It’s a typical statement that Indonesia is rich in diversity. However, it is clear that we still lack the hands to manage and exploit all via breeding activities. To my knowledge, these days most of the crossings and selection is done by big companies, hobbyist (especially ornamentals) and some from the academia. In a lot of cases, a lot of our diversity is being exploited by foreigners. That’s why our country is very strict on material exchange which leads to the discussion on the Nagoya Protocol. This time, I won’t elaborate on the genetic resource sharing agreements, but rather on how to protect varieties produced by breeders in Indonesia.

A day after Good Friday, I finally decided to go out of town. I've been spending these past few weekends in the lab and it was time to step out. It took me 1.5 hours from home to Leipzig markt by bus, tram and train. It was another lovely afternoon, and I was craving to eat some junk food.

Before all the pro-saxophonist come after me, I'd like to mention that this review that I'm writing on is based on an amateur saxophonist who is experimenting on her tones. I see a saxophone similar to a Lego® piece. You can create various tones from dark classical to bright jazzy by combining different bodies, necks, ligatures, reeds and mouthpieces. In the end it depends on one's taste. I personally like to create tones which can fit both classic and jazz. That I find in my combination of Yamaha YAS 480 + USA Meyer Alto Sax BA-2 M6M + Vandoren ZZ Alto Sax 2 reed.

To cut the story short, I initially played with the Vandoren traditional Alto Sax 2 reed with the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece that comes with the sax. Then, I accidentally dropped my mouthpiece and chipped the edge. Instead of buying the same mouthpiece, I decided to invest on a better one which was the USA Meyer Alto Sax BA-2 M6M (not to mention 5x the price). But before I decided to get this one, I ordered a few other mouth pieces recommended by my teacher: Otto Link Tone Edge 6* & 7, Vandoren V16 A6 S+, and Vandoren Optimum AL5. They didn't really fit me. The Tone Edge 7 sounded really well but it was such a big mouthpiece that I needed a lot of air to produce sound. By the time I did, I was already out of breathe.

This year’s Good Friday, I decided to stay in Halle so that I could focus on capturing, via online streaming, the Word of God conveyed by my spiritual parents in Jember, Indonesia. Especially this day, they made me understand more about the power of the cross and realize that we should be strong as long as we are connected to the right source.

After thes session, it was around 3p.m, without any plans in mind, I walked along the path, passing over the Saale river to the Peißnits park. The weather was super nice, 24 degrees Celcius bright, sunny and cool breeze. Over the distance, there were lots of people having a picnic, and kids running about. As I approached the lake which was in the middle of the park, I could see a big rainbow up close. It was interesting to observe how the sun ray is being diffracted by water droplets from the fountain forming a color spectrum. Moreover, the size of the rainbow was being determined by how strong the wind blew. I don’t know about the millenials these days, but although I’ve always been living in big cities, I could easily be pleased by simply having a nice walk in nature, observing the trees, and being sprayed by water from a big fountain.