The Majestic Anak Krakatau, located in Sunda Strait, Lampung I was privileged to see Anak Kratakau, an active volcano, from close proximity, during the educational trip to Krakatau Islands.
Anak Krakatau, an active volcano
We managed to stop at its black sand beach, after we got the permission from the local natural resources conservation body. We went there for educational and research purposes as the follow up of international seminar on Krakatau held a day before.
The black sand beach
The other side of the islands
Let me share some photos here, before writing and sharing more stories from the series of events at Lampung Krakatau Festival 2018 which I attended.
When the sun rises, we all feel blessed and recharge. It feels so good to be back home and meet all my big family. And Lampung, my dearest hometown, is blessed with abundant, timeless beauty.
Good morning!
Here are some snaps from my phone during the sunrise at Bukit Randu, Lampung. Bukit Randu hotel is the venue for the International Seminar on Krakatau, one of the events in Lampung Krakatau Festival 2018.
Eid mubarak to all family, friends, brothers and sisters who celebrate it all over the world.
This is the perfect time to be with our beloved family.
Posing with our family after Eid prayer
Eid al Adha is special as we celebrate the wisdom as well as the values of sacrifices and sharing with your fellow sisters, brothers, and families, particularly the less privileged ones.
Our sacrifice
Through the ritual of sacrifice, we learn more about the beauty of sharing and believe in God's willing, as well as sharing the joy of this festive celebration with others.
With my mom, brother and nice :)
We went back to Lampung, my hometown, and sacrificed one goat this year.
We had this ritual done in the local mosque and celebrated the rest of the day with big families.
It was really nice to meet everyone after all those years.
We are welcoming the delegates and displaying Asian-Games -related displays.
Like these colourful led display at Ancol, North Jakarta.
Meet Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka
I personally love the mascots, Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka
They are cute, as you see here.
We also have Bhin Bhin, Kaka and Atung beautifully displayed in my office.
And we keep posing in front of it :).
As part of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games 2018, our one and only President, H.E. Mr. Joko Widodo or famously known as Jokowi, gave a surprise to all the audience.
Watch the video I attached here from YouTube :)
And google it for the whole Opening Ceremony for top-notch performances which stayed at no. 1 trending topic in Twitter on August 18, 2018.
Happy 73rd Anniversary of Indonesia's Independence!
Posing with Lampungnese traditional attire against the backdrop of our First President, Ir. Soekarno, declared Indonesia's Independence
August 17 is celebrated as the national day for my beloved Indonesia. Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta, the founding fathers of Indonesia, proclaimed Indonesia's independence on this day after being colonised by the Dutch for around 350 years and by Japanese for around 3.5 years. After celebrating it in New York City for the last 4 years, we are now celebrating it at home! In our beloved Indonesia! We were super excited. My office invited all of its staff to join the flag-hoisting ceremony starting at 7.15 AM. My kids already had the similar events a day before as their schools were off on the D-day.
Happy Independence Day, Indonesia. Picture from pixabay
I went to my office for the flag-hoisting ceremony that morning and we were requested to wear Indonesian traditional costumes. As Indonesia is indeed rich in cultural heritages, being a proud home of more than 700 traditional tribes (or may be even more!), we believe that showcasing those traditional costumes during our national day will be a perfect occasion to deepen our love and respect towards our historical roots and independent struggles. The ceremony started at 7.15 AM and we finished at around 8 AM, as the Minister needed to be at the Palace to join the celebration with the President of the Republic of Indonesia, which started at 10 AM. The ceremony was conducted in a semi-military arrangement, with flag-hoisting team marching to the flag pole and hoisting Merah Putih, our national flag, while the participants sang Indonesia Raya, our national anthem, together. It was such a solemn and proud moment, as we all continue fighting for Indonesia's priorities and needs, wherever we are. As you probably know very well, I chose to wear the wedding attire of Lampung, where I was born and raised.
Proklamasi....
You don't know how proud I was wearing the almost-3-kg Siger or the traditional crown as well as the complete set of the costume which includes 2-kg Tapis Lampung or the hand-woven traditional fabrics from golden threads. It was indeed a great experience, considering that it was a hot and humid morning :).
The Siger, traditional crown of Lampungnese bride
The flag-raising ceremony is taken place in so many parts of Indonesia as well as the representatives of Indonesia all over the world.It is usually followed by Pesta Rakyat or people's party, packed with sports and fun contests as well as endless entertainment. While we were in NYC, we never missed the ceremony as well as the Street Festival conducted in the following weeks. Long story short, the ceremony in my Office in Jakarta was solemnly done and afterwords, we had fun photo sessions here and there, as always. I even took the photo near the mascots of Asian Games 2018, Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka.
Enjoy some pictures I took with my phone during the ceremony and once again,
