Hot Spots

It turned out.. me who hit the 1000th in ubudblu this morning. First for the day!

I slept early last night with hope to get up early today. I awoke when it’s still dark. My subconscious told me to stay in bed grr.. I got up the usual 6:30 then.

I moved my office to balcony -- my hot spot. I need different atmosphere. It’s nice to have movable office. Even I can move the printer. Now I can work and read while observing street life. Scavengers at work. Neighbor washing cars. Early donation beg-ger. Nice!

Checking email is always fun. When I know my inbox is in bold, I have the exact feeling described in today’s Jakarta Post about getting SMS / text: I feel so important, so wanted – someone remembers me! That’s very true!

This morning I got three junk emails that I happily redistributed with the same spirit. Give everyone happy feeling! I don’t always have time and mood to send them email but sharing nice jokes that takes up three minutes of my life is.. nothing. 9:39

I decided to buy some books at the bookshop I went last week. The price is.. too good to be true. USD 6 for most new fictions and literatures. Buy what’s available now and find time to finish later he he.. Some bookshops in Jakarta are collapsed. I missed one fire sale of a big bookshop. I just read the report in Jakarta Post. A friend told me that she paid USD100 for 30 books!

I thoroughly browsed the shelves. One by one. I got one. I got two. LIN texted. Can I watch live volleyball-game on TV at 15:00? I checked the time. An hour from now. Hm.. My staffs know very well how to knock on my authority door. I want them to feel comfortable by practicing democracy. But sometimes they challenged my hot spots (our Pavlovian responses to feel frustrated and agitated with people – Carlson’s term) or simple term -- boiling point.

The other day, PLV staff asked me about my policy on how long is the holiday for two coming Balinese celebrations. I checked a friend in Ubud and he said that two days is enough for the first and one day for the second. Staff texted me back. Why don’t you give me three days? I didn’t reply.

So I rushed to pay the three books (I decided the third on my way to cashier) and go upstairs to have quick lunch. My all time favorite resto owned by a Chinese gastronome. It underwent renovation last year and I hadn’t seen the new look. I gasped when I entered the resto. I feel this is the best retro living-room in town. Wooden art-deco furniture and knick-knack (very consistent). I love the smell of the wood. So fresh. Only one. People are still allowed to smoke, while many public areas in Jakarta have applied the new government decree of smoke-free space.

I ordered what I had in mind since entered the bookshop. Eggplant flaky pizza. Pizza took long. I was happy reading while kept checking the time. I finished half in hurry, packed the rest, then speed driving to FRA. Okay LIN, take your time and cellphone. Off she went to neighbor who owns TV. My.. 15:45

Living Offline

I decided to spend my day offline today. I defragmented my laptop in the morning after checking emails. It took hours I knew (I should have done it before slept aarrghh..) Yesterday I gave my glass-walled balcony a life; changed the cushion covers and tablecloth. I hadn’t used the area for months. Why? Hot. Especially after neighbor cut the palm trees. Now I only enjoy the renovation scene.

I read newspapers, had nice breakfast, and continued reading a novel. But morning was too nice to just spend it sitting. I looked around and decided to do something..

Big achievement! I decluttered my old computer table! It was the most cluttered place in the house.. I think. It was the center of my activities years ago till I decided to use laptop and work off desk. I delayed decluttering cos I was still thinking to back up my data and send the computer to shop for up-grading. Thing that doesn't happen till now. All those excuses..

I really don’t like papers; bank statements, bills, newsletters, flyers, brochures,.. They occupy space. I like clipping, especially art news. But look at the yellowish paper which I don’t even bother to open once a year! Glad now I can clip in blog, like what I do in blu-muse.

I’m happy with my decision to own a paper shredder. It helps me a lot to get rid of important papers like bank statements, bills,.. even Heritage newsletters. I have to be considerate cos it contains ladies' numbers and emails. I enjoy feeding the shredder tho and later staffs enjoy the shredded paper for packing in FRA.

Deciding which to keep, which to shred, which to go to rubbish, is something. We are always trapped in decision of this can be useful later. But the fact is.. if we need something, we hardly go to our archives. We don’t even remember if we have the material. We go online, or shop to get what we want. So.. no use to keep! That’s what I told myself today. I practiced my own term auto delete system -- everything goes straight to rubbish. I threw many papers away. I know.. I never look back.

I keep active bank statements and should shred the non-active ones (will do later). I will shred last years' credit card bills soon. I only keep most of namecards (forget about keeping it in alphabet order, just bundle them and put it in a plastic bag) and all thoughtful cards from loved ones! I have nice document folders to keep greeting cards like album. I take it out from the envelope and display it. It’s nice to return sometimes.. especially after online era where mailed cards are rare. Online cards cannot be kept.

I always dreamed to have bigger storage room. But this morning, it came across my mind that I don’t need that at all. Decluttering is not about relocating mess. It’s about deleting them for good. Do I need to keep receipts of buying tiles? Stool? Washing machine? I would not care of how much it had cost me if I don’t see the receipt.. Ha ha..

Photos also take new dimension for me. I liked to print most of pictures I took in the past. But I don’t feel like doing it after digital album exists. One way to reduce paper. Of course we cannot rely on technology, but nothing lasts anyway. I don’t make photo montage for loved ones anymore either. I was thinking to buy program to make montage digitally. So nothing in hard-copy anymore ha ha.. Remember what MAG does..

That’s about today.. Further decluttering..

Living Online

More decluttering this morning. Also busy with staff trying to find out why electricity in front house was in trouble. It was not out, but all lamps could not be switched off!? So strange. All were on, so at night, house looked luminous. This problem is part of living in dense Jakarta housing. No space for a house to stand by itself. Always wall to wall.

My right-neighbor is building a house. It’s not a renovation cos they knocked down the old house. It’s not just the noise and dust that bother, but also the possibility of getting problem in the house. Leaking leads to many problems; from damp wall to electricity problem. And that’s happening now.

We may have to take off the bulbs while waiting for them to finish the construction. Hoping that would solve the problem cos the wall gets no more exposure to rain -- no more water seeping out. In Jakarta, many problems have to be solved with ilmu kudu (iso) – Java: the art of making the impossible possible.

That took up almost my morning, working on the electricity plus decluterring. I didn’t feel like going out then. My day was spent half at home. This is also Jakartan attitude. We don’t go out for minor errand cos the effort is bigger; not worth the time. Lucky who can handle their biz from home.. or online.

RAD reminded me to update my two biz blogs. She wanted to set up one for her biz. Then I checked mine. Oh.. I have new materials that I haven’t uploaded. I should not underestimate these blogs. People check them from time to time. I should pay more attention as webmaster :-)

I missed one article on new media in The Economist, a friend reminded me. About Google and Yahoo, and people who spend most of their life online. Lucky students nowadays who can enjoy virtual world 24/7. In my time, I should be happy with Britannica Encyclopedia (comparing edition to get the latest one), many kinds of dictionaries, and text-books. I spent time after school in library -- even then.. not everyday. If I lived in this era, I would have spent most of my time the way I spend it now. Like my nephew who has glued to virtual world since years ago. He played online games then. I’m not sure what’s his interest at present. I believe he is part of the generation who does communication and homework online. I should catch him online sometime.

Although I don’t spend most of my time online, but RAD thought that I’m quite cyber connected (her term). She got the term after getting my real time response thru internet ha ha... But yes, I’m quite like that but I’m not the one with push-email in PDA ha ha. Not that freak.

By the way, I printed March postings. 61 pages!! Took up my half afternoon. I hope that’s the longest postings he he. Remember, don’t share all.

Battling n Bubbling

I’m happy to have a productive morning. I decluttered! A never ending job for a house with lots of art. Today I did the foyer.. front page. I’m so happy I finally did it. It needs a new look after awhile. Entering house should be nicer now.

I had lazy time after the cleaning. I was battling with self to go - or not - to wholesale market in Chinatown with UB team by TransJakarta bus. At 13:00 they were still at home. It was heavy cloudy. I decided to stay at home and meet them in the mall. They must need a ride home.

So here I am now in Coffee Bean having chai latte, my favorite. I read The Economist a friend suggested to read. About ‘survey of new media’. I learned some jargons in blogging. Well I’ve known them but knowing the ideas behind is nice. Vlogs, blogroll, permalink, pings,.. I liked Winer’s thought about blogging: “the unedited voice of a single person (preferably an amateur). Blogs usually have a raw, unpolished authenticity and individuality. … If an editor vets, softens or otherwise messes about with the writing, he would argue, it is no longer a blog.” Mm I have similar thought. Like conventional handwritten journal. It’s free and no editing.

Wiki principle is nice. I always think what a great idea to build an encyclopedia by involving public. But podcasting is new to me. That is also something unimaginable in the past -- that we can broadcast online, no time barrier. Almost like blogging, but sure it’s different. It’s good to know. I shall visit one although listening to music all the time is not my cup of tea. I prefer to be connected to my surrounding than being in my own music cubicle.

So I’m happy to have decided to go to the mall after went thru battling with self again. I lose interest in mall-ing the last two years. I don’t need more stuffs. If I need something, I would just go n get n home.

But sitting in a café with nice music is really something. I have ideas bubbling. Different atmosphere brings new ideas. Grreatt!!

Nothing New

Hey I started Wed bazaar again today. I’d been on-off the past few weeks. I decided to stay full day today.

Bazaar looked good. It’s always good when I found many stalls that bring me ideas. Accessories always caught my attention. I remember my materials and tools at home that I hardly spared time to create. I also remember that I have to make new printings (namecard and price tag) for FRA and UB. Hm.. It gives me homework for tomorrow. Great!

Today I didn’t meet any friend, unlike other weeks. Only my facial lady dropped by UB stall. Nice to meet her. She’s UB marketing staff. She liked to give away her necklace and bought again the next week. Even she ordered for more, in her color. I like to know that UB has fan(s), considering our odd-asymmetrical designs.

Another close male friend called. Another sad story about marriage life. I don’t like to learn about his situation where he has to look after his only boy alone. I know him long time, like brother to me and cousins. We can do nothing, only sympathizing. Be his friends, listen to him,..

