Gimana hasil berburu hari ini? [Koninginnedag 2005]

Tau2 udah Koninginnedag lagi, padahal yg taun lalu rasanya baruuu aja lewat. Hari begini, biasanya sejak jam 6 pagian orang2 udah pada gelaran, jualan barang2 bekas mereka. Dulu (kalo nggak salah Koninginnedag th 1999), udah pernah aku nemenin sepupuku (yg kebetulan lagi di sini) hunting barang bekas ke daerah perumahan orang2 kaya di Amsterdam (Beethovenstraat). Orang2 kaya kan buangannya most likely bagus2 ya.. hehe..
Lalu ada juga orang jualan makanan, dari snack (chips, pop corn) dan minuman kaleng, sampe jus segar dan daging bakar (kebab dan teman2nya). Koninginnedag th 2000 yg lalu sempet tergoda pengen beli iga bakar. Ini pas lagi awal2 hamil Dhanu, laper terus bawaannya. Tapi lapernya langsung ilang begitu denger harganya: 10 Gulden per ribs! Makk..
Anak2 kecil pada buka warung di Vondelpark (taman yg memang dikhususkan utk tempat anak2 jualan). Ada yang jualan mainan atau makanan, dan ada juga yang ngamen (musik, tebak2an, dll). Dulu sempet ke sini juga, puter2 tapi nggak ngeliat semuanya abis tamannya luaaaaas banget. Seneng aja liat anak2 itu pada berani2 dan nggak malu2 nawarin dagangannya, dan udah pada pinter ngitung uang! Dulu ada temen yg dateng pagian ke Vondelpark, dapet satu seri mainan Land Rover mini, harganya masing2 0,50 Gulden! Beruntung bangeet..
Di hari ini juga biasanya digelar konser2 gratisan. Sejak hari sebelumnya, podium dan semua perangkat konser udah dipasang2 di Museumplein. Di Dam juga dipasang panggung, juga di lapangan2 yg lebih kecil. Atraksi selain musik bisa juga yang lain, seperti bungee jumping atau trampolin raksasa atau permainan utk anak2. Koninginnedag yg taun berapa dulu ya.. yg pernah ada kejutan di Museumplein: konsernya Queen! Pantesan orang pada lari2 ke arah Museumplein, dari segala arah.

Kali ini, kami mau tenang2 aja di Koninginnedag. Nggak ikutan rame2an nonton konser, desek2an ama orang di sepanjang pasar loak, atau capek2 jauh2 jalan di sekujur Vondelpark. Tadi siang kami keluar sebentar ke Van Woustraat (deket rumah), di mana ada gelaran barang bekas juga di sepanjang jalan. Lindri masih pake stroller-nya, jadi tadi agak repot juga manouver stroller-nya di sepanjang trotoar. Padahal udah siang lho, kirain udah sepi, taunya tetep aja rame.
Di jalan banyak yg nge-grill daging juga, jadi baunya enak ke mana-mana! Harga satu kebab (daging bakar + salad + saus, ditangkup roti) rata2 2,50 Euro.Tadi liat2 kiri-kanan, barang2nya nggak ada yg menarik. Begitu hampir sampai di ujung jalan Rijnstraat, Sybrand bareng Dhanu mandeg di salah satu emperan. Aku susul sama Lindri, ternyata mereka nemu sesuatu yg asik: roket Thunderbird 2! Dari plastik, lumayan besar, dan kondisinya masih bagus. Pintu2 kokpitnya bisa dibuka dan para pilotnya masih lengkap duduk di dalam. Di roketnya ada tombol yg kalo dipencet masih bisa keluar suara2 ("Let's get to work!" atau "We'll be there in no time!", dsb) dan ada jangkarnya yg bisa ditarik-ulur. Ada 'bonus' roket kecil Thunderbird 4 pula di dalam badan pesawat (emang bagian dari Thunderbird 3 sih). Dan semua ini dijual 'cuma' 15 Euro! Hehe.. Lumayaaan buat koleksiii

Habis dapet Thunderbird 2 itu, udah deh semua puas. Kami langsung nyebrang terus jalan pulang. Nggak ada lagi yang menarik. Dan udah menjelang jam 3 sore, banyak yg udah beres2 bahkan ninggalin barang2 yg nggak laku begitu saja di pinggir jalan. Waktu Koninginnedag tahun lalu Lindri sempet dapet topi gratis (pas panas banget), kali ini dia dapet "tongkat wasiat" (seperti punya peri2 gitu lho), mungut di jalan. Oh iya waktu taun lalu itu Dhanu juga sempet beli puzzle bergambar Buzz Lightyear & Woody, cuma 1 Euro, sampe sekarang masih suka dimainin.

