• @ bunderan HI for the AXE effect deodorant launch. 4 oclock beautiful AXE girls demo. Guys do come and see for urself. #
• check out www.waaxe.org for details why AXE bisa bikin cewek jadi gokil #

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Yesterday I got invited to attend the Presidential lecture featuring Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft at Jakarta Convention Center. It was opened by our Indonesian President SBY and moderated by ibu Marie Pangestu. One thing that striked me was that Bill Gates wore a Batik shirt to deliver his speech.  It was a black background with huge brown leaves motives batik.  Right there and then I know that it is Iwan Tirta’s batik.  So after the conference, I gave mas Iwan Tirta a call.  I asked him if it is true indeed his batik that Bill Gates has worn, and yes confirmed it was Iwan Tirta’s.  According to mas Iwan, the batik was given to Bill Gates by Mr. Rahmat Gobel.  So Mas Iwan also told me the motives behind his batik shirt, which is called “Pisang Bali Manggar”  (Balinese Banana Leaves motives) which is an antique motives from the Mangkunegaran Kingdom of Solo, in Central Java.  According to mas Iwan, that the Pisang Bali Manggar is a favorite motive that were used by royalties in Mangkunegaran.  Well, anyway, I was happy to see Bill Gates wore our national Batik shirt….another PR value for Indonesian Batik. 

• If you love batik…you should go to JCC: Pameran Adiwastra…it is just insane 2 halls of Batik. Can’t get enough of it #

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I was interviewed by Fika of Radio Singapura International regarding my bridge blogging (blogging using english language) on this batik antik. Here is the interview in bahasa:

Anda masih di Blog Bicara, dan kita masih bicara soal Bridge Blogging. Masih ingat salah satu alasan mengapa Fatih Syuhud tadi melakukan bridge blogging? Karena ia ingin memperkenalkan Indonesia kepada dunia internasional. Nah, blogger kedua yang akan saya ajak bincang-bincang kali ini juga melakukannya. Ia memiliki blog yang berjudul batikantik.com. Dimana ia menulis secara spesifik tentang batik dan hasil karya seni Indonesia lainnya di dalam blog nya. Tentunya dalam bahasa inggris. dia adalah Shinta Dhanuwardoyo.

Kalau dibilang mengapa saya menulis blog saya dalam bahasa inggris, mungkin salah satunya, karena tema yang saya usung di dalam blog saya mengenai batik. Kebetulan saya ingin menulis tentang batik dan bisa dibaca oleh siapa pun tidak hanya orang Indonesia, karena tujuan saya melakukan blog ini adalah membantu mem-PR kan batik dan karya seni Indonesia untuk siapa pun di luar Indonesia. Jadi siapa pun bisa membaca dan bisa memahami dan bisa kita sharing bareng-bareng.Sebelum memulai blog batikantik.com apakah Mbak Shinta melakukan semacam riset supaya yang ditulis disitu bisa benar-benar dimengerti oleh orang yang non-indonesia dan orang yang non-berbahasa Indonesia? Sebetulnya saya sendiri melakukan batikantik.com ini hanya bagian dari hobby. Yang saya lakukan disini adalah membantu memperkenalkan batik tapi dari sisi yang sedikit beda, dimana saya ingin memperlihatkan bahwa batik itu bukan sesuatu yang bisa dikoleksi. Jadi saya ingin memperkenalkan ke siapa pun bahwa batik itu bisa digunakan kapan saja dan itu sesuatu yang punya daya tarik sendiri untuk merepresentasikan Indonesia, karena batik itu adalah seni yagn cukup tinggi dan bisa merepresentasikan Indonesia. Nah itu yang coba saya lakukan di batikantik.com. Walaupun belum semaksimal yang saya inginkan karena saya juga sibuk untuk melakukan up-dating, dan itu yang saya sayangkan karena di batikantik ini belum saya lakukan secara maksimal.

Di dalam batikantik.com, Shinta menulis sejumlah artikel yang berhubungan dengan batik Indonesia. Beberapa diantaranya menampilkan profil maestro batik Indonesia, yakni Iwan Tirta dan Josephine Kumara atau Obin.

