Festival Kebhinekaan: Perjalanan Seminggu Menghargai Perbedaan

Saya selalu percaya bahwa traveling bukan cuma soal pindah lokasi dan mengumpulkan foto dengan latar belakang berbeda, tapi tentang apa yang saya bawa pulang. Mulai dari cara pandang baru, rasa ingin tahu, atau pertanyaan-pertanyaan kecil tentang hidup. Semua adalah sesuatu yang saya temukan di tempat tujuan, yang kemudian menjadi bagian dari kehidupan saya.

Karena itulah, terkadang kalau membuat itinerary, saya suka menyelipkan hal yang unik. Saya lebih tertarik ikut kelas memasak di negeri orang, atau berjalan kaki tanpa tujuan jelas menyusuri satu sudut kota sendiri. Kalau ada walking tur, biasanya saya senang ikutan juga. Dengan melakukan ini, saya mendapatkan insight yang berbeda, lebih personal dan lebih punya cerita untuk dituliskan.

Perjalanan hari ini ceritanya tidak jauh-jauh dari tempat tinggal. Masih seputaran Jakarta juga. Cerita hari ini adalah pengalaman saya ikutan anjangsana alias silaturahmi lintas iman di Festival Kebhinekaan.

Awal bulan kemarin saya menemukan yang namanya Festival Kebhinekaan. Kegiatan tahunan yang diselenggarakan untuk merayakan keberagaman Indonesia dan memperkuat toleransi lintas iman ini sudah memasuki tahun ke-9. Sayangnya saya baru tahu bulan ini. Dalam festival ini, ada rangkaian kegiatan seperti kunjungan ke berbagai rumah ibadah lintas agama, anjangsana ke komunitas keagamaan serta dialog antar kelompok masyarakat. Tujuannya untuk berkenalan serta memupuk toleransi dan empati.

Tiga destinasi Anjangsana Kebhinekaan yang ada di jadwal festival tahun ini adalah Komunitas Penghayat Kapribaden Jawa di Limo, Gereja Yesus Kristus dari Orang-Orang Suci Zaman Akhir di Tebet, dan Jemaat Buddha Nichiren Jepang melalui kunjungan ke Kuil Hoseiji di Manggarai. Acara-acara ini semuanya gratis.

Berkumpul di Kuil Hoseiji

Cerita Perjalanan ke Tiga Kunjungan

Light to Night Festival: Singapura Setelah Matahari Terbenam

Apa rasanya duduk di padang rumput sambil menyaksikan pertunjukkan lampu tembak warna-warni bergerak di tembok sebuah bangunan bersejarah? Sepertinya cocok untuk saya yang senang bengong dan people watching. Ada beberapa tempat untuk melakukan ini di Light to Night Festival, yaitu di National Gallery Singapore dan Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. Pertunjukkan lampunya sih ada juga di The Arts House at The Old Parliament, tapi tidak ada padang rumput dan tempat duduk-duduk cantik untuk menikmati pertunjukannya.

Dari tadi ngomongin Light to Night Festival, apaan sih ini?

Light to Night Festival adalah salah satu acara tahunan di Singapura yang biasanya digelar setiap Januari hingga Februari. Festival ini berpusat di kawasan Civic District yaitu seputaran National Gallery Singapore dan area sekitarnya seperti Padang, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore River, hingga gedung-gedung bersejarah lainnya di Civic District. Selama beberapa minggu, area terbuka di pusat kota Singapura ini berubah menjadi galeri seni yang bisa dinikmati secara gratis oleh siapa saja.

Bahkan untuk hari pertama, ketika saya datang ke sana, National Gallery Singapore dibuka gratis untuk umum. Kecuali special exhibition tentunya.

 

Melihat sejarahnya, festival ini pertama kali diadakan pada 2016, dan sejak itu menjadi agenda budaya yang ditunggu-tunggu. Setiap tahun, temanya berbeda, tapi biasanya berkaitan dengan isu kemanusiaan, identitas, emosi, atau hubungan manusia dengan lingkungan dan teknologi. Tema ini kemudian diterjemahkan ke dalam berbagai bentuk karya seni dengan cahaya, instalasi multimedia, proyeksi pada bangunan bangunan, pertunjukan, hingga program diskusi dan workshop.

Sayangnya, karena saat itu saya datang di hari pertama, jadi kegiatannya banyak yang belum mulai. Baru pameran, bazaar dan pertunjukkan lampunya saja.

