Place to Visit: NuArt Sculpture Park, Bandung

Do you like art? I don't know much about art and looking at them makes me feel amazed and (most of the time) confused, but trying to find the meaning behind them is an enjoyable (and sometimes funny) experience. If you live in Bandung, maybe you've visited Nuart Sculpture Park at Setra Duta Residence before. Or maybe you know about that place but never had the chance, or the will, to visit. Well, you should.

The weather was so hot several days ago, and I had just visited a project site at Setra Duta. It was lunch time so I decided to find something to eat before the next site visit. I decided to go to the restaurant in Nuart Sculpture Park. It's a wonder that the place has its own weather, maybe because they have a lot of trees? It felt so cool, the wind was blowing nicely, it really is a perfect place to go when the hot weather is torturing you.

yes it's a whale in a garden

The restaurant serves Balinese food. You can sit at the terrace and look at the sculpture park below.

You can take a walk at the park (it's free!) appreciating the mesmerizing sculptures by Nyoman Nuarta, or visit the gallery (it's also free!).

I saw a coffee shop sign "Brass & Copper" - which are the materials used to make the some of the sculptures - but it's not open yet (brewing soon).

Nuart Sculpture Park
Jl. Sutra Duta Kencana II/11, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia 40151
P. 62 22 2017812, 2017816, 2020414 | F. 62 22 201 56 | e-mail : sculpturepark@nuarta.com

PS: finally got my caffeine dose for that day after the second site project visit, at Caribou Coffee PVJ.

Place to Visit: Kampung Sampireun, Garut

I went to Garut several days ago for work. The work finished early so I dropped by Kampung Sampireun. It's about 1 hours from the downtown. The weather was nice. I wanted to ride the raft but they're only for hotel guests. So I can only took some pictures and then went to the restaurant to have some coffee and dessert.

The place is nice. There were not a lot of people but it was not on weekend. I heard it's pretty crowded on weekends so if you want to reserve a room you have to call weeks before. There are a lot of trees so there are a lot of bugs too so don't forget your bug repellent :D

The food & beverages price at the restaurant is reasonable. I think it's cheaper than most hotels. The price on the menu is included tax & service so you don't have to use your mental arithmetic skill.

KAMPUNG SAMPIREUN
Address: Jl. Raya Samarang Kamojang KM 4, 

Kampung Ciparay, Desa Sukakarya, Samarang, 

Garut Kota, Jawa Barat (map)
Phone:(0262) 542393

Visit their website for more info.

Thing to Learn: Copperplate Caligraphy

Copperplate calligraphy is (at least for me) harder than brush calligraphy. I used to think that it's something only professional calligraphers can do. But after trying it myself, I think it was a silly thought! Come on, it's just a pen. You're writing with a different pen, that's all. You just have to get used to the new pen and... write away!

What you need?

1. PEN
I'm new at this too, so before starting this thing I asked the seller's recommendation for a beginner like me. She said that there are two kinds of pens: fountain pen & dip pens. Fountain pen has an ink cartridge attached to the nib. you fill it with ink and you can start writing. Dip pen only consists of nib & holder. You dip the nib in ink, and start writing. I use dip pen: Tachikawa T-25 holder & Baignol & Farjon 190 nib.

2. INK
I haven't tried a lot of ink, but I found out that you can use watercolor solution too! Cheap and colorful but transparent (don't add to much water). I also use Parker Quick for the black ink but I found it smudgy on some papers. For metallic ink , I use Gouache Extra Fine Quality from Talens. There are a lot of color selections, I used the light gold in the picture above. It looks good on black paper!

3. PAPER
I tried writing on several kinds of paper, and I find smooth paper is easier to write. But there are some papers that are easily scratched by the nib even when I give it a very slight pressure. Find various kinds of paper in your home and have fun!

Thing to Learn: Brush Lettering

I like writing. Not writing stories and publish a book thing. I like writing words on paper, or maybe I can say calligraphy?

If you want to learn calligraphy maybe you can start with brush lettering or brush calligraphy. You can get the tools easily and start right away!

I use Zig Kuretake Fudebiyori Metallic Brush Pen (Gold) to make this one. You can also use watercolor brush and your watercolor paint. Write some quotes and frame them!

To Read: Naver Line Webtoon

I love reading. 

Novels, comics, blog posts, magazines, ebooks, webtoons, anything.

Sometimes I'm too lazy to bring reading materials in my bag,

but thankfully now you can read almost anything on your phone.

Lately I read a lot of webtoons (web cartoons).

You can install Line Webtoon on your phone

and read various webtoons for free.

There are a lot of genres, and you can pick your favorites to get notification when they're updated.

Popular webtoon The Sound of Your Heart (마음의 소리) by Cho Seok.

You can also read them on your computer.

Just visit http://www.webtoons.com/en/.

There are some languages to choose: English, Indonesian, Thai, or Chinese.

Or if you understand Korean, you can read them here.

Some of my favorite webtoons:

About Death by Sini & Hyeono. (completed)

The Girl from Class by Subong Park. (completed)

Smile Brush by waroo. (completed)

The Sound of Your Heart by Cho Seok. (ongoing)

Lookism by Taejoon Park. (ongoing)

Some dramas and movies are adapted from popular webtoons.

Cheese in the Trap, one of the most popular ongoing dramas is based on webtoon with the same title.

Cheese in the Trap (tvN's drama)

Cheese in the Trap (webtoon by soonkki)

Naver Line Webtoon releases a lot of cute merchandise too.

There are lots of characters so you can pick your favorites!

Get the Look: Striped Baby

oh so cute! (via Pinterest)

My best friend has a baby girl. I was going to meet her & her baby girl so I decided to buy some clothes for the tiny baby. Actually this is the first time I buy clothes for baby, so I don't know what to get, so before going to the shop I go to... Pinterest. Ha!

striped babies!

I decided to buy some striped dress because babies in stripes are the cutest! 

via PB shop (https://www.instagram.com/pbshop.bdg/)

Only Rp 190.000 for 3 dresses~ which makes me wonder if baby clothes are cheaper because they require less fabric...

Well, we met for dinner and my friend said they're cute (phew~) but too big for her baby hahaha. So I have to wait several months until I can get some pics of her baby in those dresses.

How to get there:

PB shop

Jl. Jend. Sudirman no. 659

Totogan Jl. Garuda

Bandung

Sketchbook to Buy: XL Aquarelle from Canson

When I studied architecture in college, I used some types of papers: Padalarang paper for pencil sketches (it's called Padalarang paper because the paper factory is located in Padalarang), Manila paper for ink sketches, and Concord or Canson paper for watercolor drawings. I love Canson the most but it's more expensive than the rest. We used to bought a pack consists of 4 sheets of A3. 

Some time ago I spotted an art supplies store "Artemedia" at Festival Citylink, Bandung. They sell some kinds of sketchbooks so I decided to buy one of the most expensive sketchbooks I've ever bought in my life, XL AQUARELLE from Canson. 

The sketchbook costs Rp 102.000 (A4) and Rp 172.000 (A3). Each has 30 sheets of 140 lb paper, so it's thick enough to make watercolor drawings.

I love the texture of the paper and it's also nice for pencil & colored pencil drawings.

So, I love it. Even it's more expensive than my previous ones, it makes drawing more fun because I can try various art medium without damaging the paper.

Where to get it: http://www.artemedia-hidayat.com/seller.shtml