Unesco Lists Batik As Indonesian Cultural Heritage

Do you ever know the name of 'BATIK'? My husband and I, also my parent and my brother and sisters in Indonesia love wearing Batik.

Batik is regarded as a cultural icon with its own uniqueness. It contains symbols and deep philosophy of the human life cycle -- and it was submitted by Indonesia as a non-material element of cultural heritage.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added BATIK - Indonesia's traditional dyeing technique to its intangible Cultural Heritage list. The listing gives the age-old batik tradition some degree of protection under the UNESCO charter, now it is making official at an event in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between September 28 and October 2, 2009.


"Getting batik to be recognized by UNESCO had been a long and complex journey. The Indonesian government had to produce extensive academic research on batik to make their case." Indroyono Soesilo, Secretary to the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, as quoted by state news agency Antara on Tuesday, Sept 29, 2009.


I am very sure the Indonesians around the world must be grateful that the work of their (my) ancestors has been acknowledged by the world.

So far, Indonesia has registered nine of its places and practices with the UN's educational, scientific and cultural guardian. Two other cultural heritages are wayang puppetry and the kris. World heritages sites include natural ones such as Komodo National Park, Tropical Rainforest of Sumatra, and historic sites such as the Borobudur and Prambanan temple compounds and the Sangiran Early Man archeological site.

I ever learned how to make Batik when I was at the first year in Junior High School. I was so excited learning how made it on a small size of fabric (handkerchief) by using a method of hand-printing on it and covering with removable wax the parts that will not be dyed. Due to modern advances in textile industry, the technique is also used for fabric incorporating traditional batik patterns that are not necessarily produced using traditional batik techniques.

One day I would love to have a simple tool kit of making Batik. I wish one day when we visit my country, we will come back to USA and bring it. I'm sure my three daughters will be excited to practice making it. It will be fun.

My husband and I have some collections of Batik, either we bought them ourselves or getting presents from family and friends. We both also ever gave Christmas presents to our daughters, Sissy and Mimi in 2002, and in our special day when we got married, we wore Batik, as you see a picture below.

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Tomorrow I'll finish writing chapter 20. Today I'll take a rest after coming back from Dentist. I don't feel good & hope tomorrow I'll feel much better.
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No Sweet Corns Harvest This Year

This year I don't plant so many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Besides we had so much rain almost every day in spring (so we didn't have a chance to prepare the top soil for planting areas), also I wanted to focus writing my novel at that time. I just planted red sweet corns, herbs and lavenders. My husband also was busy with his first several varities of sweet corns and tomatoes. I helped him to weed his garden while I had other spot for my red sweet corns.


All plants grew very well and we both and our little girl enjoyed watching how they grew every week, especially watching how the corns showed up with their hairs for the first time. I took some pictures and post them here.

In the middle of their growings, we were so excited waiting for the harvest time. It would be cool because we would have several kinds of corn varities, especially of my red sweet corns.


But what happened next... it was really sad, we didn't even have a chance to harvest them. The unexpected deers came and ate all of them in the night.

We didn't prevent their coming because in three years after we moved to our new house and had planted several times since we moved, we never had the problems, even seeing them. We started to see a deer crossing the main street of our area last year when we were driving in the night. I said to my husband that deer was lost but he said no. The deers were everywhere in Pennsylvania.

He was right. Finally they found our garden that was perfect for their night party. I was very very sad. I never thought they would find our garden but I was really wrong and he was right. The last picture above was the last picture of my husband's garden spot I took before getting their attacks. It was sad, wasn't it??



Next year, my husband would plan to protect our gardens to prevent the deer's attacks. Since then, I thought we would have one more problem in gardening, the deer's attacks.






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Taking care of my sick little daughter who has been sick since last Thursday, so I can not finish chapter 20 as the schedule I've made.
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Heaven by Los Lonely Boys

I'm sure if you love music, you will be familiar with a song, titled Heaven. I often listen this song many times when driving to work or driving home. It is sung by a rock band, named Los Lonely Boys.

First time I didn't know about their profiles at all, I just enjoyed their music very much. Yesterday when I went to church, the music members sang this song in the end of their performance. Wow, I would like to stand up and move my body to dance, but I just kept seating, clapped my hands and moved my head and shoulder. I love this song, especially its lyric, it is simple but gives us a deep thought: How far is heaven?

I tried to search their video and found out their profiles. Gosh, I was wrong! I thought they are one of the Americans rock band (pure), NO, they are Mexican - American rock band. I was so impressed.