Nothing new today. I checked Blogger this afternoon and it worked normal. I successfully moved three postings so it should be okay from now on. I’m full with papadam and salted lassi. I may go back to stall now.

Recovered: You made me laugh!

Chiko went to see vet again today. He has skin allergic. Two weeks ago he got fever and it turned out to be flu. He looked big when I got home from Malang. I always dream to have a big tomcat. I hope he still grows, he’s only one n half year.

I decided to go out today. I had some errands to run in a mall. Mm.. It would be nice if I could see a good friend over lunch. I texted RAD. I always asked RAD first. Lucky we are able to be online most of the time. She thinks of me when I think of her and vice-versa. She felt the same when I texted her. Quick decision.

We had nice lunch in a hip Thai resto. Today we succeeded in selecting menu, nice combination. It’s not always the case cos we have different appetite. She only had one n half hour, much too short for us who can talk non-stop for days ha ha.. Today we didn’t kick each other. No enlightenment. Only about how to be a good friend. We found out both of us have bigger male part. Ha ha..

On my way home, I called a friend who I missed the call. My day was marked by his remark. He called me to say hi. It was too late to have lunch so we made appointment for tomorrow. It’s been long not talking to him. We had a very good laugh. He shed tears of laughing. I was touched when he said You made me laugh! What did I say? He said.. nothing. It’s just nice to share jokes with me? Mhh?

_______________________________

Blogger is still on-off. I managed to post one short posting this morning, but not the long one. No hope for today. I master WordPress better n better now.

ha ha..

hey i can post yesterday's short posting below..
it's a test and it works today..
don't know what will happen the next..
i just wait till end of the week while keep checking..

for now..
please enjoy my other tempo blog..

http://ubudblu.wordpress.com/

Recovered: Challenge Creativity

I started late today. I tried to formulate my day while lying in bed, but nothing came out. I had no plan but tidying house. I observed it yesterday. Oh my! Like it’s been shaken once, glad not.. many times. It's always like this when I traveled too often ha ha. My disclaimer.

And the kick was waiting at the door when I went out of bedroom at 7:15. My two teenage cousins were there, sitting on dining table, giggling.. What? They dropped by -- waiting for their lil brother in school. So good to see them. Half my age generation but we don’t feel the gap. I feel like their funky-mom-cum-friend. I learn that I’m good in handling teenagers. I could go as crazy as they are, but I still have their mom’s values. Nice combi eh?

So they said Wow look at your house, your bedroom! I told them that they came the right time. My tidying time is Monday morning, especially bedroom area. Tidying the aftermath of the previous week.

I started right after they left an hour later. So many things to do today. Two staffs were in bathroom fixing shower hose. I had everything in order after lunch at 13:00. Neat n nice.

And looking at my laptop, it reminded me of annoying Blogger. Aaarghh… Tho I knew that I have to wait till weekend is over in the US, still I would like to check. Zero. All accounts could not publish. I didn’t want to touch my three biz blogs. I don’t want to mess them. Enough with my daily blog.

I decided to start printing my blog. I had time in the afternoon after lunch. It turned out quick, didn’t take much of my time. 43 pages in February. It looks really nice with colored fonts. Good I bought good quality Japanese paper. Thick and nice.

I checked Blogger again. I decided not to report but reading postings in Blogger Groups, I knew.. am not alone. This posting is so funny true:

From: cLara - view profile

Date: Mon, Apr 24 2006 5:53 pm

SAMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE OMG. what the heck is wrong with this thing? i've been trying for.....1 hour. and now i cannot tell the world abt how stupid and pathetic darryl jeet is! why isn't blogger doing anything? i took their advise and tried to minimise the no. of posts in the blog main page. but it's not working... argh. BLOGGER please fix this. there are millions of mindless idiots trying desperately to tell the world about their pathetic exsistent via bloggin. HELP!!!

In fact, in the morning, I took my other cousin's advice to try Blogdrive and WordPress. I chose to sign up at WordPress, the page looks cuter. But aaarggh.. I hate to admit that Blogger has the best look and features. And I tried to post my failed posting. It worked! Only font has no color option, no links shown in front page, cannot edit the sidebar,.. But I feel great to have a way to post my writing. I was thinking to just leave them in file but.. I guess it would lose its flavor when I post them later. I will move them to Blogger tho, after it operates again.

Okay, problem is solved for the time being. Thank ubudblu avid readers for support and inputs. Much appreciated. Hope you enjoy this one too!

Recovered: Multi Ideas

This posting is supposed to be posted in ubudblu blog but.. I really have to give it up. There's no way I can post without damaging the posting. Strange n annoying. I think about keeping the same URL, but will work on that later. I will see the development first. So please enjoy the new URL!!

Hope this one goes. I tried many times last night, even setting up a new account, all didn't work. I could not post! ARV suggested me to report. Yaa.. I always thought that reporting to a big organization is a fuss. But.. do something is always better than wait. So I will do now.

And another friend said something positive must come out of an incident. Creativity is challenged when everything stuck. That's very true! I think I master Blogger more now.

_________________________________

I’m not happy with my new blog face. Front page still looks odd, unlike the original template with neat font in the sidebar. I tried to find out but ended up ruining it.. again. I didn’t publish it so up to now it doesn’t affect the page look. Checking it on-off I knew, after the aftermath, some of my blogs cannot be edited. Once it’s published, it’s unchangeable. Unless I did copy-paste and created new, double work. I’m thinking of setting up a new account. If it helps. Grr.

So I spent longer time at home. I promised TET, my dear friend from Malang, to see her in one plaza. She came with her daughter -- casting for modeling. I needed to see her. She’d been kind to me, always had time to see me when I was in Malang. Any season.

At 14:30, I was late! She had finished and run to catch next train back. Aaarghh.. Observing the long queue, she didn’t expect to finish that fast either. So I missed to see them. Oh. I felt bad. So bad.

As I had been on my way, I made detour. Destination-less. FRA is always my getaway when I had nowhere to go. Good to see LIN and talk about workshop activities. I have to keep creating for workshop to keep staffs working.

It’s still 16:30. Too early to go home. Made a slow round in Kemang would be nice. A big and fast development lately. Hm many places closed biz and new ones open. Even in FRA neighborhood, we have many different neighbors in eight years. And FRA is still there, not even ever renovating. FRA keeps the same look, old customers won’t never miss the place. I’m glad to realize that FRA never changes face! We are stable, if not stronger. Ya?

Day is still young. That’s how I call if I still see sunlight. Uuh.. I needed something to do. I call it doing cultural trip. It doesn’t have to go to an exhibition or museum, but shopping in antique market or visiting bookshop is enough. Something enriching, not accumulating.

Okay nowhere to go. I broke my promise to myself not to go to bookshop till I finish books I have bought. AKS bookshop has sale. And it’s a good sale!! Everything is cheap. I didn’t go closer to bookshelves. I browsed the tables and anything from distance. I didn’t intend to buy books.

AS called. Out of the blue. My hate-like (not love-hate) art friend. He needed my advice, so he stopped by. Good to see him after long time. He protested that I haven’t visited his auction house. I know. I’ve been bad, I didn’t make time. He had three or four auctions by now. I told myself to be there early May for the next auction but.. I didn’t tell him ha ha.

We were discussing art selling calendar of the year when his friend came to greet him. It turned out his friend, MAG, exhibits her artwork in space in the back. So we went there to see. I gasped. So unique, so different, soo good! The art-books! Ooh..

This is the first time I met an artist who works with multi ideas (not just multi medias). She creates a thick book, almost like a coffee-table book, containing digital artwork of her artwork. So she takes digital photos of her artwork, touches it digitally or manually, and produces it as a new artwork. She recycles her artwork: creating a new artwork out of it and at the same time documenting. What a fresh idea! Her original artwork itself is product of one/combination of wood-cutting, etching, water-coloring, sketching, brushing, montage, digital photo, poem and all is done with graphics printing. A nice combination of nine ideas! Plus.. she also makes audio art to complete her visual art.

Her work is similar to Frida Kahlo's, except no depressing theme. All are about joy and fun times. Her books are about women –- at work, in sexy poses, on wedding day. She took lots of women pictures, touched it with art ideas, then printed it nicely as an art-book. Like journal of a woman, or a trip. Very clever. She also makes painted chair and floor mat, all painted (shown in photo).

I like her. Unlike many who work in digital art, she looks very plain. Like young mother who accompany kids to school. No groovy style a la digital. Herself is surprising. Her art is superb. New!

I will try to set time for her to talk to art group this Friday. I guess this must be enriching for all of us. I feel lucky to have met her this early evening. We had a nice talk about the making and the ideas. Never ending discussion.

I was ready to go home. I felt rich already. I bought four new indie CDs. I think I like indie more now. I’m able to see the art in this music genre, like I see art created from multi ideas.

no blog?

i hope this one goes thru..
i can't post..
have to wait for a few days..
hope Blogger can resolve the problem soon..
have tried other blog servers, nothing is interesting..
better wait for this one..
ugh..

Happy Deathday!

i have tried many ways to get my posting posted..
tried to post shorter and edited later..
tried to set up a new account..
tried to recycle old account..
tried to create new blog in an old account..
nothing works..
my posting is all ruined by alien texts..

i tried to write to get help..
my.. not easy..
i have to join the google groups..
meaning more exposing..
they don't serve client personally..
mm.. perhaps i should just do..
or i have to try other blog server..

hope this posting goes!

Challenge

Hm what a way to spend a nice morning.. This is my first time to experience serious problem with Blogger – but please not again in the future. I tried to find Blogger status but then was too busy with strange blogging. After one big mess this morning, I found out that the database was down. Ugh. I should have been patient. But there’s a challenge.. I changed the blog template finally! I wanted to do since long but I was so afraid to ruin the whole. And this morning, it ruined anyway. All my links in sidebar were gone. My previous posts could not be seen. I trembled opening the dashboard, hoping all 71 postings were still there. Good to see all were there! I could think of something at least.. But I loved to start new. Have to be kicked to start anew!

