Batik Rocks - Indonesian Chic

Despite being in Hong Kong, to celebrate UNESCO's decision to list Indonesian Batik to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, today, together with fellow Indonesians everywhere, I am proud to rock my batik.

My favorite batik dress with rocker accessories.
What can I say?
Batik rocks!

Batik dress = Mal Ambassador, Jakarta
Faux leather vest = In&Out, Mongkok
Rocker-inspired belt = Zara
Ninja boots, Rocker-inspired bag, silver bangle = Fa Yuen St Market
Black leather bangle = borrowed from sous chef, from Shi Lin Market, Taipei

Stay chic, wear your batik.

Creative Storage - Toy Truck from Javanese Dugderan

Not your ordinary storage. My sis, the ever so creative designer, uses this toy truck she got at Javanese traditional street toy fair (dugderan) in our hometown, Semarang, to store her otherwise messy piles of stationery and knick knacks.


Now those mini Hong Kong taxis and light buses she parked near the truck had to worry about being hit by a falling stapler.

I am loving the Indonesian flag. Nice touch of nationalism. The only missing thing is the typical corny dangdut inspired Indonesian bumper stickers, such as "Janda kembang" or "Rindu Dendam".

Spring Batik

It's spring and I am in the mood for colors. So I put on my pastel batik top, no jacket is needed for this 18-22C weather, just a sweet pink pashmina. I really need to belt this empire waisted top, as once I took the belt off (after lunch), the office tea lady immediately asked if I were pregnant (believe me, it is no fun). It's a small casual Friday at work, so I got to wear my jeans. The Chinese inspired shoes made the whole outfit all me. Indonesian and Chinese. The colors echo those of my top and my belt and bag.

One of the reasons I wore this outfit is these blings my sous chef bought for me. Pretty pink, eh?

Top = Batik top from Mal Ambassador, Jakarta, Indonesia
Belt = Brown stretchy belt from H&M
Jeans = from Plasa Senayan, Jakarta
Scarf = baby pink pashmina from Ladies Market, Mongkok
Shoes = a gift from my sis
Bag = brown sling bag from H&M, Christmas gift from Sir A

Adorably Indonesian

Is there a way to dress Indonesian, which does not involve batik?
Apparently there is. My sis bought me this super adorable sweater from a shop in Alun Alun at Grand Indonesia. They specialise in incorporating Indonesian design elements into modern apparels. Kinda pricey, but affordable when on sale.


What's so Indonesian about this sweater?

It has rabbit's ears on its hood. OK, rabbits = adorable. I get it.


It's borderline cheesy and corny, don't you think? But that's me. Corny is my middle name and my sis knows it exactly! I AM shameless enough to wear this sweater!

OK, here goes. It has a rabbit print on the chest...in a pixelized high tech kinda way. The word "terwelu", which is Javanese for rabbit is cleverly printed underneath the rabbit. Genius!!!!!

Tied a piece of lace on my hair. The lace color matches the border color of the sweater's print. I added a small plastic earring in the shape of "female" toilet sign in pink, the color duplicates that of the rabbit's inner ear.


...and I am a sucker for initials. Thus the R white plastic earring.

Top = "terwelu" rabbit sweater from Alun-alun, Grand Indonesia, a bday gift from my sis, last year
Skirt = Tiered denim skirt bought in Singapore, SGD29
Tights = Grey tights from Argyle Center, HK$29
Shoes = White "patent leather" heels from Argyle Center, HK$69
Lace ribbon = from Ki Lung St, Sham Shui Po, HK$2.5
Plastic earrings = pink female toilet sign and initial R, from Argyle Center, HK$5 for two
Bag = white quilted bag with gold chain from Argyle Center, remixed

Bday Outfit

Should I dress my own age? I'll be damned! Not that I plan to be 18 forever. Hmm, maybe throw a couple of years to that. Haha!

What should my bday outfit be? Something fancy? A night gown? A ball gown? A cocktail dress? Nope. I kept it casual this year, I wore my hair down, no hair product, no curling iron. Just my big, frizzy hair.

I wish I were one of those girls who look fantastic without a single touch of make up...naturally rosy cheeks, lusciously long, dark lashes, and sweet ruby red lips. No, Siree. I look like crap without make up, and I am old and wise enough to realise this (check out my beauty routine here). At my age (ehm!), I need all the help I could get looking all cute. This year, I was determined to indulge the lil' kid in me (again?!!)


I went to Whampoa Garden's Jusco and took quite a number of pictures with shameless poses, fighting for great spots in front of the colorful teddy bears against lil' kids and ehm, crying babies. Needless to say, this auntie scared most of the kids away.


I didn't stop there. I went to the game arcade and feasted my eyes on these colorful cuties in a hole. I looked like the grumpy doraemon on the 2nd row.

Maybe a game or two? Bah! I am crap at these games. It would be like throwing my hard earned money into the toilet bowl.


Couldn't stand to indulge the auntie in me and posed in front of this sparkly bling bling wall.
Top = cotton embroidered puffy top, from In Fashion, Mong Kok, remix
under shirt = fuchsia cotton turtle neck tee, from Fa Yuen St Market, remix
Jeans mini = from Body and Shop Jakarta, remix
Batik scarf = from Batik Keris, Jakarta, Rp.16.000
Bracelet = golden snow, Christmas gift from Amy
Bag = from H&M, Christmas gift from Annie
Boots = from Argyle Center, remix

Check out where I dined that day.

Sigh. Another year younger, none the wiser.

