Start Each Morning (ranting)

Start each morning, Love
With ready ears to listen,
Heart blessed with shared joy--

DVET Siaran Pagi in TikTok

one sample of rebroadcast that i randomly watched 🌶️

I feel like talking about my excitement that makes my morning brighter. There is a morning show (in Indonesian only) in TikTok labeled DVET Siaran Pagi.

There are two announcers in the morning show. And they have made my days with the show although I mostly watch its rebroadcast through YouTube in the evening; I can listen to them live when commuting or when working from remote and no meeting starts early.

I started listening to this show in early July through YouTube as a random algorithm result (justpopped up like that) while the show has been there since 2023, so I kind of not know what topics have been covered before. Yet it doesn’t matter, I don’t need to flash back to enjoy their hilarious friendly talk.

What topics so attract me?

Any random topic in life. It is just like when radio show was happening (when I was young — gosh!) the announcers talked about anything s/he liked or experienced or breaking news in town/country (sometimes alone, sometimes more than one announcer at the same time) and played some song playlist that was planned or sometimes requested by the listeners.

These two announcers in the DVET Siaran Pagi act like they are video calling and talking about their day like two friends — you can hear laughter, slangs, swearing. Simply like we are eavesdropping on two friends. 😝

Anyway I think they are truly friends in life.

Who are they?

One streamer is Dave Hendrik, a previously radio announcer is now a prominent MC in Indonesia — his name has been one of very few celebs that I adored because of his originality and confidence.

When sexual orientation or identity was still a rare topic to touch, he was already himself — even as a straight I respect his openness as he is not the one forcing others to follow his choice.

I also love how he treats his niece and nephew (at least that’s what I see in his Instagram) actually he’s inspired me to do the same thing to mine — thank you, Dave.

The way Dave expresses himself is sometimes “random” that I have no choice but laughing or exclaiming “what?!” or “huhhh?!” While talking smart he can suddenly produce wrong pronunciation, wrong naming, slip of the tongues and the like. Hilarious!

Wishing Dave a good life for making my days. If I meet him in Jakarta someday, I will give him a bar of Toblerone. ☺️

The other announcer is Iwet Ramadhan. He was also a radio announcer back then; he is now a business leader.

Among his works that I know his batik documentaries in YouTube should have been one biggest contribution to Indonesia culture & that he has a batik-based business to support “mothers working at home” in Jakarta has made him a decent man to respect. I hope he continues the culture-based activities and gets bigger success. 😍

I so much like him 💕 for his intelligence, laughter and a vibe that I can’t explain (maybe maturity and confidence?) — and so he becomes special to me. Not surprising: a male celeb must have many female eyes on him.

There is one song he mentioned (Daur Hidup by Donne Maula) and now it becomes my cooking or gardening soundtrack. Thank you!

Wishing him a good life, too and….

…. If meeting him in person in Singapore someday, I will treat him ice cream as much as he likes in Orchard Road 😂💕

note #1: both of them once were hosts of gossip shows that I didn’t enjoy 🙃 They’ve changed the way they discuss things – quite objective and balanced at least in the show 😁 Salute to you, both!

note #2: I created TikTok account only to watch this show

note #3: in this era human beings do not have to meet in person to support each other; just do something online and here you go!

Garden

Garden's, Beloved
Where seasons play with the sun,
Weathers with the shade.

Japanese garden layout in Winsor & Newton water colour

i’ve always wanted a Japanese garden in one spot of my yard

i contacted one Japan contractor but they offerred USD8,000 just for the design for 11*2 size

i politely refused the offer and decided to work on the design by myself and transferred the USD8,000 to my own bank account 😁

now it is ready to execute; i’ll be working with a garden contractor to complete this task; i’ve also found moss and grain loval sources – see you in 3 months, dear Jogja

layout of behind study, near maintenance entrance — yellow bamboo bush will sing when the wind blows

layout of in front of bedroomno grass, just moss, grain, a few boulders and shrub of hosta; the engawa is a perfect seat to contemplate either at dusk or dawn

after some time of hibernating

Choice of Words

Choice of words are leaves
Falling, dancing by contexts.
Seasons of meanings--

this is one of beautiful books i’ve ever read

need to re-read as after reading both there is different impression and insight i got from those two versions of translation

translation is not merely choice of words, it contains the context where the translators’ mind has been built — context can come from educational background, life experience incl trauma, ideology, etc even up to the translators’ independency towards certain topics

translation is not an accurate tool to transfer knowledge yet it is the best option for learners who need to learn something from different culture through books while they don’t master the language

but too much interference of translators’ contexts will make the translation an interpretation which will unnecessarily pollute the learners’ thinking process

the best option for independent learners is learning the language i wish i could….

today is about books and paper — reading and throwing away all unnecessary paper

Welcome

Welcome, Beloved
To a home in a quiet house
Where heart sings sweetly.

i trained myself rigorously today: no distraction 🤩

and then….

kitchen is always a good welcome home — let me boast my best oxtail soup aka sop buntut sapi and almost frozen pomegranate aka delima & osmanthus pudding 💕

Gathered

It is harvest time
After years of nurturing.
Fruits are gathered now.

today’s gathering with uni circle was a sweet bunch of chat

thank you and….

