Sup reader, how ya doin'? Hope life is being kind to you. The last few months were VERY stressful and busy for me, so I had to take a break from writing and focusing myself on school. But now, I'm gonna try to write more. So here we go!
The third day in Kotogadang (the name of the village, in case you didn't know/forgot) was almost boring. It was supposed to be a rest day aka the day where we all are just going to sit back and relax because the bus trip was pretty exhausting for the bus group. After more than 24 hours of sitting, all we wanted to do was just to lay down on the bed and the couch. And because I'm bored and I didn't know what to do, I grabbed my book, phone, and earphone, then sat on the stairs at the front porch of the house, and read.
Suddenly, aunt Tya (my aunt, in case you forgot/didn't know) called and she asked me, "Ra, don't you want to explore the village?" Good thing, my Mom and my grandma's sisters planned to visit a historical souvenir shop a few minutes from the house. So, I decided to join them.
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It only took a couple of minutes to reach the souvenir store. After getting out of H. Agus Salim Street ("Jl" is short for "Jalan" which means street and the street names you saw in the pic is the name of the famous and honorable people that lived in this village), we passed a roundabout then went straight to Mr. Mohh. Nazief Street. The view I saw while passing that street was amazing.
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| The view I saw from Jl. Mr. Mohh. Nazief (1) |
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The view I saw from Jl. Mr. Mohh. Nazief (2)
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That was spectacular. As a person who lives in a jungle of concrete buildings, the lush, green rice fields and the mountain is a very magnificent. thing to stare at. I ended up taking a few minutes to take pictures and videos of it before continuing to go to the souvenir shop (you'll know why).
After walking for another ±1 minutes, I arrived at a large, beige house with "Keradjinan Amai Setia 1915" which means Amai Setia Crafts written in bold, black letters on top of the entrance door.
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| Keradjinan Amai Setia 1915 |
When I got in, the place is filled with traditional dresses made of songket and evening shawls with distinctive Minangkabau patterns on it. So, songket, is a traditional, handmade woven fabric with distinctive pattern, a thing that
Minangkabau people is famous for (
Minangkabau is an ethnic group whose majority lives in West Sumatra). It could be used as a long skirt or even made into a dress. Minangkabau people will wear these things usually to a formal occasions like a wedding reception.
Other than dresses and shawls, there's also some keychains, veils, magnetic pins, and even replicas of traditional Minangkabau houses in a glass box. Awesome, right?
My Mom and I bought some magnetic pins and keychains for our cousins in Jakarta and my friends. My grandma's sisters were looking for some Islamic prayer veil, but didn't found the one that they liked, so they didn't bought anything.
After exploring the first floor, I went downstairs to the basement and it turns out, the basement is more of a tiny museum rather than a souvenir shop. There's many songkets displayed, with pictures of some of the important people that has visited Amai Setia. There's also a few traditional machines that were used to made songket. The picture of the founder, Ruhana Kuddus, was also displayed here and there's a short biography about her. It turns out that she's the first Indonesian female journalist and the founder of the newspaper Soenting Melajoe, and an activist for women's emancipation. Wow.
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| The machine I meant earlier |
After observing the things in the basement, we went upstairs then walked back home. And that was it, the major highlight of the day. After visiting Amai Setia, we spent the day relaxing and chilling in the house. I put an article about who exactly is Ruhana Kuddus
here, in case you're interested to know more about this amazing figure.
Alright, I guess that's it. This might be a short chapter, but just wait, really. I'll see you later, on new posts about this Bukittinggi series, or maybe a poem. Have a nice day, reader!
All the love, -R-
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