Jet lag wows

Friday, November 28, 2014

I am home. Noni and I are both suffering from Jetlag terribly. The older I get the more difficult it seems these travels to Indonesia and back again are affecting me.
We have been so tired - head ache and waking up in the middle of the night wide away and then sleeping again till noon...
This afternoon I refused to sleep and so Dalhouise and I went for our walk around the pond to look for birds. At first it was so hard to go but once we got moving I am glad we did.. But now at home again my eyes are so heavy...

Dalhouise was - is so happy to be back with me.. I snuck into the house he was staying in and sat on the couch until he could discover me himself.. It was so funny as he was playing in the other room with their dog - when he came into the living room and looked at me and then began to quiver and the. The jump into my lap.. He nibbled on my jackets sleeves and kissed me for a long time. When I stood to leave he began to bark with excitement and went right to the door - he was ready to come home..

Batik worshops

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The art of Batik making is best done on the island of Java Indonesia as all the materials are readily available here - cotton, beeswax, and assorted plants from which the different vegetable dyes are made.
The Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines using a resist with a spouted tool called a canting or by printing the resist with a cooper stamp called a cap.
The wax is applied causing a resistant so that when dyes are applied you get the different patterns and colours. The artisan selects the colours and then the material is soaked in tubs of different colours and so for many different colours the process takes a long time. Eventually when the cloth is soaked in boiling water to remove the wax. Where the wax is coating the material the cloth does not get dyed - thus the different coloured patterns.
These delicate patterns can only be created by using the canting (wax resist) by using the etching tool that holds a small reservoir of hot wax.









So the above pictures were taken at the second shop we visited - they were working on the outside entrance to the shop.
I am also posting some pictures again of the first workshop we stopped at that is. Ore complete of the process of Batik making.

note the hand tool appling the hot wax

how to get hot boiling water to remove the wax - remember the temperature here is at least 30c (90f)

dying process or and removing the hot wax resist

Sam Poo Kong - cont

Monday, November 24, 2014

The name of Zheng He is used to invoke an oratory in the blessing of safety, health, and fortune.. This puzzles me as he died while on a sea voyage - so where is the power to grant to others what he couldn't domhimself? Anyways at the temple going into the main place of prayer - Noni and I did not enter this place.... On the outside is a stone wall decorated with reliefs of Zheng He voyages and - well I will let the pictures tell the story ....










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Some other stone work

Sam poo kong Temple

Monday, November 24, 2014

Sam Poo Kong is the oldest Chinese temple in Central Java. It was originally establish by the Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng He.
Unlike most temples these buildings do not belong to any specific religion, but rather functions as a place to worship for people of various ethnicities and religious groups such as Muslim, Buddhist and Taoists.

So in memory of Zheng He - 1371 to 1435
He was a mariner - explorer - diplomat and a fleet admiral from 1405 - 1433. His first fleet he was in charge off consisted of 317 ships with over 28000 crewmen. He visited Arabia, Brunei, East Afrifia, India and the Malay Archipekage. He gave gold, silver , porcelain and silk as gifts and in return he received novelties such as ostrich, zebras, camels, ivories and giraffes.
It is believed that some of his fleet even found the America's.
Zheng He sought to attain his goals through diplomacy but when this failed he did not shrink back from violence to reach his objective.
He died during his last voyage in 1935 and was probably buried at sea - but in his honor he has a grave in China.

Hamengkubuwono IX Kraton

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Hamengkubuwono IX
" even though I have tasted Western Education, I am still and will always be Javanese" words spoken at his cornanation ceremony on the 18 March 1940. Later in his life he would be given the title of a National Hero for Indonesia.
He played such a vital role in the independence of Indonesia from the Dutch Colonial Government. When the Japanese Inperial Army was advancing and taking control of Indonesia he was told to to evacuate to Australia or to the Netherlands, but he refused insisting that a Sultan has to stay close to its people in times of crises - in fact he saved his people from being sent to Burma to become forced labors by asking the Japanese to allow the building of a water canal ( the Selokan Matarami)
When the Dutch returned to lay claim to their former colony he played a vial role again in the resistance. He was handed the authority in 1949 as the Dutch retreated and again by Queen Julianna in Amsterdam in December of the same year.
Directly after the declaration of independence because he gave support to the new Central Government he was recognized by the appoint of a Life Government and a special area was set apart.
Noni was not happy at this - he never took a Queen to be his wife but preferred to have four concubines which gave him 21 children.
He was a fan of movies and novels and of Cooking. He began an unofficial cooking club which even member Cabinet Ministers as members.. He was very involved in the Scouts and enjoyed bird watching and exploring.
At the musuem we were told all this but I didnt understand most of it until now when I did a searched. About the place I visited... Now I can connect the dots with the tour leader and pictures and the internet information. He is painted as a true hero a man like,our Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln... I wonder what the real truth is ...