PontianakA pontianak or kuntilanak (as known in Indonesia, sometimes shortened to just kunti) is a type of vampire in Malay folklore. The pontianak is usually a woman who died during childbirth and becomes undead, seeking revenge and terrorizing villages. She often appears as a beautiful woman, usually accompanied by the strong scent of frangipani. Men who are not wary will be killed when she morphs into a hideous vampire, she will also eat babies and harm pregnant women.
People believe that having a sharp object like a nail helps them fend off potential attacks by pontianaks, the nail being used to plunge a hole in the back of the pontianak's neck. It is believed that when a nail is plunged into the back of a pontianak's neck, she will turn into a beautiful woman, until the nail is pulled off again. The Indonesian twist on this is plunging the nail into the apex of the head of the kuntilanak.
PalangkarayaPalangkaraya is the capital city of the Central Kalimantan province of Indonesia. The population of the municipality is 160,018 (2000 census).
The city, along with other parts of central Kalimantan, was the site of ethnic violence between the indigenous Dayak people and Madurese immigrants in 2001. Several thousand Madurese, who had moved to Kalimantan as long as twenty years earlier, were evacuated to other islands to escape the violence.
BanjarmasinBanjarmasin is the capital of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located at 3°20'S 114°35'E, on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. As a result, Banjarmasin is sometimes called the "River City". Its population is about 444,000 (1991), making it the largest city on Borneo.
An important deepwater port, it is the trade center of the rich Barito basin; exports include rubber, pepper, timber, petroleum, coal, gold, and diamonds. There is a large oil refinery, and coal mines and sawmills are in the vicinity. The city is a centre for boatbuilding, especially of the pinisi sailing schooners used for inter-island trade.
The city is laced with flood-prone waterways, and many houses are built on rafts or stilts over the waterr. A floating marketplace, where buyers and sellers visit by boat, is located on the western outskirts of town.
The Sabila Muhtadin Mosque, located along the Martapura riverfront, is a major landmark in the city. Built in 1980, it accommodates thousands of worshippers for Friday prayers. A state university (Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, UNLAM) is in the town.
BalikpapanBalikpapan is a city (population 309,234 1990) on the island of Borneo, in Indonesia. It is the second largest city in the province of East Kalimantan, located on an inlet of Makassar Strait about 115 km from Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan province. Mostly surrounded by sea, Balikpapan is an important center of the petroleum, mining, and timber industries.
The city is sometimes called the "Main Gate" of East Kalimantan. It has an international airport, called Sepinggan, several harbors such as Semayang and Somber, and a port devoted to the petroleum industry.
Surrounded by Balikpapan Bay, the city also has potential for business, such as trades and tourism. Dayak, Bugis, Javanese, and some foreigners live here.
Tarakan
The name of Tarakan City comes from Tidung language formed by two words, Tarak means "meet" and Ngakan means "eat". It tries to tell us long ago Tarakan island was used as a meeting place by Tidung ethnic which live as fisherman. As time goes by Tarakan city which was known as city of oil at that time has only one subdistrict, Tarakan.
Tarakan is island town, which located near with Sabah, Malaysia frontier. According to history, Tarakan have ever become location of venomous encounter at Second World War between Japan armies and Australian army. 235 Australian armies died at the encounter. Some houses in Tarakan still having stripper cannon rest of world war that put down in house yard as supply of garden and lawn. In Tarakan there is Australian army cenotaph in location, which is become a military complex. This cenotaph is built in memory of coping to die Australian army to free Tarakan from Japan occupying. In other location there is Japan grave residing in ex Japan bunker in hilly area.
This tourism object in Tarakan for example Amal Beach is a parting 11 Km from the downtown. This beach has coconut panorama to wave with beautiful panorama.Amal Beach is a beautiful beach with white sand, located at West Tarakan Subdistrict. Visitors can watch public shows every Sunday. To reach this place, visitors can go through Kampung Empat, then they go east as far as 6 km by passing native people's field.
About 4 Km from the downtown, in Masjid Markoni Street Gang III there is 'Tugu Perabuan Jepang' that built in 1933. This monument is square equipped with article Kanji and is place of obsequies the dying Japanese corpse.
Based on government regulation No. 47 1981, the status of Tarakan subdistrict was developed as administrative city, authenticated by the Minister of Home Affairs on March 23rd 1982, so 23rd March becomes the date of The Birthday of The Administrative City of Tarakan.