Blog nya juga menampilkan banyak foto-foto koleksi batik miliknya, termasuk perhiasan antik dan juga beberapa karya seni Indonesia lainnya. Dan yang menarik, ada satu artikel berikut foto, seorang selebriti Hollywood, Nicole Ritchie, yang menggunakan selendang batik hijau –yang dipercaya Shinta- adalah batik Indonesia. Ini adalah satu hal yang cukup membanggakan, karena biasanya selebriti Hollywood itu kan dijadikan trendsetter fashion dunia, dan adalah satu hal yang membanggakan kalau dia menggunakan batik asal Indonesia.

Nah, apakah ia pernah mendapat respon atau pun komentar dari orang non Indonesia yang kebetulan membaca blog nya, dan terkesan dengan keindahan batik dan juga hasil karya seni Indonesia lainnya?

Ya, ada beberapa saya dapat e-mail dari Amerika dari Eropa dan mereka menanyakan tentang batik ke saya, dan ada beberapa yang menanyakan tentang barang antic di Indonesia. Jadi kita punya satu network juga yang baru, dimana ada common interest dari orang-orang asing yang memang mungkin interest nya sama dengan apa yang saya tulis di blog. Apakah Mbak Shinta juga pernah membaca blog lain yang ditulis dalam bahasa inggris dan membahas tentang batik? Saat ini belum, saya belum mencoba mencari juga sebenarnya, jadi kalau dibilang gak ada, ya belum tentu, pasti ada satu dua, cuma terus terang saya belum pernah melakukan research atau searching di internet tentang blog-blog lain yang ada. Keunggulan dari sebuah blog itu adalah ketika pengunjung dari blog itu bertambah dan juga selalu di-update setiap saat, apa yang dilakukan oleh Mbak Shinta supaya blog nya bisa tetap bertahan dan tetap bisa menarik pembaca mengunjungi blog anda? Terus terang kalau dibilang saya updating blog saya secara regular juga tidak, tapi mungkin itu yang harus saya lakukan kalau saya punya satu misi untuk memperkenalkan batik dan karya seni Indonesia di luar, yang harus saya lakukan ya harus terus melakukan update, dimana saya terus mengisi informasi yang berguna mengenai batik, mengenai Indonesian Art, Indonesian antique, nah itu yang harus saya lakukan. Hanya unfortunately saya belum bisa semaksimal mungkin melakukan hal tersebut, tapi itu yang mungkin ke depan harus saya lakukan adalah memberikan informasi tentang batik itu sendiri, batik-batik yang antic sampai sekarang, dari sisi pembuatannya, dari sisi jenis-jenis batik yang ada di Indonesia, masih banyak yang bisa kita gali dan kita share ke dunia.

Nah, buat anda yang juga pecinta batik, -seperti saya- atau ingin tahu lebih banyak tulisan yang dimuat Shinta Dhanuwardoyo dalam blog nya, anda bisa mengunjungi batikantik.com.

• Got my MAC Air…love how sexy it is.. It should be called "MAC Air X" - X for everything being external ;)). Hey, still I am in love w it #

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I want to share with you one of my vintage batik from my collections. I remember I acquired this batik sarung from my antique batik dealer in Jogja. I have acquired a number of white and blue vintage batik cloths, but I chose to buy this batik sarung when I saw the design of the parakeet birds on it. I just found the design to be unique and interesting (commonly the birds that were drawn on these batiks are usually of cranes, peacocks or phoenixes, so I considered parakeets as rare). The fabric itself is a mark of a high end batik sarung, because it was drawn on cotton material that is so smooth and sleek. This batik originated from Pekalongan, North Coast of Java and was known as the batik ‘Kelengan’ (white and blue colored textile) and was made around the 1950’s. This kelengan batik sarung was known to be reserved for the occasions of mourning which was worn by the Peranakan or Sino Indonesian communities.

It is often that a signatureof the batiker was placed on top part of the batik sarung. In this case, the batik sarung was signed by Tjoa Seng Kwat of Pekalongan. I remember after purchasing this vintage sarung, I got a 40’s vintage blue parrot brooch from an antique dealer in London which I thought I can easily wear it with my antique Peranakan Kebaya with this particular lovely blue vintage batik sarung. What do you think?