Apa yang membuat Light to Night Festival menarik adalah penggunaan bangunan ikonik sebagai medium seni. Bagian tembok depan National Gallery Singapore, yang dulunya merupakan gedung Balai Kota dan Mahkamah Agung itu, menjadi kanvas pertunjukan visual. Proyeksi cahaya ini tidak hanya menampilkan visual yang menarik, tetapi juga mengangkat cerita sejarah, nilai sosial, dan pesan artistik yang relevan dengan tema festival tahun tersebut. Intinya sih, Civic District Singapura berubah setelah matahari terbenam.

Apa saja yang harus diperhatikan kalau ke acara terbuka seperti ini?

Nonton Konser di Luar Negeri, Apa Serunya?

Nonton konser di luar negeri, sekalian jalan-jalan dong!

Saya beberapa kali menonton konser di luar negeri, meski masih hanya di negara tetangga saja. Semuanya konser K-Pop. Yang pertama tahun 2012, karena pekerjaan yang harus meliput konser Super Junior, Super Show 4, di Singapore Indoor Stadium. Lalu nonton CN Blue pada tahun 2017 di ZEPP@BigBox Singapore. Lalu K-Wave 2 Music Festival di Kuala Lumpur pada 2018. Semuanya Kpop haha. Sisanya, nonton di Indonesia.

 CN Blue pada tahun 2017 di ZEPP@BigBox Singapore

Waktu kuliah di Amerika, juga nonton konser sih, tapi itu kan pas tinggal di sana, jadi nggak dihitung “luar negeri” dong ya haha.

Nonton konser di luar negeri berarti punya persiapan ekstra. 

Selain ekstra uang dan waktu, juga ekstra itinerary. Alias, mau ke mana di sisa waktu yang ada. pertimbangkan hal berikut sebelum pergi.

Harga Tiket Konser. Kalau di Singapura, harga tiket konser bisa lebih mahal, atau sama mahalnya. Sebagai perbandingan, harga tiket paling mahal untuk Super Show 9 Jakarta adalah 2,8 Juta, sementara di Singapura mencapai 3,8 Juta dan Malaysia 3,2 Juta.

Biaya Lain-lain. Bagi yang tinggal di Jakarta seperti saya, nonton konser di kota sendiri berarti hanya keluar biaya bensin, parkir dan sejenisnya. Mungkin taksi atau transportasi umum lainnya kalau parkir tidak memungkinkan. Sementara kalau ke luar negeri berarti ada biaya akomodasi dan transportasi yang bisa jadi seharga tiket konsernya. 

Waktu yang dibutuhkan. Nonton konser di kota sendiri, hanya perlu meluangkan waktu di hari H konser saja. Kalau konser di negara tetangga harus menghitung waktu berangkat dan pulang yang tidak sebentar.

Bahasa. Buat saya yang nontonnya konser Kpop, hal ini penting. Makanya hanya nonton di Singapura dan Malaysia yang translate-nya ke English. Kalau di Thailand, nanti pas ment (alias ngobrol-ngobrol), saya bengong. Kalau nonton boyband kayak Backstreet Boys atau Band macam Green Day sih mana saja jadi asal duitnya ada. Haha.

Itinerary. Mau sekalian ke mana lagi? Soalnya kalau sudah traveling ke negara tetangga dan hanya nonton konser saja, buat saya sih rugi. Paling tidak bisa bawa 1-2 tulisan blog pulang ke Indonesia kan. Periksa tempat wisata atau tempat kuliner di sekitar tempat konser.

K-Wave 2 di Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Sudah begini kok ngotot nonton di luar negeri?

Kalau ditanya begini, saya biasanya cuma tertawa. Lebih mahal, lebih ribet dan lebih banyak waktu terpakai. Namun, saya masih memilih pergi nonton di negara tetangga. Kenapa?

The 2 A.M. Big Bad Wolf Book Run

I have a love-hate relationship with my hometown. One of the reasons is that living in Jakarta is never boring. You always have something to do, even in the middle of the night. We have two long weekends in a row where public holidays fall on Monday. And we have that 24-hour Big Bad Wolf Book sale. Perfect.

Despite being not as enthusiastic as when the Big Bad Wolf first came last year with their books, I pushed myself to go. Mainly because last year we found Garfield comics and hoping this year the book collection would be as interesting. But the reviews had come back with long queue reports, especially on the cashier area. The only time to go is hours before dawn. So I threw the offer of “stay up all night” to Dudu and to my surprise, he agreed.

Jakarta Toys and Comics Fair 2017

In the midst of Lego Batman craze, let’s just say the Power Rangers stole the Jakarta Toys and Comics Fair weekend. Or at least that’s what we thought. The event at Balai Kartini Jakarta has been a regular date destination. We’d make time for a few hours, checking out toys, and if we’re lucky we’d go home with a few new friends for Dudu’s action figure collection.