Below is their video I would like to share with you, guys!! ENJOY!!!

HEAVEN
by Los Lonely Boys

Vamanos!

Save me from this prison
Lord, help me get away
'Cause only you can save me now
From this misery

Well I've been lost in my own place
And I'm getting' weary
How far is heaven?
And I know that I need to change
My ways of living
How far is heaven?
Lord, can you tell me?

I've been locked up way too long
In this crazy world
How far is heaven?
I just keep on prayin', Lord
I just keep on livin'
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord, can you tell me?)
How far is heaven?
(I just gotta know how far it is)
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord, can you tell me?)

Tu que estas en alto cielo, hechame tu bendicion.
[translated from Spanish: you that's in a higher place, send me down a blessing]

'Cause I know there's a better place
In this place I'm livin'
How far is heaven?
So I just got to show some faith
And just keep on givin'
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord can you tell me)
How far is heaven?
(I just gotta know how far it is)
How far is heaven?
(Oh, Lord, can you tell me?)
How far is heaven?
I just gotta know how far
I just wanna know how far

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Still writing chapter 20.
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Support the Cause and Win the Prizes!!

I've just got an invitation from Mariuca for a chance to win £100.00.

How does it work?

Adam's blog is currently running a survey on Consumer's Perception of Blogs. All you have to do is fill up a 15-question survey, which revolves around blogging and your views on it. The questions are simple with most requiring you to rate your response. Moreover, this survey will go towards a good cause and Adam pledges to donate 50p to Cancer Research UK for each completed survey.

At the end of the survey period, Adam will have a prize draw and the lucky respondent (who has completed the survey) will WIN a fantastic cash prize of £100.00 (approx. US$165)! Winner can either keep the cash prize or suggest a donation to a charity of his or her choice. Besides the main prize of £100.00, 10 other respondents will win Amazon vouchers worth £10 (approx. US$16.5) each. Winners will be announced on Adam's blog on December 1st 2009.

As you can see, there are plenty of prizes to go around so if you're feeling lucky like me, complete the survey NOW so you won't miss out!

PS. Let me know once you've completed the survey to enjoy a free linkback to your blog from my blog.

1. Fida Abbott 2. Bluedreamer 3. Rebecca 4. Sandy G 5. Ancilla 6. YOU next

Don't forget to visit my sponsor at Baggins Shar-PeiLinda Coffee, owner of Baggins Kennel, has produced some of the best looking Shar-Pei in the world. She is also a pioneer in producing blues and other rare Shar-Pei coat colors.








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An Inspired Profile

Do you ever hear the name of Dr. Farrah Gray? I've heard his name just now when reading an e-newsletter from Chicken Soup for the Soul.

He was from a very poor family. When he was seven years old, his teacher asked the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Naturally, most of the kids said they wanted to be a doctor, an attorney, a social worker, an actress, a scientist, and so on, but him… he said, "I'm going to be a millionaire entrepreneur one day." The teacher looked at him and laughed. "No, you can't be that," she told him, "because you are poor and your family is poor, so you better think of something else to do."

That insulted him so much, I'm sure. I never say things like that to anybody even if in their performances would not guide them as they want to be. I always give the respect to everybody who has big dream. Even to my daughter, I am a very supportive Mom, I always say to her, "You can do it!" And it gives her more confindence and courage.

Now, you can see the facts about him:

- Had his first TV interview at age 11, and has since appeared on Oprah & Friends, 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, The Montel Williams Show, and many more
- Co-founder of Urban Neighborhood Enterprise Economic Club (UNEEC) at age 8
- Founded a non-profit organization called The Farrah Gray Foundation
Millionaire by age 14
- Youngest member of the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce
- Youngest person to have an office on Wall Street
- Received an honorary Doctorate from Allen University
- Bestselling author of the book Reallionaire

To read more about his story, you can visit this link.

The messages from him that I have the same thought with:

"I can feel confident about reaching my goals. You just have to want to learn, believe in yourself, and be willing to step forward with faith." (I have them; learning, believe, faith even I'm very curious with several things that will be in the next steps I will face and am pursuing now)

"Focus on what you can do and be curious about what it takes to succeed. If you're not curious, then you are not exploring, and you then limit the kinds of experiences you can have. You have to be a dry sponge and absorb as much as you can from the positive people around you to enhance your knowledge." (I have mentioned above about my curiousity. I'm a focus person, like to explore the new interesting things and need the people who support me, especially in enhance my knowledge, either they are my family, friends, etc)

Two of his favorite sayings:

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." (Ambrose Redmoon)

"If you want to cook then have a chef teach you." (Donald Trump)

Some Tips to be an extraordinary person (taken from Extraordinary Teens):

Believe in yourself
Singer, songwriter Ryan Cabrera says, "I figured, no matter what our course in life will be, we're still going to face criticism and negativity. So I figured I may as well face it by staying true to what I wanted to do with my life."