I thought about how to make hard copy version of my blog. I wrote the draft in word processor but the final version is in Blogger of course. But after 50 postings, I thought it's too late to do hard copy. Too many works. After experiencing the feeling of loss today, I dropped my idealism to let my blog dies with me. A friend convinced me that there must be something from the stories I once share. Two friends have told me the same. Okay, Blogger has kicked me to realize the idea.

I was happy grocery shopping today. Why? I found nice blank loose sheets and folders to keep the hard copy! I chose nice colors: orange and bright green. I have done copy-paste all postings to a file before printing later. I spent some times to figure out how to do cos it was not as easy. Printing is another challenge to do tomorrow.

I could not visit FRA cos macet everywhere. Heavy rain and big demonstration. Pornography bill. But.. one challenge has been answered today.

Hari Perempuan: Again!

I try my luck again to post yesterday's now. I failed this morning. The result appeared in two funny postings (I deleted one) shown two postings down. Someone's gasoline charts intruded my last part. I decided to keep the odd post for fun. So let's see if I manage to post this one -- which I doubt, looking at the still odd sidebar, Blogger may have not resolved the problem. Grr..

I was mopping bedroom floor when a friend texted me Selamat Hari Perempuan. He caught me the right time. I felt like a woman when doing household chore. Smile. I thanked him (for reminding me of my femininity).

I was sweaty hectic – cos I had early appointment at ten (sharp) with PEN – when I got a phone call from CF, my long time customer. Oh he called me at home. We exchanged hi then he told me what he wanted. Another mysterious story in FRA answered. His wife had asked LIN for help to move a huge stone statue CF bought years ago. I remembered one day LIN told me that she trembled from a lady who entered shop and pushed LIN to lend FRA staffs to help her moving her art. The effect was horrible. Two other customers hurriedly went out, LIN said. So she must have been acting out of proportion.

This morning I learned about how to deliver message in a nice way. I learn a lot from my customers to be a good customer. I didn’t tell CF why LIN shut the possibility to get help from us. CF is a soft nice guy. He delivered his message nicely and clearly. Biz done in four minutes. I will send my staffs to his house tomorrow.

So I was ten minutes late. PEN and I are two of a kind. Time slave. We always check each other's time before spending time together. PEN told me that she had all day, so did I. We went to the biggest annual handicraft fair today.

This year the fair occupies bigger space. Two big halls bigger. And it’s good that they sectioned it according to merchandise category. PEN and I agreed with visiting handicraft section only, no clothing. So we went to Hall B for handicraft, not so good, but we ended up buying batik. I bought three batik skirts for Mama and a natural dye batik material. We both bought a nice expensive Timor cloth in red n white. Next hall was clothing, skipped. Then main hall was handicraft again. We walked lazily and decided to have lunch first. It was already 13:30.

We made another unsystematic round again and we both started accumulating things. I bought two ceramic plates with batik motif. Then cushion covers and more as we entered the three plenary halls. This is the same venue for Java Jazz. Very familiar place. Both hands were well occupied. Only two plastic bags but each was very full. PEN said we’d be gorillas by the end of the shopping trip. Longer arms.

We decided to end five hours trip by walking other route. That reminded me of visiting the assembly hall, the big hall in the middle. Okay, let’s have a quick look. What supposed to be a quick look cost me something. I met MAR, Timor art vendor in Ubud. We exchanged warm hi. It’s good to see her in Jakarta. As always, I browsed her old silver cuff collection. I hardly found one that fits my wrist. Timorese have tiny wrist. But today was my day. I found two perfect old cuffs. So perfect that I knew it’s mine! It cost me three new cuffs, but okay, it’s premium for the age. A nice Mexican style narrow runner followed the cuffs. In total? Aaargghh.. Quick look?

I met ex-boss' wife who was batik shopping the last two days, she said. Many ladies come two or three days to this five-day fair. I was like that in the past. I preferred to go by myself so I had total control. I used to merchandise shopping for FRA. Like many international buyers we saw today. Only they brought trolley bag, so clever. I wish I knew that we needed it ha ha.. And the interesting fact is that we need to have cash cos many transactions are in cash, especially with small vendors. Big spenders can finish hundreds USD. The control is on the cash in hand.

PEN reminded me to go out straight. No more extra round. I told her, I believed in shopping more if we made another round. PEN believed in that too. So better hurry out. We truly walked out like a gorilla.

I learn: never go shopping with persons of similar taste. Disaster.

eMbrACe CHangE

Good morning!

What a way to start a day..
Blog changed face!
I tried to post last night
Tried thousand times but nothing..
Only empty Done..

And this morning..
I lost the template..
I lost the blog..
Oh..
Nice cold sweat in the morning..
Great all 71 postings are still there!
That's the most important..

Good that I lost it tho..
I once thought to change the dark depressing blu..
Where I had to use bigger font cos any font looked smaller..
But imagining the work on the sidebar?
Now enjoy!!
Enjoy the bigger font in the past postings.. ha ha

Welcome the new template of Ubudblu!

Selamat Hari Perempuan Indonesia

April 21st - Hari Kartini - Kartini Day

The birthday of Raden Ajeng Kartini, a prominent leader in the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia. The event is marked by activities within women's groups. In Indonesian schools children compete in national dress competitions. The letters of Kartini to friends in Holland have been published in Letters of a Javanese Princess. (Photo of Kartini and sisters, Kardinah and Roekmini)


strange... cannot post the whole text. will try again tomorrow morning..

Hari Perempuan (revisit)

I was mopping bedroom floor when a friend texted me Selamat Hari Perempuan. He caught me the right time. I felt like a woman when doing household chore. Smile. I thanked him (for reminding me of my femininity).

I was sweaty hectic – cos I had early appointment at ten (sharp) with PEN – when I got a phone call from CF, my long time customer. Oh he called me at home. We exchanged hi then he told me what he wanted. Another mysterious story in FRA answered. His wife had asked LIN for help to move a huge stone statue CF bought years ago. I remembered one day LIN told me that she trembled from a lady who entered shop and pushed LIN to lend FRA staffs to help her moving her art. The effect was horrible. Two other customers hurriedly went out, LIN said. So she must have been acting out of proportion.

This morning I learned about how to deliver message in a nice way. I learn a lot from my customers to be a good customer. I didn’t tell CF why LIN shut the possibility to get help from us. CF is a soft nice guy. He delivered his message nicely and clearly. Biz done in four minutes. I will send my staffs to his house tomorrow.

So I was ten minutes late. PEN and I are two of a kind. Time slave. We always check each other's time before spending time together. PEN told me that she had all day, so did I. We went to the biggest annual handicraft fair today.

This year the fair occupies bigger space. Two big halls bigger. And it’s good that they sectioned it according to merchandise category. PEN and I agreed with visiting handicraft section only, no clothing. So we went to Hall B for handicraft, not so good, but we ended up buying batik. I bought three batik skirts for Mama and a natural dye batik material. We both bought a nice expensive Timor cloth in red n white. Next hall was clothing, skipped. Then main hall was handicraft again. We walked lazily and decided to have lunch first. It was already 13:30.

We made another unsystematic round again and we both started accumulating things. I bought two ceramic plates with batik motif. Then cushion covers and more as we entered the three plenary halls. This is the same venue for Java Jazz. Very familiar place. Both hands were well occupied. Only two plastic bags but each was very full. PEN said we’d be gorillas by the end of the shopping trip. Longer arms.

We decided to end five hours trip by walking other route. That reminded me tos1.blogger.com/blogger/7351/719/1600/gas chart.jpg"> Chart compares U.S. regular gasoline summer prices in 2005 and 2006 forecast, by region. (AP Graphic)




line. Jeff Fusco/Getty Images

I also found this little chart, comparing gasoline summer prices with projected 2006 price forecasts--I think they are a little off back then:

Chart compares U.S. regular gasoline summer prices in 2005 and 2006 forecast, by region. (AP Graphic)

Tri-Stories

Yu Sih -- Mama’s helper -- reminded me about TV stations in Malang. In the morning before I left for airport, Yu Sih told us that she saw us on TV the night before. It was hilarious. We forgot to watch. I’m not used to watch local TV stations, neither Mama.

I was curious. I asked Mama in airport while waiting for boarding. There are four local TV stations around Malang in the last two years. J-TV is East Java station in Surabaya, and Malang-TV is in Malang, Batu-TV and A-TV are in Batu. These stations are on air for about six hours a day, starting late in the afternoon. More about the areas, click here.

The funny thing about these TVs, they use local language (Bahasa Jawa) and dialect in all programs. Even news and interviews! It is funny. I liked to listen to the news, not for the news, but more of the vocabulary. The other day we watched a soap opera. Ha ha. It sounded awkward but authentic. Mama and I shared a good time repeating the expressions.

These stations only have a few ads. I guess they only have a few in-house programs such as news, short comedy show and short soap opera. They also tape events in public places like dancing night in a resto or a competition of something somewhere, and air it. The rest is relied on the audience! We can invite the station to make reportage of our events! As big as an exhibition in hotel or.. a private birthday party at home. Yaa! Mama told me that it is possible if we can offer them a nice ‘program’. Aha.

I once wondered why they created these stations. Mama reminded me that simple-life-people don’t need complicated entertainment and news. They don’t really care about what is happening in the capital city, in Indonesia or in the world. Not that they don’t care but it doesn’t have to take big portion in the news. But.. they do care about what is happening around the area where they live. That’s very logical. Observing Yu Sih, I could believe it. Watching people they know on TV can make difference too. They like it cos it touches their daily live. Yaa! So interesting.

The other day, TET, told Mama that she saw someone was dancing with someone on TV. Now they have something to gossip about cos they know who’s who on TV ha ha.. I never thought of that possibility. So it’s good for people in Malang, Batu and East Java to have local TV stations. I wonder whether other provinces have similar medium for gossip.

Note: Photo of Malang airplane I took secretly. It’s a military airport, we are not supposed to take picture.


