Overview
We are scheduled to depart from Schiphol on Sunday 2 July, but our flight is delayed until the next day -- thank you KLM. After spending the night at hotel Ibis, we take off Monday afternoon. We make a short stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before we finally arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday morning.
The group has no time to lose: we jump on a bus outside Soekarno-Hatta and drive straight to Erasmus Huis for a preliminary repetition. Jurrien, the conductor, means business...
Wednesday is something of a recuperation day, but on Thursday we set off to explore Jakarta. First stop: the national museum, filled to the brink with all sorts of Indonesian artifacts. Hopefully the new museum wing will open soon!
Next stop: Kota, the historic city centre. We're brave enough to take a city bus to Kota Station, but from there on our guide, yours truly, has it all wrong. After two hours beneath the blistering sun, going in circles through what is actually Glodok (Jakarta's Chinatown), we arrive in Kota. We need a drink, and fast! Robin and Rob look tired but Robbert still appears to be fit.
Thursday evening is the time for the first concert at Erasmus Huis. The audience is treated to three world premières and three Indonesian premières by Ensemble Gending. Also, the inspiring Ensemble Kyai Fatahillah gives the first public performance of Gending, a western hommage to the musicians of the gamelan by an Indonesian gamelan group.
Here we see (and hear) Rob, master of the rebab...
Friday morning we take the airplane to Yogyakarta. We won't miss the chaos of Jakarta, definitely not when we discover that our new hotel has a swimming pool! Serafien is afraid of the water, I can't convince her to jump in...
Saturday evening the group is to perform in Surakarta (also known as Solo). The hotel here is pretty shabby: ants in my bed! Good thing they have Bintang...
The musicians of Ensemble Kyai Fatahillah are also with us, wearing t-shirts from the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival 2006. The group performed there yesterday and will do so again on Sunday.
Monday evening, back in Yogyakarta, we go out to see a wayang kulit performance. The shadow puppets are beautiful, in fact they are so beautiful that we buy several authentic puppets after the show.
Tuesday the group organizes an earthquake relief concert for the children and the musicians of the Bantul area. The May earthquake devestated this area and it is very humbling to see the aftermath up close. I'm certain that the people of Bantul can learn us many lessons in positive thinking. The group teams up with local performers, including many children, to give everyone a splendid evening...
Wednesday is a real tourist day. A few of us visit the Buddhist temple at Borobudur (the largest Buddhist temple in the world!) and the Hindu temple at Prambanan. As a bonus we get some views of the Merapi volcano. To round off our day, we take a tour of the Sultan's palace in Yogyakarta.
Friday night, back in Jakarta, my friend Martha invites me over for some German quiz show fun. Alas, the show isn't on tonight, but on the bright side: the view (and the company) is great! Thank you for the lovely evening, Martha... (k)
And of course, many thanks to the members of Ensemble Gending (Armeno, Jonas, Jolanda, Rob, Klaus, Robbert, Michel, Renske, Frank, Hans, Hans and Jurrien), their friends and family who joined us on this trip, to Roderik and Annelie, to Otto, to Slamet and to Piet Hein.
Chapters:
| When? | Where? | What? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04/07 | Jakarta | Erasmus Huis | warmup |
| 06/07 | " | Museum Nasional | national museum |
| " | " | Café Batavia | colonial style bar & restaurant |
| " | " | Erasmus Huis | general repetition |
| 08/07 | Yogyakarta | Winotosastro Garden & Pool | swimming |
| " | Surakarta | Teater Besar | warmup and concert |
| 09/07 | Yogyakarta | Taman Budaya | concert |
| 10/07 | " | Sonobudoyo Museum | wayang kulit performance |
| 11/07 | Bantul | ... | earthquake relief concert |
| 12/07 | Borobudur | ... | Buddhist temple |
| " | Prambanan | ... | Hindu temple |
| " | Yogyakarta | Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat | sultan's palace |
| 14/07 | Jakarta | Hotel Grandkemang | fancy room |
| " | " | Apartemen Taman Rasuna | city skyline |
©2006 Jos Delbar