CAP GO MEH 

at Surya Kancana Street, Bogor

Cap Go Meh literally means the 15th evening (after the Chinese New Year), celebrated by Chinese people all over the world with various kinds of festivities. In Bogor, West Java, it's celebrated in a form of a people parade by all communities from neighboring cities and regions, religions and ethnics, not only by the Chinese communities.

I took off from Jakarta in a rainy morning with a hope to catch this annual festival from the beginning (temple ritual for the gods and goddesses) towards the actual parade. We arrived before noon and Bogor was packed, rainy and busy already. My daughter and I tried to get inside Vihara Dhanagun (also called Hok Tek Bio temple) where the main activity took place every year and it was almost impossible to get in. The smell of incense was all over the place. Organizers, photographers, and spectators were packing the temple's hall and yard. Hardly any place to stand and sketch.

Traffic jam and people from all over Bogor city poured into Surya Kancana Street to see the parade.

Inside the Dhanagun Vihara as the center of the Cap Go Meh celebration was packed.

 

The celebration inside the temple (Photo credit: Iqbal Amirdha)

I had intended to meet my fellow sketchers from Bogor, Iqbal Amirdha, Kiki Priyosejati and Ersta Andantino who already settled inside the temple for good sketching spot but it was too packed and hectic to make it  to their spots that I decided to sketch somewhere safe and less chaotic.

While waiting for the activity to start, I sketched the commotion from the front gate of the vihara. People stood by to wait in the rain. Some carried umbrellas or raincoat, the others just didn't care even if they got drenched.

Inside the hall where the statues of gods and goddesses were stored, people were busy decorating and waving flags. Some visitors came to pay respect to the gods and goddesses here.

The Drummers (right side) by Kiki Priyosejati. The drums inside the hall can be heard all the way to the streets and usually symbolize what kind of activity or ritual that was going on.

Inside the vihara sketch by Iqbal Amirdha captured the sense of excitement.

As the religious activity took place, parade participants were already standing by at the hall and by Padjajaran street. Waiting for their turn to walk.

Kiki Priyosejati's quick sketch of the gate from the Surya Kancana street.

 

Bogor city Sketchers: Ersta Andantino, Iqbal Amirdha and Kiki Priyosejati. Reporting live, from Cap Go Meh festival.

By afternoon time, it seemed the parade is delayed until evening time. So I decided to head home before getting trapped inside the heavy traffic jam in Bogor city that day. After apologizing to my Bogor Sketchers friends via Whatsapp Application, we walked back to where we parked and safely drove back to Jakarta. May next year I can come back again and sketched a bit more. Special thanks to my Bogor Sketchers friends who stood by waiting for me although we didn't meet in person. I just admire their spirit to capture the scene through their sketches! 

The rain was still pouring as we exited Bogor through the highway. 

For more information about Hok Tek Bio?Dhanagun temple, please check out this http://phototour-id.blogspot.co.id/2015/08/vihara-dhanagun-hok-tek-bio-temple.html

Here's a nice article about Cap Go Meh: http://ozip.com.au/index.php/cap-go-meh-a-hearty-epilogue-of-chinese-new-years-festivities/

Also view: Facebook page of Bogor Sketchers, Indonesia's Sketchers for more sketches of Cap Go Meh celebration in Indonesia.

 

World Sketching Tour, Luis Simoes Comes to Indonesia

World Sketching Tour's

Luis Simoes Comes to Indonesia

Custom sketchbook made for Luis by Soleh Hadiyana

One of the many dreams of a sketcher is to see the whole world and show it one drawing at a time. An urban sketcher from Portugal, Luis Simoes is living that dream for about 4 years now. He set off from his hometown in Lisbon in 2012 and wanders the world (mostly Europe and Asia) alone, though sometimes meeting fellow travelers on a road.

A few days ago, he arrived in Jakarta after he finished traveling in the Philippines for about a month. After settling in a hostel in the Old Jakarta area, we arranged meetings with fellow Indonesian Urban Sketchers here and had a dinner together nearby the hostel. It was a great experience for us to meet him, talked to him about his numerous trips around the world, his struggles, his sketching method and his passion. He hopes to keep going on tour until he reaches his last target, Australia and New Zealand.

We took Luis in a laid back stroll around the old Chinatown residential block called Petak 9 the next day. We enjoyed the little and vivid details that the area provide and especially admire how this area still exist inside a megapolitan city like Jakarta. After having a late lunch (we sketched for a long time and almost skipped lunch). We also visited the Old Jakarta's "square" a.k.a Taman Fatahillah where the colonial Dutch buildings can be found. From there we head back to his hostel and let Luis rest.

Petak 9 neighborhood. A quiet Chinatown residential area yet has so many great little details that spring out from everywhere.

Sheila and I took Luis to lunch in  a hidden food stall behind Petak 9 traditional market called gang Kecap. In this sketch I wrote 10 questions that I asked Luis during our few days hanging out together.

The next day, Luis had the chance to explore Jakarta by himself for awhile. He went to an area called Passer Baroe and later had the chance to sketch Jakarta's oldest church, the Cathedral. In the afternoon, we came to meet him and took him to Cikini area, nearby city center to meet more Jakarta's urban sketchers. After sketching together inside a cafe there, we went to dinner at a small food stall nearby and have a farewell group photo.

Luis tried out his famous fish eye lens on my phone to take a groufie

A groufie after dinner. Stand left-right: Iqbal, Sari, Wahyu, Luis, Aga, Motulz, Donald. Front: Yoso and Yanuar.

Right now Luis is in Bandung, West Java. His plan is to spend few days on major cities in Java (Jogjakarta, Semarang, Solo & Surabaya) before crossing to the island of Bali and Lombok. We wish him a great adventure and may he find Indonesia comfortable and feel at home here. See you around, Luis. Vamos World Sketching Tour Indonesia!

CHINATOWN in Semarang, Indonesia

Chinatown is always interesting part of the city with its own character and culture. The bussiness activity as you could see always busy. The width of the street stays as it was built in the past but their bussiness need more space to move. The street is easily blocked by the vehicles whenever they need to load or unload the stuff. It becomes a dayly view in Chinatown.

The Chinese style roof has a special design which is different from other design. Unfortunately many of the new buildings do not include this style anymore. Its a pity that they forget the valuable historical value.