Sebelum nyampe rumah, kami mampir ke Peppino, yg letaknya cuma 3 menit jalan dari rumah. Peppino ini sudah terkenal banget, sangat enak dan sayangnya hanya buka tiap summer (kalo winter, mereka sekeluarga mudik ke Italia). Nah hari ini keliatan Peppino udah buka lagi! Hore! Nggak ku-ku deh, harus mampir pokoknya!
Tapi ternyata Peppino udah ganti pemilik. Tadi aku beli berries milkshake, banana ice cream buat Sybrand dan vanilla ice cream buat Dhanu. Semuanya rasanya fals :( Milkshake-nya kebanyakan susu dan terlalu magtig (biasanya rasanya fruity sekali padahal), Sybrand bilang dia nggak bisa bedain rasa pisang dengan vanilla. Dhanu sih seneng2 aja.. hehe.. Lindri juga, ikutan nyeruput milkshake ku dengan tampang bahagia. Yah.. sepertinya ini adalah akhir dari kejayaan Peppino.

Nanti malam bakal ada kembang api dan masih akan ada konser2. Kami nonton dari TV aja deh, mana cuaca dari pagi mendung terus. Anyway, Koninginnedag taun ini cukup sukses buat kami: dapet Thunderbird 2! Hahaha!

Do you know Flo?

http://www.doyouknowflo.nl
Flo is a young Dutch comic artist, among the very few who are really talented. I like visiting his daily comics and have been posting up comments like a real geek. His drawing style reminds me of Calvin & Hobbes, clean yet dynamic - and witty, too, if you understand Dutch.

Visiting Pak Khing - 2

Did I mention that Pak Khing has a huge sense of humor? Well, he does have that, and he's still very playful as well. So that afternoon I came to his house with Dhanu, he could easily have a conversation with tha 4,5 yrs old Dhanu. By the way, Pak Khing has four grandchildren (each of Pak Khing's two son has two children), of whom two are about 4 yrs old and another two are younger than 2 yrs old. Dhanu looked around the living room, being curious as he is. Touching this and that, asking this and that. Dhanu was really observing Pak Khing. He said, "You have black teeth". Pak Khing said, "Do I? Where? Shall we check on a mirror?" then he went to a nearby mirror. "No I don't see any black tooth". "Yes there are some black ones there and there", Dhanu pointing his own mouth to demonstrate the spots. I said, perhaps he means the filling. "Oh!" Pak Khing said to Dhanu, "Yes the fillings are black! You shouldn't look into my mouth that deep, boy!". Dhanu went to play with other things for a while while I and Pak Khing talked, and then came back to observing Pak Khing. He said, "You have weird eyes". "My eyes? Weird?". "Yes, they're old eyes", Dhanu said. "You're really observing everything on me", Pak Khing chuckled.
Dhanu was also playing with toys he brought (airplanes, cars) and reading books (Pak Khing's collection) and playing with a sticker-book I brought him (at a point, he was working on his stickers together with Pak Khing). He also went around the house to look at drawings by Pak Khing's grandchildren and he wanted to draw his, as well. At the door that borders the entrance hallway and the living room, there's a small piece of paper attached (with an adhesive tape) at the livingroom-part of the door. A note on the paper is a reminder of a dentist appointment. Dhanu saw that note and asked if that's Pak Khing's work. Pak Khing said yes, it helps him remember his appointment. Dhanu went behind me where he saw some similar pieces of paper, borrowed my pen and 'wrote' on those piece of papers. He then gave the pieces of paper one by one to Pak Khing, saying, "Here, also to help you work and they should be attached to the door, too!". Pak Khing was game - he picked the first one, put a piece of adhesive tape on it and walked to the door. He asked Dhanu, "Where shall I put it? Above or below this piece?". Dhanu said, "Above. Yes, there. And now the next one". And so on, until Dhanu's three pieces of paper were up at the door with the same manner as Pak Khing's original one.

