aku dan kamu

Aku dan Kamu

February 20th, 2010

Tonight, the fear come back and haunt my mind. I'm afraid being apart with my beloved. I'm afraid to spend my nights in dark loneliness, accompanied by tears, unable to taste your sweet breathe. Oh, miserable me.
I used to wake up at midnight holding you in my chest. I used to wake up in the morning to see your smile. I'm used to feel your old spices perfume against my skin. I used to ..
I do not know what should I do without you. I do not know where to go without you. Should I stand up and running or falling and dying.
My heart ached, O the love of my soul. I am miserable and empty without you.

culture and appreciation

I used to be a looser :(. I never really appreciated my own culture until I am abroad. It feels very proud when other foreigner able to appreciate what we have as an entity (in term of culture and values). To be able to appreciate our own culture and values is not easy. Youth might tend to see it as an old fashion-outdated (alias ketinggalan jaman).
Once upon a time, I uploaded my pictures using this traditional clothes on my facebook. I got abundance of admiration responds from my beloved foreigner friends and some of my Indonesian friend. However, I was extremely upset as some of my other Indonesian friends put improper comment such as addressed me as an ondel-ondel.
Well, this is me and this is what I am. I am so proud being what I am (who have thousands of unique cultures and languages). I would not called myself as an Javanese but I am nusantaranese (woohoo I invented another vocabulary). I can be Acehnese, Bataknese, Padangnese, Lampungnese, Java, Sundanese, Balinese, Dayak, Bugis, Ambonese, Papua, Timorese. I am so proud to be with them and I feel very rich as well!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1030425&id=675018181&ref=mf

autumn in corvallis

From sabang to merauke, ethnique-exotic-deli"fabrics"cious (3)

Ulos Batak: Ulos rujat dan ikat

The Batak people of Northern Sumatra have a history of weaving Ulos ni tondi (Cloth of the Soul) for ritual & ceremonial purposes that dates back to their earliest history. Batak myth tells that Lake Toba is the centre of the Earth & that the Batak are descendants of the first humans. The Toba Batak People live on Samosir Island & around the shores of Lake Toba.Weaving is still a vital and imporant part of the batak way of life.

Traditional Toba Batak Ulos (cloth) is hand made on a body tension (back strap) loom using hand dyed thread. Often villages produce only one or two Ulos designs, slight variations are seen between weavers. Some pieces have limited availability. Natural dyes are used in combination with commercial dyes. Twinning & braiding are techniques specifically used by the Batak. Women are the traditional weavers, children and men assist in twinning and spooling. Ulos have ritual & ceremonial meaning and are worn as head, shoulder or hip cloths. Batak people are proud of and cherish their own personal Ulos and weaving traditions.

Today you can see a fabulous array of personal Ulos being worn at ceremonies and celebrations, or being used as everyday carrying cloths and clothing.

From sabang to merauke, ethnique-exotic-deli"fabrics"cious (2)

Kain Bidap Bengkulu

http://www.indokain.com/various/index.html#bengkulu

Bengkulu 'bidap' - silk weft ikat, gold thread work - Interesting piece. Ikat (silk) center area, uncommon gold work.

From sabang to merauke, ethnique-exotic-deli"fabrics"cious (1)

LIMAR Palembang

The kain limar of the Palembang region of Sumatra are highly prized weft ikat silk selandangframed with gold supplementary threadwork. Kain limar w/ green center (widow's cloth) .

Lines of Acehnese Songket