Two saturdays ago, my brother, sis and I went for a day trip to a small charming town in Central Java called Pekalongan. My brother suggested the idea sometime last year, but I only took up the offer when I was in Jakarta recently. And I'm glad I did.
*thanks, bro!*
We first visited a weaving home industry,
Ridaka, which house those
gorgeous tiles, btw. But I hesitated to take pictures of their business as I was afraid I might offend their privacy, so I didn't take any pics of their old spinning wheels, making their own yarns, and their 10+ huge weaving looms(!). I was quite surprised to see such large operations inside a house that actually looks small from the front yard.
Only during our lunch at a nearby
eatery, we learnt that the owner of
Ridaka has a sister who runs a batik home industry.
*entrepreneurship runs in the family apparently*. And they offered to bring us to
Tobal Batik soon after lunch.
Tobal Batik sits on a bigger house than
Ridaka, but really, both houses just look like other houses, you wouldn't expect any big operations going on inside the house, or such large land area behind its front door. Well, I guess.. that's why it's called a home industry. :)
The moment I saw rows of
batik, I knew I just had to ask if I could take pictures there at
Tobal Batik. So I did, and.. permission granted! *yay!* I was quite overly excited already at this state. :) Then as we turned into another section (stamping) of the workshop, the first look I had into that section was their
shelves of copper blocks. I was stunned, gasping, and I felt like fainting on the spot. No kidding, it was my first time seeing tons of copper blocks everywhere, on the shelves and
tables(!). By then, excitement was nolonger the word to describe how I felt. It's heaven. Heaven was the word. :) Afterwards, we toured around the coloring, dyeing, and sewing sections of the workshop. And finally, we visited their batik shop, where I bought dresses for my two girls, and fabric for myself. :)
I had uploaded my Pekalongan pictures more than a week ago, but I only managed to share the story today
*sorry*. So please enjoy the rest of the pictures
here.
Thank you, Ridaka and Tobal Batik, for such priceless experience and for your kind hospitalities. Thank you.oh btw,
Ridaka will be at
INACRAFT on April 23 -27, 2008 at Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia.