Try new things
Kari Byron, from the Discovery Channel's "MythBusters," says "Knowing that I could fail and still be okay gave me a lot of courage." You'll never know unless you try, so remember to be open to new experiences. They broaden your horizons and change your perspective.

Find a mentor
Most successful people are happy to share their tips for success. Don't be afraid to ask. They have years of experience they can share. Find a mentor you can talk to, get advice from and from whom you can learn about your area of interest. Their advice on what pitfalls to avoid can be priceless.

You will fail at least once
Failure will make you stronger. You increase your chances of success every time you try. Joel Holland, III, one of BusinessWeek's "Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25," says, "I've found that regret for not trying is much worse than failure."

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Trying to find more time to do a lot of things.
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Special posting on 09/09/09: A Hummingbird Visit

Today is Wednesay which has special date: 09/09/09 because it won't ever happen again twice, except in the next many years on the future (3009). I thought it is the time I should show to all my blogger friends and the visitors to this blog that I had a special visitor last month, on Tuesday afternoon, August 25, 2009.

When I was writing at my daughter's bed room, I heard something coming from the window. Wow, it was a Hummingbird. I called my daughter and I took two videos. First video when I tried to catch him and the second video I took when I was planning to let him go.

Since I planted several flowers that can attract butterflies and hummingbirds two years ago, I had so many butterflies and hummingbirds came to visit my garden and enjoy the flower's nectars. Awesome!!

My husband said, it was good luck having a hummingbird visit to our house. (Amen!!!)









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Hoping to finish chapter 19 soon.
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ZAZZLE: Be Creative, Be Happy!!

My family and friends have recognized me that I'm a creative person. I don't refuse it since I have already recognized myself when I was a little child. I loved cross stitching, hand needle works, crafting, etc. I made my first big cross stitching when I was 10 years old, my first scarf when I was 10-11 years old, writing a teenager short story and poems when I was 13 years old, starting to make money by giving private course for the students when I was in the college (20 years old).

One special and favorite activity I had was as a member of six different vocal groups [VG. Pemuda Silo (1985-1988), VG. El-Shaddai-then we changed its name as VG. Effata (1988-2002), Joining between VG. Effata & VG Hosana (1992-1993), VG. Pemuda Genta Kasih (1992), VG. UPN Jatim (1992), VG. GKJW Tjg. Perak (1998)]. Most of my time when I was in Indonesia besides studying and working was giving private course and practicing with my Vocal Group members. I have an unique voice which it has different output sounds between speaking and singing. When I speak, my voice is light and even I don't like to hear it but friendly. When I sing, my voice will change, it is opposite 180 degree, it has different style. I thank to God for giving me this talent and I had used it to service Him in many years. All VGs I ever joined, it never came from myself, but from them who had recognized me that I had a talent in voice they needed. My voice is perfect for VG, is not for single singer. My voice can blend with theirs nicely and gave the power in appearance.

Since I moved to USA, I have left all my favorites activities and I believed at that time as it was a part of God's will, He would give other suitable activities that match with my abilities. Being busy to take care of my family is a great blessing too which I believe it is one of His blessing in my life, especially in raising a child. She has inspired me in many ways. I recognized her several skills and they stimulated me in being more creative person I can be as her Mom.

US weather is very different with Indonesia weather; 4 seasons vs 2 seasons - cold vs hot. Because of the different weathers, I spent my time most inside in the house and the very suitable activities for myself are writing, going online and cooking.


Since I knew the cyber wolrd, especially in blogging, my writing skill has improved time by time, especially in writing in my second language. My writing activity that had stagnated many years ago has started again since that time. Now I have been given a great responsibility as Managing Editor at the largest Indonesia online daily news based on Citizen Reporters that now it has almost 10.000 Indonesian Citizen Reporters from around the world and as a Director for an online writing course they own. I don't make ( a lot of) money for those (it is non profit media) but I have built a great experience and opportunity, huge networks and friends and I love them as they still brings me to be connected to all Indonesians around the world. The owners yesterday sent me an email to show their appreciation of my great work in their Team. They said I should move to Jakarta and build a bigger company and become the millionaires together.

