork meat and some got buffalo meat. as a moslem, i dont eat pork even though it looks and smells so delicious, i just ate some eggs or the vegetables. one of my friends fave traditional food here is pa'piong. it was made of pork, chicken or buffalo, but all the pa'piong i found here was made of pork. the pork was cooked inside a bamboo with all kinds of spices.

how they cook pa'piong

source: http://demiterius.blogspot.com/2010/04/torajan-style-cuisine.html

here in Toraja i also find some cookies its called Tori', the appearance look so bad while the taste is amazing and addictive. sweet but not to sweet with a unique aroma. the taste just right. its a perfect companion if you eat it with a cup of fresh grind Toraja Coffee.

Tori' cookies

source : http://medan-dinae.blogspot.com/2012/01/bercerita-sedikit-tentang-tanah-toraja.html

campus visit to Toraja, South Sulawesi 2011 -part 2

Tongkonan, its Toraja's traditional house. The house i stayed in for 30 days in Matabongi, North Toraja. The locals said that the tongkonan that we sleep in is called Tongkonan Ma' Dika, it was the oldest tongkonan in North Toraja. But Tongkonan Ma' Dika just been renovated so the roof and few ornaments have been changed into modern material.

Tongkonan Ma' Dika

Matabogi, North Toraja

Writers Document (2011)

curious about how tongkonan looks like without modern material? our team walked around the village, a lot of the tongkonan has been renovated or just been made with modern material. But then we finally found one tongkonan, a little far than the others, it still have that natural "green" roof. when i said "green" i really mean it. it has grass and few plants grow on it.

One of the old tongkonan with "green" roof

Nort Toraja

Writers Document (2011)

we also meet a family who's building the lumbung for their tongkonan. lumbung is some kind of building that people use to store their grains or their food. usually lumbung  is located right in front of the tongkonan.

Tongkonan Ma' Dika 's Lumbung

Matabongi, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

The way they build lumbung

Writers document (2011)

one of the lumbung on progress

Writers document (2011)

source :                       writer's documentation (2011)  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongkonan

my campus visit to Toraja, South Sulawesi 2011 -Part1

Last year on June 2011 me and a group of architecture students from Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogyakarta went to Toraja, South Sulawesi. Me and my team of 8 people explore the Landorundun Legend locations to develop the tourism potential of Rantepao, North Toraja.

Landorundun is a legend in North Toraja. is a girl with a very beautiful long hair, her mother is Lambe' Susu. One day Landorundun went to a river to take a shower, a strand of her hair float out and somewhere far a boy named Datu' Bendurana found her hair and he searched for a girl who has that hair until he finally meet Landorundun and they finally got married.

when i arrived in Toraja, all i can say is "wow" it was amazing, especially the location where i stayed for a month which is in Matabongi (Mata = eyes, Bongi = dark, night) Matabongi means mata gelap . The legend says that in this place Lambe' Susu unable to see because her eyes suddenly went dark when her daughter got taken away by Datu' Bendurana.

Enjoying a cup of Toraja Coffe in front of the Tongkonan where i stayed for a month

Matabongi, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

A wonderful view

Writers document (2011)

the carving on Lumbung

Matabongi, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

Toraja have a rich culture and they still holding on to it until this modern era. One of the ceremonial tradition they still hold these days is Rambu Solo', Rambu Solo' is a funeral ceremony. The ceremony could take until 2-3 days. Unlike most people, Toraja have a unique grave. Toraja people are buried in rocks or a cave, for the aristocrats usually buried high in rock cliff. In front of the cave or cliff usually there's human-sized dolls on display, it was made exactly the same as the aristocrats burried in the rock cliff or cave. For babies the yburied it in a tree, because they consider babies are still pure.

Pana' stone Grave, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

Pana' stone Grave, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

Baby Grave

Pana' stone Grave, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

Pana' stone Grave, North Toraja

Writers document (2011)

source: writers documentation 2011