Jakarta International Kite Festival was held on July 24-25, 2010 at Carnaval Beach, Ancol.

Initially we planned to be there early in the morning but we stuck there all day long so we missed the meeting with other bloggers, Toni, Ivy, Therry, Wien, and Cn. That’s not good considering that would be my last meet up with Therry while she’s single hehehe…

Anyway, back to the main topic…

There were about 150 participants, from local and abroad. They brought their own kites which represented their cultures, i.e. Japanese, Betawi, Korea, Java, etc. There were huge kites – which I couldn’t imagine that they could be flown – and small & cute kites as well.

The committee also held a photography contest of which the main subject is the event itself, and the winners were chosen by the visitors. The prizes were not really attractive but for photographers, this event was a pool of fascinating photography subjects so there were a lot of photographers.

The event was not really crowded. I guess because it was not heavily advertised. However on the next day (Sunday), it was featured in Kompas so I guessed it was so crowded on that day

I and Yudieth took some pictures of the kites. They were really really amazing; colorful, creative, huge, small, cute, and funny. The Event Coordinator actually set a booth selling kites, so visitors could try to fly some cool kites. That’s supposed to be a good experience (considering last time I played kites was about…15 yrs ago) but we were too busy taking pictures

[View with PicLens]

This event was intended for family, not couples, considering obvious factor: Carnaval Beach festival was so dull. There were a lot of kids, playing with kites or just running around.

In overall, we felt that this event was worth to visit. Yes it was hot, dry, etc etc, but it was fun to see the kids and the kites. I guess we should have tried to fly the kites as well.

Other photos which we were interested:

[View with PicLens]

Oh, what’s the other best part? It is next to Segarra Beach Restaurant. After spending almost all day, we relaxed in Segarra, enjoying the magnificent sunset with good food and good laughter

Ps. We were too tired to compose better sunset photos…it was better to enjoy the sunset

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About two weeks ago I went to Yayasan Berkat Kasih Imanuel, a social foundation in Cilincing area. I can write few sentences about this foundation, but I found the best description about this foundation from Reformata tabloid ( http://www.reformata.com/0303-yayasan-berkat-kasih-imanuel–sulap-kawasan-kumuh-menjadi-surgaloka.html )

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As quoted from the website (translated via Google Translate, originally in Indonesian language):

YEAR 80s, Kampung Sawah in Cakung-Cilincing, North Jakarta, had been a place of exile the corpse without an identity. Corpses dumped in there are generally victims of "Peter" (the mysterious shooter) which was rampant at that time. Dead baby abortion and other crime victims are also often thrown in there.

Residents of Kampung Sawah consisting of various ethnic groups are not surprised again every time there was a body dumped in the area that many of the swamp. No wonder the village was called "haunted village." The nickname was more fitting if connected with the habits of many people who like drinking, gambling, gangsters, criminals. All blended into one. Most residents livelihood as scavengers. Towards the evening, the village atmosphere even more frightening because the electricity has not been signed.

Because there is no activity, girls are usually just sat there, brushed his mother’s hair, looking for lice. While other teenagers and little kids just playing and hanging around all day.

One day, a middle-aged woman came to the center of the township. Women who turned out to a priest and named VS Backer approached some teenagers and ask why not go to school.Answer their uniform: no money. No wonder so many school-age children were illiterate.Women born in Purbalingga, Central Java, January 16, 1957 was very concerned, and his heart was moved to do something to help them. As he prayed to God, he wants to build a school for the children. Backer had hesitated to start a "project" because of the social fund is limited.However, the word of God, clearly audible in his ears so that the plan was working alone and God alone will solve all.

In 1993, Backer faith begins with the promise of establishing a church called the GBI Kampung Sawah. Unexpectedly, a number of donors is not known Backer, both from within and outside the country, leaving the money to help his ministry. "Lord Jesus move the hearts of those who helped this ministry," he said sumringah. Of the aid, Backer with regular church benevolence spread by sharing food and rice packets each flood.

Some home residents who purchased unfit for human habitation. Thanks Love Below Emmanuel Foundation, set up polyclinics Backer in 1996. He alone became medics. Backer had completed the nursing education and teacher education in Bandung in central Java.Furthermore, the school building he built in stages from kindergartens and elementary schools.While the new junior high building was built one class. Now, the number of students from kindergarten to junior high school reached 300 students. Many residents have pleaded with the addition of a third-grade space. "I’m sorry to see them there is no money to go on to another school," he said.

Based on prayer and fasting

Hundreds of feet into the entrance of Kampung Sawah feels different locations. Thousands of paving blocks into stepping stones residents since Yayasan Kasih Thanks to Emmanuel spread the love in there. Through Yayasan Kasih Thanks to Emmanuel, a resident of Kampung Sawah can now enjoy free health services and schools. Residents were invited to send the elderly relatives and orphans to dititip in an orphanage, nursing home and hostel. Everything is free of charge. Other social programs that can be enjoyed by residents are sewing as a training facility for working capital. This program is vital to remember Kampung Sawah not far from industrial areas Bonded Nusantara (KBN), which has thousands of workers.