There's always goodies at Pak Khing's house. Even the very first day I met him, when I went to his place with Tanto, Pak Khing has prepared some Indonesian snacks for us. Also this afternoon with Dhanu, Pak Khing offerred lemper, pastel, risoles, kroket, dadar manis, and others that I don't remember now. Dhanu picked the kroket but when I cut it into pieces he ignored it. Well, he has been full from his late lunch (he ate in the train), so I didn't make him eat the kroket. Dhanu went to a tall & wide bookshelf that covers most part of the wall in the living room. There's a wooden staircase where Dhanu liked to stand and sit on. Pak Khing pointed the lowest part of the bookshelf at Dhanu, saying that he can have a look at books that are in there. Dhanu happily browsed and found books he liked, and then he went to sit on a couch, silently reading.

Done with reading, Dhanu observed around the room again. He was very curious of some artworks on the tables. Especially the ones with mirrors. And there's a very interesting cupboard, tall and white and has a cow pictured at the door. Dhanu kept pointing and talking about it so Pak Khing showed him the inside of the cupboard. Dhanu saw presents, and Pak Khing gave him one package. It is a blinking plastic star. Or, more likely a plastic/ soft silicon ball with spikes on it, with lamp inside that will blink once the
ball is shocked. Even clapping the ball inside your hands can already make it blink. So Dhanu was busy playing with this ball for a while.

Pak Khing lent me some old photographs that capture his days during his study time in Bandung. The photos are small, so he provided a magnifying glass to see the details. Well, of course Dhanu wanted to see things with the magnifying glass, too, so when it's time for us to go home, he didn't want to let go of it. Pak Khing saw how dissapointed Dhanu was, so he rummaged a shelf behind him from where he picked up a piece of magnifying plastic. He gave it to Dhanu, who became very happy. So we left the house with Dhanu bringing his new presents.

Oh, Dhanu and Pak Khing were shouting at each other on our way out. Dhanu called him "Opa Lamp", because, before, when Dhanu observed the ceiling in the living room he noticed something. He said to Pak Khing (while pointing at the ceiling), "Hey there should be a lamp there. Look, there are some loose cables. That's where the lamp should be". Therefore he called him "Opa Lamp", I think. Pak Khing shouted back, "Kindje Tas". Dhanu shouted back, "Opa Lamp!" and answered again by Pak Khing, "Kindje Jas". This went on during us walking in the hallway, out of the door (then Pak Khing stood at the threshold watching us leaving), walking down the street and until we could see Pak Khing no more at the intersection. Boy, did Dhanu (and Pak Khing!) have fun. The first drawing is from the "Vos en Haas" book, of which characters are well-known in Holland. And there's the cover of "Waar is de Taart?', Pak Khing's latest book that won the Woutertje Pieterse Award 2005. The other drawing is from "Het grote Avontuur van God en mens", a book that Pak Khing enjoyed illustrating so much. More works by Thé Tjong-Khing can be viewed here (in Dutch). A short biography can be viewed here.

ps. Before going to the station, we dropped by Sinar Cinta, a small Indonesian restaurant/ take-away center, at Kruisweg 58. Their food really taste special, like no other Indonesian restaurant I've been to in Holland. I especally like their ayam kuluyuk, ayam kecap and sate babi. And the place is really close to the station. So that was a nice busy day. Thanks to Pak Khing for the pleasant time! Dhanu had plenty to tell to his father and he spent the rest of the evening playing with the blinking star.

Visiting Pak Khing - 1

Last Wednesday, I took Dhanu (after school) to Haarlem. I had an appointment with Thé Tjong-Khing, because it's been a long time since I visited him; besides, we had a lot of plans to talk about. I got to know Pak Khing (this is how I call him) around the year 2001, when Pak Sudjoko, a professor from our faculty (Fakultas Seni Rupa & Desain ITB), asked me to track his old friends who left to The Netherlands about 50 years ago. Pak Djoko was actually looking for Sie Hau-Tjong(?) but I couldn't find him. I 'bumped' into Pak Khing instead; another name Pak Djoko mentioned. How? Well, his name is familiar - Sybrand remembered that such name was at the member list of BNO (Association of Dutch Professional Designer). Besides, he is already well-known in Holland as a children's book illustrator. I could easily find his name and contact address from the telephone guide at the Internet and gave him a call.
He answered the phone himself, and I spoke English. He could hear and response to me clearly, and I wondered if he could still speak Indonesian. But he couldn't. I mentioned about Pak Sudjoko looking for old friends, but then before chatting too long I got his e-mail address and promised to tell more about Pak Sudjoko, myself and our old FSRD ITB school. It's really been about 50 years that anyone from his past in Bandung contacted him again!

