Thursday

I just noticed how inventive I've been with the blog titles. Creativity to the max!

Not feeling very well this morning, sinuses and asthma combining to make life awkward. Didn't stop me from having my now traditional two hour long breakfast mind you=)

No photos today, as I said yesterday, not much happened.

When TJ got home she rushed in and said: "Do you want to see how they make Batik?" That's the traditional clothing. Of course most parts of my brain said "I can't believe she's bothered to ask that question - what could be more fun than watching clothing being made." However, the other little bit of my brain won by saying: "I've got to get out of this room!" So away we went.

The workshop was owned and run by the family of one of the fellows whom Tari has worked with before named... oooh boy, I remembered this morning! Honest! I think it is Fahasia (no idea on the real spelling) and the other is named Dia (again, I have to make sincere apologies for mangling these). They are two lovely ladies. In any case, Fahasia drove us there in a black 4WD and can I just say that you could have put her into one of those car rallys that you see on TV and she would have blitzed the track (even beating the Peugot's sorry Tari).

When you get in the car, the first thing you do is breathe (the AC was on), then you reach for a non-existant seat belt. Then you just kind of try to stop your eyes from popping out. I mentioned what the traffic was like yesterday. It's the same when you're driving apparently. You just go and assume that everything will flow around you. My favorite moment was when a ute pulled out with a guy who was smoking and obviously in no rush. The road at that point was four lanes. You assume two for one direction and two for the other. In any case, most people drive somewhere near the middle of their two lanes because of the rickshaw's etc along the curb. Fahasia was a magnificent driver, felt like we were in a car chase scene, especially when she pulled out and overtook the ute, driving towards two lanes of oncoming traffic. Of course, it's pretty common for all there, so everything just sort of flowed around. Totally bizarre.

There is some horn honking, but mostly they sound like muffled ducks (from overuse Tari thinks) and they are generally used just to warn people that you're going to move suddenly or overtake them or because it's 3.27 in the afternoon or something.

When we got to the store/workshop it was in the middle of one of the afternoon rain sessions and a couple of guys actually brought out umbrellas for the two steps it took to get under cover. They were probably cousins or something, everybody in that place seemed to be related somehow. There was a tour group (maybe Japanese) that were just finishing up and we were given a special tour by the family members themselves who were so, so nice that I felt like telling them that I was really just a nobody! It's quite guilt-inducing being treated so well.

Well, we had seen lots of Batik clothing for sale and boy do I have a new appreciation for it now. The hand made stuff is such a long, laborious process in hot conditions, it's really quite amazing. This particular place was quite expensive and obviously very good - they get orders to make silk kimonos. Apparently a Japanese gentleman will bring over a pattern and a 15m long roll of silk. They will then spend (in some cases more than a month) the time to create the pattern and then a kimono specialist does the cutting. They're very clever, the pattern just looks like dots and lines and stuff until it's cut and worn and then it makes a picture, like an oriental village or mountain scenery etc.

Why does the process take so long I hear you ask? Well if I had to go through it, you should to, it's only fair. Just count yourselves lucky that you're sitting where you can breathe. I'll just give you the basic gist of it. Basically they use a wax and colouring process. They cover parts that they don't want coloured in wax, then they colour it, then they remove some of the wax, and cover the coloured bits with more wax, then colour it a different colour etc. Hmm. That makes it sound too easy.

For applying the wax they use what look like corn-cob smoking pipes, with the bowl made of copper and a tiny little tube sticking out from the bowl parallel to the handle. They put the molten wax in the bowl and it dribbles down the little tube. They can then make little wax dots where they need them to go. That's for the fine detail anyway, for large scale patterns they have metal stamps, ooh, hang on there are some here for decorations, I'll just go take a quick pic.

These are also made from copper, the first picture is a close-up, the second is what the entire stamp looks like. They are about 15-20cm square

The guy that we saw using these stamps was so fast and precise. There's a big kettle of hot wax behind him, he dips in the stamp, shakes it off, then places it on the cloth. As he does each one he has to make sure he's got it perfectly lined up with the previous one as some of the patterns are repetitious.


I think I've managed to cut a short story long, but just before they're finised there's a guy who stands next to a cauldron of boiling water who gets the fun job of essentially making sure that all of the wax is gone by the end. He dips in the cloth and swirls it around, then pulls it out with a couple of wooden paddles to scrape and twist etc. this is done multiple times, then the cloth is hung out to dry and cut to fit whatever is being made. There were shirts, skirts, table cloths, bags, hats, all sorts of stuff. Some cotton, some silk. Because this was a bit of a tourist version everything was pretty expensive, but you can see why after you've seen the whole process. We didn't buy anything, which is sort of a pity, but I just can't go past all the extra zeroes things have on them. I can't pay 1,000,000 anythings!


What else happened yesterday... Oh, I met Tari and Jackie's translators. Pancha (male) and d'oh, can't remember at the moment. Ali or Aley or something I think (female). Anyway, they both learned how to speak English primarily from their studies at ANU. We were enlightened as to one of the several reasons that Australians aren't the most favorite of all tourists. (And no, Dad, it has nothing to do with Kevin 07) The Universities over the last 5-10 years have really been cutting back on how well they treat their overseas fee paying students due to government cutbacks. As a result the courses just aren't teaching what they used to in terms of international economics etc. This is obviously disappointing given our previous history of excellence.


Dinner was excellent as always, one of the waiters reminds me somewhat of the character Michael J Fox played in "The Concierge". He's a real friendly showman named Alif and has already learned our names and recommends what we should eat, tells us what the different bits are and what they're for etc. He remembers what we have had previously and noted that I was working my way through the (cheap) options at the top of the menu. Last night I splurged out on fish.


It was really, really good. The presentation of the food is fantastic and most of the dishes have a main, central bit (like a soup, or noodles, or rice, or meat) and then several bits around the outside to mix in, one hot, one salty, one sour and one sweet. Sometimes it's liquid, sometimes it's fruits, always something unique.


Anyhow, the fish appeared in front of me as a whole fish, but the middle bit had been scooped out and so it was just a head, fins, tail and one side of it (against the plate). On top where the rest of the fish should have been was fish bits that had been crumbed or something mixed with a sweet and sour sauce and some onion (with rice on the side of course). If I'm clever I'll remember to take a camera to show you next time!


Oh, and Tari kept reminding me to tell you about the fruit juice. Whenever you order a juice you get a nice tall class, with a piece of the fruit on the rim and next to it you get a tiny jug of sugar syrup. Sometimes you don't need the syrup (guava juice) but sometimes it's really great. Yesterday when we got back from the Batik place we had lemon juice, you could add the syrup until you had a perfect blend of sweet and sour. Very nice stuff.


Well, can't think of anything else at the moment, lots of medical type stories that I'll let Tari tell herself when we get back. Thanks Dean for the translation of the call to prayer! Time for my mid-morning nap =)

Sim.