Of all social action, which is dedicated Backer has made many significant changes from the original village and haunted slums into beautiful and peaceful. Residents support whatever is done Backer, not to mention smelly activities gospel. Already many people took the decision to accept Jesus because you see the devotion Backer. In fact, citizens of other faiths is ready to become a shield if a church there to be disturbed. One thing that troubled the hearts Backer is when I see a non-Christian citizens of displaying the image of Jesus Christ in his house.

Backer action should be a reference for other churches are vying with each other to establish a branch churches in the area of the city and business center without going down to the slum.

By Herbert Aritonang

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I was invited by my friend as her Church arranged this visit. They provided books, stationeries, and foods to the children and old people who were supervised by the foundation. They held games and some performance too. I was arrived very late, about an hour before it ended. Too bad I missed some gigs there. Nevertheless, when I came, I could see the joy of the children. There were several senior citizens there, apparently the Church also invited them to attend the event.

If you want to visit this foundation, this is the address:

Yayasan Berkat Kasih Immanuel

Kampung Sawah Blok B no.16 RT 006/RW 010

Kelurahan Semper Timur, Cilincing

Tanjung Priuk, Jakarta Utara

How to get there?

Take the toll road, exit at Tanjung Priok. From the second traffic light, go left and straight until you find JICT office. Ask people nearby ( I was lost, so it was one of my reasons for coming late).

Another pictures:

These kids were narcist…they were very comfortable in front of camera and one of kids kissed my back-LCD…apparently there was his sweetheart in the picture I took hehehe….(guess who :p)

Angel taught them how to use one of the most sophisticated gadgets in the planet: iPhone.

Grandma, 72 yrs old. Apparently she had problem with her back

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Last month I helped my friend Stella on the pre-wedding shots for her cousin. The venue was Kota Tua Jakarta in the afternoon. Initially Stella asked me coming to the morning photo session at Jakarta Cathedral, but it was hard to wake up so I skipped the morning session.

Actually this was my first experience of taking pre-wedding shots and I had no idea about the couple and the poses I’d like to take. I just met them on the site. I helped Stella because I wanted to learn pre-wedding shots and tried to figure out the poses on the spot. Luckily Yudieth helped me a lot as the secondary photographer.

It was a fun and hard job. Fun because I like taking picture of people/portraiture. Hard because the man is not a photogenic but the woman is really a banci foto so it was not easy to direct them. Not to mention that I was unprepared.

So, the lessons I learned from my first pre-wedding photo session were:

• Understand your subjects; know their passion, habits, things they like, their memories, etc. It will inspire you.
• Understand the venue; know where to take shots, at what time, and with what background. You can google the venues and see some sample shots. Get inspired!
• Engage your subject; bring them into conversation, make them relax, give them props. The best poses are mostly spontaneous poses, not arranged poses.
• Lighting, lighting, lighting; I forgot to bring flash gun and I learned later that many of my shots were poorly lit.
• Use Prime Lenses; Zoom Lenses typically can not produce images as sharp as Prime Lenses and their bokeh are inferior to Prime Lenses. Pre-Wedding is a series of planned and arranged shots, so don’t worry about moving backward or forward your body if you’re using Prime Lenses. You will want fine bokeh for Pre-Wedding shots.
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes because you can always retake the pictures in Pre-Wedding session. Think about wedding photography, you can not retake the Marriage Oath or Prayer right?
• Be prepared!

I used Canon EF 24mm lens and Yudieth used Canon EF 50mm lens. These are two pictures taken by Yudieth with her 50mm lens:

And other B/W pictures I took (ooh..I love B/W!) – these two photos are actually off-session photos:

Oh, at the end of the session, I asked Stella to take our picture like this:

Hehehe…another lesson: it would be easier if your subjects are photogenic and know how to pose in front of the camera

Fun fact: Johana called Yudieth as “Kakak” or “Big Sister” in English. The fact is…Yudieth is much younger than her. Yudieth speculated that it was because of me, who looked like Om Om (Mature Man) at that time, going out with young girl like herself.

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On June 26, we went to see the Ballet performance at Taman Ismail Marzuki. The title was Cinderella, so the story was pretty much clear. The Choreographer was Jurgen Otte, a well known international Choreographer . The reason for watching Ballet performance was simple; we just wanted to experience different kind of entertainment, not to mention we’ve never seen Ballet performance before.

As taken from the booklet, the performance was carried by Ballet Sumber Cipta (BSC). BSC was established in 1976 (34 years ago!). The founder, Farida Oetoyo, started the ballet school back in 1959 with Yulianti Parani located in Megaria Center Jakarta. Today BSC has been one of the most active Ballet schools with its extensive network locally and internationally.

The performance was terrific. We were so amazed with the dancers; their passion, movements, shapes, and colorful wardrobes. It seemed to me that they’re living their roles. I learned from the booklet that the performers have been practicing  Ballet since very young age. For instance, Olive Avena Halim (Cinderella/Fairy God Mother) started Ballet at age 5, Ann Bella Yo (Sister Boulotte) started Ballet at age 5 as well.

Tickets were IDR 50k for balcony and IDR 100k for regular view. We believe the whole experience was worth the money. Initially we thought there would be few people watching this because this performance was not advertised properly (in our opinion), but the hall was crowded with people.

