The TMS booth!

En la Gran Vía madrileña sólo quedan chaperos, putas, y borrachos. Incluso los hay que cumplen los tres estados. Menos mal que yo soy del tercero, y no soy muy consciente de lo que me dicen las del segundo. Algo de "ey, chico bonito" y "pasar un buen rato". Bej, no me apetece la verdad. Sí, ¿qué pasa? No me apetece follar, ¿algún problema? No debo de ser el único tío en la Tierra al que no le apetezca en un determinado momento... ¿No?

De hecho, y ahora es cuando el surrealismo empieza a atacar, al llegar a Callao, magna estación, veo como una libélula de tres metros ataca a un mendigo que pide, por favor, que no se lo coma, que promete ponerse a trabajar y ser útil y tal y cual. Surrealista, como te digo. Un poco más adelante, doscientas viejas lanzan bragas a la estratosfera. He de decir que dichas abuelas tienen un brazo que sería la envidia de Hulk Hogan y que lanzan sus paños menores a una velocidad mayor a la velocidad de escape. Es decir, que viajarán hasta el infinito. Por un momento imagino la raza extraterrestre que ve cómo unas bragas adosadas a un pañal un pelín amarillo les atacan. Espero que para entonces las bragas hayan aprendido a hablar.

Ya en la Plaza de España, doce policías han empezado a improvisar capoeira. Han bajado de sus caballos, se han sacado unas chinas de hachís, se han hecho unos porrillos y ahí les ves, baila que te baila. En la rueda hay uno clavadito a Torrente que ha multado a dos árboles y una ardilla. Un tipo salao.

Por fin llego a la sala Heineken. No es mi destino, pero siempre me ha parecido un sitio gracioso. En la puerta, los puertas. Más allá, unos monos bulldog muerden a una cabra de cebra. Una bonita imagen, quiesiera tener mi cámara. Cómo me jode.

Paso la plaza de los Cubos, y paso de la plaza de los Cubos, no me parece interesante. Bej. Así que llego al Corte Inglés de Princesa, en Argüelles. Me estoy cagando, así que voy a dejar de escribir, ahora vengo.

Uf, vaya mojón, he tenido que tirar dos veces de la cadena. En fin, que por fin estoy en Moncloa, menos putas, pero más borrachos. Dos átomos se enzarzan en una pelea. Creo que ligarán sus electrones. Qué jodíos, éstos hoy pillan... cabrones...

En fin, estoy seguro de que esto no os ha servido de nada, pero gracias. Por cierto, estoy potando. Putos cócteles, no vuelvo a ir a un irlandés en happy hour. Vaya mierda, coño.

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Lascivo. 17 de Septiembre de 2008, con cansancio.

Lahore: The participants of a national consultation organized by Awaz Foundation Pakistan and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Friday demanded the government pay immediate attention to alleviating the problems faced by the people of the Provincially Administered Tribal Area in southern Punjab.

The themes for discussion at the consultation included the social, economic and political rights in PATA; the government’s responsibility to ensure basic rights to all without discrimination; its failure to integrate the area with the settled area since the creation of Pakistan; political parties’ responsibility to ensure representation of honest and competent people; and possibilities for ensuring opportunities for the area that are available elsewhere in the country.

The participants said the tribal area of DG Khan and Rajanpur in southern Punjab is the least developed region in Pakistan. DG Khan and Rajanpur are at the bottom of the national and Punjab quality-wise scale, but the PATA area contagious to the two districts is even more deprived.

The discussion was conducted on the basis of extensive studies done by Awaz Foundation Pakistan. Following the consultation, the assembly called upon the government to:

• immediately create a Punjab PATA Development authority to look at the PATA infrastructure, including roads;
• that the Ministry of Women Development should ensure its presence in the area to ensure that the issue facing women are addressed;
• appoint special education officers to the area to ensure a specific focus on women education as the current measures for that have failed;
• withdraw the Frontier Crimes Regulation from the area;
• consider replacing the Border Military Police with a more responsible police force;
• abolish the influence of Sardars;
• establish a Fort Munroe Development Authority to develop the hill station, which offers the same climate as Murree, and can provide employment opportunities to the area’s population;
• assign a separate development body to monitor and ensure environmental standards in PATA areas of southern Punjab, especially threats of environmental degradation due to oil exploration and extraction, uranium and other mining and operations of a large cement plant in the area;
• build small dams and revise local water conservation projects on modern basis to not only avoid the damage caused by floods and hill torrents but also ensure regular irrigation for agriculture;
• launch a crash programme to ensure that the overwhelming majority of schools in the area that are not functioning become operative;
• ensure that all government institutions created to address the area’s problems have participation of and input from the local community in the decision-making process.
• ensure the allocation of financial resources to improve the lot of the people there and the infrastructure in the area;
• ensure that with extremist elements trying to get a foothold in the area, Talibanisation does not fill the vacuum created by lack of effective governance.
• ensure that the industrial and mining concerns being run in the area translate into employment opportunities for the local population as well.

The assembly particularly requested:

• The cement and mining companies in the area and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission to undertake their corporate social responsibility to ensure that their operations do not cause environmental degradation;
• The political leaders in the area to ensure, that besides promoting themselves politically, they also make sure that the areas’ problems are addressed.

