Penyengat Island

During the golden era of Riau-Lingga Sultanate, Penyengat Island held significant roles in governmental and educational sectors. The island was likewise the heart of Islamic teaching and Malay cultural civilization in the past. For that reason, the provincial government of Riau Islands fixed the island as the highly recommended historical tourism destination. The remaining traces of Riau-Lingga Sultanate can still be found in the island, even though some of them are in critically physical condition.

Once upon a time, there were some fishermen and pirates anchored off the coast of the island. They came to the island for pure water that was hard to find in other places except in Penyengat Island. Feeling of being disturbed by those people, a group of bee flied over them to take revenge on. Those people got stung by the bee, so the island was named “Penyengat” that literally means “stinger.”

Another story grappling with the early history of Penyengat Island is the story of Sultan Mahmud Marhum Besar, who ruled over Riau-Lingga Sultanate from 1761 A.D. to 1812 A.D. It is said that the sultan proposed a marriage to Engku Putri Raja Hamidah, the daughter of Raja Ali Haji. As he loved the girl very much, a 240-ha island named Penyengat was bestowed upon her by the Sultan.

Start historical travelling in Penyengat Island by taking a visit to the Great Masjid of Sultan Riau. The masjid was built in 1832 A.D. upon initiative by Yang Dipertuan Muda VII Raja Abdul Rahman. The masjid keeps some handwritten Korans and a number of ancient manuscripts that were written on Arabic and Jawi scripts.

The architecture style combines the Malay, Arab, and India styles together. It is said that the masjid‘s wall was the mixture of red-bricks and albumin, which was used as the glue.

Feeling enough observing the elegance of the Great Masjid of Sultan Riau, you can move to other historical sites but, we recommend you to take a visit to several mausoleums of Riau-Lingga Sultanate staffers. There you can find the mausoleum of Engku Putri Raja Hamidah and Raja Ali Haji‘s graveyard. The most interesting one is the mausoleum of Raja Ali Haji because here, you can see one of his great literary works entitled Gurindam 12. You can read the whole series of Gurindam 12 that were carved out on the mausoleum‘s wall.

Move to another site, thus you will find an adat house where numerous royal properties of Riau-Lingga Sultanate are kept well within. In this Malay-style building, the Riau Islands people often hold some activities such as adat meetings and wedding parties. Moreover, the local inhabitants usually take some water from a spring located on the ground floor of the building. They do believe in the efficacies of the water, which can heal certain diseases. By the way, the water is believed to have ability of helping the one for getting a marriage partner soon.

Bukit Kursi Fortress, which was built during 1782 to 1784 A.D. when the Riau-Lingga Sultanate was under the role of Raja Ali Haji, is another must-be-visited site. The fortress was built facing directly to the sea, hence you can experience two travelling sensations at the same time, undergoing historical travelling and enjoying the turquoise sea water.

Penyengat Island Location

Penyengat Island is part of Riau Islands Province that includes administratively into Tanjungpinang Sub-district. To reach Penyengat Island, you can take water transportation called pompong from Sri Bintan Pura Port in Tanjungpinang City. It is hard to find any hotels and inns in the island. You can only spend the night at the local people‘s houses here. Likewise, public transportation such as busses and taxis is really hard to find. The best way to look around the island is taking benmor (motorized pedicab) with IDR 20.000/hour for its cost.

Read More

Shopping Center Book Market

Your trip to Yogyakarta would be incomplete without visiting Yogyakarta book market that is better known as the “Shopping Center”. On Sriwedari Street, lines of kiosks displaying various books will be seen right away. Its existence as a book shopping center cannot be separated from the status of Yogyakarta as the city of education, in which tens or hundreds of state and private universities lie. Yogyakarta has become a melting pot of students coming from different areas of Indonesia and even Southeast Asia. The survival of the Shopping Center has of course been owing to the high reading tradition of Yogyakarta citizens.

“Book is the Window of the World”. Occupying a new place, Shopping Center has begun to carry the motto. It implies that reading is the best way to enrich our knowledge and that book reflects the cultural dynamics of a nation. The Shopping Center is becoming more and more important, along with the rapid growth of book publishing in Yogyakarta, either of local author or translated texts.
The new place has indeed only been operating since July 26, 2005. However, it actually houses hundreds of book vendors that have been working since 40 years ago or since 1970s. The Shopping Center has been moved several times due to city construction and eviction before settling in its permanent place in the cultural preservation area of Taman Budaya Yogyakarta. There are at least 124 kiosks neatly arranged in the two-story building. The vendors are affiliated in a Book Vendor Cooperation (Kopaku) Yogyakarta that was established in 1988.

Being so well-known, in 1988 the Shopping Center, then was still in its old location, was paid a short visit by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Muhammad. The name of Shopping Center as a center for book vendors was quite big for Southeast Asia level at that time.

The Shopping Center is always crowded almost everyday and particularly on weekend. In fact, some of the visitors come from outside Yogyakarta. The book market often turns out to be the best alternative for book readers when, for example, a certain book is not available in other bookstores.
Books sold in the Shopping Center are new and used books. Each kiosk has its own specialty based on theme such as social, culture, religion, literature, textbooks, dictionary, and comic books. Not only that, Shopping Center also provides various neccesities for students such as news or article clippings, papers, thesis paper, and supplementary books for school and university.

The book prices at Shopping Center are relatively cheaper compared to those at other bookstores. Why? Because generally, the vendors would only take a profit about 5 or 10 percent from publisher prices. Kiosk owners purchase books directly from distributors or book agencies, allowing them to get a discount of 25 to 35 percent. Here, bargaining is possible. This is another thing that distinguishes the Shopping Center from other bookstores.

Shopping Center Location

Shopping Center is situated right at the center of Yogyakarta, precisely at Sriwedari Street, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 55122. The location is on the east of Vredeburg Fortress and next to Taman Pintar and Taman Budaya Yogyakarta. On its north, there lies Beringharjo Market and Malioboro area.

It is easy to reach the Shopping Center since it lies downtown. Besides, the place is also relatively close to Adisucipto Airport (about 8 km away), Giwangan Bus Station (about 6 km), Lempuyangan Train Station (about 3 km), and Tugu Train Station (about 1 km).

Tourists who depart from Adisucipto Airport could take Trans-Jogja bus (route 3A or 3B) through Malioboro Street, costing Rp. 3000 (by October 2008). After 25 minutes, tourists could stop at Gedung Agung bus shelter. Shopping Center is only 300 m away and could be reached on foot. From Giwangan Bus Station, tourists could take a city bus route 2, 4, or 15 that would go through Malioboro as well. The bus fare is about Rp. 2.000 (by October 2008). Stop in front of Beringharjo Market or Taman Pintar, tourists could reach Shopping Center on foot, taking a 200 m walk. The Shopping Center is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m and applies no entrance charge. Supporting facilities in the Shopping Center complex are a musholla (small mosque), toilet, and a shady and broad parking area.

Read More