I recall Annie Leibovits, my favorite photographer, mentioned that she liked to photograph dancers, because they were very comfortable with their body and expressive. It is true. I dream to photograph dancers someday, just like Annie Leibovits did.

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Ini foto2 Yudieth lagi mandiin Benji.

Mejeng foto dulu sebelum dimandiin

Benji diam yaaaa…awas kalo berisik!

Si Ganteng Benji…

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Click each image to enlarge.

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Getting there is not difficult. You can go from Muara Angke port, taking Ferry. It will take about 2.5hr trip to Pramuka, and the fare was about IDR 35k per person. The other option is to take Government-managed fast boat from Marina Ancol (pier #21 if I recall correctly) and it cost you IDR 35k per person.

Let’s go to Thousand Islands!

It takes about 1 hr to Pramuka if you take the fast boat, and the fare was IDR 35k per person. Although the counter opens at 9am, but you have to be there at 6am. Why? because of very very limited seats, faster, long queue (you can’t book it) and safer boat. Same thing happens when you’re going back to Jakarta from Pramuka.

Ancol Marina is also a good spot for taking morning photography.

Ancol Sunrise (about 8am)

Daylight

Welcome to Pramuka Island

Welcome signage in the pier…nothing in it!

People at Pramuka are mostly friendly to visitors. There are no cars nor big roads; just small roads, bicycles, and motorcycles. Indeed, you can walk around Pramuka for about 1 hr, either on foot or by bicycle. It’s a small and ruhe island.

People in Thousand Islands are mostly Bugis, known for famous seamanship. They are originated in Sulawesi and typically have dark skin and round-shaped skulls.

Some Cute Kids

Happy Tourists

Lodging is considerably cheap if you go with 3-6 people. We booked a small guesthouse with Air Conditioner and 6 mattresses on the floor and the cost was about IDR 400k per night. The water felt like sea water (sticky and salty) but there were bottled drinking water. Note that electricity was usually turned on from 4pm to 9am.

We rented a boat for a full day island hopping; about IDR 300-350k for 12 hrs, about IDR 75k for a guide, and IDR 35k for a pair of swimming fins.

Alternatively, you can rent smaller boat to visit nearest island.

These were our guides

From Pramuka, you can go to several islands for snorkeling or sight-seeing. I can’t swim, honestly, so I went around island/shores to take pictures and the others went snorkeling. The shores were relatively clean with white sands and clear waters. Landscape photographers must love these islands.

Dead Tree in Shore

Another Dead Tree in Shore

Light Beacon

Resting Stop

Living Starfish

Lost in sea

Afternoon/Night

Another attraction you can see when you’re near Pramuka is the Keramba. It’s a floating restaurant and surrounded by fish farms. I went there in the afternoon and the lighting was not very good, so I only managed few good shoots there.

Keramba in the Afternoon

Sunset (almost set) from Keramba

Practically there is no night entertainment in Pramuka. It was quiet night. Occasionally some tourists have their own parties, but after 10pm, it’s very very quite. Nevertheless you can find 1-2 warung open until midnight. Initially I planned for star/night shooting, but it was cloudy in the night with occasional rain.

Sunset from Pramuka Pier. It was cloudy.

Stormy Dusk

In The Morning

Thanks to relatively low pollution, the air was fresh in the morning despite the salty feeling. I can see misty fog in piers, sea, and in the distance islands. We planned to catch 10am fast boat, but the tickets have been sold out since 8am! We took the ferry which goes to Muara Angke. The ferry was damn slow, hot (capacity 100), and the wooden structure feels creepy (considering I can’t swim!)

Morning Ritual (about 7am)

Morning in the pier

Foggy pier

Morning Habit

Finding food for Breakfast

Morning Sport (You can rent bicycles for about IDR 30k per day)

Go to work

It was really a good and refreshing trip. Surely I will come again to Thousand Islands, but next time to other islands (I heard there are more interesting islands)

See you and I hope you enjoyed your stay here

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I used to think that this zoo was not-so-good place and nothing much to see. Well, it turned out that I was wrong. The zoo is not very big, but it’s still a nice place; cool, relatively clean, and it has a lot of collections. Tickets are pretty cheap; around IDR 25,000 for a car with 2 adults. If you want to go to “green” place, inexpensive, and not far from Jakarta, look no further. This is it.

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Crumb rubber processing does not involve sophisticated manufacturing process; essentially, it’s just cleaning raw rubber from smallholders/plantations, drying the rubber sheets, and send it to its customers. No sophisticated machineries, no chemicals, and virtually no waste.

In crumb rubber processing, raw material quality is crucial. Malaysia raw rubber quality are generally above Indonesian raw rubber but manufacturing process is more expensive there. In addition to that, the manufacturing process in Indonesia is more efficient hence the output from Indonesia usually can compete with Malaysia’s in terms of quality and price (excluding shipping charges).

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I did some color adjustments in the post processing, no cropping. Some images were taken by Yudieth. Gears: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 500D, Canon EF 24mm F1.4L, Canon EF 24-105mm F4L.

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