Last night, Trisum started at eight as I had anticipated. I didn’t know why the ticket box told me that it started at seven. So we were all there by six! It’s good tho. Each pair went to different cafés to kill the time. We met up at seven in queue to get in. Ticket was sold out. Many middle men looked for extra tickets we might own. They offered premium price. I laughed. I liked the idea of selling mine twice (or more) the price. I had watched them in Yogya anyway ha ha..

We were lucky. We entered the music hall the right time and got the best location. In the center of middle back. We could view full stage and expect to listen balanced sound cos we sat in the middle. But aaarggh.. Sound system was bad. Really bad. It was hard to listen to the clarity of guitars and seruling (bamboo flute) sounds. We hardly enjoyed the music. Felt like listening to noise. Nice noise.

It’s good that Balawan gave us a surprise. He appeared in the middle of the audience and played medley on the way to stage. He made a few stops to sing or make dialog (shown in photo). It was hilarious. His Balinese dialect sounds unfamiliar to many but he exploits it with confidence. He’s also good in making jokes of himself. He’s acting humble. Of course he’s acting, he knows his power. Very entertaining. But nice part always lasted quickly. Then we’re back to the nice noise till end of the show. I believe many people felt disappointed. Lucky me who had experienced better show in Yogya. Very much better.


I don’t like when I have to go to see doctor. It’s more me who need to see the doctor, not my body. In the past, sometimes they shooed me away cos I was too healthy to see doctor. I’m worry too much about my health. Today I went to see one. Actually my doctor is out of town but on the second thought, I took the chance to see the substitute. Just see what he thinks and the rest is up to me.

I went early, I got #4. Not bad. I was sleepy. I could not concentrate reading. I went online for awhile. An hour passed. There the doctor came in. Ehm. Not my type.

How old are you now? After two Qs, a text went thru his. I was in the middle of my explanation. He said his sorry. . Okay. I waited. 2-3-4 minutes. He noted down numbers from the text and replied. Okay, go on. I continued my explanation. A reply went thru. This time no sorry. He went on reading the text leaving me half sentence. Okay. I held my breath and practiced patience. 2-3 minutes. Okay, now what is your problem?

I could not help comparing him to my doctor. I like my doctor cos he is attentive. He listens, looks me in the eye, calms me when I'm worry, asks Qs and listens to the As,.. He only opened his PDA when he checked his appointment with ME!

But ok. He found nothing is wrong with my body. It’s hormonal imbalance. He gave me prescription. Later in pharmacy I knew, he gave me tons of medicine. What? That many? Can I stop after I feel better? Oh.. I feel healthier now.. It happened that the pharmacy only had a quarter of the dosage. I’m sure I would be okay without full prescription.

I think this is why I avoid being ill in Indonesia. I mean seriously ill. I don’t want to be their experimental mouse.

Driving home was surprisingly fun. It’s been long not driving in Jakarta. It started to rain and of course.. macet! It’s a good distraction of my routine. It's a challenge to do. Traffic in Jakarta is a big challenge. Grr-eat!

l o u s y

I cannot believe that my life rhythm completely changed after entered Jakarta. LIN texted -- while I was in taxi -- about mysterious customer who wanted my staff to meet him in a hotel. He said that he met me in a party. I could not recall his name. And my staff could not find him in the hotel. Hotel said that no one under that name. I told LIN that she might have been dreaming. He he.. She doubted myself then. Ha ha..

At home, I had to load laundry. My chore. Then had lunch in hurry cos Ibu Scrubbing had waited. I thought I could relax. Not really. I had my mind wandering. I have my cousins in Wed bazaar today. I could not meet them. I had to go to see a doctor tomorrow. I need to finish an order. Ugh. I always remember someone tells me to relax and enjoy the NOW. Sorry, it doesn't work in a time like this.

And again… disaster! I got my left eye totally RED after washing face. I thought it was shampoo or the face wash so I washed the eye panicky. I forgot that Jakarta water is hard water. Not for washing eyes!! I hurriedly rewashed it with eye rinse liquid. No help! It got deeply red! Aaarghh…

I dried hair while pondering why my health falls apart. I feel like that. I feel healthy but non-common problems start to arise. If my red eye doesn’t get better after concert, I have to go to emergency in hospital. While my chest pain persists since yesterday. It doesn’t hurt me but it bothers. And more..

Now I’m waiting for taxi to take me to Balai Sarbini. This one too I made mistake. Quite serious but thank Universe.. no damage. I delayed calling the organizer about what time the concert starts. I had told other five friends that it should be 20:00. I just called and it’s 19:00!! I date busy persons and I didn’t inform them well?! Glad one couple is already in the mall nearby. The other two is okay. And RAD is planned to have coffee with me at 18:00. So we may miss the coffee cos the concert starts earlier. I was lousy but lucky this time. In Jakarta we cannot make mistake with time. Or we miss everything.

Okay. My last piece from Malang may have to wait till tomorrow. Enjoy the evening!!

Batik Day

Mm nine o’clock. So early. I kept checking the time. Still had time to exercise under sun in carport. Still had time to have breakfast. Still had time to check email. Mm lots of time to do many. I finished mandi and wearing batik at 8:15. I know Mama, she wouldn’t let me be late for a minute. This morning I waited for her almost half an hour. Yay!

We went to Tugu Park with my childhood girlfriend TET. We got there quite early and program started late as I had predicted. They served local delicacies in the hall and we enjoyed it before the talk started. It’s good. I was hungry and thinking about how long before I could have lunch. So kue-kue helped me to sit still till end of the talk. (Photo of how they served the local delicacies)

Interesting talk about batik. Both speakers were from Kraton Solo family. Very beautiful Javanese ladies. They talked about the importance of batik in their life as royal family. How the ladies in the past wore it for playing tennis and.. swimming! The girls of Kraton are taught to draw and make batik to appreciate art and exercise calmness. Like meditation, drawing batik with canting needs great patience and hi concentration, later it stimulates creativity. Observing their calmness, I believe in what they said. I never thought of using batik-ing as a way to ‘meditate’ although I know some painting techniques can serve same purpose. Hm.

Q n A session was hilarious. There’s one batik collector, a man (flight attendant retiree!), has hundreds of batik at home and wanted to know how to take care. I liked the response. She suggested us to enjoy our batik collection. Batik collection is not supposed to be kept in humid cabinet, but to be worn or used as home decoration. There’s no point of collecting lots of batik but to be kept inside closed cabinet. Yaa.. That applies to all kind of collection I guess. Especially art. Many Jakartans I know collect painting but leave them in stack in storeroom. As investment fine, but what? Don’t they want to enjoy what they liked and had selected?

Last Q was a request: both Kraton ladies show the dance. We held our breath while waiting for them to decide what to dance. Like persons who can play music or sing, they know what to do spontaneously. So they sat on stage and listening to the Javanese gending for awhile then.. started!! Goose bumps. They danced beautifully, sooo beautiful, as beautiful as they were… Only five minutes but I already felt like being in other world. So beautiful. Beautiful ladies in 57 and 47 with perfect body for a dancer. Aah.. (Photo of NK dancing)

Last session was a show of how to wear batik in different occasions and ages. In formal but contemporary; as Islam attire; with commoner motifs but elegant; as active young; and finally the traditional way. I enjoyed the show. Those women looked beautiful and sexy in batik. I believe in the latter since long. Wearing batik is sexy. Especially on women who have fuller body. It looks great!

I was setting my reminder to get ticket to their dance show this weekend in Jakarta when the moderator asked me to go on stage. What? They wanted me to show how to wear batik in daily active style. Before show started, they had talked about how I wore batik from a piece of cloth without sewn. Many prefer to have their batik sewn so it feels secure from falling off. They liked that I wear it with traditional style but for active. Hm.. I went blank for a second cos they handed me a cotton batik. This is not easy, am not used to. I heard the speaker said.. let her creating. Oh she left me alone. I opened the batik while processing the idea. Good it popped out after I made the first circle. I made a nice creation over my silk batik. The color matched my kebaya. So I walked the T-stage. Ugh.. I laughed a lot. Triumphantly. Program closed.

By the way, I met my hi school girlfriend. I hadn’t met her 22 years! She looked calm and mature, and I still had my loud laughter. Oops.. She got three kids, two in uni!!
Where was I?

We went to see the exhibition. Nice exhibition with lots of batik from all over Java. I learned some new styles from unpopular places. A young guy came to me and introduced himself. He wanted me to talk in number one radio station in Malang. He said that he needs someone inspiring for young generation. Me not young? Auw. They may do long distance live on-air. (Photo of Mama's batik collection in the exhibition)

Now I feel tired in Malang after – what I felt – long day. We got home after lunch at 15:00. I chatted with TET for awhile but gossiping didn’t seem interesting anymore. I need energy to gossip.

l A d i E s - o F - T o D A y

House was quiet at 6:15. Mama had left for Monday sporting. I woke up at 5:00 but dozed till 6:00. It was cold all night. I should have brought my travel thermometer. Mama said it’s about 23 (night) – 28 (day) Celcius. But it feels cooler cos humidity low. Nice weather.

I had ‘productive’ interview this morning. Helper just entered house when Siti – the veggie woman – came. I had done similar interview in the past, several times, but this time I wanted to note down. She has interesting life and she leads it with happiness! I never saw her in bad mood. She has loud laugh. Her eyes are always sparkling. See her picture here.

She went to big market at 2:00 e v e r y d a y. She starts selling on the street (she said something about someone’s house but by the street) at 4:00. Imagine that a lot of women go to morning market in the wee hours for household shopping (not merchandise shopping!). I was amazed when she told me that. What a life of a woman in Java? Indonesia? All parts of the world?

At 6:00, Siti starts to walk in (at least) three neighborhoods selling what has left from the morning market. She visits more than ten houses in each neighborhood. She has pool in each neighborhood where she put the main merchandise so she doesn’t carry everything all the way.

I asked her whether she is able to sell everything everyday. She said she is! She is very sure that by 9:00 all finished. People are easy she said. They take whatever she offers. I can picture that. I’d rather take what she brings, than have to go to market for lil thing I need. So interesting how she learns each household’s preference. She has good market research.

