Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts

Monday, December 27, 2010

Oasis of the Seas - Cruise Ship or Passenger Ship?

Last night I opened my webmaster.google.com account and found that the impression of keywords Oasis of the Seas is rising significantly. This is the name of the largest and the most modern cruise ship in the world. This motor vessel can carry around 6,000 passengers. She travels to the Caribbean islands.
Passenger Ship
As a traveler, I used to go by passenger ships around a number of islands in Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest tropical archipelago in the world. Ships of any kinds or types play very important roles in transporting people and goods throughout the country.
The big ships that I used to travel around with were the ones operated by PELNI - a state owned passenger line in Indonesia. The first group of passenger ships that were imported from Germany were MV Rinjani, MV Kerinci, MV. Kambuna and MV Umsini. MV stands for Motor Ship. The carrying capacity of each of these ships is around 2,000. During holiday seasons, PELNI allowed the ships to carry up to 2,500 people on board. The main propulsion unit is diesel engine. The diesel engine is used to turn the marine screw propeller, most often, the controllable pitch propeller (CPP). Electrical power for supplying the electricity needs of the ship is obtained from a number of auxiliary engines both installed in the engine room near the main engine or on the upper deck of the ship.
Passenger ship MV Bukit Siguntang operated by PELNI line in Indonesia 

The difference between Cruise Ships and Passenger Ships
Passenger ships and cruise ships are similar but not the same. Both of them carry passengers but their purpose are different. Passenger ships like MV. Dobonsolo, KM Dorolonda and KM Nggapulu in Indonesia go from one port to another tranporting people mostly on one trip. But for cruise ships such as the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas. The cruise ships themselves have become the destination of holiday. The passengers usually buy round trip tickets meaning that they will finally return to the port where they first begin the ocean tour. Most of the passengers of cruise ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas who go to the Caribbean islands will return to, for example Miami, after they finish their tour. Oasis of the Seas Rooms are bigger and more luxurious than most of the rooms in passenger ships operated by PELNI.
Purpose of Sea Voyage and Facilities Inside
Because the purpose of traveling is different from cruising, the facilities that we will find in MV Nggapulu will be different from MV Oasis of the Seas. The Carribean sea may have been saturated with cruise ships but the Indonesian sea is not. In addition, cruise ships may be too expensive for the working class Indonesian people to travel around. There are bedrooms in both of the ships but Oasis of the Seas has more space for recreation. This cruise ship has swimming pools, game center, park, shopping center that we cannot find in most of the passenger ships that operate in Indonesian waters. The purpose of the trip determines how naval architects design the ship.
Design Approach 
Ship design is the product of art and science. Architects who design modern cruise and passenger ships now have a lot of software which they can use. Different from home architects who usually use BIM software such as Archicad and Revit, Naval Architects can now use Maxsurf, Delftship, Rhino Marine or Foran to outline design concepts in their mind into a beautiful cruise ship. They may use Archicad but it is only limited to the interior design projects of the ship. BIM modeling software such as Archicad does not have stability, propulsion, and strength calculation capabilities that most naval architects need to design a ship or other floating structures.
So, if you are planning to take a spring vacation in tropical islands in Indonesia by visiting islands of this largest achipelago by ship, don't expect to experience luxurious sea voyage in PELNI ships. The facilities of the PELNI passenger ships are quite good but not luxurious. The price is much cheaper mostly less than 100 US dollars for economy class per trip. If you plan to cross the islands from Sabang to Merauke by buying first class ticket, you will spend less than 1,000 US dollars (including meals which are served by the ship). The cross country sea voyage in Indonesia will take your time around 2 weeks.
Also read:
Oasis of the Seas Rooms
Oasis of the Seas Interior
Oasis of the Seas Propeller

Saturday, May 1, 2010

SENGGIGI LOMBOK - SISTER OF BALI

Senggigi
Princes of The West Coast

Senggigi, named after a princess in local legend, is the main tourist centre on Lomb0k. The resort area is about 10 km north of Ampenan, and about 20 minutes drive from the island's Selaparang airport. Nowhere near as large or as busy as its Bali counterparts, Senggigi is a great base for exploring the rest of the island.
Senggigi Beach is the large bay that forms the centre of the Senggigi, with the main road running paraller to the Beach, and the large resort accupaying the space between. The beach provides picturesque views of Bali's Gunung Agung to the west and stunning sunsets with the volcano silhouetted on the horizon.

Tourism Information:
  • The pasar seni (Art Market) is on the beach between the Santosa and Sheraton resort. There are numerous small stalls selling handicrafts and souvenirs from around Lombok, as well as t-shirt, sarongs and clothing similar to Bali's market.
  • Batu Layar, on the hill a couple of kilometers before Senggigi, has an important ancestral grave (makam) where Muslims come to picnic and pray for health and success.
  • Pura Batu Bolong (meaning: ''Rock witha hole'') is an interesting Hindu Temple facing Bali across the Lombok Strait. Built on a large rocky outcrop with a natural hole near the base, it is said that virgins were once sacrificed to the sea from the seat-like rock at the outermost point.
  • Kerandangan Valley, with a popular beach nearby and some nice hotels slightly out of town in a pretts valley
  • Mangsit has developed as an accommodation alternative to Senggigi, with boutique style hotels positioned along the breathtaking bays of the section of coast.



Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Prambanan Temple, Jogyakarta, Indonesia





Mini History:
The Prambanan temple is the biggest and a most beautiful Hindu temple about 20 minutes from Yogyakarta city. This magnificent Shivaite temple derives its name from the village where it is located. Locally known as the Loro Jongrang temple, or the temple of the "Slender Virgin" it is reputed to be the biggest and most beautiful Hindu Temple in Indonesia.

17 kilometers east of Yogyakarta, the temple is believed to have been built by King Balitung Maha Sambu in the middle of the ninth century.
Its parapets are adorned with a bas-reliefs depicting the famous Ramayana story. It has eight shrines, of which the three main ones are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma (all are manifestations of God in Hindu). The main temple of Shiva rises to a high of 130 feet and houses the magnificent statue of Shiva's consort, Durga.

Prambanan Temple is beautiful temple, in fact, it is a group of temples. The biggest temple dedicated to Shiva (one of manifestation of God) with two other smaller ones, on its right and on its left, dedicated to Brahma and Wisnhu (manifestation of God) respectively. Reliefs decorating the walls of the temple depict the story of Ramayana.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

King Sidabutar on Samosir Island, Indonesia

King Sidabutar on Samosir Island,

King Sidabutar was the Batak king who adopted Christianity. On the left of this picture is the grave of the missionary who converted the tribe.