The 13th Annual Jakarta Toys and Comics Fair (2017)
When: 11-12 February 2017
Where: Kartika Expo, Balai Kartini, Jakarta
Admission: Rp.50,000 (Presale Rp.45,000)

This year, the event arrived a little early, just few days shy of The Lego Batman Movie premiere on local movie theatre in mid-February. But when I propose the schedule to Dudu, he read on and decided for day two. “I want to see Power Rangers,” he reasoned. A valid one because, well, he’s been into Power Rangers for a while. Plus, the movie is coming out and he’s been watching the trailer dilligently on Youtube. So, when a Power Ranger cosplay/live action is scheduled for day two at 1 PM, there we are.

Battle of The Toys 2016

There’s a motorcycle parked up front the Battle of Toys gate, right before the ticket checking line. A motorcycle that looks familiar. Dudu took a pose with it, he asked. Then I told him it’s Belalang Tempur (literally means Combat Grasshopper), Kamen Rider Black’s motorcycle. He had no idea who they were, as clueless as I am about the event.

Dudu and Belalang Tempur

We’ve been to toys fair regularly, be it a paid event or the smaller free-of-charge ones at shopping malls. But we never know what to expect from these events. Over the years, we’ve been regular visitors of Jakarta Toys and Comic Fair, which was held in March, but recently there are plenty of similar events held around town. One of them is this Battle of Toys, which was held at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta in August 2016.

Jakarta Toys and Comics Fair 2016

Arriving at noon, we're welcomed by traffic jam entering the area. So we turned left and parked at the building next door. The walk wasn't too bad although it was quite hot. At Balai Kartini, there was no line to buy tickets and go inside. The on-the-spot tickets were Rp. 40,000 each. We got stamped at the door and the adventure begins.

"Let's find map, Mom." What for, I asked. "I want to know which booths sell action figures."

Jungle Fever Bazaar PIK

If I have to mention one thing that’s currently trending in Jakarta, it’s bazaar. 

Don’t think about the big Jakarta Fair or something like the ones held at Balai Kartini (JakToys Fair or Mother & Baby Fair perhaps?). Think of them on a smaller scale held at a limited space inside or by a prestigious shopping mall. But this time, the one we’re attending, Jungle Fever, is a bazaar organized by All Access Jakarta which was held at Marketing Gallery Pantai Indah Kapuk.

Gummybox Endless Creativity Inside

What if a box full of creative surprises arrived to your doorstep, just in time to safe your children’s holiday (and your sanity during their out-of-school days)?

Gummybox is a briliant concept. All you have to do is subscribe on www.gummybox.com and those boxes filled with thematic art-and-craft activities are sent to your door every month. The different themes like Starry Night, Medieval, Underwater, Construction, Postal Services, Monster Mania and many more, is a surprise for each children. Each box consists of three different activities and one workbook. I’d say it’s shareable with siblings and cousins.

Jakarta Food Bazaar Adventure

Bazaar is trending in Jakarta. Mainly dominated by food and fashion, these collection of pop-up markets are taking over the shopping centers. So, on one occasion, I took Dudu to a Mom and Kids Market called Shophoria at Grand Indonesia and going through the food tenants. And this is what we have to say about the unusual yet delicious bazaar food.

What makes bazaar popular is the unique concept offered by the food tenants. Each booth is competing to be the most singular store that everyone would talk about whole year long. Often started with online (mostly instagram) store, these food and beverages concept go offline on the weekend when there are chances to meet their customers personally.

Jakarta Toys and Comic Fair 2015

Jakarta Toys and Comic Fair is something we always enjoy. This year we arrived with a specific mission: FINDING ANDREA.

Dudu had been planning since before Chinese New Year, so I've decided to try buying the pre-order ticket at a convinient store. We got a bunch of free drinks vouchers from the store as a bonus. But on the day, the line for pre-order is longer than when you buy on the spot. The difference isn't much but it was enough to cover the parking.

Museum Ceria Family Weekend Special: Aku Diponegoro

If you haven’t been to a Museum Ceria event, you probably should. We’ve gone twice on the past three months and each event is equally educational and fun! This time, we visited the temporary “Aku Diponegoro” exhibition at National Gallery, finding clues and learning how to behave in a traditional museum.

Aimed at kids aged 5 to 12, Museum Ceria brings another fun craft, detective game and storytelling to “Aku Diponegoro,” an exhibition held from February 6 to March 8 at the National Gallery. The Special Family Weekend is free of charge and was held four times over two days. We signed up for the one on the morning of March 1st.

Museum Ceria Family Weekend 10 Niewslezer

After a few conflicting schedules for previous events, we finally participated in Museum Ceria Family Weekend. The event this time is called Niewslezer, teaching the children about communication and journalism before the internet era. So it’s like showing Andrew what news was like when Mama was a little girl.