Indonesianize Me

There were moments when I added a batik scarf to anything I wear, especially to jazz up all black business suits. I probably own at least 10 cheap batik scarves in assorted colors, which are now mostly used for food photo taking for Mochachocolata-Rita :p

One fine day, I was in the mood for a dash of batik, instead of the whole head to toe, huge batik dress extravaganza...so I pulled this blue and white baby out of the food-photograhy-accessories bag, and tied it around my neck. Not too flight attendant-ish I hope. It's cool to be out and about in Hong Kong wearing batik...since nobody has it! HA!

Top = vintage chiffon shirt with details on shoulder
Black cotton cardigan = Fa Yuen St Market, HK$39
Black skirt = In Fashion, HK$69
Black belt = H&M, HK$129
Scarf = Batik Keris, Jakarta, Rp.16.000
Bag = Coach (HK$2500)
Faux Pearl Necklace = Argyle centre
Black velvet boots = Tiffany, HK$199 (I love black velvet/faux suede cheap boots, as they look expensive-ish, as black as midnight. I hate black faux leather as they look like rubbish collector's boots on my elephant legs)

The scarf is now back to its food photography duties.

Another Indonesian Habit I Can't Shake Off & Another Thrift Find

Here's another Indonesian habit I couldn't shake off. I love sitting on the floor. At home, at work, on the street...wherever! There's just something about it that's so carefree! I don't care how expensive your chair/sofa is...sometimes I just need my sittin'-on-the-floor moments (either that or it's probably due to my short legs - it's hard for my feet to reach the ground when seated without heels HAHA).

I love this colorful chiffon vintage dress...the pattern, the colors, and the gold chains on both pockets on the chest.

This magenta satin stretchy belt (H&M, HK$129) with jewelled buckle made the dress a better fit. Check out the black version here

I winterized the chiffon dress with a comfy canary yellow cotton turtle neck (from U2, circa winter 2005), and dark blue tights and mustard heels, which I wore here

I sit on the floor, I eat with my bare hands, and proud of it ^_^

Winter Batik

I've always been in love with batik, and it has recently become very hip and happening in Indonesia. At first I thought, thank God, finally! Indonesian batik should get all the long overdue recognition and appreciation it deserves. However, after seeing them literally EVERYWHERE in Jakarta...I was a bit overwhelmed. I wonder if I would look too common (pasaran) if I wore my batiks in Indonesia.

Luckily, they are still unique in Hong Kong. I've been wearing my batiks all summer! This winter, I refused to keep my batiks hidden in my closet. However, since there's no winter in Indonesia, most batik outfits were created for tropical countries/summer. So...

How to winterize your batik?
- Wear a cotton turtleneck underneath (my black turtleneck is my peanut butter in winter. I slap it on everything, and it turns out fan-bloody-tastic most of the time)
- Wear a jacket over (denim jacket to dress down, cashmere-ish/satin jacket to dress up)
- Put on a pair of plain opaque tights (stay warm, look sophisticated)

This cotton batik mini dress is from Jakarta (Mall Ambassador, Rp.100.000). I love the pattern, the color and the puffy sleeves. The size was a bit too big for me, but it can be solved by belting it (black stretchy belt with gold buckle, from H&M, HK$79 circa last winter). I added a long faux pearl necklace for an Audrey Hepburn-ish sophisticated look (Argyle Center, Mongkok, HK$20).

My batik was pretty pleased to have experienced winter in Hong Kong.

Growing Nationalism

For as long as I can remember, when I grew up and was staying in Indonesia, most people around me (including myself) craved foreign related products (so called - buatan luar negeri). Anything foreign was generally deemed superior compared to local products. This might get myself beaten up but honestly, I was not really into Indonesian products, people would make fun of me if I wore batik/kebaya (Indonesian traditional clothing), people would look down on me if I claimed that my favorite food is gudeg (Javanese traditional food) and people did roll of the floor laughing when I sang dang dut songs (Indonesian music). I would get accepted and probably admired if I wore Esprit/Benetton, dine and hung out at Pizza Hut, and listen to rock and roll. I loved everything foreign, and I seemed to have taken Indonesia for granted.

Strangely, when I moved overseas, first to Australia, then to Singapore and currently now I am in Hong Kong, my sense of nationalism towards Indonesian products has been ever-growing. I miss Indonesian products all the time, I regularly crave Indonesian food, I proudly say that I am Indonesian, JAVAnese, even when people thought I was JAPANese (this is a huge compliment since Japanese is perceived to be superior).

Every year, when I visit my home country, most of the time I just wanted to eat and drink everything Indonesian, I desperately seek for some more Indonesian ethnic decor for my home, bought loads and loads of batik clothing and wear it with pride in Hong Kong. OK, I went one step further, there was a day when I asked my colleagues to wear the Indonesian clothes they purchased during an event in Indonesia.

I gave out packets of Indomie (Indo's famous Instant noodles) to my colleagues and promoted the use of Kecap Manis in Hong Kong at BBQ/cooking party events with my friends. I sang Indonesian songs not only in karaoke (I just changed Japanese lyrics and made up the Indonesian version) but also in the office (this probably won't promote Indonesian music, this could kill it-I'm sorry, will try to stop. lol)

Maybe:
- Everybody misses things they can't get hold of
- Only realised they love something when the thing isn't as easily available
- Anything unattainable is crave-able
or some other reasons...

For whatever it is, despite all the minuses, there are so many good things about my country (not only Indomie and kecap manis yaaa)...So, I just know one thing: Saya Cinta Buatan Indonesia (I love Indonesian products), termasuk saya (which include myself) LOL!

*So much for Rita's Nationalism, she is just another female narcissistic pig*