False Alarm

Learning, Poetic
Evacuate. Now.
Hundreds of steps in the dim.
Sorry, false alarm.

β€”β€”

this morning I felt kind of alarmed; nervous at the same time energised because of alarm going off early morning in the hotel β€” fire warden in action; run run run! lucky enough I stayed on 11th floor, not the highest! πŸ‘πŸ½

with other guests who were (I guessed) sleepy and not ready to show themselves up to the world

no need to dress up! I just grabbed my MacBook, iPhone and my sling bag, left other stuff less important (although important) β€” oh my! predictably I saw many were wearing β€œwhatsoever as long as wearing things” 😝 tired as well as entertained πŸ˜‚

in the assembly point waiting, waiting and waiting β€” false alarm

the hotel rep said β€œWe are terribly sorry. It is a false alarm and all guests would you please go back to your room? We will arrange a compensation for you all affected. We once again apologise to you for the inconvenience caused. Sorry, Ma’am. Sorry, Sir….”

a love letter I found arriving in the room this evening πŸ™πŸΌ

Relative Paradox Is Time

Learning
Time is
Paradoxical.
Luxury for those knowing how short it is,
Ordinary as everyone is given.

Time is 
Relative.
Those transacting in life say
Time is money.
Those knowing its sharpness say
Time is like sword.
Those valuing milestones say
Let’s race with time.
Those mismanaging things say
I have no time.
Those loving you say
I have all time.
Those knowing your struggle say
Please take your time.
Those having super speed say
Don’t waste your time.

How do you say about
Your time?
You decide.
One to remember
There is no referee in life
To whom you can shout
β€œTimeout!”

Time flows.
Time flies.
Time walks.
Time runs.
Time swims.
Time dives.
You may want to stop it,
Yes you can
Only if you stop everything
At the same time for
Every body
Everywhere.
Can you?

β€”β€”-

time is short when you smile and forever when you pout

Useful link about Time

Luxury Boasted

Learning, Poetic
If there is luxury
I can always boast,
It is time
With which horizon broadens,
Spectrum of truth unrolls,
Insight sharpens,
Heart softens,
Wisdom drips, drops then flows;
Love goes on.

β€”β€”

what time is it? wanna be back to London β€” when when…. 😊

Useful link for Greenwich

Luxury Redefined (haiku cluster)

Learning, Poetic
Luxury, my love
What makes one feel fortunate,
Feel responsible.

Luxury, my love
Not brand, not price tag. It’s mind
Bursting new spirits.

Luxury, my love
You can bluff but you can’t trade
With a true spirit.

Luxury, my love
What you’ve failed, what you’ve too learnt
About the deep wounds.

β€”β€”

not the Aman Jiwo Hotel making it luxurious, it is Borobudur temple, Menoreh Hill and all the Javanese villages and tradition conserved as surrounding is the real luxury

Weathered

Learning, Poetic
This life’s well weathered
β€˜Tween hot and cold, calm and rushed.
There’s home to shelter.

β€”β€”

Indonesia Mosque in Bangkok β€” joining a short prayer

i went to a mosque then to a small shrine today before flight β€” feeling the humbleness of human beings begging for help from the One indescribable unseen unexplainable, the hope tiptoeing behind fear, the weakness of human beings facing our own nature

these folded lotus flowers are floating to weather after their duty as envelopes with which prayers are sent up above through billowing smoke of incense

now i have to pack to fly back home soon to see my mother hospitalised β€” certain days are just under the weather

wishing all my silent chants can be medicine for the woman who loves me to the moon and back

see very soon, Ibu

may all beings be happy

πŸ’•

Reflection

Learning, love
Mirror,
Mirror
On the wall!
Show me clearly
Afterall
What’s been
Lingering
In this fall.

Whether massive darkness
Or just shadow
That crawls.

β€”β€”

only selfie when feeling good and truly willing to see what’s reflected by the mirror

Sweetness

Learning
Sweetness of this life,
Interchangeable
Only with
The heart
That sings love songs.

β€”β€”

pastry that charms sweetness sensor tonight mixed with friendship woke me up

β€œlong time! we’ve been waiting with so much to share. you’ve won your battle. be happy.”

thank you, Bangkok! you should have told me earlier that what looks grand might be a shadow reflected by water in a pond with little light coming in

let’s sing love songs no matter what

Moon

Learning, Poetic
Thank you, mid autumn
For showing a firmer end
Of uncertain path
Having trapped the traveler
In a maze of blinking stars.

β€”β€”

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

between chopsticks

on a spoon

in a cone

among stars

shadowed by birds

by the sea

over a castle

Note: pictures sent by a colleague

Once My Master Said

Learning

Once my master said
β€œBe kind,
Yet don’t let evil take the wheel.
You know where to go
And no one but you
Is to drive your fate.”

Once my master said
β€œBe generous,
Yet don’t get misled.
You know how to count
And no one but you
Is to solve the equation.”

Once my master said
β€œBe careful,
Yet don’t forget to have fun.
You know how to celebrate
And no one but you
Is to throw the party.”

Once my master said
Nothing.
It was time for me to go
To trace my own path
And no one but me
Is to walk the talk.

And here I am,
One heart,
One word,
One journey.

Just
One.

