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Learning
Life is just like this:
A line with two ends. Circle—
Choose the best angle.

—-

They released us from the silence on May 5 at 11am before lunch time and gave us our gadgets back at 4pm. We were so excited to talk than to play the gadgets; we gathered in the dining hall and shared what we experienced during the noble silence.

We didn’t die without gadgets, no we didn’t. Yet we don’t die because of gadgets, either. Gadgets are just a tool to use wisely.

Each of us couldn’t thank more for everything.

May all beings be happy.

Salaam.

Pak Merta, our meditation teacher

Pak Kourma — our daily instructor

Pak Souca — our daily caretaker 🙏🏼

our last session of meditation was loving kindness meditation for daily life; the video camera was prepared for sharing session at the end

Happy Birthday, U2!

Learning

May 5 is today.

This is my second Tapa Brata and both of them are special. My first in 2018 was special because Pak Merta Ada’s teacher (Merta Ada is my health meditation teacher) a Buddhist high priest visited his retreat center and gave us blessings. This second one is because we found that May 5 is his birthday! He was born on May 5, 1957 — a long journey of a meditation teacher and healer.

Someone is also celebrating his birthday across the ocean. May 5 becomes more special today this time. A journey of a silent traveler.

Happy birthday Pak Merta and dear KU. Both of you have a special place in my heart.

For Pak Merta, we immediately prepared a green sarung rangrang. For KU I thoughtfully prepared a poem.

—-

Alone the bird flies
From a nest on a tall tree
It knows where home is.

🙏🏼

May 5 2023 is when the biggest moon rises this year; Waisak (Vesak) is already celebrated in some countries (on May 6 in other countries) — my meditation teacher is celebrating his birthday, another life teacher of mine is celebrating his

an “emergency” birthday present for Pak Merta Ada from our class, wrapped in a beautiful fancy paper from the nearest small shop nearby to wrap a sarung rangrang I originally bought for my additional spread and table cloth — what a beautiful togetherness in this meditation class 💝

May 6 (scheduled post)

Learning, Poetic
Alone the bird flies
To a nest on a tall tree.
She knows where home is.

—-

there is love in wing — trust the wind and the direction 💝

Full Stop

Learning
There’s a stop
That is full
.

—-

still the same — arriving, i felt the serenity and freshness; rain welcomed us

he is gone to heaven 💝💝💝

no one will be our chatting pal anymore — total silence in and out

this time i am given privilege to have no roommate, alhamdulillah 💝 no one will be bothered ☺️

we can meditate here put of the scheduled sessions

or here or somewhere else, there are other spots

about the Bodhi tree

there are more bungalows deeper up there

this is the tiny gong used to tell us the schedules

Good Morning from Ubud

Learning, Poetic
It is a good morning
Maybe afternoon for you.
This morning I still breathe blessings
Wrapped by songs from the bird,
Back home by hum of machines.
Both are good
In a blessed morning.
Know, beloved
That I remember you
Who might enjoy the day
And ready to welcome a weekend.
Everything is good when in Ubud,
I know everything is good
Everywhere
If we let blessings contaminate the air.

—-

when i breath fresh air, i feel more me

good morning from Puri Saraswati

not a water person but love seeing water, quiet morning in front of the pool with birds singing and voice of sweep stick raking the ground

good morning to a lazy snail

another one

good morning to the unknown neighbour that might be still sleeping

Saturday Night in Central Ubud

Learning, Map It!, Poetic
Sky invites me
To swarm around a show
That is glistened with colours
In a Saturday night.

Rain almost falls
But is held until the show ends
Simply to tell me
You are welcome.

These steps walk me
To where blessings are.
These breaths inhale me
To where peace is.

