Tasikmalaya is My Sweet Childhood Memory

I was born in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia.  Tasikmalaya is one of the smaller cities in Indonesia.  It is located in the southwest of Java Island, West Java Province.  In Indonesia, people from Tasikmalaya are traders, especially traders that use the credit system.  Tasikmalaya is well known as a trading place; people can go to Tasikmalaya to make a business deal.  There are many home industries in Tasikmalaya.  Products that people know from Tasikmalaya are special batik style fabric (batik tasik), lace clothes, and many types of handicrafts, wooden sandals, traditional food, tapioca flour, and special crackers.  The famous place to buy handicrafts in Tasikmalaya is Rajapolah. They also export their products to other countries.  Tasikmalaya is also known as the place that produces the greatest number of dangdut singers in Indonesia.  Dangdut is a type of Indonesian music.

Tasikmalaya has a volcano named Gunung Galunggung that erupted terrifyingly in April, 1981.  At that time, the dust from Gunung Galunggung went as far as the beaches in Australia.  I remember my experience relating to Gunung Galunggung’s eruption.  I was in the 4^th grade at that time. I could not go to school for one month, because we had dust rain almost every day, so I studied at home.   My home was 15 miles from Gunung Galunggung; it is far, and that is why we just got dust rain when Gunung Galunggung erupted.  We did not get hit with other things like lava.

Tasikmalaya also has a beach that faces the Indian Ocean; it is named Cipatujah.  That beach has white sand and is still natural.  Besides that, we can see rice fields in the village. There are also two lakes in Tasikmalaya, Gede Lake and Panjalu Lake.  We can swim at those lakes. There is also an interesting area called Kampong Naga. The people of Kampong still adhere to the old traditions. The way they build their houses is unique. The uniqueness lies in their uniformity, starting with the building materials; the house is designed in accord with the direction their houses are facing.

The weather in Tasikmalaya is almost the same as other places in Indonesia; we are in a tropical area so we have only two seasons, the dry season and the wet or rainy season. The hottest temperature in Tasikmalaya is never more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tasikmalaya is a small city that looks like Fayetteville, Arkansas, but the population is more than Fayetteville, almost 1.6 million people.  Most of the people in Tasikmalaya are Muslims.  Most of them are religious, so there are many Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in Tasikmalaya.  In Tasikmalaya, not all the people have a car or a motorcycle because they have different economic conditions.  There are many forms of public transportations; it makes it easy to go anywhere.  We also have unique public transportation, it is named becak.  Becak is a tricycle that has the driver in the back and the passengers in the front.

People in Tasikmalaya are so friendly, they always greet and smile at each other in the street. They are very welcoming to everybody. They are also very helpful.  If we get lost in Tasikmalaya, we do not need to worry.  All people in Tasikmalaya will help us until we can find the place we are searching for.  They will give us directions if we ask, and it is possible they will give us a ride to the place we seek. Some people also let people stay free if they do not find the place that they seek.   Neighborhoods in Tasikmalaya are also very close.  All the neighbors know each other.  Their kids also play together inside and outside the houses without worrying that someone will kidnap them.  All the students in elementary and junior high school are also members of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. They have camps and survival competition every year, and there are many competitions for students. It allows the children to have fun.

Every year the Tasikmalaya Fair celebrates Tasikmalaya‘s birthday.  They use the downtown and surroundings as a place for the Tasikmalaya Fair.  We can see many local handicrafts there and we can enjoy entertainment from local singer and comedian.  When I lived there, I always went to the fair because I like to buy cotton candy that we can find only at that fair.

I am lucky to have had the experience of living in Tasikmalaya because it made me rich with experiences.  I have gone to the Gunung Galunggung, Gede Lake, Cipatujah Beach, the rice fields, and the river.  I have sweet memories of Tasikmalaya.  I was the best student in Tasikmalaya when I was 5^th grade, and I was the winner of the math competition in 6^th grade. I remember all of my elementary teachers in Tasikmalaya who always guided me to be the best student and a good person.  They said knowledge is power, but character is more. I will not forget them.  Besides what I learned in school, I learned many things from Tasikmalaya, like how to be friendly to other people and to be religious.   I lived in Tasikmalaya for 13 years, then I moved to Bandung, the capital city of West Java Province because of my father’s job.

I hope I will go to Tasikmalaya again if I go to Indonesia, and I recommend to foreign people to go there if they travel to Indonesia. Not many foreign people know that place, but it will be unforgettable and worth the trip.