2. Circumnavigation of Sumatra

Padang, West Sumatra

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Portrait of a Minangkabau girl at a wedding feast, Cupek, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> I posed this pretty young woman wearing traditional dress against one of the colourful wall hangings that decorated the Chief Regent's house.<br /> <br /> Update in response to comments: I noticed that it appeared to be the accepted norm among the Minangkabau people to adapt a serious, non-smiling pose when they are posing for portraits, although I have a number of casual photos when they are in a group where they relax and smile and ham it up (upcoming posts), You can also see this serious demeanour in the wedding photos I posted a few days ago, seen here <a href="http://goo.gl/O9Mzzh">http://goo.gl/O9Mzzh</a> and in portraits to come.<br /> <br /> More photos from West Sumatra can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/zRM7QE">http://goo.gl/zRM7QE</a>
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Portrait of a Minangkabau girl at a wedding feast, Cupek, West Sumatra

I posed this pretty young woman wearing traditional dress against one of the colourful wall hangings that decorated the Chief Regent's house.

Update in response to comments: I noticed that it appeared to be the accepted norm among the Minangkabau people to adapt a serious, non-smiling pose when they are posing for portraits, although I have a number of casual photos when they are in a group where they relax and smile and ham it up (upcoming posts), You can also see this serious demeanour in the wedding photos I posted a few days ago, seen here http://goo.gl/O9Mzzh and in portraits to come.

More photos from West Sumatra can be seen here: http://goo.gl/zRM7QE

  • Untitled photo
  • Wedding portrait, Minangkabau wedding couple, Cupak, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> Previously I posted several galleries from the first half of our circumnavigation of Sumatra (Singapore to Nias Island). From Nias Island we continued on to West Sumatra (Padang area), the home of the Minangkabau people, a matrilineal society that live in the highlands of West Sumatra. Although matrilineal, the Minankabau are Islamic, but with remnants of animism, a nature-based philosophy.<br /> <br /> For a highly colourful wider angle view of the wedding party, and for a very rare photo of the photographer, see here <a href="http://goo.gl/SBIIm">http://goo.gl/SBIIm</a>
  • Terry with a Minangkabau bride, Cupak, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> I'm wearing a hand woven, gold-striped sarong that I bought in the local area and still have.
  • Minangkabau wedding feast, Chief Regent's house, Cupak, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> Everyone ate with their fingers (there were serving spoons in the dishes), sitting on the floor, according to the Minangkabau tradition. The fingers of the right hand are used, but since I am left-handed, I kept forgetting and hope I didn't offend our hosts too much! We had a variety of interesting dishes, none of which was the least bit familiar to me!
  • Portrait of a Minangkabau girl at a wedding feast, Cupek, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> I posed this pretty young woman wearing traditional dress against one of the colourful wall hangings that decorated the Chief Regent's house.<br /> <br /> Update in response to comments: I noticed that it appeared to be the accepted norm among the Minangkabau people to adapt a serious, non-smiling pose when they are posing for portraits, although I have a number of casual photos when they are in a group where they relax and smile and ham it up (upcoming posts), You can also see this serious demeanour in the wedding photos I posted a few days ago, seen here <a href="http://goo.gl/O9Mzzh">http://goo.gl/O9Mzzh</a> and in portraits to come.<br /> <br /> More photos from West Sumatra can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/zRM7QE">http://goo.gl/zRM7QE</a>
  • Young woman wearing traditional dress at Minangkabau wedding feast, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Hamming it up at a wedding, Cupek, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> These two friends had gotten dressed up to appear exotic and were trying very hard to be serious like Minangkabau people whose portraits I had been taking. You can see that they are on the verge of breaking up and are trying very hard to stifle a laugh (best seen at larger sizes).<br /> <br /> For other portraits of the Minangkabau people, including a matron with the appropriate serious demeanour and a cute little girl, see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/jkD2F8">http://goo.gl/jkD2F8</a>
  • Minangkabau matron at a wedding feast, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Young wedding guest eating a piece of fruit, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Smiling Minangkabau girls, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Minangkabau dancers doing traditional egg dance, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Don't try this at home!<br /> <br /> Update: Lots of problems commenting today! Not for lack of trying. Sorry if I missed you!<br /> <br /> Minangkabau woman concentrating on performing the traditional egg dance, Cupek, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> This is a traditional egg dance (the band playing the music is in the background) done by the Minangkabau young women and men. It involves balancing dishes in both hands while moving across a series of shallow bowls that contain eggs. The trick is to not dump the eggs out of the bowls, not break the eggs, not to step outside the bowls, and not break the dishes - all while wearing traditional clothing, moving in time to the music, and looking graceful. Not as easy as it looks, and requires excellent balance. <br /> <br /> For a couple more photos that show additional details of the egg dance, see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/NKsuy6">http://goo.gl/NKsuy6</a>
  • Minangkabau dancers performing egg dance, Cupek, West Sumatra
  • Minangkabau fight demonstration<br /> <br /> Update: Please support the forum in favour of keeping the Daily Community. Please go to this URL and vote! <a href="http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug/suggestions/4249646-fully-support-communities-on-the-new-smugmug">http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug/suggestions/4249646-fully-support-communities-on-the-new-smugmug</a><br /> Since NewSM no longer gives a link to the URL of commenters, I have started putting my URL at the end of my comments.<br /> <br /> The fighting technique of the men seemed to have elements of tai chi and tae kwan do. I came across a fascinating video yesterday of Minangkabau women fighting, which is also a combination of tai chi and tai kwan do, but with a stronger element of dance than the men (see here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-M9IuDifFk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-M9IuDifFk</a>)<br /> <br /> For another view of the fighting, and for a photo of an Indonesian war ship, see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/Vrq6Mt">http://goo.gl/Vrq6Mt</a><br /> <br /> Rumour has it that SmugMug will not longer support the communities including the Daily Photo Community. I think that this would be a shame, and hope those who agree with me should make their opinions known to SmugMug.
  • Minangkabau men demonstrating a traditional fighting match, Cupek, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> The fellow in the white coat is the judge and referee, who scores the fight and decides who wins.
  • Tanker 'Atlantia' and various cargo ships at anchor in Bayur Bay (also called Emma Haven), near Panang, West Sumatra
  • Indonesian Navy ship, Bayur Bay, Padang, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> Bayur Bay (also called Emma Haven or Emmahaven, when Sumatra was governed by the Dutch) is the largest port in Western Sumatra.
  • Big boat, small boat<br /> <br /> Tanker 'Atlantia' at the dock in Bayur Bay, with a small local craft passing by, Padang, West Sumatra
  • Freighters at anchor, Bayur Bay, Padang, West Sumatra
  • Dugout canoe, Bayur Bay, Padang, West Sumatra<br /> <br /> Bayur Bay (called Emmahaven during the time of the Dutch administration), is the major harbour and port of West Sumatra<br /> <br /> For more photos of the harbour see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/lZBo3c">http://goo.gl/lZBo3c</a>
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