Category: Travel

Time flew by so quickly and my trip is almost over.  I really enjoyed everything in Jakarta and it makes me want to come back again next year for even more new experiences.

Joshua took me back to Mangga Dua for some quick shopping and breakfast.  This giant flea market has everything you need from food to clothing to electronics.

My favorite iced tea now.

One day I will try the BAJAJ Auto Rickshaw but a lot of the locals did not recommend it because it’s unsafe.

We got a chance to check out a local event called Brightspot Market.  Our friend, Kendy, had a booth so we went in and checked it out.

After that, it was time to meet with Natasha.  She was helping set up an interview for TTC.  Thanks for inviting me to hang out.

Thanks Natasha, for making me some macarons.

Finally it’s dinner time.  The place we went to was set up like an open buffet — you pay for what you eat.  They go by the honor system so based on how much you tell them you ate, that’s how much they will charge you for.  Don’t lie because these people will know.

This kitty cat was just chillin’.

The time came for me to pack and leave lovely Jakarta.  I would highly recommend that everyone check out this beautiful country with such rich culture and friendly people.  I will definitely be back!

After 20+ hours of traveling, we landed safely back in the U.S.  Home sweet home.  See you next year, Indonesia!

Edited by Larnna Thompson

This is my second day at UIC Unisadhuguna.  They had a 3-day event for local artists.

By the way, this is Josh, one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met in my life.  He’s such a cool dude and made sure I was well taken care of.

This is the first time I saw the actual banner for this event.  Thanks UIC Design College!

This is the Head of Campus for Unisadhuguna’s International Education, Aimee Sukesna.

I brought some of my work to show all the students who came to this event.  Hopefully, I was able to inspire them.

UIC invited 4 different high schools with students who are interested in majoring in art.

Tamish Aswani, Creative Force Director for @Aglxyco, and his partner, Giorgi Krisno, are sharing their experiences with the students.

We had a small contest to interact with the students.  We asked each of them to build their own brand and present it to us.

Some of them had some really amazing ideas!

Here, some of the students who made it to the final round of the competition, presented their ideas which gave them a chance to speak in front of an audience.  This definitely helped build their confidence and experience what it would be like to pitch an idea to a group of people.

Our final winners!

And of course, a group photo with all the students.

Thanks UIC Design College staff.  Here, we are doing our best rendition of Tamish’s signature pose.

We also did some dooddles on the school wall to leave our signature mark as a guest.

Photo Credit: Unisadhuguna

Website: UniSadhuGuna https://www.unisadhuguna.org/

Address: Sequis Center Mezzanine Floor, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 71, RT.5/RW.3, Senayan, Kebayoran Baru, RT.5/RW.3, Senayan, Kby. Baru, Kota Jakarta Selatan, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 12190,

Indonesia Phone #: +62 21 5264332

Edited by Larnna Thompson

Afte a very busy day at Popcon Asia, I was able to talk at an event with a local college, UIC Unisadhuguna.  The school, in collaboration with Popcon Asia, wanted to give students an opportunity to participate in a creative event with a local speaker and share some of their ideas and experiences.

I was honored to speak with local designer and artist, Untung Wang.  Untung was also a lecturer at UIC, sharing his design experience with clients.

I was so excited and nervous because it was my first international speaking event, but luckily they gave me a very big welcome.

There was also a Q&A session.

Thank you to UIC for preparing a small gathering after the class so we could have some time to network and chat.

I love meeting new people and hearing their stories.

I’m truly thankful for Joshua and Grace for allowing me the opportunity to share my knowledge with UIC Unisadhuguna.  This experience was such a memorable time in my life.

Edited by Larnna Thompson

This is the third day of Popcon Asia.  Thank you to all my friends who came to see me and show their support.

My biggest challenge was getting the 20-inch munny custom, finished.  Normally, it would take me 2 weeks to complete it but doing the custom live, I was on a time crunch.

Thank you to Joe for translating this family’s questions for while I was working on the custom.