Among the crowd I find a calmness
With my own self I find merriness
All is well
All is good

I enjoy Saturday night in Central Ubud.

i normally stay rather far from city center of Ubud but this one night i wanted to stay in the city where dance performances are located in many different spots — this is the side gate of Puri Saraswati Dijiwa Ubud opening to the lotus garden

tonight’s performance in lotus garden was Tari Janger (janger dance), maybe next time 🙏🏼

i wanted to watch Legong Dance performance so i walked to Pura Saren Ubud which was 200 meters away from where i stayed

was the first to enter to get a seat in the 1st row and later found it was not at all the 1st row 😂

seeing the preps is already exciting!

musicians were getting ready

Tari Pendet (welcoming dance) — i learnt this dance as a child, felt like wanted to laugh remembering how funny i was dancing with my sister 😂

Tari Topeng #1 — sorry i don’t know the name; watching with many types of spectators whose joy might be over the limit and blocks others’ view 😂

Tari Legong – the primary show 👏🏼

Tari Legong — i wanted to watch this simply because i have a sleeping gown with legong dancer on it 😀

Tari Oleg Tamulilingan

Tari Kupu-Kupu (butterfly dance) inserted as part of Oleg Tamulilingan

Tari Oleg Tamulilingan (dancing bees)

Tari Oleg Tamulilingan (dancing bee)

Tari Topeng #2 — sorry i don’t know the name

we didn’t know who was behind the mask but he did perform so well and we enjoyed it 💝

thanks for the show! 🙏🏼 happiness is an ambiance shareable with those we don’t know and we probably don’t care to know — God bless all 💝

Sanctuary

Learning, Poetic, This Person
In sanctuary,
Where birds from paradise sing,
Clear mirror reflects—

—

Out of office is set meaning that work is safe-kept for a while. Only silence remains. Even my boss and my mother— two whose calls I’ll never reject in normal situation can’t contact me. They know where I am so they won’t contact me. 😎

All my postings will be automatically scheduled starting May 1.

I pray that you all be blessed with good life.

Salaam.

💝

my goddess, Saraswati 💝

just wanna be offline for a while 🌸

i love to be with those knowing how to reflect me and themselves clearly ♥️

it is safe 💝

accompanied by two paradise birds in Ubud before starting my sacred silence tomorrow in Baturiti

Green

Learning
Green is what is fresh,
What is starting peacefully.
It is envy, too.

—-

What is greener than our neighbours’ grass? The sea that bears secret of love and avocado that bears secret of health.

Have a green weekend!

💚

today’s lunch 💚 egg with peas in coconut milk, avocado and navel orange juice

Almost Birthday

Learning, Poetic, Those People
It almost arrives.
A blessed day,
The one when
A generation is born
To share what may
And
To bear what shall.

Happy birthday!

—-

a prayer is recited — health and happiness with the loved ones 💝

Nasi Goreng (sharing)

Learning

Nasi goreng (fried rice) has been declared as one Indonesia’s specialty. It doesn’t mean that only Indonesia has that food in the list; I saw fried rice in the menu list in China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam but none of them beats Indonesia’s. Oh! Please excuse my confidence. 😀

In Indonesia nasi goreng is not only about one recipe; it is a specialty with unlimited possible combination and creativity.

  • Nasi goreng ikan asin (+dried fish)
  • Nasi goreng teri (+ anchovy)
  • Nasi goreng kambing (+ lamb)
  • Nasi goreng ayam suwir (+ shredded chicken)
  • Nasi goreng telur (+ egg)
  • Nasi goreng gila (mixed with noodle)
  • Nasi goreng sayuran (+ vegetables)
  • Nasi goreng kecap (dominantly sweet with sweet soy sauce)
  • Nasi goreng petai (+ stinky bean)
  • Nasi goreng belacan (terasi) (+ shrimp paste)
  • Nasi goreng biasa (only rice)
  • Nasi goreng blah blah blah
  • Nasi goreng by anyone in the house 💝 this is where the unlimited creativity lies ❣️

I’ve tasted many Indonesian people’s nasi goreng recipes and all of them are special as they are and still delicious!

What’s the secret? The right portion of garlic and more portion of shallots and chilli!

Yummy!

💝

nasi goreng for today’s late lunch 😍 — nasi goreng a la Rike 😀

Best Not, Better Be

Learning, Poetic
What’s best is not best.
Better is, leaving a space
For the next better.

—-

I am never craving for best for me. Only doing my best to be better and to deserve whatever makes me better and/or see opportunity to do better.

Yet best seller book is the best for today. And one previously best seller for my best friend—-

Salaam.

💝

bestseller shelf — not my normal shelf but it was today

old book i did read at uni and want to check some details and so re-read 😎

curious what’s inside 😍

seems promising for a discussion in a reading club

for my best friend who watched the movie but not read the novel yet

Charm

Learning
If charm is a bird,
It flies to where dreams reside,
When belief takes part.

