Festival Mata Air 2009

Last weekend I went to the Festival Mata Air, a festival to promote the awareness of eco-friendly lifestyle. The event is organized about Komunitas TUK, an environmentally concerned community of artists and volunteers established in 2006 and based in Salatiga(www.grakkart.com/tuk). It's their 4th year organizing the festival and this was my 2nd year I came to see the event. I think they've done a great job in organizing this international festival that attracted artists and environmental communities around the world.

One of the programs of this festival is the performance from the local bands. I've known some good bands in Salatiga and it was cool to see them performed at the event. My ever talented friends Drajat and Susu showed at the festival and performed with their band, Crosstown Panic. They are cool!

The other things that I enjoyed from the festival is the art installations from various artists. I love arts and Salatiga is not known for its art galleries nor communities. So, it was a perfect chance for me to enjoy such installations (which were eco-friendly).
Salute to Rudi Ardiyanto and Vanessa Hyde for their efforts and brilliant ideas in making this wonderful event happened! Look forward to the Festival Mata Air in 2010.

Batam 2009

I got the chance to visit Batam last summer and it was a joy to see old friends again and meeting new people. Batam is a little different from the other areas in Indonesia that I’ve visited. Besides unfamiliar foreign stuff like the cars, the grocery products (which I love!), and the food, I also noticed the lifestyle of the people here is a little different. I believe the neighboring country is responsible for this foreign influence because of its location. Singapore is only 45 minutes away by ferry. Visiting friends and catching up with them about our newest latest stories was so much fun but I also had the opportunity to volunteer as an interpreter for some groups from the US who visited the sea tribes on the islands surrounding Batam. At the end of the trip, I went to Singapore and got my first stamp on my passport. Yay! My trip to this little country lasted for 5 hours only.

It was a long and rough trip but I learned a whole lot about myself and about God.

Here are some pics from the trip.

With Dina, Maria and Jekson

My travelling companion, Andrea Hirata's Maryamah Karpov.

Singapore's Skycrapers.

School kids with their pink uniforms. What a fashion statement!

Smile!