So the story goes.. we mailed each other, exchanging stories. A pity that Sie Hau-Tjong whom Pak Djoko was looking for has passed away, but having Pak Khing as an acquintance is really more than pleasant. This Pak Khing is, indeed, the well-known children's book illustrator who has won several highest awards for his works of comic/strips and illustration. Our relationship got more intense when I and some friends arranged Madjoe! (an Indonesian comics exhibition) for Stripdagen Haarlem 2002. We visited him, he filmed us and made a videotape of our exhibition, we made a chain-comix together (still continuing!) and, in short, we become friends inspite of the 40+ years gap in our ages. But, really, we can learn a lot from Pak Khing. I'm going to write this anyway eventhough he might read this, too, and feel that I flatter him too much. First of all, eventhough he is famous nation-wide, he's not at all arrogant. In the contrary, he's very friendly, and his sense of humour is always fresh. Another thing we can learn from him is his spirit. You can hardly tell that he is in his 70s just looking at his performance: he is still very energetic and quick, both body and mind. Being and working with him, we could just feel his contagious energy towards us. Not a bad thing, indeed. Then there's his diligence and dedication to his works. Persistence and consistence in doing what he likes. You can almost see him pouring all his affection to his works. Moreover if you know the history of his career - you would see that he's the kind who doesn't give up easilly, who takes up every opportunity to develop himself (eventhough Luck has always been on his side - which, I think, he deserves all the same). Pak Khing is the kind of guy that would make you think: I want to grow 'old' like him; somebody who is doing what he always wanted to do, and enjoying every minute of it.
OK that's about Pak Khing so far. The next part will be about our visit that afternoon. The photo's are Pak Khing's collection, from when he was still studying in Bandung. Pak Khing is the one wearing a cap, third from the left (the guy at the far right is "Pak Raden" Soejadi). On the boat, Pak Khing is the one at the most front. The black & white drawing is from a comic series created by Pak Khing in the 1970s.

Elementary School, 11:00 - 12:30

Dhanu's school teacher, 'meester' Joeri, offerred us parents to stay in the classroom during the day, if we really want to observe their activities. Dhanu has been in this class for about 4 months (since his 4th birthday) so we thought it's a good idea to give it a try. Especially since Dhanu brought up a bit of concern of meester Joeri because he didn't have the initiative to mingle with other kids. Indeed, Dhanu is always happy playing by himself while still enjoying the company of others. Anyway, I decided to take the offer and made an appointment to join the classroom yesterday, from 11:00 to 12:30 (school kids are out at 12:30 on Wednesdays, on other days at 15:00)

When I came to the school, it's already free-playing time in the class of meester Joeri. All the kids were free to chose what they wanted to do. Dhanu is at the 'bouwhoek' where containers of LEGO are kept, building his cars and trucks. Only four kids are allowed to be in the 'bouwhoek', so Dhanu was in there with three other kids. The rest of the kids were scattered all over the classroom.. in the 'huishoek', sitting at the computers, doing handyworks on their tables, or just playing 'pretend'.

I brought my sketchbook-diary and sat on the floor at the corner where I could see the 'bouwhoek' and most of the classroom. Rather than doing nothing, I started to make sketches while observing the kids. But it didn't take long until they crowded me and said things like, "What is your name?", "What are you doing?", "Wow you can draw really good!", "I can draw really good, too!", "Is that me you're drawing? Oh! It's Dhanu!".. and so on. And it didn't take long until some of them wanted to be drawn by me. So I did some sketches of Dhanu, Arwin, Fabian, Nisrin(?) and Oyo and Indy and Paula by request. After a while, they also wanted to draw in my book. I let Oyo drew me, and then Arwin wanted to draw me as well. Then he added moustache and a thick set of beard on 'my' face, and a container full of fruit on 'my' head. Oyo wanted to draw on the other side of the page, but I said that page is for sticking stuff on. So she went and cut out some empty food cartons, put thick glue on the cut-out form and brought it to me to stick on my empty pages. My oh my.