—

Being an overthinker, I try to balance my thought by telling myself that dream is possible to come true and what it takes is just to believe.

Being an overthinker at the same time hard worker is not always a good combination, it has often made me believe that everything should be fought for. Nothing comes with no efforts. Yet at a point I don’t want to fight. No! No more! I want to give up all struggles. I am giving up all struggles.

I will enjoy the breeze while drawing Daruma’s right eye as my dreams come true before the departure time arrives.

Just believe, beloved.

i haven’t worn my charm bracelet for sooo long until i found a Daruma charm last week — dream come true! believe!

ladybug is good luck, hand of Fatima is protection — qualities of life having lingered since i was an infant: luck and protection

😀

Quiet Noise

Learning, Poetic
Quiet and noise
Are both luxury
Which cross clarify
And cross verify.
Both cost so high
In each phase.
At times each is a spy
To bug each other
To find when the best time
To be quiet
Or
To be noisy.

—

I am doing a sacred silence retreat next week. Called Tapa Brata, this retreat is where we will meditate most of the time in a day. Pak Merta is a devoted Buddhist who has been opening this meditation center for years to promote self health and at certain level herbal medication teaching. I am not a Buddhist but I feel that this retreat has helped me a lot to calm my mind.

There won’t be any interaction with others directly during the retreat. No talking. No reading. No writing. No listening except to the meditation guidance and sound of nature in Forest Island. All gadgets will be safe-kept by the organiser so we will be totally offline human beings.

It is about communicating with one’s self.

The interaction is primarily within. I remember how hard it was for me in my first Tapa Brata in 2018 just to not say good morning and good night to my roommates on the first day. Hope this one is easier for me.

💝

that joglo (the building with terracotta roof) is the meditation hall, two jinengs (Balinese rice storage) are sleeping quarters (only for male), 9 bungalows are located behind the joglo for meditators to sleep, the dog is in front of the dining joglo

the dog? he was with whom everyone wanted to talk after lunch in silence — he would just stare at us and yawn and sleep seeing us talking without saying things, he probably understood 😃 hope to see him again

Cuts and Bruises

Learning, life, love, Poetic, This Person
All cuts and bruises
Paint a life of a blossom
Before it decays.

—

i was so young and innocent, a loved friend of many, a hated enemy of some — i was so much blessed 💝

life has brought me travel through labyrinth of life with traps and turns that cut and torture yet i am still a loved friend of many, a hated enemy of some — i am still so much blessed with cuts and bruises 💝 i’ve lost much but i find myself

no one shall erase this happy girl within — a blessed soul that travels through space and time 🙏🏼 thank you

Wildly Grows

Learning, Poetic
That flower is born
By wind and gardener’s love.
Celebrating life—

—-

the pretty zinnia in my sister’s garden are all wild, she never intentionally grows them, they just popped out of the soil, she believes they were spread from the neighboirs’ as some of our neighbours have them in their garden — we don’t know if our neighbours also unintentionally grow them with the same reason as ours 😁

The Best Sushi

Learning
I said
I want to eat sushi.

Let’s go
She said.

We lend each other’s ears.
I like listening,
She likes to be listened.
What a perfect scene.

I’ll take the mushroom, you take the eggplant
She said.

I said
I prefer eggplants, that is nice.

Haaaah!

Hahaha wasabi!
She laughed.

Anything to share?
She asked.

No
Said I.

She drove me home and hugged me good bye.
Her son said “See ya again!”

Then I walked the path home
To write stories of my own.
I regretted to share bad stories with anyone,
It made good food taste stale.

I won’t,
Until there’s the best sushi to offer.

—-

iftar with a best friend yesterday — one of the best sushi in Singapore 😘

Time Flies

Learning
Time flies on a plane, 
Moves backwards leaving a home
To meet whom are missed.

—-

Time to visit mother. Although I visit her every three months, a visit on Eid Mubarak is always the most special. It is when my brothers and sisters meet me and most of extended family members gather in our annual reunion.

It is exciting to have a full day chatting, laughing, remembering good memories, eating specialties cooked by the host, joking around and of course praying for our happiness and joy so we all can meet again the following year.

Thank you for another year.