β€”β€”

to me this is just one cup of tea, to the helper it is all her kindness, pride and maybe survival in one act β€” thank you, Ma’am for your sincere smile and the tea πŸ’• you are the master of service πŸ™πŸΌ I bow to the divine in you πŸ’•

Be Kind

Learning, Poetic
I am not  a fully kind human being
And that’s why I try my best to be kind to those around me
Everyday.

Be kind.
It is though a choice.
Being kind
By dealing with it with integrity
Or
By staying away.

Once staying away,
I stay away forever.
That’s my kind
Of respect
Especially to those
Personally,
Loudly or silently
Disrespecting me.

β€”β€”

most of us don’t know each other but many of us decide to respect each other

many of us are reluctant to disclose most of our unhappiness and many of us decide to respect each other

Hair

Learning, Poetic
Crowning black gets grey,
Surfing through tunnels of time.
There is no U-turn.

β€”β€”

long, black with some grey showing β€” excited to have this long hair to caress β™₯️

Turning Point

Bob, Learning, life, love, Poetic, Those People
Fragrance of sambac
Ferries the wish to the love
Reborn with new scents.

β€”β€”

The death of my beloved nephew at young age (22 yo) is one extreme turning point in how I see life and what is in it.

I am not sad anymore and not considering it a loss anymore. Just drying tears and grateful smiles so β€” remembering how good his life was. How someone with so big mental wound could survive life by serving others in such a fun witty ways. πŸ₯° We now know how much we loved him and how tremendously he loved us.

Yet….

reborn

not interested in talking in group except for work;

prefer seeing life more lightly yet deeply at the same time;

choose to seclude myself by doing what I can do genuinely; if not, I will stay away;

respond to human interaction differently and it might have hurt people in outer rings; it doesn’t matter

still the same human being yet not the same anymore;

so amazed how losing loved ones can change someone so significantly. And the reality shows me whom are real and unreal, true and untrue…. πŸ’š

Life is mysteriously beautiful.

Thank You so very much!

Alfatihah.

my younger brother’s 1st son was a newborn death; my older brother’s sons: one died at 10, the other at 22 β€” wishing them to be reborn with love, prosperity and luck πŸ’•πŸ˜Š you’re (always) in my heart and (sometimes) at my left wrist, boys! πŸ’•πŸ’•πŸ˜Š

Ayutthaya

Learning, Poetic
Ayutthaya greets
A heart that sings a love song.
A wat witnesses.

β€”β€”

from 2010 to 2012 Thailand was my playground esp in the area of food processing , from 2013 up to now is for electronic mostly in Ayutthaya β€” Sala Ayutthaya is always my favourite here, thank you…. 😘

After

Learning
After and before
Is a match
To solve what is done.

β€”β€”

nothing is forever even the most genuine friendship, it’s death or separation

all processes are like clink and clank of spoon, fork and knife finishing a course before they go to washing basin then to different containers

getting older, you’ll see that start-and-end is simply a combination telling you that everything is cycle

A Star Not

Learning, Poetic
You are not a star.
Never.
A star brightly rises.
A star magnificently sets.
You might be upset
As a star is what is adored
By many.
Don’t be a star,
It is born,
It dies.
A seen star is thousands years of its historyβ€”
Illusion.

You are the earth.
Always.
Who lets the sun rise
And lets the sun set
Sincerely.
The earth is loved
By many.
When I see the earth
I see a present moment
Of everything about it.
I am grounded to earth.
It is where I live, love and laugh

Sincerely.

You are 
A star not.

β€”β€”

a star is a dream; the earth is where I live, love and laugh sincerely

Note: picture is from Pinterest; I wanted a Java island on the earth with stars above yet could not find any πŸ™‚

May All Beings Be Happy

Learning, Poetic
Once
I knew not
Or cared not
That all struggled
Until
I sat still
To feel the whole cosmos
Within me.
Now
I know
And know
That all inevitably suffer
By choice though.
And so
I chant
Wishing…
May all beings be happy, free from suffering.

And to you
Across the ocean.
With red roses,
May you be happy, free from suffering.

β€”β€”

May all beings be happy πŸ’•

free from suffering

…. and also to you across the ocean β™₯️

Lessons

Learning, Poetic
Lessons are to learn
As books to read, air to breathe,
Life to put meaning.

β€”β€”

the Japanese wooden dolls in the reception of the language center where I learn Japanese lessons

β€” γ‚γ‚ŠγŒγ¨γ†γ”γ–γ„γΎγ™ πŸ’•

Rose Tea

Learning
I am home
Welcomed
By a space
Waiting for its soul
To fill the gap
With emptiness.

I am home
Welcomed
By rose tea
Waiting to be brewed
To wake up the heart
With memories.

I am home
Welcomed
By another day
Waiting to be celebrated
To highlight meaning
With what is.

β€”β€”

I left 3 stems of red roses in the vase and arriving, I found them beautifully dried β€” a jug of rose tea is my first relaxing session

Sweet

Learning, Poetic
How sweet is your heart?
Warm as sun of the beach? Or
Cool as mountain breeze?

β€”β€”

coconut ice cream πŸ’• as sweet as warm heart, as cold as ignorance β€” the stick is made of sugarcane

Bread and Butter

Learning, Poetic
Make bread and butter
Special
Among ordinary days
Even if it’s
Just by differently spreading
Butter on the bread.
Finding ordinary special
Is where blessings reside.

β€”β€”

a bite or two to thank life for everything