Then after 9:00 she helps some three households to do laundry. She finishes all before 14:00 and goes home. At home, she cooks for her family so kids can have meal when they get home from school around 16:00. Mother sleeps till 19:00 and life starts again. Spends time with kids at night and goes to market at 2:00 again. And she is a happy woman!! 10:59

My day finally ends. I stayed at home all day. It was raining all afternoon. I dozed, ate, read, ate, played computer, ate, drank, ate, read, read, wrote, ate,.. Chain was broken when Mama’s guests came around 15:30. Four beautiful ladies from the batik exhibition. One is Princess of Kraton Solo. One is a well-known dancer from Kraton. One is mother of a well-known ballerina in NY. One is Mama’s daughter-friend. Before they came, Mama was panic cos of my colorful bra strap showed. I told her that it’s in fashion now, I might inspire the Kraton ladies. She didn’t have a say. It was hilarious with the ladies. They selected and discussed the title of each batik.

In the evening Mama wanted to go to see the prep. Ugh.. it still drizzled. But okay, we needed to have dinner anyway. Dining at Tugu Park is always fun. Tomorrow starts at nine!!

Note: Photo of Majapahit terracotta ladies.

Three Days in Paradise

14.4.06

Coming..

It’s good to be back home. Bali is home. Ubud is home. Room #12 is home. I love the smell of the room. The same room of almost three years. I know every corner; how to use the broken remote control, where I put hangers (I slipped it in one drawer long time ago and it’s still there!), how to turn on the broken hair dryer. I even know that the hot tap in my alternate room – #20 – is on the right side (= cold tap); and the aircon needs new remote control ha ha.. KIE stayed in that room once and she said that she suspected that I had share in this hotel. Ha ha.. of course, all eight staffs are under my control.
(Photo of room #12 -- room below)

Bali was hot hot hot. Sun was shining so brightly. Standing under sun was almost unbearable, sooo hot. I went shopping at BEN -- the Happy beads. He reminded me my promise to him. Yaa I forgot. I promised him to share Majapahit books. I turned on my reminder. I like to know him, man with lots of interest and hi spirit. He designs beads he sells in his shop, so authentic. He studied geology! So interesting. His interest in art wins. I bought quite a lot of his Majapahit beads today. I liked the way he colored the beads, matt like antique, perfect for ethnic accessories.

Next shop was ABANG – big accessories shops with large collection. I’m lucky to find this shop a year ago. This is the only shop which offers me the most reasonable price for reselling. Other shops may offer the same but… they want us to buy in big volume like 100 pieces/item. How can I have a nice small shop with variety if I have 100 pieces per design? Therefore I prefer this Madurese shop. I learned from them that many in bead biz in Bali are from Madura. They create and make the accessories in Bali. In this shop, at least twenty men are involved and they are all relatives. It was fun to meet them. They liked singing a cappella and joking with customers. One guy who always helped me adores my silver bracelets; he always asked me to share one. Today he gave me one nice blue shell bracelet. Nice friends I have in Bali.

Next visit was a shop as huge as hangar. No hyperbolic. I knew when they had half the space empty and now… merchandise spills into the parking space. They have huge range of bronze things, big and small. They present it nicely with base and frame, in big volume, in very reasonable price. Now they add the variety; they have women things like beadwork and linen. This time I came to shop wedding memento for ATO. I just mentioned the price range, they took care. I got six items within the range for sample. I know well one attendant who always helped me. One of my friends in Bali.

Heat had stopped me from eating well. I didn’t feel like eating. I wanted to have nice drinks more. I had tuna puff and ginger tonic before ABANG and later in the afternoon… I had one lumpia, one-third banana pancake, strawberry lassi, and cappuccino. A bit of everything. Trip to Ubud was tiring. Sitting in the back of Kijang is always painful – non-ergonomic seat. But returning home is always wonderful. I look forward to having nice time at PLV tomorrow. (Photo of my ginger tonic) 23:25


15.4.06

Sitting..

I slept early but at 4:00 I awoke. It was a bit hot. I waited. Half an hour passed and I knew that I had to do something to get to sleep again. I walked and adjusted the aircon temp – 4 degrees down. Good. It put me to sleep in no time.

It was a nice morning. Quiet. I tried to use dial-up again and no connection still. CDMA doesn’t work in Bali. Good GPRS thru PDA is still working -- in the past even GPRS didn’t work. Ubud is so unique. 8:49

At 10:00 I was half wet walking from supermarket to parking. It was raining so hard but the sky was blue. I tried to buy new phone card for internet. All connections failed in hotel. I ended up stopping by silver shop owned by a Jap lady and ordered four bracelets for PEN. I bought one and a pendant for myself. I never missed visiting this shop when I went to Ubud. Always have something new. I also bought ceramic plate n bowl for self and a vase for Mama, designed by a Jap girl. Lucky women who have opportunity to show their art far from their homeland.

PLV looked great. Believe it or not, I forgot how it looked the last time. It looked new today. Then I remembered that we put new floor lamps the last time we visited, we changed the display. I walked around and tried to recall each item. Nice. I asked staff for tripod and started to take pictures.

I just found out that CDMA worked at PLV when IN – an abstract painter – and wife dropped by. They knew we were at PLV. He texted me every now and then. So I had to turn off computer and talked to them. An hour and half passed. We asked them to go out and have lunch with others too. Returned to PLV, we had Bali coffee. RAD came over with friends. So good to see her again in Ubud.

More than five hours, IN and wife went home. Ehm. Javanese hospitality -- silaturahmi. So nice of them to drop by… but I didn’t have time left for working more at PLV. I did some photos checking while they were there. It was not polite I know, but I needed to use my time wisely. I didn’t want to make staff worked overtime although the idea of working till late is nice. This is part of living in kampong. We respect our neighbors as they respect us.

I tried to blog post but could only manage posting it as draft – forget about uploading pictures, signal was too weak.

I wrote above before midnight and went to sleep. Too tired of not having too much physical activity. I spent almost all day yesterday sitting. Hm.

16.4.06

Going..

It’s Sunday again. On the first day I kept thinking it’s Saturday and was glad to know that still a full day left. Now it’s gone. Going on 16:00 flight leaves very little time to do many. I thought last night; I really have to stay in Ubud for minimum two weeks. Holidaying the first few days and working the rest of the stay.

I looked around room now. All gadgets are on the floor. I want to go to Pasar Ubud but sun is already high. I noticed my skin has changed color, now with tee pattern I wore on the first day. So quick to get tan here, especially in Legian area. Mm.. get up now. Get ready for Malang. 7:32

I did stretching under sun by the pool. It was so good. Like having my back ironed.. warm. Now finished packing and missed my big tote bag. My really nice ceramic bowl could not be put inside luggage. I once took the risk and broke a really nice bowl. I’m thinking of how to hand carry it now. Not big but high… Makan pagi now.
(Photo of trees seen from the pool) 9:01

Haa.. Long breakfast, very short visit to PLV, and went to see MM next door. PLV’s ex-manager. Nice Balinese guy. Diff-s (-erent and -icult). I still treasure him as good friend tho. I brought him nice linen shirt. We chatted over Bali coffee I like – tho I felt it's too early to have. I learned something from him today. About wedding gift. In Indo it’s common to drop an envelope after signing guest book. In the past, not only cash, but could also be check. And today.. They have a small room with curtain, inside there's one person sitting with.. credit card authorization machine!! I never heard of such thing in Jakarta. I know Jakartan prefer to pay cash always, not minding about how thick the 'envelope' could be.

We chatted for an hour then off checking out hotel. It was a really hot day. Airport was still quiet in the afternoon. It could only get worse after 18:00 on long weekend with many extra flights to many destinations. Good my flight was on time. I napped from taxiing to taxiing -- 25 minutes. Only woke up short to submit a lucky draw.

It was perfect to arrive in Surabaya at 16:30. Nice weather, nice driver. Lucky. I didn’t chat with him. He had Indo pop songs played. I enjoyed. Later he had keroncong. Trying to soothe me? It was quite a long ride, one n half hour. Arrived Mama’s street, he knew where to go. In fact, he had taken Mama to airport twice! It’s a small world..

Mama is well. Full of spirit as always. She sewed tag on batiks for exhibition. Full agenda for tomorrow and day after. Always nice to get a short brief of my short stay. Ha ha..

sToP dOiNg

Something came to me strongly in the morning. I had thought about it since last night. But I thought it was just ..
a thought.

I missed something in the past few days. Yesterday I remembered a paragraph or two in one Coelho’s book. I tried to find it this morning but I had no time to browse all books.

The main character said that he didn’t drive (or go with) his wife to airport every time she went out of town. Why? Because he’s afraid that someday when he doesn't do, his wife would think that he doesn’t care about her anymore. And that's not the reason.

When I read that paragraph, I remembered a woman I know who always went with hubby to airport every time he went. She did everything to make the time.. which is good. I adored her for doing that. And recently their relationship a bit changed. The woman didn't always go to airport with him and that made hubby in Q.

I reflect. I think my under consciousness has told me since long. I don’t do things that I cannot keep for long time.. like a commitment to self. So I never go with anyone to airport; cos I don’t always have the time and the mood to go (knowing how painful going to airport in Jakarta). But I did when I felt like (and many other reasons).. but not always. My point is.. I don’t want loved ones think that I stop thinking about them when I stop or start now-and-then going. Play safe – I do now-and-then always.
Ha ha..

So that’s what I felt this morning. I missed someone doing something for me. My rational said that there must be a reason, or simply no reason -- just stops. That stops doing doesn’t mean stops thinking about me. Right?

Now I have to leave... for airport.

Different

I woke up with empty mind. I stayed in bed one hour before slowly getting up at 6:50. I felt the need to do something big. Or perhaps.. different. Thinking thinking thinking. I ended up doing same thing.

I can say I have finished PLV blog.. finally. It needs more writing but I can do later.

