I took these weather vane pictures today as it is 28F and snowy in Columbus, OH and it is partly cloudy and 84F in Bandung, Indonesia. Just saying!
Well, if we are talking about Bandung, in the Island of West Java Indonesia, as the crow flies it is 10,069 miles from Columbus, Ohio. To put that in perspective, the earth is 24,901 miles in diameter! So one can say, without exaggerating much, that Bandung is literally on the other side of the world. Santa Maria is the most popular city name in the world with 1,246 cities named after the mother of Christ. Washington takes the record in the US with 88 cities and towns named after our beloved first president. BANDUNG stands alone as the ONE and only ONE in the world.
Bandung (Sundanese: ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ) was founded by the Dutch in 1810 and at one point it was the capital of the former Dutch East Indies. Nicknamed Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch for its resemblance to Paris and European atmosphere back in colonial times, Bandung also earned another nickname as Kota Kembang, literally meaning the Flower City since Bandung used to have a lot of flowers.
Bandung has a quaint atmosphere, quite different from nearby Jakarta, with all of its hustle and bustle. And its sustained popularity among Indonesians has brought rapid development, slowly transforming the character of the city. Its population has grown exponentially, attracting people from all over Indonesia’s archipelago seeking work.
BBC
So where exactly is it? Bandung is located 7° South of the Equator on the latitude scale. Columbus, Ohio is 39° North of the equator. Bandung is on the same plane, first and foremost with A LOT of ocean water, but it is also along the same line with Peru, The Amazons, Angola, Tanzania, Seychelles and Papua New Guinea. Yeah…IT’S FAR!!!! Thus the direct flight from New York to Singapore (Just north a bit from Bandung) being close to 19 hours NON STOP! How can a plane fly for so long without stopping? The answer is in not running out of fuel! I say that about 35,000 gallons got us there.
Personally I have been groomed for this: Salto, Uruguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina to the US. Connecticut to NC. NC to PA. PA to OH. The list goes on. They say the average American family moves about 6 times or so in a lifetime. I stopped counting after 17!! As a child in South America my parents often would ask me to go to my grandparents house to deliver a message. One bus ride from our small city to the “big” city. Second bus ride from city to the farm in the country and then a couple mile walk. My name was LA Palomita Mensajera (Messenger Dove). I never minded going. I just loved to GO.
Over the past 30 years my dear wife JoAnn has always been by my side. She also has experience in going and the desire to go even further. We make a good team!
IS IT FAR? Yeah, it is far but not as far as one might think–just a couple of plane rides and a short walk.
Latitude 6.9175° S Longitude 107.6191° E
Why Not Indonesia & Japan -- By, Ismael Sapoval 