Through blogging, I also can share my writings, my thoughts, my stories, etc and make friends, so don't be hesitate if you're interested becoming my friends. My hands widely welcome to everybody.

My other favorite activities are cooking and gardening. Since I moved to US, my husband is one of the most person who has supported me in cooking. He bought the cooking tools as a gift for my birthday, Mothers Day or Christmas presents. It made me wild to do more experiments for my own recipes. Now I have a cookbook project in series and proudly to donate all the revenue to Cystic Fibrosis foundation and to support my other upcoming books/cookbooks marketing to support cancer reseach program and unreached children program.

In gardening, since we moved to a new house in 2005 and it has large yard, my desire in gardening has growth. I have changed the empty lawn to a beautiful garden and create a place where the butterflies and hummingbirds come to have party. Although it still needs a lot of works to improve it, I have been enough satisfied with my own efforts and works. It is far from perfect yet as I wanted but I have seen 80% all of my plants have growth as I expected and I still keep learning in a new weather and many kinds of new plants.


Now, what the connection between Zazzle and the story I wrote above?
I have been so wild having ideas that most come every day in my mind and I just burry them because I still don't have enough time to exist them. My focus is for my family, work, writing my novel and cookbook projects, and other online activities - but I have discovered a website that has been so long I tried to learn in it, Zazzle. After this morning I read all their information, I think Zazzle is one of websites I was looking for. I have heard Zazzle many months ago, but I had not given my attention in it. This morning, suddenly I was interesting to learn more and I was glad knowing it.

Zazzle will be absolutely my online store for my creativity one day soon and also I am planning to promote my little daughter skill in drawing through this site.

If you are a creative person, why you don't want to try Zazzle? Check Zazzle!! You can build your online store and show your creativity along with their member support staffs.

BE CREATIVE, BE HAPPY WITH ZAZZLE!!!

ZAZZLE





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Introducing ZAZZLE, be creative, be happy!
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Special Gift for Mariuca

I have made a special mini book that I created special to my family and friends. It contains the collection of my poems I wrote in English and my photographs collection. One mini book has been sent to Indonesia. My brother has received it as his birthday gift two days before his birthday, August 31.

Now it is the time I would like to give one mini book to my Blogger friend, Mariuca who had celebrated her birthday on August 29 (last week). It is little bit late because I had been sick since last Saturday.

If you are active as EC member, Adgitize member, or other blogger community members, the name of Mariuca is familiar in Blogosphere world. I have been in friendship with her since almost two years ago. Her passion in blogging has inspired me to be a good blogger I can be. She also has been as one of loyal Blogger friends since we met in cyber world. She supports me in many ways. One of them when I was as a contestant at Blognet Award last February. She has been several times becoming EC top dropper since I joined as EC Member and also as a Blogger who bought the most ads for this blog.

Though it is just a simple gift but it is a great appreciation of my big thanks to her for being a supportive friend.

The next message for her, I would love to have her home address, so I can send it as soon as possible. I would like to ask her to send the info via email or special wall at Facebook.

I hope she is excited reading this post as I'm excited writing this post.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MARIUCA!!!!

I send you a special birthday cake through the cyber world. Enjoy!!

August Top Ten EC Dropper

Meow Diaries 27
Wishing On A Falling Star 25
Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 24
RealityTalkBlog 16
Coming Back to Life 15
Jean sQuared 14
A Woman Remembers 13
Cooking Japanese Style 12
Wirez and Circuitz 11
Owning a Café 9

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Getting ready to write chapter 19.
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VIDEOS: Third Day of the Beginning of School

I have been sick (getting flu) since last Saturday. This morning I felt much better though not 100%. I hope nobody in the family will be infected, especially for my little daughter who has started her Kindergarten School since two days ago on Monday, August 31.

This morning I took several videos of her third day school. I have been so excited she is going to the new school. As a Mom, I would also learn many things. I have been in touch with her teacher via emails and offered her if she would love to choose me as a volunteer for her class or school and here is her answer I received yesterday:

She did great today! She is such a sweet heart, I know we'll have a great time
together. I noticed her amazing artistic skills already.

I would love to have you come in to help during kid writing on Wednesdays or
Thursdays. I will be in touch to set up a specific time and day with you in a
few weeks.

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I will finish chapter 18 today. I think I feel much better to do it after several days I was not good.

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