It’s funny to learn how people entered my blog. Readers are from many parts of the world. I learn about city names – Perth in Canada? I also learn about what people keyed in Google before they found this blog. They entered from Java Jazz, name of musicians and artists I mentioned, to trip to Bandung, and this morning I giggled cos someone entered cuci sofa (and clicked the photo -- to get the phone number probably ha ha..) Now I know that my blog offers much info!! Internationally and locally ha ha.. And it’s good to know what people expect from Google. I also one who abused Google. I keyed in impossible words to test its power. Ha ha..

Now go to work. 11:40.

I almost slept in bad traffic. It was raining soo hard, so hard that I could not see clearly. My fault. I left house around 15:00, too late.

One month of not going, bazaar looked different. Many new vendors, interesting ones. I liked the silver jewelry stalls, I found three new. Designs were big – I know it’s in fashion now but not me. I enjoyed it very much. I took long time to absorb the beauty of artist’s creation. I made one round later and kept telling self that I don’t need anything – no more skirt, no more silver, no more shoes, no more accessories,.. I need nothing.

A new resto opened. I could not believe looking at the que. Oh sooo long. I felt like Jane of Tarzan – just came out of jungle. What is happening? J.Co Donuts & Coffee. What’s so special about it? Donuts? Later at night, a cousin managed to buy half a dozen. I opened the box.. Oh smell of fabricated donuts. I refused to try. I could feel it stuck my throat. It’s very typical Jakartan with new delicacies shop or resto. They let themselves to be the slave of a trend. After two months, the new shop or resto would be back to normal (read: empty). By the way, cousin told me that donut was good. Different. Okay.

I went straight to FAH’s resto cos everybody was there – the only place they could smoke. FAH is out of town. It’s like a ‘home’ cos we always sat there when stall was close by. Waiters gave complimentary dish once in awhile, later in the evening YAN commented: they might give us trial dishes, see whether we can survive 15 minutes. In fact, we finished it all and safe! I had two salted lassi, one mango lassi, and masala tea.. plus prawn tikka with rice. Simple but nice. Full.

I went to Valus (one price store) with AIN, NIL’s little girl. I needed a small plastic container. I loved to go to this shop. Many cute lil things at cheap price – USD 2. Before it was only USD 0.5/item. I liked to create things using these cute items, but I had to be careful cos I could turn it into just junk too. I bought some collapsible CD box made of cute see-thru plastic. And two jute bags for friends. Very nice bags. So glad to have a look.

I got home almost midnite. I took time to give Chiko his Amoxcillin. Ugh.. I stained my new white skirt with its red liquid. I soaked it with hope it disappears in the morning. It always happens when I wear white. Like I attract other color to stain me. Grr..

Okay. I had a nice day cos different. I look forward to having Bali trip today. 00:58

Note: Photo of my lil friend, AIN.

Life is Moving

I decided to stay at home touching PLV blog more. It’s LIN's day off, not much I could do at FRA. It was raining too since early afternoon. Good I decided not to go tho traffic might be friendly cos of long holiday.

It took time to compile info and pictures. Deciding and designing what to be displayed took long too. It looks better now, I’m happy. It would help me to decide what I should take in PLV when I go to Ubud.

I cancelled and rebooked my tickets cos I changed the itinerary. Now from Bali, I plan to go to Malang on Sunday night and return on Wednesday morning from Malang. Mama expects me to come to the opening of batik exhibition her daughter-friend organizes. She told me that many of batik from her collection would be in the exhibition. Hm.. Okay, it would be nice to support.

But my ticket from Bali to Surabaya has not yet confirmed ha ha. I take it easy; I can fly on Monday morning. Staying in Bali longer is always fun. And I haven’t got ticket to watch Balawan again next Wednesday. I heard lots of people want to go. I should get it tomorrow.

RAD has left for Bali by car on Saturday night. She told me that her group of seven was ‘split’ and she felt torn between two lovers. Today she texted me that she’s happy with her choice and she’s on the way to Mount Bromo. She expects to arrive in Bali on Thursday. I’m glad for her. Adventurous girl.

My pregnant staff just left. She starts taking her maternity leave but she’s not sure whether she ever returns. I’m okay with her choice. I understand that it’s been hard for her to get along with the senior. But I told her that we always welcome her with kid anytime she’s around Jakarta again. Her hometown is Tegal. She’s been my staff more than one year. She is superb. I wish her good luck with the baby.

Now I’m worried about Chiko. He curled up on my lap all afternoon and I thought he’s warmer than usual, if not hot. But he looked okay, he slept well. Or fever affects differently in cat? I shall check him again in the morning if I need to send him to vet. Looking after him is more expensive. So many vaccines and antibiotics ha ha…

Tomorrow Wednesday bazaar resumes to normal. I’m not so excited about it. I feel I could be more productive somewhere else. I may have to go to FRA. I don’t know. I can always send driver to help the girls setting up. Good to always have choice.

Note: Photo of students taking pictures at Museum Fatahillah.

Arty Style

It’s Monday holiday. Maulud holiday. Quiet morning cos staffs are off. I listened to Chiko who’s crying for his morning dish. Like I heard newspapers were thrown in, I was wrong. Strange morning. I walked out of room and let Chiko out. A staff came near 7:00, good.. I knew there must be someone, but I didn’t have clue of who and what time…

Housework done before 7:30. I bathed Chiko. He’s still clean white but I needed to wash him more often. He cried a lot in wash-basin but behaved well, I was just half wet. Two times shampooing to ensure dirt all gone.

I was styling my hair when I remembered Yogya artists' look. They were young – half my age plus a few year (am I that old?). It is two decades apart. They looked different. It surprised us always when they suddenly appeared in the room. The hair (afro, uneven length, different colors,..), the super neat clothing or reverse, the all torn tee, the bright blue big eyeglasses frame, pierce in unimaginable places,.. some were decent tho. So interesting. So surprising. Someone asked me why older generation artists had thin ponytail. Hm yaa.. Why? I think that’s the identity before the uneven generation..

At 11:30 I already sat in UB, checking FRA blog and refined it. I wrote a bit. Quite productive. I was hungry but I waited for RIN to come. Finally I accepted ID's -- landlord -- offer to buy me bakso (meatball soup). I’m not a bakso fan, especially from street vendor. But I didn’t have heart to reject a nice and sincere offer, so I accepted. It’s a nice bakso tho and I didn’t care about what kind of meat they cooked(rats? cats?). It calmed me well till dinner time at home.

Oh I’m so sleepy. Too early to sleep at 22:10. Tomorrow is another day.

Note: Picture of Yogya artist style.

Inspiring Ideas

It’s so good to start the day early, 5:30! It’s still a bit dark outside. Fresh morning. Everything was done in a flash. By 7:15; I had read two newspapers, replied to emails, and browsed Google for artist links. A blog reader gave me idea. I had fun following artist track. It’s a good way to know more after meeting them. Nice idea.

I started reading a book. And before noon, I had done exercising and set my mind to go to Bali next week. Cyclone Glenda had stopped me from going the last few days. MM said that Bali was in storm during Nyepi holiday. But everybody would be away all week next week for Easter. Still it’s nicer to be in storm in Bali, than staying in Jakarta and missing Ubud. More than eight weeks of not going is way too long. Yes, I have to go. Everything was set in half an hour.
I goodly need to go. 15:00

Ehm nice Sunday at home again. I got some inspirations today. Someone inspired me to work on my abs. Yea.. I want to have muscle like Madonna! Too dreamy? My arms have shown a bit muscle, tho it’s still not Madonna-like yet.
But ehm.. Muscl-y abs must be nice.

Reading my long post again today gave me idea too. I think I need to realize my idea about taking class in fine art. So I can sharpen my talent (do I have one?) to write as an art critic, or do whatever in art business. Hm. Must be a good idea.
I need to do more in art..

Ugh these gadgets gave me hard time. Tonight wireless didn’t work; I don’t have idea why cos everything looked okay. I used it all day too.. PCMCIA was in trouble too when I just ejected from the slot. Cannot miss a step with gadgets. And funny.. sometimes everything is back to normal the next day. Like us in bad mood, suddenly gone in the morning, or vice versa. So let’s see tomorrow morning.

Hope its good mood back.

Note: Photo of my dumbbells and Chiko's bone.

Ladies of Yogy-Art

PEN was so nice to make detour to take me home. I insisted to take taxi but she didn’t let me go an inch. Thank U for a good friend. I’m back to rut right after getting home. Sorting out laundry, loading them to washing machine, confirming my Friday appointments,.. My back pain was gone. I didn’t even remember that I had it when I went.

I spent my Friday at home. My appointment was cancelled. Ibu Scrubber came as requested. I compiled photos I made and uploaded it to web for friends. I spent rest of the day writing a post. I slept early and woke up fresh this morning. Then spent all morning posting a long post -- which was a challenge. This is the longest post I ever wrote. Writing was quick, selecting and resizing pictures were something, but posting was WOW.. I learned more about blogging today, especially posting with lots of pictures. I had to redo once cos it went messy… so messy that I had to take it off. The problem is Blogger doesn’t have ‘proof page’ feature to view page before it published. It does have but… not WYSIWYG. Aarghh.. By the way, it’s done now. I don’t want to touch more to refine. Or, I get otherwise..

I was still thinking about the ladies, my trip buddies. We were lucky to have a nice combination. It’s not always like that. My two trips before were a bit imbalance. There’s one lady who complained a lot. Not easy to be happy. Always felt in competition especially when shopping. Many of her pictures showed lips going down :-(

Ya.. We were nine. Nine ethnic groups. Eight countries. Age? Only NIE and I were at the same age, others were more than eight years older. Eight were from the art group and one was friend of PB – former chairwoman of the Heritage. Glad ES was a fun person. She laughed from heart. We liked her.

I sat in the same row with ES and RIT the whole trip. It’s strange what we found out on the way to Muntilan, the first day. All have no kids and have link with Ubud. ES and husband decided to retire in Ubud. They are building a house in west Ubud. RIT is processing her plan to have a house in Ubud. And of course I plan to spend the rest of my life in Ubud. I met my future neighbors!! We were so excited.

