SKETCHBOOK PROJECT

Amal and his dad did a project together for an exhibition called the "Sketchbook Project" organized by ruangrupa, which is a well-known artists' initiative based in Jakarta. The exhibition was up till 9 December, but unfortunately I wasn't able to go see it.

Basically, the project is a collaboration between ruangrupa and tuatuasekolah who makes these sketchbooks. They sent a 100-page sketchbook to 29 artists from all around Indonesia and they had 3 months to fill in the pages. Since Amal is an avid sketchbook user, Amal's dad got the idea of collaborating with him on this project. Amal was very proud, as you can see in the photos below :)

THE BAREFOOT MOVEMENT

This TED talk is one of the most inspiring I've heard.

As explained by Roy Bunker about the Barefoot College: 

"So it's the only college in India where, if you should have a Ph.D. or a Master's, you are disqualified to come. You have to be a cop-out or a wash-out or a dropout to come to our college. You have to work with your hands. You have to have a dignity of labor. You have to show that you have a skill that you can offer to the community and provide a service to the community. So we started the Barefoot College, and we redefined professionalism."

"Who is a professional? A professional is someonewho has a combination of competence, confidence and belief. A water diviner is a professional. A traditional midwife is a professional. A traditional bowl setter is a professional."

This makes me think of YUM's plan to build a Vocation Technical & Training Center (VTTC) in Central Kalimantan, where nearly all the population in our working area have no education nor skill. If this succeeds, we'll be helping not only those who will be going to the VTTC but also their families and communities.

He ended with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: 

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win."

PICNIC IN KEBUN RAYA BOGOR

What started out as a trip to Taman Mini and finding a spot to have a picnic suddenly became a trip to Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens) because I made the wrong turn and since we were in the toll road in that direction, might as well just continue :)

A good tip for parents who don't want the hassle of cooking something for their picnic trip: go to All Fresh in TB Simatupang (in front of Citos), go to the salad & fruits bar and get yourself some nice fresh cut fruits as well as pasta salad and veggies!

Don't forget to bring sunglasses, hats, a ball, badminton rackets and of course, a nice fabric to sit down on the grass. Actually, we should've brought some cushions to sleep on :)

PARIS IN THE WINTERTIME

Just the other day, I was talking to my sister-in-law while we were seeing a documentary about Paris and the life of Toulouse-Lautrec. We were saying how it seems like a dream to have lived in Paris. The city is so beautiful, vibrant and full of art, especially during this time of year. The photos below are from one of my favorite blogs called Paris Daily Photo, and reminds me of the evenings when I would walk to a cafe, or just walking around the city. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to live there, and I wish everyone could do the same :)

IBU ROBIN

A week ago, I found out that among the 10 nominees for CNN Hero of 2011 was an American lady who lived in Bali and worked in helping poor mothers get the best possible healthcare service when it came to prenatal, birth and postnatal care. Then several days later, I hear that she actually won the award! And you can definitely see why when you view the videos below. What a caring, gentle, compassionate person! Congratulations Ibu Robin and may you and your clinic Bumi Sehat continue to prosper and help many more women and mothers!

Portrait of a Hero: Robin Lim by CNN_International


"Every baby's first breath on Earth could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving. But our world is not there yet." ~ Ibu Robin Lim

LIFE IN A DAY

This has to be one of the most AMAZING films ever made!! I am in love with this movie right now - Life in a Day is a project where thousands of people uploaded videos to YouTube about a single day on Earth, most precisely on July 24th, 2010. If you haven't seen it yet, go here and you can see it for free (or just view the video below)!! You will cry and laugh at the same time! Thumbs up for Indonesian filmmaker Soma Helmi for being one of the few contributors chosen to attend the premier of the movie at Sundance 2011. Her shots of Balinese life is truly beautiful!

PRE X-MAS COOKIES

Yesterday, Amal and I made cookies and decorated them. I don't know why the month of December just pushes us to start baking lots of cakes and cookies and distributing them to friends and family.

So here we are again, same as last year but this time, I'm happy to have finally found the BEST butter cookie recipe ever! Seriously, it's delicious and easy to make, and it was under my nose all this time....argh!

Almond Butter Cookies

(makes around 30-40 cookies depending on size)

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

175g butter (Elle & Vire)

1 tbsp baking powder

salt

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 cup ground almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius

2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the butter, cut into pieces, the baking powder, a pinch of salt, the sugar and eggs. Beat until the mixture is well mixed (low beat), then add the ground almonds. Roll the dough into a ball.

3. Roll out the dough to 5 mm thick and use cookie cutters to make all sorts of shapes.

4. Transfer to a tray with baking sheet. Bake for around 10-15 minutes or until the bottom part of the cookie is brownish.

(from the cookbook "La Cuisine" by Letoile, Maine and Peter)

Note: Cookie cutters, ground almond and cookie sprinkles can be found at Titan baking shop on Jl. Fatmawati

INSPIRATION #7

This outfit is so 1990s but somehow I like it a lot: simple, cozy and stylish. Photo found via The Sartorialist

Stephmodo just did a blog post about this new French magazine called Doolittle and seriously, it's too cute... Love the t-shirt with the face!

Amal's a big fan of making cookies and when I saw these from this blog, I knew I'll be doing them for Christmas :)