We enjoyed a good buffet breakfast at our guesthouse in Jakarta and then boarded our blue bus to drive to Subang, about 2 hours east of Jakarta in the province of West Java. Our bus driver, Sumarna, did a good job of navigating the intense traffic and we safely arrived at Bengkel Subang (Pekerti's Subang workshop) where artisans finish and paint wood products. The workshop employs 8 to 12 artisans, depending on the volume of orders.
Kosto, workshop supervisor and Pekerti field worker with one of the artisans, Ani. Kosto told us that he is 29 years old, can you believe it?
Rice fields, houses and landscape near Subang. This is the view from Pekerti's Bengkel Subang. The weather is near perfect, but a bit hot!
Baby-holding time at Bengkel Subang. Amy, Emily holding the baby, Nur of Pekerti, daughter of artisan holding stickers given to her by our group.
After a short visit with the artisans at Bengkel Subang, we drove a short distance to sub-village Sukarandeg, near the town of Gunung Sari. Here we visited Dadan Craft, the workshop and house of Mr. and Mrs. Aso. They work with wood carvers and painters and were working on albesia wood nativities. Our tour members got to try their hand at painting.
Mrs. Ninse Aso serving lunch to Judith, Alicia and Nur (Pekerti). We enjoyed a spectacular lunch of rice, special beef meat balls, shrimp, vegetables, spicy sauces and an exotic array of fresh fruits including rambuttan and pineapple.
Our visit drew a big crowd of onlookers. This older guy thought we provided great entertainment.
Woodcarvers sit down, lean back and seem to enjoy their carving. The light weight, soft albesia wood is relatively easy to carve. He is working on a nativity figure.
Judith, Christina and Chris are painting angels for a nativity set. Their expert teacher and supervisor said his 10 year old son can do a much better job.
Dave and Therese watch intently as they are given painting instructions. Pak Imam, retired former Pekerti Director, looks on with some amusement.
Dave got creative with his wise man. Can you guess which extra detail Dave added?
A finished wood carved nativity done in an antiqued style. The carvers and painters at the Aso workshop have great talent.
At the end of our visit to Sukarandeg we gathered for a group photo with Mr. and Mrs. Aso and their carvers and painters.
After saying our good-byes we all piled back into the bus and started our journey back to our hotel in Jakarta. Along the way we ran into traffic jams and big downpour of rain that slowed us down considerably. The trip that too 3-4 hours in the morning took more than 5 hours this evening. We got back to our hotel by about 9 pm. We are all a bit tired but we have gained some new best friends at Pekerti workshops in Subang, West Java.
Tomorrow morning, Valentine's Day, we fly to Yogyakarta (Jogja) where we will meet the Apikri artisan group.
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