Approaching 12:30 the kids were told to clean up and put everything back in place, get their stuff (bags, shoes and jackets) and wear them and put their seats up on their desks. Then they had to stand behind their own seats while the meester asked them to count up to 100. Afterwards, they were to stand in a line in two's, holding hands, and then they started to march downstairs where their parents awaited to pick them up.

Well that was a very interesting 1,5 hours. Meester Joeri offerred me to come again in other hours, in the morning for example, when they have other activities - more a group thing such as reading together, or sport, or during a lesson. After a bit more of a talk, I and Dhanu departed the school. We went to Haarlem; I had an appointment with The Tjong-Khing at his house, but that's another story.

Sejarah Indonesia di Mata Komikus Belanda

Dari ketinggian langit, terlihat beberapa peti kayu besar berjajar di tanah. Masing-masing peti berisi seekor harimau yang menunggu kelanjutan jalan hidupnya melalui upacara Rampokan (= perburuan harimau). Satu persatu peti-peti tersebut terdobrak terbuka, melepaskan masing-masing penghuninya – sementara sebuah narasi menyebutkan nama demi nama yg menokohi kisah ini – untuk memulai jalannya cerita. Pandangan beralih dari lapangan tempat peti-peti tersebut berada, menyapu ke arah pegunungan dan hutan di sekitarnya. Kala itu tahun 1946, ketika Hindia-Belanda baru saja mengubah statusnya menjadi Indonesia; ketika terjadi banyaknya pergolakan militer dan aksi-aksi perjuangan untuk menegaskan kedaulatan Indonesia. Di jalan pada sisi gunung terlihat iring-iringan jip militer dan truk yang mengangkut warga sipil Belanda dan Indonesia, termasuk wanita dan anak-anak. Di suatu kelokan jalan, seutas tali ranjau telah menunggu.. dan jip pertama terjebak dalam ledakannya!

Inilah awal dari sebuah kisah berjudul “Rampokan Java” (1998), sebuah novel dalam gambar karya Peter van Dongen, kelahiran Amsterdam th 1966. Kisah ini beranjut dan berakhir pada seri kedua yang berjudul “Rampokan Celebes” (2004). Selisih sekitar enam tahun antara seri pertama dengan seri kedua ini benar-benar diperlukan Peter untuk mengumpulkan dan meneliti lebih banyak data, baik dalam bentuk dokumen tertulis maupun foto, termasuk juga perjalanan ke Indonesia, untuk melengkapi kisahnya. Dalam pembuatan seri pertama pun, Peter membutuhkan setidaknya tujuh tahun sebelum menyelesaikan karyanya. Namun kerja keras selama 13 tahun ini tidaklah sia-sia. Meskipun mendapat banyak kritik, terutama dari para sejarawan dan veteran yang mengalami sendiri masa pergolakan di Hindia-Belanda antara th 1946 – 1950, “Rampokan Java” telah memperoleh berbagai penghargaan tertinggi dalam bidang roman bergambar (graphic novel) di Belanda dan Belgia. Peter van Dongen pun kerap memamerkan karya yang digarapnya selama proses menyelesaikan kedua seri “Rampokan” tersebut (seperti sketsa, desain tata letak, poster promosi, halaman contoh, dan sebagainya), baik di Belanda sendiri maupun di Belgia dan Perancis. Pameran karyanya tidak terbatas pada acara-acara komik internasional, namun juga di berbagai galeri dan museum. Tidak hanya berhenti di sini, “Rampokan Java” telah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Perancis dan sedang dalam penyelesaian untuk versi bahasa Italia, karena tingginya animo para pembaca di negara-negara tetangga Belanda tersebut. Dengan sendirinya, “Rampokan Celebes” pun mendapat sambutan serupa dan sangat dinanti-nanti oleh pembaca seri sebelumnya. Secara tidak langsung, Peter van Dongen telah memperkenalkan (sejarah) Indonesia di Eropa Barat dengan cara yang unik: melalui sebuah novel bergambar.