💝

pink orchid in Changi Airport before my flight

pink orchid left home — not merrier but fresher than the Changi’s 🥰

yellowish white orchid left at home

it is gonna be broken white with purple — they are always happy although left home 😁

i guess it is gonna be yellow — they are always happy although left home 😁

Colours

Learning, Map It!
Light is reflected,
Brings various sensations.
Bright colour spectrum—

—-

I bought rangrang woven fabric for bedspreads, table clothes and other home decoration as alternative of vibe in my humble abode other than linen, Merauke ikat and batik series.

It is always exciting to decorate home. I think this is where a home owner should be wiser as the temptation to beautify a home feels more desperate compared to owning branded things. Dead serious!

Rangrang woven fabric was once fabric for religious ceremonies, yet now it has become a cultural commodity that are liked by many.

Anyway, rangrang woven fabric offer unique colourful art. It is called “rangrang” because there are “rangrang” (tiny holes/gaps) among the woven thread. Rangrang woven fabric is allegedly a symbol of transparency. Yet technically the gaps or holes among the woven threads are because of fewer number of threads used in some lines.

This fabric also has sufficient thickness that it won’t be too flimsy to spread on the beds yet won’t be too heavy for curtains.

The dominant colours on rangrang woven fabric are brighter spectrum of red, yellow, purple, blue, green. Love them all!

The most common patterns of rangrang woven fabric are basic geometry such as curves (commonly called bianglala/rainbow patter), triangles, squares.

square

triangles

some curves (bianglala/rainbow)

rangrang = holes among the weaved threads

Rangrang used to be a prima donna back then in 2010’s that made it as expensive as hundreds of USD per piece, while now I could buy it for USD50 per piece.

This woven fabric should be conserved as fewer and fewer weavers are productively making it, most of them are older women whose children don’t have the same passion to produce this beautiful art work. One of the conservation effort might be for ordinary people to buy this fabric.

I am happy that I found 4 more sheets of rangrang woven fabric are needed. There is a reason to go shopping either in the market or directly to the weavers.

💝😁

rangrang = holes among the weaved threads

About rangrang woven fabric

Fooled

Learning
I know I’m a fool
When seeing a genius
Fooling me around.

—-

I am not interested to play numbers and signs except with a true fool as he will not fool others around. A true fool is playing with himself. While someone who is collaborating with someone else is never a fool; they are players having hidden agenda and they feel being genius not deserving to respect a fool.

Even if players want to communicate with the fool, there will be misunderstanding with no end because fools and players don’t speak the same language.

Fools want simple things and consider herself stupid and free to be vulnerable and ordinary. Players make things complicated and consider themselves kind and genius and high.

Signs and numbers don’t bear any meanings anymore when read by either of them.

💝

This fool is enjoying breeze at lunch break with no lunch 😁

What Books and Podcasts Do (morning lecture)

Learning

Being kind is not being silent and making others be in disrespected state of feeling. Being kind is telling the truth even if it is a rejection. Yet people talk about letting go to others without doing necessary actions to do so even after being briefed and/or begged of what to do.

Reading books and listening podcasts will not always make some human beings smart and wise; it only makes them know what other people think and know what to say to look smart and wise. Their intelligence is as much as being able to pose good pictures, good memes and showing flashy life. They are information hoarders and attention cravers.

So, some signs and numbers are not anymore digestible as messages, they are only pronounceable symbols as the senders don’t even try to speak to particular fellow human beings — wanting to say something but not wanting to be perceived of saying it to certain people.

Cherry blossoms opened hidden reality to me about how things can be framed to nicely look, while in reality it can be so fake.

Istiqlal and Ubud give me so much peace and now I am ready to start a new life.

💝

what’s in the head of David?

8:25am Singapore time 💝

Maleman

Learning, life, Poetic
Breathing the same air
Under the same sun and moon,
All pray for good days.

—

Sharing is not only about self satisfaction and social support, it is also about gauging how much I dare to let go of what heavy and significant. Trust me giving will not make you poor.

This monthly food sharing is about Ramadhan odd night and night of revelation (lailatul qadar).

Salaam.

💝

package for some elderly people and tricycle drivers who deserve food sharing back in my mother’s town 💝
what’s inside
while the monthly food sharing is without kue apem, this maleman food sharing is with kue apem 💝
5 big monthly package for nuclear family 💝
what’s in the big package 💝