Uluwatu t-shirt in Kuta Bali

G’Day Nick,

Nice one!. Ya gotta love these female ‘threats’. Candika once said to me, “If you go into another bookshop, then I’ll divorce you”.

That was 6 years ago and we are still together!

Hey Barrie!

Remember me? I’m the one who’s much interested in learning Indonesian.

Some time ago, I asked you what “anggrek bulan” meant (referring to the song), and your answer was “blooming moon” (literary meaning, you said). Nonetheless, trying to find that song’s lyrics, I just found that it is the name of a specific orchid variety which happens to be Indonesia’s national flower. That is, Phalaenopsis amabilis; beautiful, by the way.

So, my doubt is: Was your answer correct? Probably it has two meanings. I don’t know. Still, I don’t have “Anggrek Bulan” ’s lirycs. Maybe you can help me.

See you!

Hi Hermann,

Geez mate that was a long time ago!. ‘Blooming moon’ eh. Well, ‘bulan’ has tweo meanings - Month and moon. Whereas, ‘Anggrek’ is orchid. However, when I first heard that song I was in Java and my wife told me it meant ‘Blooming moon’. I took her word for it.

So yes, perhaps I was wrong [doesn't happen very often though!].
As far as obtaining lyrics are concerned, try an internet search using the actual words.

Hi Hermann,

Finally found a link to the lyrics of Anggrek Bulan:

http://elfan.net/songlyric/Nostalgia-SetangkaiAnggrekBulan.html

Hey Barrie!

If you happened to be wrong, anyway it wasn’t you. Maybe your wife was, but probably she knows an alternative name for that song. By the way, is she Indonesian?

Anyhow, I couldn’t get into that link. I’ll find my way, some time, and will get the lyrics of Anggrek Bulan. Thanks, though. The hard part will be translation.

I don’t know why I am so attracted to Indonesian culture, including, and especially Bahasa Indonesia. My friends keep asking me. Weird… My mother language is Spanish, my wife is Brazilian, and taught me Portuguese quite well. I can manage English and some German, because of my family background. When it comes to Indonesian, there’s no reasonable explanation.

I tell you it is hard (Except pronunciation, very similar to Spanish), contrary to what most people say. Surely, I’ll end up speaking it with the help of many books, songs and people like you.

Thanks, Barrie!

Hi Hermann,

Wow!…you certainly have a potpourri of languages!. Actually, of the languages you mentioned, all but Brazillian words you will find in Bahasa Indo.

My wife is Indonesian (from Yogya) and I asked her again about Anggrek Bulan. She said that is the way it is interpreted. Just like I told you originally.

To get to the lyrics, use Google and type in this exactly - “anggrek bulan”

Then just scroll down and choose the link you want. When I looked at teh lyrics, the crafty bastards have made it so you cannot copy & paste the lyris!. Try printing it out though.

Barrie, you wouldn’t believe, but I’ve already found some Portuguese, hence Brazilian, words in Bahasa Indonesia. A few examples:

gereja (church) = Portuguese igreja
jandela (window) = Portuguese janela
bola (ball) = Portuguese bola

There are a few more I can’t recall right now.

If I’m not wrong, the Portuguese docked in Indonesia a few centuries ago, but lost territory to the Dutch. They may have left a few words; or, probably, they picked up some Indo words. I’ll do my research. It’s fun!

Lucky you; you’ve got a teacher at home + live close to Indonesia + have a natural intelligence towards languages.

When I have the lyrics translated by myself, I’ll let you know. Then you and your wife can have a few moments of laughter.

Hi Hermann,

You are correct. The Portugese introduced Catholicism to East Nusa Tanggara…