Apakah yang dikisahkan dalam seri “Rampokan”?
Seorang pemuda Belanda yang dilahirkan dan dibesarkan di Makasar, bernama Johan Knevel, sempat dikirim kembali ke Belanda pada saat Jepang masuk dan menduduki Hindia-Belanda. Kisah “Rampokan” dimulai saat Johan kembali ke Indonesia sebagai tentara sukarelawan, dengan misi rahasianya: mencari wanita yang mengasuhnya kala ia kecil dulu, bernama Ninih. Selanjutnya dan hingga akhir, adalah petualangan Johan dalam usahanya mencari Ninih. Dalam seri pertama, lokasi cerita adalah pulau Jawa dan dalam seri kedua pulau Sulawesi.

Apakah arti judul “Rampokan”?
Istilah “Rampokan” mempunyai dua makna; “perburuan harimau” dan “menyita benda secara paksa”. Saya sengaja memilih judul tersebut sebab makna tersebut dengan tepat menganalogikan makna yang lain dalam kisah ini.

Apakah kisah ini dikarang sendiri oleh Peter, dan apa yang memotivasinya?
Seluruh kisah “Rampokan” adalah karangan Peter sendirim yang dibantu oleh seorang teman dalam menyusun dialog dan mengedit teks. Motivasi Peter membuat seri “Rampokan” adalah cerita-cerita dari ibunya. Waktu Peter dan saudara2nya masih kecil dulu, ibu mereka sering bercerita tentang tanah kelahirannya dan situasi di sana saat beliau tinggal di sana semasa perang dan setelahnya.
[Ibu Peter lahir di Manado th 1941, lalu dengan keluarganya pindah ke pegunungan semasa kependudukan Jepang (sementara ayah dari ibunya tinggal di camp Jepang). Setelah masa kependudukan Jepang berakhir, keluarga Peter kembali ke Ternate, lalu tinggal di Makassar. Th 1951 keluarga Peter pindah ke Belanda.]

Cerita sang ibu yang paling berkesan adalah ketika pada tahun 1950an beliau harus mencari perlindungan di dalam rumah, karena serangan bom di Makassar. Ibu bersembunyi di bawah meja, sangat ketakutan sambil mendengarkan dentuman meriam, tanpa tahu ke mana peluru sebenarnya disasarkan (dan ternyata salah satu bom jatuh di rumah tetangga!).
Terlahir dan dibesarkan di Amsterdam, Belanda, Peter tidak pernah mendapat info menyeluruh di sekolah mengenai Indonesia pada masa pendudukan Belanda. Sehingga, waktu kecil Peter tidak pernah mendapat penjelasan mengenai alasan atau kejadian pemboman yang dialami ibunya di Makassar. Baru ketika menginjak usia 20 tahun, Peter memikirkan kembali mengenai tanah kelahiran ibunya dan ingin mengetahui lebih banyak. Pada saat itu Peter baru menyelesaikan cerita bergambar (cergam) berjudul “Muizen Theater” dan hendak memulai dengan cergam yang lain. Masa lalu dan cerita-cerita ibunya menjadi inspirasi utama bagi Peter untuk menggarap kisah “Rampokan Java”.

Bagaimana Peter menghadapi berbagai kritik tajam yang menanggapi kisah “Rampokan”?
Berbagai kritik adalah wajar bagi Peter, karena setting waktu yang ia pilih dalam kisah ini adalah masa sensitif di Indonesia kala itu, di mana status Indonesia sebagai negara berdaulat sedang diuji. Melalui riset yang mendalam dan menyeluruh, Peter mengambil detail sebanyak mungkin berdasarkan fakta pada masa itu – terutama jenis kendaraan, pakaian, berbagai elemen dalam kota atau desa atau hutan, dan, yang paling menarik bagi Peter, gedung dan arsitektur pada masa itu. Sejarah hanya saya pakai sebagai latar belakang cerita fiksi yang saya karang dan tak lebih sebagai pendukung proses kreatif, yang hasilnya tak berbeda dari novel, hanya saja berbentuk gambar dan dialog bersekuel.