Time for some sketches and meeting new friends.

Finally, the 2o-inch thunder Mickey is done!  Thank you to Dewi and friends who helped me finish up this work.

Dewi is the first person to ever learn my paint style.  Without her, I may not have been able to finish this job in 3 days. Now I have some free time to see my friends and chat with them.

Here I am with Budi.  He is so cool and like my brother, always taking care of me when I visit Indonesia.  Much love to him and his family.

Here I am with Alin, one of the most talented artists I had the pleasure of meeting on this trip.  Thanks for the cool customs!  Be sure to check out his work on his IG @aallliinn.

This is Hoki.  He stopped by to visit me and gave me batiks for my first Indonesian gift.  He is truly an awesome dude.

It was such an honor to have met Mr.KumKum.  He even made a cool Spiki sketch for me!

Meeting more new friends.

Thanks Nadya for coming to meet with me for her personal blog.

Thanks to Agung Lu, who took a long train ride to Jakarta to meet me.

I also had the chance to meet local brand owner, LEKKA.  Lekka is a local skate brand.  It was an honor to meet him.  He gave me a special edition shoe design by Addy.  So awesome!

This gentleman was security and we were able to chat a bit.  He told me that he worked in Taiwan for a few years.  What a cool and friendly dude.

My friend, Kong Andri, came with his son!

Happy Birthday to Joshua!  We surprised him with a cake.

At the end of the day, we were able to take a photo, all together.

The Spiki Crew!  This wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without them.

The artists’s jam painting was the most valued piece at this event.

It was hard to say goodbye.  The 3-day event was fun and I will always have great memories of meeting many awesome people.

Now it’s time for dinner — fish chips!  We checked out this place called PIK!

It had amazing BBQ!

I will never forget my first trip to Indonesia.  There is so much to be learned from traveling.  My dream is to see as much of the world as I can.

Photo By: Budi Tandiono

Edited by Larnna Thompson

I was super excited for my second day at Popcon.  I had really bad jet lag but my body was full of energy to meet everyone!

Just showing off my Lucky Cat Spiki tee.

My 20-inch ninja Spiki dunny is in Jakarta with a nice family.

The Spiki crew, all hand-painted.

Time to finish my 20-inch mega munny!

I planned to make it cute with a retro vibe.

The hair dryer  helped the progress move along faster.

I called on Dewi for a little bit of help.

For lunch, we found a food spot just outside of the venue.  Josh was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle the food but I tried as much as I could.  It’s not every day you’re in Indonesia.

The chicken tasted very good.

Now, back to work.

Hoki came to hang out with me for a few minutes.

Thank you to Grace for inviting me!

Meeting new friends.

Spiki’s new friends.

The work is  halfway done.

One of the most nerve-racking moments happened when I met Mari Pangestu, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Time to call it a day and rest to save some energy for tomorrow.

Photo credits By

Eric Wirjanata – http://www.thespacewanderer.com/

Budi Tandiono

Edited by Larnna Thompson

After setting everything up, we went on to the convention.

Here’s my 3-day badge.

We arrived super early and were ready for the opening.

My booth was all set up with my custom Spiki and Kidrobot platforms.

It was amazing meeting local friends and visitors.

This is my first Indonesia exclusive spiki — the 2nd version of lucky cat. We used glossy colors this time.

Here’s some Plastic Culture exclusive merchandise.

This was my table for custom work.

It was really challenging finding art supplies in another country so next time, I’ll probably bring my own.

I was able to share my custom paint tip, with Dewi.

Thanks to Pronto Pixel founder, Tamish Aswan, who came over to say hi!

My good friend, @kongandri.

Interview time! Thanks for translating, Josh!

Language barrier??? 😂

Thanks Grace, for making sure I had a good lunch break. 😊

The Roffie, food truck, served coffee outside of the event.

The first opening day was busy. I couldn’t wait for the second day!

Photo Credit: Budi Tandiono, Natasha Victoria Lucas

Edited by Larnna Thompson