I always applaud anyone who goes his or her way to bring Indonesian Batik to the next level. One magazine who has dedicated itself from time to time to educate and communicate about the beauty and importance of Indonesian batik is Bazaar Indonesia. I love the fact that Bazaar Indonesia is able to reveal Batik not only as the traditional cloth but also a heritage that Indonesians should be proud of. Indonesian batik possesses a very deep philosophical and spiritual meaning because of the diverse cultures that Indonesia consists of. You will not find this particular spiritual beauty in batik from other countries. Bazaar Indonesia this month (April edition) talked about that how “suddenly” batik has become the fashion trend among the trendy women and the socialites; Batik now not only something that can be worn not only to weddings or formal events, but batik can be casual yet chic. Bazaar this month also shared with its readers a deeper article on the various patterns of batik and their spiritual and philoshopical meanings. Bravo Bazaar Indonesia.

Last December, 2007 I got the honor to become a speaker at the UN CONFERENCE in Bali, my topic was “The Role of ICT in fostering woman entrepreneurship development”. I know this is a bit overdue since now is already the month of April 2008, however during that trip, my dearest Obin was there too for another UN Conference. So it is a must that I share this with you even though it is a bit out of date. Obin was there to get ready to participate in the UN Climate Change Conference. So I met up with her at the Westin, to see the making of her Batik Installation at the entrance and the lobby of the hotel. That night I wore my baby blue Cita blouse with my lovely blue orange Obin batik to meet up with her and her team. Actually that was the same outfit that I wore when I was speaking at the UN Women Entrepreneurship Conference earlier that afternoon.

Obin told me when she learned about this important international event in Bali from the newspaper, she took initiative to participate since she realized there will be 189 countries attending the conference so it was a golden opportunity to introduce the art of BATIK to the world. She mentioned that the process for making batik is environment friendly. All batik products by Bin House are handmade and the production process does not necessarily use electricity.

When I arrived at the hall and lobby of the Westin that night, it was just breathtaking. The Batik cloths were hanged from the ceiling in ways that anyone can enjoy the colorful and rich motifs batik. Obin and her team were there for sleepless nights to finish the installation. She even worked with a couple of army guys who are expert in cliff climbing to hang the batik. So impressive!! Not mentioning the walls, she and her team did beautiful palettes of Batik and rich cloths treated as if they were paintings. I am glad she was there to do this….when else would you be able to gather 189 countries to witness and enjoy the gorgeous and unbeatable Batik art of Indonesia. I say, no one can disagree with me, Indonesia is the only country that owns and produces the most beautiful and intricate Batik in the world.

I remember the first time my eyes caught the cute kimonos made from Lurik was during the annual handicraft exhibition at JCC. I love kimonos, in fact I collect a couple vintage kimonos from Japan. But kimonos made from our very own Lurik fabric, seems so perfect and unique. Yeah I got two of them right then and there. I fell in love with them, they are just great with my jeans and I can wear belt with them in exchange of an obi. So who is behind this wonderful idea of doing Japanese style kimonos utilizing our very own Indonesian fabrics? Well, his name is Kenji Yamada or Kenji San we would call him with his partner in crime mba Lilies Sutanto. So how did this all start? Kenji san was a student at University of Indonesia taking up Bahasa Indonesia, then mba Lilies is his “ibu kost. Kenji san has the love of Indonesian fabrics especially batik. Then he experimented with Lurik as his first project, a collaboration of Indonesia and Japan, a Lurik Kimono. They go under the label “BEKEL”- bekel is a traditional child game using a rubber ball. A catchy name indeed.

Well, a year later, Kenji and mba Lilies came out with a new idea, a Batik Kimono….well, how can I resist…I love Batik, I love Kimono….so here is my picture at their stand during the Gebyar Batik Nusantara exhibition last September. I wore a lovely parang motives batik kimono designed by Bekel and my Cita’s black sarong, nicely accented by my silver antique Peranakan belt.

• Friday with lots of meetings, hey I updated my www.batikantik.com. No luck with unlocking my iphone…hiks hiks. #

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