Gaya gambar Peter sangat meningatkan pada seri Tintin karya Hergé.
Peter sangat mengagumi karya-karya Hergé dan dengan sendirinya mengadaptasi gaya gambarnya ke dalam karya-karya saya sendiri. Seri Tintin menjadi sukses juga karena perhatian dan detail yang dicurahkan Hergé ke dalam gambarnya; ia juga melakukan riset yang mendalam untuk setiap seri Tintin yang dibuatnya. Hal ini, dan juga ketekunannya, sangat menjadi inspirasi bagi Peter.

Secara teknis, bagian mana yang paling sulit dalam pembuatan seri “Rampokan”?
Untuk “Rampokan Java”, seluruhnya dibuat secara manual oleh Peter. Dari sketsa, kotak-kotak pembatas, hingga pewarnaan (dual tone). Peter harus memotong sendiri kertas film dengan cutter, satu persatu, untuk membuat separasi warna. Ia menghabiskan dua bulan penuh hanya untuk menggarap pewarnaan seri pertama ini. Untuk “Rampokan Celebes”, seluruh pewarnaan menggunakan komputer. Selain karena adanya tenggat waktu, juga karena warna-warna pada seri ini adalah datar dan tak bertekstur, maka pewarnaan dengan menggunakan komputer dapat mencapai hasil serupa dengan pewarnaan manual.

Setelah seri “Rampokan” ini selesai, apakah ada rencana untuk novel bergambar selanjutnya?
Peter memastikan akan membuat karya berikut, hanya belum memastikan topiknya, meskipun sudah banyak ide terkumpul di benaknya. Yang jelas, karya berikutnya masih akan bernafaskan masa Hindia-Belanda. Sebab tema ini yang akan selalu ada dalam hatinya, dan masih akan terus menarik baginya, yang juga ia akui sebagai akar/ latar belakangnya. Ini penting, sebab seseorang harus selalu berkarya dari lubuk hatinya, dengan jujur dan penuh dedikasi.

“Rampokan” mendapat sambutan positif dari pembaca berbahasa Perancis dan Italia. Apakah ada rencana ke arah penerbitan “Rampokan” dalam bahasa Indonesia?
Pada salah satu pameran karya-karya Peter di sebuah galeri di Amsterdam, direktur Erasmus Huis Jakarta datang berkunjung dan menyatakan berminat untuk menggelar pameran ini di Jakarta. Rencana ini tentunya disambut dengan baik oleh Peter. Selama ini Peter sudah menerima berbagai reaksi positif dan antusiasme dari anak-anak muda Indonesia yang sangat beminat untuk menikmati seri “Rampokan” secara menyeluruh. Jadi menurut Peter, pameran di Jakarta akan menjadi pemicu yang sangat baik untuk memperkenalkan seri “Rampokan” ke masyarakat Indonesia.

Berdasarkan pengalaman berkarya selama ini, adakah yang hendak disampaikan kepada para komikus muda?
Percayalah pada tingkat kemampuanmu sendiri. Di masa kini, semua gambar memang dapat dikomputerisasi, namun hal ini dapat dilatih dan siapapun dapat mengerjakannya. Yang terpenting adalah orang di belakang komputer tersebut. Jadi adalah sangat penting untuk mempelajari berbagai teknik manual dan mengembangkan gayamu sendiri, tetap tekun dan terus berusaha menghasilkan yang terbaik.

Train ride today: Amsterdam - Delft

As usual, every Thursday I commute to Delft, and so I did this morning. The crisp warm and sunny spring time weather was here, indeed, but only in the first couple of days. Recently, it's more rainy and windy - cold and wet. Not my favorite kind of weather.

After saying bye to Dhanu in his classroom, I hurried to the tram stop - always in doubt which one comes first, number 4 or 25 (both go to Amsterdam CS), as their stops are parted by a big intersection. I could see number 4 approaching but I would still have to cross the street twice.. better cross to where number 25 stop is, so I did. Never, (my principle is) never ever run for any public transport. Arriving at the station, put my ticket in the dating machine, bought spinach-ham and choco-nuts pastries, went up to platform 1, bought a small cup of cappucino from a Kiosk nearest to the train (a guy from Bandung attends this one), then occupied my usual seat in the train (last coach, last bench - it's the nearest to the Delft Station's exit).