Of eight ladies, three were new in the group so I didn’t know them well. I knew they were nice ladies, not difficult persons, but still we felt distant. LM and MM – the organizers – were among the new. I could see that LM was a good organizer since early. And she was! With MM, perfect combination. One good example: on the way to airport, we got refund of USD 33. And for those who didn’t have dinner cos of the concert, got extra USD 11. That was much cos we didn’t pay much for the trip. LM managed to get cheaper ticket, smaller car, discount at Melia. Ehm.. It’s hard to believe having a nice trip costed less than USD 190. Great!

I enjoyed observing my trip buddies. I reflected. It’s good to see easy persons like PEN and NIE. It’s a bit disturbing to see someone limited something; like definitely no prawn, no kecap, no chicken,.. Ehm. I was not that bad.

NIE and I found out that we both have same taste for art. Therefore we often checked each other for confirmation before buying something. But.. also there were time when we fell for a same thing!! The funny thing about NIE was.. she decided quick and later she tried to get rid of the thing. Ha ha. She bought a truck and later he gave it to an artist’s boy. She decided to buy the bark cloth doll and later she sold it to LM. So when she asked for my opinion of a graphic printing art at Cemeti, I said that it’s a good and nice artwork but there’s no way she could sell it to me later. She laughed a lot and.. decided not to buy!! Good decision if she didn’t have option to resell.
Ha ha.

We also observed each other’s fashion. Sure. Women thing. Especially in the morning when we met at breakfast. MM liked to wear all white which PEN thought it’s brave. PEN wore funky cute espadrilles in the rain. RIT with her bright red toe nails. And NIE who threatened to cut my extra hair if I didn’t style it right (that made me spent extra minutes in the morning to really style it as if I walked out of salon). Many admired skirts I wore everyday. They thought I was so artistic that I made my own skirts. Hm. I told them that all skirts come from one brand. Now I sent them to the shop. So nice to observe each other and get feedback of how we look.

So nice to have a balanced group. We imagined if NT decided to go. We would need bigger bus. We had perfect nine-seaters in the back. With the same car, if NT came, I might be the one to be sacrificed cos I was the smallest. I might have to sit between DAN and driver ha ha. And if AM came. Sure it made the group a bit disturbed by her inconsiderateness. Never underestimate yes!

We look forward to having Bali trip next August and Bandung trip for a cheap art bazaar for charity -- held once every five years -- in September. Grreaatt!!

Note: Photo of an art at Galeri Cemeti's front wall.

Yogy-Art

Day One

Oh so nice sitting in room finally. 20:30. I had a long day with other eight ladies in Yogya since we landed at 10:30.

This trip is not a shopping trip, neither cultural. We only visit artist studios -- contemporary ones -- not 'classic' style like Affandi n fam. It's an interesting itinerary LM and MM made. We gave suggestions of artists we wanted to meet and they did the research with the help of DAN -- an independent tour guide. I mean, DAN who went to initial visit and contact. Efficient DAN.

I slept 'light' last night. I arrived at airport at 7:00 half soul. It always happened when I had plenty of time before airport. It ended up running out of time. Even I took a glass of milk in the car and spilled it cos of bumpy road. Ugh.

It was a nice weather in Yogya, no sun, nor cloud n rain. We went straight to Muntilan -- an hour drive. Who said it's straight? We made one stop to see kid toys, PB wanted. Two ladies bought trucks. LM had kuda lumping. In Jakarta we never had a chance to stop by this kind of shop. Too busy, no time. It was a fun short stop.

We visited Pande Ketut Taman. A Balinese married to a Chinese Javanese. Both are artists. Taman paints, makes installation, and sometimes makes sculptures out of his painting! That makes him different. He is specialized in making monumental installation; something huge and involving many people (shown in photo: unfinished work of Taman). Feintje has super realist style. A fragment of people in activity. Very fine photo-like and she has the eye of 'cutting' the right theme. Nice pleasant couple.

On the way out, they gave each of us a goody bag! Four kinds of local keripik. That's super nice. We also got TWO bunch of banana and a bag of snake-skin fruit. All saved us from starvation cos we had very late lunch today.

Next is wooden sculptor, Anusapati. Graduated from the US, he has modern style. He explores all kinds of wood n anything from nature. Nice work. Cool man. Quiet. His studio is located in the middle of kampong, with paddy rice field as front yard. The rumah Jawa is built nicely in the middle of grass field, mixed well with nature. His works look wonderful and innovative. Very creative quiet man.

He works using wood a lot and later he explores other materials such as bronze and stone. Also wood and combination of rattan and fiber.

We all dreamed about lunch. It started to rain. In twenty minutes we arrived at Ullen Sentalu, a museum built for the Sultanate. It was built only five years ago, but it looks like an old Dutch building. It's the house for palace collection of anything; painting, table-ware, clothing, batik.. It’s a show-n-tell museum. Nicely done.

As we were too hungry to visit museum, we preferred to have lunch first. Nice Dutch resto with Euro menu. Mm everybody mumbling nasi goreng -- the only Asian, classified under sandwich, in the very end of the menu. Seven nasi goreng then.

Bad news. Everybody stood up and went to museum while waiting for the food! Oh.





So we went on a guided tour. Very nice guide. Small Yogya girl, communicative English, happy nature, knowledgeable,.. We enjoyed so much of her story about a Sultan with one consort n 42 concubines n 63 kids!! What a vitality. Most Sultans enjoyed themselves by having many. The present Sultan only has one, with five daughters. So the next Sultan would be..

It is a really nice museum. There are five small rooms dedicated to members of fam who have unique personal history. Like the one who against polygamy. Her father had five. She's married to an army officer (must be the only wife hm). Now she is 82 and lives in Bandung.

Lunch was nice. Our nasi goreng looked so well presented, but dingin -- of course. Been waiting for us for awhile.

Our next was Dyan Anggraeni -- head of an art school in Yogya. She has impressive works -- different, aggressive although she has soft nature. We loved to see how supportive her husband and kid were. So lovely. It was not an easy session cos she only speaks Bahasa. And what made it hard to translate was.. she explained her work with deep philosophy. I had to wait till she finished a paragraph before started to translate. I know my translation didn’t capture all gists of her saying. It’s very strong Javanese culture. It cannot be translated as is. I had a hard time. And she spoke a lot too.. So my art buddies wanted to know more! Ha ha..

It was already dark and started to rain. We were all tired. Last visit was Wahyu Gunawan. We walked quite far to get his house. Narrow kampong alley, wet. He lives in a simple small house with family. His studio is also the kitchen. His work is different. Like illustration for a children book. Nicely done, so subtle with fairy theme. Collectors mostly are European. Yes, it has Euro style. He showed us his archive files in computer. Only recently he made archives. Nice young guy.

It was early evening when we finished last visit. We walked chattily along the alley while avoiding water. Suddenly rain poured so hard, soo hard that we could be wet in a minute! We ran like crazy to car, forgot about the water. We were half wet and laughed a lot in car. Fun!

We didn’t have plan for the night. We decided to have dinner first before checking in hotel. Too tired to go out after shower if we did otherwise. We let DAN and driver chose the restaurant. Anything on the way to hotel, no extra trip please. We ended up in an Indo resto with nice atmosphere called Legian (where were we?). Everybody was happy to have soto ayam. Actually only MM who needed chicken broth for her flu, everybody just followed. Creativity dead.

Day Two

I didn’t sleep well. I was so sleepy at 22:00. So I thought it would be nice to sleep early and wake up early. I was wrong.. Getting to sleep took some times, woke up at midnight, tried to sleep again, and greeted PEN Selamat pagi at 3:15.. She got up cos she slept Oz time. She didn’t want to change cos next week Oz again. So me struggling again.. PEN read book. Oh..

It was okay tho in the AM. I felt fresh to start the day at 8:00. Early for Jakartan. Many said I looked like Garfield. Yaa.. Garfield but not zombie.

We went to a kampong where many artists live. It's an area near an art campus where students from out of town rent a room and later start a family in the same area. Many 'mixed' family living in the area cos students come from many parts of Indo and married to local or other. Interesting area story.

We visited Diah Yulianti first. I never heard of her name before. She’s not local, she is from Kalimantan. She is in her early thirties with one little girl. She is very deep philosophical and speaks communicative English. Thank goodness.. She often went overseas with her art. Collectors of her art are again from Euro. She has a keen collector from Holland. It’s like parents to her.

It’s interesting that she's famous for bark cloth dolls (many called it puppet). It’s a doll made of layers of bark cloth from Kalimantan. Light but very sturdy strong. She paints the body with natural coloring she mixed herself like turmeric and charcoal. She made installation of hanging dolls in the forest for Total Indonesie in Kalimantan. Lots of the dolls have been sold to Frenchmen and she only had a few left.

There were four when she showed us. I fell in love with one called Spirits of Life. A woman dancing in joy, with hands up. In front there’s a drawing of black n white girl (good n bad) and ladder shows a way up. The shape caught my attention first, the story later, later the title is just perfect. So in the end of the visit, I made sshh sshh code that I’m interested in the doll. We are not allowed to do ‘transaction’ during the trip. It is understandable -- to be fair and cut the time. She was quick. I hadn’t known the price when she held my hands and the doll to have pictures taken. Oh. She apparently wanted me to have the doll. I didn't feel being pushed at all. She assured me to have my doll delivered in safe package in the evening without payment!! She knew that I needed to arrange the payment cos I didn’t have enough cash with me. She is so nice.

Later two other ladies decided to buy the other two dolls. I’m happy for her.

Her husband - Ario - is an accessories maker. He used to work for a well known designer in Jakarta. They have a little shop in the house selling the accessories. Nicely done and good price. I bought a nice garnet bracelet to match my outfit. I was happy.

Next was Putu Sutawijaya, walking distance from Diah’s. We visited the storage not the studio which is far from the house. He is an established artist. A Balinese married to a Malaysian (she was a textile student when they met). He paints man torso; or man body. Like sketch with minimal color, or simply black n white. Very powerful. We can feel the strength and movement of the men; like in kecak dance. Later I noticed, after NIE asked me why, his men are genital-less.

We didn’t meet Putu cos he worked in his studio. I could understand why he didn’t feel the need to meet us. Wife came tho.

