A Little about Indonesia with some photos of Indonesian Kids!

I learned this week that Indonesia has tens of thousands of islands.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Indonesia has 13,670 islands, over half of which are inhabited.  Wikipedia puts the number over 17,000.  The truth is that the number of islands continuously changes due to seismic activity in the area. Indonesia is the fourth most populous [...]

Independence Day in Indonesia with a Song and YouTube Video

August 17th is Independence Day in Indonesia. Lin Fdln sent me this song called “Hallo Hallo Bandung” that's sung in Indonesia for the holiday. Here's what Lin wrote to me, followed by the lyrics to the song, an English translation and a YouTube video... This is a song from the revolutionary period, when Indonesia [...]

Cassava Root Vegetable Chips – Yummy… They're like Potato Chips.. but lighter and better!

Joseph Banks Cassava Root Chips are an exotic and relatively healthy snack. Most important – they're delicious! In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you straight out, these chips are sold by my friend's company. Also, I'm eating them right now and I'm going to have a hard time keeping myself from polishing them [...]

Mama Lisa Now Has a Facebook Group

We'd love it if you'd join the Mama Lisa Facebook Group. You can post anything you'd like about your culture. You can post your own musical recordings or YouTube videos… Links to culture and musical sites… Photos of your country… Questions about songs or cultural issues… Anything related to World Culture and [...]

Can Someone Help with the Indonesian Song “Bengawan Solo”?

Gerard wrote: Hi! Is there somebody who can tell us the beautiful words in the Indonesian language of the song Bengawan Solo? Thanks a lot. Have a nice day. Gerard If anyone can help with these lyrics, and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks in advance! Lisa Share on Facebook and other services:

Can Someone Help with the Lyrics to an Indonesian Poem?

Saira wrote me: Dear Lisa I hope you are well. Please could you send me the lyrics for the traditional Indonesian poem si anak katak di pinggir kaali… I used to sing this as a child when I lived in Jakarta during my childhood. I only remember the first few lines now but I would love [...]

Can Anyone Help with an Indonesian Folk Song?

Elyn wrote: Dear Mama Lisa, I am running an AngKlung Ensemble in our Church in Singapore, we wanted to play the Indonesia Folk Song De Sini Senang but are unable to find the score. Appreciate it if I can obtain a copy from you. The score can be in chord. Thank you very much for your [...]

Can Anyone Help with an Bahasa Indonesian Translation of a Little Song Called “Cat's Head”?

We have a special circumstance where we're looking for a Bahasa Indonesian translation of a song called Cat's Head. The song is originally Dutch. We were able to get an English translation of it. If anyone can translate it into Bahasa Indonesian from either language, we would greatly appreciate it. Both [...]

How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3's on Mama Lisa's World

In addition to this blog, I also host Mama Lisa's World. Mama Lisa's World is a large collection of children's songs and rhymes from countries all around the globe. Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa's World: Hey Mama, I love the concept of your site. [...]

Free Online Language Dictionaries

While I have this link at hand, I'd like to recommend www.freedict.com. It's a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages: Afrikaans Danish Dutch Finnish French Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Latin Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Swahili Swedish I find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need. Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the [...]