I finished my breakfast well before the train departed (09:10) and started to read a book ("The Second Penguin Book of English Short Stories") but I was so sleepy. First stop, Amsterdam Sloterdijk. Then Haarlem. Here, I always look out for people I know who might get on the train.. it would be fun to meet them coincidentally in the train. But it never happens. Oh well. Then it's Heemstede-Aardenhout (Heemstede and Aardenhout are neighboring two small towns, so they share one train station) and Leiden Centraal where a big bulk of people (mostly students) went in and out the train. Oh - approaching and leaving Leiden Centraal is always refreshing nowadays, because when you look out of the window, you can see beds of flowers coloring the landscape. Here a block of blood red, there stripes of purple - white - yellow, accross a bed of blue.. So pretty! Even for me, who usually don't care much for flowers. Last stop before my destination is Den Haag HS, more students going in before the next stop: Delft.

When I got off the train, walking towards the bycicle shed, I saw some TU Delft students at the pick-up spot, two were wearing lime-green outdoor vest and one dressed up as a cheerleader(?) and the rest appeared rather official. They brought boards saying "TU Delft". I wonder what was going on. I took my bike and started peddaling to school.. wet and windy, still.. Approaching the Aula, I could see banners and balloons and could hear loud music being turned on from inside the Aula. This must be an Open Day, then. Each faculty is greeting their guests as cheerful as possible. Passing by the Maritime Faculty I had to slow down a bit to let a 'boat-cycle' drove back into its parking space. This 'boat-cylce' is a 'bike' that seats 8 people of whom two have to paddle; it's covered with boards that are cut and painted to look like a boat. Ha ha. I paddled on and heard a "Hi!" from a rider going the opposite way. I couldn't recognize him at first (because of the flap-hat he wore), but then I found out that it's Dian! The long-lost boy! Well, actually the ones that are 'long-lost' are my address and numbers at Dian's mobile phone. Therefore he couldn't get in touch with me at all. So, after having a nice chat with Dian (now don't lose my contact address again, you hear?!) I went on.. crossing the intersection at the side of the gas stop, turning right to park my bike at the usual place. Which is a bit unusual today because of the blue carpet that leads visitors to the entrance of the Civil Engineering building.

Now I'll try to go back to work again, still sneezing and coughing like everybody else. Oh, a bit of news on the side: Andrea gave me a cheesecake mix from Germany (yaay!) and I gave the "Stupid White Men" book to Rinus and I haven't asked Alex again about my overdue Christmas gift (I really want that "McSweeney's Quarterly Concern nr. 13"!)

Good day!

Chain Comix

Designed by Thoriq

This project started in 2002, when some of my comic-artist friends were here to set up an exhibition. We planned to collaborate in making a "chain comix" where each would make one frame, follow by the other, in forming a story. This project was actually initiated by Thé Tjong-Khing, our senior at FSRD ITB (by more than 50 years! haha!) who is now a celebrated children book illustrator in The Netherlands. It's a pity that this project had to stop since those comic guys (Motul, Thoriq and Tanto)were back to Indonesia. Somehow they are having difficulties in finding time(?) and equipment to be able to continue the comix (scanners and Internet access are hard to come by?). Anyway, I post the frames here for old time's sake.

*edit to add* The chain comix has been continuing again for a couple of months now! So if any of you are interested in the follow-up, please check here once in a while. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Lemon Tiramisu

Description:
"The classic italian dessert tiramisu is traditionally flavoured with coffee. In this version lemon zest and lime are used to create a tangy creamy treat" - James Martin

I got this recipe from the BBC Food website, and James Martin is the chef who created this dish for a Ready Steady Cook session. I've tried this tiramisu several times and never failed. Mind you, I'm really clumsy at making cakes and such, but this recipe always works for me!

Ingredients:
2 x 250g/8¾oz tubs mascarpone cheese
100ml/3fl oz double cream
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 lemons, zest and juice
8 boudoir or amaretti biscuits

For the lemon syrup:
2 lemons, juice only
2 tbsp sugar
toasted almonds, to decorate

Directions:
1. Put the syrup ingredients in a small pan with 200ml/7fl oz of water, bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
2. Lay the biscuits in the bottom of a serving dish or divide between 4 glasses. Pour over the lemon syrup.
3. Whip together the mascarpone, cream, sugar, lemon zest and juice.
4. Top the biscuits with a layer of lemon cream.
5. Leave to chill in the fridge.
6. Just before serving, scatter with toasted almonds.

ps. Photo by Ave