Jakartans have long been facing a shortage of options on how to spend weekends inside the metropolis. Lately, however, some creative people have organized classes for residents to get crafty during the weekends and many embrace the offering that allows them to produce during weekends instead of the usual mode of consuming.

Stage designer Devy Tamren, for example, travelled roughly 30 kilometers from her house in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, to a family club in Kemang, South Jakarta, on a Saturday morning to learn how to make organic soap.

'€œPreviously, I searched for short weekend courses on the Internet and found so many choices for them. I eventually picked a soap-making class as I wanted to make organic soap for my children,'€ she said, adding that her children currently used imported organic soap for their over-sensitive skin.

On the same day, a resident of Warung Buncit in South Jakarta, Kathya Paramitha, also took an origami workshop in the same center, just a few meters away from Devy'€™s class.

With a mentor and three other participants, Kathya learned to make three three-dimensional origami craft pieces from sheets of colorful paper within three hours.  

Both Kathya and Devy paid Rp 135,000 (US$9.50) and Rp 250,000 for their respective classes, which were organized by a course center called Weekend Workshop (WeWo). The women said the money covering the course fees was money well spent.

Taking a workshop, according to Kathya, is a pleasant alternative to '€œkilling time on weekends'€, as well as a way to relieve the stress of daily routines.

'€œI am bored with going to malls, so I'€™ve chosen to do crafts in a workshop. This is a productive activity, a good alternative on a weekend,'€ Kathya said, adding that she knew the origami workshop from the Internet, as well as from social media platforms.

According to Kathya, although making three-dimensional origami craft pieces can be learned from the Internet, the workshop offers interaction with the mentor through which the learners are able to acquire better crafting skills.

WeWo cofounders Muhammad Iskandar Zulkarnain and Dyah Ekarini said that they established the center last June to tap the increasing demand for alternative weekend activities among urban residents.

Mohammad, called Iskyd by his friends, said that WeWo was aimed at encouraging urban residents to be more productive on weekends rather than go shopping in malls.

Starting its operation with Iskyd and Dyah themselves as mentors, WeWo currently has around 50 mentors in Jakarta, South Tangerang in Banten and Bandung in West Java for its 36 kinds of workshops, such as wood levering, soap making, cloth screening and tapestry weaving.

WeWo, aiming to expand its network to other cities like Surabaya in East Java and Denpasar in Bali, has also been teaming up with Mau Belajar Apa, a start-up company operating an educational directory website maubelajarapa.com.

Maubelajarapa.com was established last year by Jourdan Kamal and Mazda Davinia to accommodate both workshop participants and organizers in a platform for information about numerous kinds of workshops, ranging from crafting and photography to table manners and business workshops, which are mostly held during weekends.

Mau Belajar Apa marketing director Mazda, also known as Vini, said that her company started posting workshop information last November.

Since January, more and more urban residents have shown interest in the workshops as indicated by the increase in the number of participants for each class from eight to a full quota of 12 these days, according to Vini.

'€œSometimes we have to decline requests for signing up because the quotas for some classes, particularly for crafting workshops, are already full,'€ said Vini, adding that those failing to join in one class at a certain time could join the next course.

Mau Belajar Apa, teaming up with a number of course centers, including WeWo, has posted several kinds of workshops held the following weekend in Greater Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, and Bandung in West Java. In Jakarta, for example, the organizers will open online business, photography, afternoon tea etiquette and flower charm bracelet classes. (agn).
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