We arrived at 9 AM for registration and the program started right away. As this is our first time participating at a Museum Ceria program, we didn't know we can start right away after given the mission. We thought there were a briefing or introduction from Museum Ceria. But watching other participants eagerly completing the mission, we decided we can start.

This is what Dudu has to say about out date: 

"Today, me and Mom went to Museum of Communication at Indonesia Miniature Park. When we arrived there, we line up to get out mission by the museum door. The mission is to find items spread out in the museum like Morse code machine, golden pen, old TV camera, famous people statues and others. We also have to read using the old Indonesian spelling, like my grandpa! The old spelling is like code! I also made a bookmark using magnet and reading a story..."

The story is a radio drama. Each kid got a role in a fable and they have to act out like they’re playing a drama. It’s a great way to introduce today’s children with how the parents enjoyed radio back in the days. Aside from displaying items from the old days of media and communication, there are also some history, pictured through diorama spread out in the museum.

The smaller children got a storytelling, singing and dancing while going around the museum and seeing different artifacts. Andrew totally enjoyed the adventure – never been to Museum of Communication before. I found this fascinating too as I couldn't recall if I ever been to this museum. But, here in Indonesia, we often need a reason and an extra push to visit museum. And the Family Weekend Program gives us just that.

Contact Museum Ceria at:
Twitter: @MuseumCeria
Web: http://museumceria.blogspot.com/

When: December 28, 2014
Where: Museum Penerangan (Museum of Communication) at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Indonesia Miniature Park)
Fee: Rp120k for kids and Rp20k for the accompanying parent, excluding TMII entrance fee. There’s also a fun storytelling program for younger children with different registration fee. 

(This post is also available in Bahasa Indonesia: Museum Adventure, Museum Penerangan TMII) 

Jakarta Kids Run 2014

Our second participation sees more excited kids, more enthusiastic adults and a crowded route.

While the first Kids Run was awesome, the second was a little disappointing. We're super excited to know that the registration has opened and signed up right away. The fee had tripled from last year, but we thought it was worth it. The T-shirt has brighter color and the medal is a lot nicer. I picked up the race pack without Andrew and was excited with the fresh orange uniform. It matches Andrew's shoes too.

Jakarta Toys and Comic Fair 2014

This is our second time going to such event, and this time we know better to come before the gate is open and on the first day. 

We lined up at 9, and got our ticket at 10. Apparently it was faster to buy the ticket on the spot rather than pre-order it at Indomaret. The line was shorter. We go around pretty quick and settled on a booth where all toys are discounted. It’s a little hard to shop because you have to ask for the price every time you want to buy something. The space is small too and the cashier is manually done.

Adventure Time Christmas With Finn & Jake

We visited the playground on its last weekend on Gandaria City (thanks to a Twitter quiz for the free tickets). 

Land of Ooo Playground - it's FUN!

We didn’t get a chance to experience the meet and greet of Finn and Jake, but we did try  the playground. It’s not as big as we had expected and there are only three items on the playground: the pink-colored princess bridge, the ball-throwing game and the slide area. I thought my son was too old for that.

Jakarta Kids Run

Running For Kids? Why not?

So, the other day we brave ourselves (or rather Andrew did) to do a morning run.

http://dunialari.com/jakartakidsrun2013/

Kids warming up, led by instructor

Running preparation

There are two categories: Running with parents for 3-6 years old and Kids Running for 7-12 years old. Registration was quite easy through online and bank transfer for payment. The day before, we stopped by fX to pick up his running gear and number. We arrived on the day at around 6 AM, and register again. Warming up started and 6.30ish and by 7, the little kids are running with their parents. 

The First HI-5 Mall Show Ever In Indonesia

Hi-5 are Ainsley, Lauren, Mary, Dasem dan Stevie. Kids are familiar with them, thanks to the Australian TV Show. Now they are coming to perform LIVE in Jakarta. 

If you're a Hi-5 fan, you'd be excited. Even if you're not a Hi-5 fan (like my 7-year-old son who didn't know who are these people before coming to their show), this show is still as entertaining.

KidsFfest 2011

Open Air Cinema is arguably one of the best thing about this event. It's a good first watching movie experience for younger children who haven't been to movie theaters. 

KidsFFest is a movie festival for kids and teens in Indonesia. Started back in 2009, the festival has been screening movies for the younger audience inside the Blitz Megaplex movie theatre as well as outside on the side foyer. For there older children, there are short film competition, dubbing workshop and many other activities. The three Paddle Pop movies screened this year is Pyrata, Kombatei and Elemagika. So we came and watched Paddle Pop. Other than that, there are many other kids movies from around the world such as: Kung Fu Kid (Japan) and The Magic Tree (Poland).