I.A. Rehman

Secretary-General

Background info on the PATA area:

Rich with mineral resources, including uranium, PATA -- consisting of the tribal area of D.G. Khan and Rajanpur -- is by far the most neglected and backward part of Pakistan. Because of its administrative structure, feudal / tribal customs persist in which tribal chiefs and elders have the authority to disputes, whether evidence is available or not. Private jails are not uncommon.

Tribal chiefs enjoy the de facto right to represent people by virtue of their status. Only in a few areas are women allowed to cast their vote. Generally male relatives cast votes on behalf of the family’s women.

The fate of the people of PATA has remained largely unchanged since the creation of Pakistan. The main change in the last few decades has been exploration for oil and gas, and extraction of iron, gypsum and uranium from the area. This has brought little benefit or employment opportunities to the local people. They have, however, paid a steep price for that discovery. Drilling and mining operations have polluted groundwater, rendering it unusable. People are either forced to consume polluted water or use rainwater from ponds used by cattle.

Lack of roads and transportation has deprived people of education, health and employment opportunities. Even obvious income-generation avenues, such as developing potential for tourism, have not materialized for want of roads and of political will.

Vani, Karo Kari, exchange of women in marriage, Kala Kali and the sale of women declared Kali is commonplace. Almost 100 percent women in the eight Tummans of DG Khan and Rajanpur suffer from anaemia.

Ketika saya dan rombongan keluar dari dalam Museum Sejarah Jakarta, kami sempat menikmati angin yang berhembus sepoi-sepoi di taman ini.  Ternyata Taman Fatahillah ada cerita sejarahnya lho.

Seperti umumnya di Eropa, gedung balai kota dilengkapi dengan lapangan yang disebut ”Stadhuisplein”.  Nah, menurut sebuah lukisan yang dibuat oleh “Johannes Rach” yang berasal dari “Denmark” (beliau juga adalah salah seorang pegawai VOC pada masa itu), di tengah lapangan tersebut terdapat sebuah air mancur yang merupakan satu-satunya sumber air bagi masyarakat setempat.

Air itu berasal dari Pancoran Glodok yang dihubungkan dengan pipa menuju stadhuiplein.

Pada tahun 1972, diadakan penggalian terhadap lapangan tersebut dan ternyata benar ditemukan pondasi air mancur lengkap dengan pipa-pipanya.  Maka dengan bukti sejarah tersebut dapat dibangun kembali sesuai gambar yang pernah dilukis oleh “Johannes Rach”. 

Sehingga terciptalah air mancur di tengah Taman Fatahillah. (Hem sayang saya tidak sempat mengabadikan fotonya, nanti kalau saya sempat foto lagi akan saya posting deh, hehehe)

Pada tahun 1973 Pemda DKI Jakarta memfungsikan kembali  taman tersebut dengan memberikan nama baru dan resmi yaitu “Taman Fatahillah” gunanya untuk mengabadikan dan mengenang panglima Fatahillah sebagai pendiri kota “Jakarta”.

Sedangkan “Jalan Setapak Taman Fatahillah” ada ceritanya begini :

Tahun 1973 ketika Taman Fatahillah ditata untuk persiapan Konferensi PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) tahun 1974, dalam penataan tsb Pemda DKI mendapat inspirasi dari lukisan “Johannes Rach” yang memperlihatkan kondisi Taman Fatahillah pada abad 17 lalu. 

Dalam lukisan tsb terlihat jelas sekali bekas  jalan setapak yang digunakan penduduk sekitarnya untuk melintas di Taman Fatahillah.

Nah, bentuk jalan setapak inilah kemudian didesain menjadi garis diagonal pada tahun 1973, ketika Taman ini di Tata.

Sampai sekarang bentuk garis diagonal ini tetap dipertahankan menjadi bagian dari penataan Taman Fatahillah.

(Wow, ternyata ada kisah dibalik garis-garis diagonal ini yach ???)

Nah, itulah sekelumit cerita saya mengenai Taman Fatahillah dan Jalan Setapak di Taman Fatahillah.  Kalau para pembaca penasaran, silahkan ajak saudara dan handai taulan untuk berkunjung, sekaligus lebih mengenal kota tercinta kita Jakarta dan sejarah tentang Indonesia.

Untuk cerita napak selanjutnya tentang Museum Wayang, so yang suka wayang tetap ikuti cerita serunya yach….

Semoga cerita diatas memberikan inspirasi & manfa’at.

What I enjoy most in my every travel is I get to taste the local food in every place I go. This one just makes you forget your diet ... I always do ... "linaga".

It's pork legs (or "pata") tenderized through boiling for hours, mixed with native spices to make it perfectly sourly and sweet, garlicky and spicy at the same time. Great in the mornings, lunch, mid noon meal and dinner or after-the-bar soup ... just kidding ... I mean, honestly! it's a meal that doesn't, in any manner, pick a certain time of the day. Tastes better with lemon juice.

... a bowl of "linaga" and a san mig light beer please!

TIP: It's practical to bring your own disposable or reusable spoon and fork.