Our next was Hedi Heriyanto. He creates sculpture made of glass and resin. He also makes mass production by commission. His studio is very simple although he works with flame to burn resin, acid to color metal,.. He has team for mass production. Interesting.

The next was still in the area. A group of youngsters living in a house. Januri who won Nokia award for his cubism (shown in photo) and Fousi who has nice purplish abstract. So new.

We started to eat whatever we have in the car. I shared my keripik, chocolate someone brought, candies.. But we were still away from lunch. Ali Umar was the next. I never heard of him. Getting inside his lil house we were astonished by lots of small wooden sculpture he makes. He created artwork from any material he found. Looking at him, no one would expect that he is well known internationally. His work was exhibited in Japan (shown in photo), Korea, and Europe. Everybody could feel his energy, bubbling.. He worked in a damp narrow space behind kitchen. I didn’t go inside cos no space for all of us.

Yunizar was the next. His house is also in kampong by paddy rice field. I liked his work but after meeting him, I thought my appreciation was not as high. Why? He was not able to share his concept of his artwork although many looked very interesting and modern. He is good at free stroke, but without concept, his artwork looked like a wall paper. In this case, if we really like the painting, it’s better not to talk to the artist so we can keep the appreciation at the same level. Grin.

On the way to other, we dropped by Noor Ibrahim’s house. He was not in town and most of his works had been packed. He was moving to a new studio. We just met his wife. But okay. We could still enjoy what it’s left in front yard. Metal works. Creative but not superb.

Again we went into kampong street that fits one car only. So hard to move, let alone made a U-turn. Good our driver always managed this kind of terrain. Bambang Pramudiyanto lives in nice cute old house in old complex. I enjoyed the neighborhood very much. His house is very neat and clean. Many old knick-knack I like. So I looked around while listening to him explaining his work. He made hyper realist, pop art painting like Warhol’s. Before he painted parts of car; with rust, damage and creeper plant. Now he paints simple object; so shiny, looks like super shiny metal. Nice work. Amazing. I adore his color choice and combination. And what’s good about him, he has concept for his work. So strong. So what we see is not just a painting of an object, we also see a message. Nice. Later ladies talked about his super neat house. He must be pathetic after we’re gone; mopping floor and tidying catalogs and magazines we left in mess. Ha ha..

Lunch finally. DAN had made reservation at Via Via, a nice resto in a tourist area near last destination. It was a very nice resto, modern but homy. Like a resort. We had ordered our lunch in the car while touring. Nice lunch without coffee cos no time.

Heri Dono was next. Strange man who hardly stopped talking. I thought he was a shy man when we first met. I was wrong. I almost passed out standing inside his dark not-so-big old house. Not of tired. Of sleepy. Good lunch took into effect. I thought many felt the same. Many were busy with mosquito spray. Heri Dono makes installation. Complicated and monumental. He hardly had time to be in Indonesia for a full month. He went all over the world participating in many exhibitions. I wondered when he had time to create. World is his home. His house is full of his creation. All junks available. A house full of surprises. Every item has meaning. He also makes funky wayang who don’t follow basic rule of wayang. Very interesting guy. Over an hour passed. My sleepiness was gone. Going back to car was nice. Longed for coffee.

Hey, are you sleeping?! PEN shouted. Aaarrgh.. They were waiting for me to go out of car cos I sat near the door. Ladies chat is like lullaby. I could follow the conversation but I was in the air to respond. Hey this is not Agus Suwage’s house. Wow.. He has huge studio now. Modern and huge. I visited his lil old house when I went four years ago. So good to see that he has moved from his dark house. His work is super super. I’m his forever fan but I don’t think I can afford to have one now. I heard it’s about USD 8,000 (150 x 200). I never stop visualizing tho.. Hm.

He is a young man who smokes a lot. He is creative and productive. His wife is an artist too, Titarubi. She makes sketch, ceramic, and installation. They have two girls of ten and six. I liked to see this creative family. Lucky couple.

What special – for me – about Agus is.. he uses the white canvas as white color. So his painting is thin and he cannot make mistake cos he can erase the white color. This is interesting. Now I know how easy to use white paint. We can always re-apply if we make mistake. Interesting eh?

Agus also makes installation. One of his is in trouble now in Jakarta. He is facing court. His creation in a biennale was banned for pornographic reason. Poor him as an artist. Shown in photo is pigs’ head – casted gypsum but looks real. Pigs are skating.

Before we’re off, Agus told us that he’s going to a guitar concert in a few hours. Ah guitar.. But what? He said Trisum. I found my system was on again full speed. Balawan! Oh oh.. I could not miss him. My mind whirled for awhile. Good RIT had watched him playing last new year in Ubud. Aha.. she shouted first that we must see him. So I kicked it to realization. After polling and long debating on buying the tickets from middle man – calo – we managed to 'attract' other three ladies to go to concert. The other four stayed in the same plan – had dinner at Gaja Wong. I felt bad, but looking at their enthusiasm.. I felt WOW! Thanked to our wise leader, LM.

We only had half an hour to get ready then had a bite before going to the concert hall. Taman Budaya is an old colonial building. Entering the hall, we were surprised to see that the building was as good as one in Jakarta. If not better. Concert started almost an hour late. It was raining hard. Organizer might be waiting till full house. And it was full!

Trisum is trio guitarist. One is Balawan -- the new star. The other two are already well known. Dewa Bujana belongs to a rock group, but he also made solo recordings. Tohpati is an independent player and has some recordings too. The first two songs were a bit slow and boring. But later… WOW.. Balawan is always superb. He rarely wore footwear like most Balinese. Looked authentic. Oh I don’t need to tell more about him. We bought DVD and CDs of them. NIE said that many concerts she watched just passed her memory, but she will always remember this concert. CE bought all the CDs for son. While MM said that she didn’t expect this concert was super good. She will drag her drummer son to see them in Jakarta on the 19th. It’s a six cities tour. RIT and I had nothing to say. Later, some of the ladies who had dinner said that they are going to see Trisum in Jakarta.

I slept very well like dead, PEN told me in the morning. No more too early Selamat pagi.

Day Three

We checked out hotel in the morning. At 8:10 we were already in the car. We went to a group of artist doing graphic printing, Grafis Minggiran. Very simple studio but neat. It was amazing that their works are exhibited all over the world. They managed to enter the world printing community with their small simple studio. I was amazed to listen to ES and MM who spoke the jargon. ES made the same printing process when she was in the US. MM's friend is in the biz. Complicated process, reverse mind. Nice.

Next house is an artist community. They turned the living room into a gallery showing their work. Thread work, furniture, painting, and next door makes wedding decoration. It’s an art too! Temporary art cos made of short-lasting material of styrofoam or hardboard.

Later we went inside kampong again cos one from the community wanted us to see what he’s doing for Sultanate mosque. He makes carvings to cover pillars. Hundreds of pillars. Nothing special but it must be special. Nice experience tho entering nice and neat kampong with housing map on the wall. Not usual. Never saw.

We went to a commercial gallery for the first time, Galeri Biasa. Hm.. It exhibited a strange art. New interpretation of wayang. I like the painting if I may cut parts I like. Grin. So nice talking to the artist, Ananta O’Edan. Jakartan who lives in Yogya. He looks like Indian. Very energetic and full of spirit. I like him and his work.

Next commercial gallery was Cemeti Art House, owned by Indonesian married to a Dutch lady. I met them in JakArt last month. I always like this gallery. It has big space for exhibition in the back of the house. It also has room with art for sale. Candy for the ladies.

We talked to Tarra Bajraghosa who’s going to exhibit his soon. He is also in pop art. Very nice. Some are digital art which I have difficulty to appreciate. Shows freedom in thinking and doing. Nice.

Eddie Hara, Yogya artist who lives in Basel – Swiss was there too. He talked a bit about his work. His works are exhibited mostly in Europe. He has German wife. He calls himself house-husband (has two girls) cum artist. Nice way to describe. He is super nice and calm. Later I noticed, he has Buddha ears. PEN said it’s a good luck ears for Chinese. Long and big ears, with thick earlobes. Hm.

Before shopping, we talked about artworks by Eko Nugroho. He paints and does many kinds of artwork such as mural and embroidery art. I like his originality, comic style work. I considered buying his latest work -- embroidery, but price was wow. PB also thought it's over priced. I believed it's because he is well known internationally now. Nice work indeed.

Lunch. Yay! Wrong. Owner of the resto-gallery wanted to introduce us to his community, Kedai Kebun Forum. Some young new artists. Art work is still immature although nice. I could not stare long at this guy. He has below lip pierce.

Nice confusing lunch. Like yesterday, we had ordered our lunch three hours before. We had to set appetite before it got hungry. So difficult. When food ready, we were confused. What did we order? As we were too hungry to think, we ate everything served. Didn’t really care who ordered what. Good we still had time to have dessert and coffee.

Lunch took effect again. Sleepy in the car. Some dozed. Before airport, we went visiting a community of West Sumatran, Sanggar Sakato (meaning: one word). The location was in the middle of nowhere. We walked passing paddy field, cow, chicken,… Rare view in Jakarta. We met three artists who live in the same area. We went walking to each place. They have similar style, super realist. In one house, we were listening to Iwan Fals. I’m not his fan but in this house, I must admit, I really liked to listen to the music. Right music for right atmosphere. Some ladies were interested to know who sang. Felt the same.

It was hilarious looking at PEN when we had to visit another one before airport. No more!! But yaa.. we should see this one. Another kampong, another old house. I was too tired to appreciate well. So PEN. I made quick tour, quick conversation, quick taking pictures, then out… sitting on bamboo bench staring at nothing. So tired.

I mumbled to RIT in the car. Would you stay another day? RIT quickly asked me back What?! A date? We engaged in a hilarious turn-taking then, using a day and a date. Finally we both agreed on It would be nice to have another day with a date. Sure.

Going back to Jakarta, we were all quiet. Some ladies were loaded to maximum with kuda lumping and artworks. I had mine being checked in. I let Universe looked after my darling bark cloth doll. I knew it would be okay. And it is!

We hugged good bye. Good friends. Good trip.