After the heat of yesterday, we decided to spend today in the air conditioning of the Plaza Ambakrukmo. The Plaza has 4 levels and is similar to plazas in Australia. It houses many familiar shops such as “EMac” (iMac), Timezone and a bisokop (movie theater).
I needed to buy a batik shirt to wear to university on Fridays. Batik is a traditional Indonesian textile. A pattern is either printed or hand dyed onto the material. These patterns can be significant to a cultural group or region of Indonesia. Indonesians view batik with a sense of pride and therefore it is common to wear it to work or school on Friday. I was able to look through the batik shops and purchase my shirt speaking mostly in Indonesian. Though there was often a time delay, where I processed what was said and how I could respond.
After leaving the plaza, I visited the Affandi Museum. Affandi was a famous Indonesian artist, who lived in Yogya. His home has now been turned into a museum that displays many of his paintings and also has a studio that artists currently use. Affandi was inspired by the banana leaf and thus designed his home to resemble their shape. Also, like his art works he used a variety of bright colours to paint his home and this is complemented by an established gardens throughout the museum. All this has helped to create a calming, creative and inspiring environment, which is in direct contrast to the noisy chaos of the main road that is less than 100 meters away.
Tomorrow, regular university classes begin and I meet my tutors and individual language teacher.
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| Picture of Affandi |
Anda aksen bahasa Indonesia harus menjadi sangat kuat! Thanks for keeping us posted. Besar barang-barang!
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