Cultural Trip with Cita Nirvana – Day 3

And as time blinks, we’re already in Day 3. The itinerary for today was more relax. We visited the batik museum, the batik monument, and then the kampung batik Kauman.

Kauman was very interesting. It has a lot of batik patterns painted on the wall all along the street, just like graffiti. Overall, it’s been such a great experience joining this cultural trip by Cita Nirvana, couldn’t thank them for the opportunity. I really did learn a lot about Indonesia’s culture from this trip.

Who knows that a small city in Java could have a very rich potential. Can you imagine how rich we are if all the cities in Indonesia could grow and develop their local area through their signature masterpiece. I just hope that there will be more people, hopefully the local people, not the foreigner, who raise their awareness to preserve this country’s heritage. Batik is just one of the so many heritages that we have. We can start by buying a local product and wearing it in our daily routine, it’s simple but it’s gotta start from us.

Sigh. I honestly didn’t want this trip to end.

Here are some photos of Day 3:

the batik museum

the batik monument

kampung batik Kauman

last meal before heading back home

ready to go home

For more of:

– Cita Nirvana’s pictures and post. Click here.

– My photos about this trip. Click here. Or here.

Cultural Trip with Cita Nirvana – Day 2

We started day 2 with a quick breakfast then revisited the house of Lim Pieng Wi. It’s a business ran by a family inside an old traditional house. They have the workshop at the backyard.

Their design is so beautiful and surely is very expensive. One piece (around 2m) of their design could worth for more than $1000. Before this cultural trip I never really knew why could a Batik could be so expensive and why would people buy and collect it. But now, after seeing the process with my very own eyes, I understand and agree that the price is indeed very reasonable. And it makes me proud of my own country that we could preserve this beautiful heritage for decades or even centuries.

The Lim Pieng Wi family, although they have such a beautiful design and good production, they don’t really think about regeneration. They don’t have the next generation of the family to take over the baton, and that’s just sad for me. They should have at least preparing themselves for years ahead with good planning. Perhaps hiring a professional to continue the family business could be the solution.

Anyway, at the Lim Pieng Wi, I bought two Batik shirts. After that we went to another workshop managed by Mr. Sapuan, one of the local artist/designer. His design are way too exquisite. The details are crazy, I was amazed I literally dropped my jaw a couple times haha.

My brain was filled with new knowledge about Batik, while my tummy was filled with a lot of good foods. After visiting Pak Sapuan, the rest of day 2 was spent with culinary experience. *burp*

Here are some photos of Day 2:

the Lim Pieng Wi shirts

batik stamps at lim pieng wi workshop

the drying process at Lim Pieng Wi

in front of Lim Pieng Wi’s workshop

at Lim Pieng Wi’s rooftop

Mr. Sapuan’s workshop

For more of:

– Cita Nirvana’s pictures and post. Click here.

– My photos about this trip. Click here. Or here.

Cultural Trip with Cita Nirvana – Day 1

As you guys know, GDF was invited to go to Pekalongan, the city of Batik in Java, with Cita Nirvana. But too bad, Eya couldn’t come so I had to leave alone, accompanied by two of Cita Nirvana’s team, Lita and Noel.

My first impression about Pekalongan was immediately created within the first one or two hours. It’s really a small city, unlike Jakarta, and very decent. There are a lot of people who wore Batik there, but they didn’t add their personal style or any other fashion item, so it doesn’t really look stylish and modern, ironically it made the Batik looks plain. While in Jakarta, people wore Batik boldly.

I think, the batik designers should provide more variety of the clothing design by doing more research about what is the current trend right now. So they don’t get stuck in selling batik in a boring way. It’s just sad if this keeps on happening because plenty of international designers are now using Batik as the material for their collection, and it’s all very urban, edgy, and just up to date. Batik is used as part of the trend internationally, why can’t we have it here locally?

We went by train in the morning, and we arrived in Pekalongan at noon. Our super kind host, Mrs. Wulan Utoyo,the owner of Bulan Batik Galeri, took us directly for a yummy lunch. And then afterwards we went to her boutique and workshop.

It was my very first time witnessing the process of making a Batik. Honestly, I never thought it would be that HARD! It takes a lot of patience. I did try to create my own design, and it sucks haha. Now I really appreciate the effort and price of every single Batik design especially the ones that are handmade.

Bulan Batik Galeri has the most modern design, at least for Pekalongan. I fell in love with some of their men’s collection. We went back to the hotel for shower and had a little power nap. Then, in the evening we went to the house of one of the Batik designer, Lim Ping Wie. I’ll tell more about their story in the next post. In a mean time, day 1 was ended by having Fried Javanese Noodle as our supper. Yum!

Here are some photos from day 1.

the workshop of Bulan Batik Galeri

drooling over Bulan Batik menswear. I bought the harem pants.

my Batik part 1

my Batik part 2. I told you it sucks, eh?

the workshop of Lim Pieng Wi at night. it takes year or even two to create this.

For more of:

– Cita Nirvana’s pictures and post. Click here.

– My photos about this trip. Click here. Or here.