….see you again, sweet pears!

flying home soon 💕

Details

Sharp eyes take a rest
Just for a click before sleep.
Resting from details--

doing VIP again which is so close with the stage in which spectators see what the tribune folks are curious about; almost like how my job is done: meticulous, detailed, focus-based, forcing, defining violation, root cause analysis, corrective action, management system, emotionless and in some way cruel — loved by my employer, hated by those not committed 🤠

ignoring details is almost like catching eel with hand covered with coconut oil

finding chaos among harmony is almost a curse to me; now i am pulling back my expertise to find harmony among chaos — outside my job

on the way. yosh!

to my colleagues reading this in silence you know how i love this job 🤠 頑張ってね❣️

this is the closest i can be with my favourite singer whose songs were memorised by me and childhood friends like we memorised our own landline number by then

すごい❣️

Noe Clerc Trio from France — the accordion made it so much unique

other than Ring of Fire this duo is another permanent “performer”, the ones who warm the stage not less than the artists — they’re artists, too with their typical Jogjakartan jokes

see you again, syuuu!

Kuntari – amazingly incredible! i could not resist their beats that resemble Sumatran music; one nephew could not stop rocking our bench following the tempo

my God, this is my fave among those i took by myself — the hues and the moon are like magic

two of 4 founders (Pak Sigit, Mas Butet), advisors (Pak Andy, Mas Iko), the duo

🤍

I didn’t take picture of Gigi Jazz Project performing, pre-occupied with the vibe to sing along and laugh at myself due to the lyrics! 😂😍💕

a different Gigi i’ve ever experienced

this was type of source of heat for all of us — thank you, dear fire

if time allows, i’ll see you again next year, dear Bromo nature — you are amazing

Heavy

How heavy is jar?
As heavy as what is forced,
Light as what is poured--

RC Gorman’s work of art

today i learnt that one typical problem can be heavy or light for the same person in different situations; or for different people at the same situation — it is always about how we carry the life

dear self, do you force it or do you let it flow?

A Knight Who Shoots

Who's a knight who shoots?
Archer who knows the bull's eye
And bow and arrow--

Satria manah (satrio manah) is a Javanese phrase formed by two words:

1. Satria or satrio that means a knight,

2. Manah that is derived from the word panah (archery in Javanese). Panah (Noun) is changed to manah (Verb)

As name of batik pattern should be incorporated with wisdom, the interpretation can be built with some exaggeration or maybe slightly drammatical structure. And so, satria manah is not simply a knight who shoots anything but it is intrepreted as a knight who shoots accurately at the heart of a lady.

Life of a wise can be as light as shooting a heart; yet as hard as shooting at the right spot so that it won’t hurt the heart; it even will make the lady fall in love harder with the knight.

Is that even possible?

I don’t know. Not a knight, am not a wise knight. A lady, am the lady whose heart should be shot by a wise knight. 😁

Another fun fact this batik is usually worn by the groom-to-be’s parents when they are officially proposing the bride-to-be in front of her family. The groom-to-be may also wear this batik when he is with his parents during the marriage proposal. Unofficially? the man can propose the woman personally before introducing to each other’s family.

What batik should be worn by the bride-to-be in the marriage proposal? It is batik semen rante. What is that? I will talk about it next year when the semen rante is ready to ship to me by Mbak Izzah. ☺️

This batik has given me a light heart and a good laugh after a long day.

Have a good weekend!

the batik that is ready for delivery

close up of batik Satria Manah

Morning

Morning brings me heart
Newly dipped in coloured hopes
To welcome new days.

maroon heliconia

yellow heliconia

the sun showing his radiance

Written

This life is written
Along a ribbon coiling
Around a live book.

weekend is to read what’s written as weekdays is to write what’s read

i’m a book with cover, title, table of content, chapters, and an end; and i’m craving to know about its precious author among all readers

Your Face

Your face that I keep
Won't grow old. This heart preserves
Everything that's loved.

my face has been all over my iPhone’s face for the past 4 years – can’t get over my COVID era face ❣️

Destined

All roads are destined
To an end where wish comes true
Or breath takes a rest.

not destined to be a drinker — i didn’t even enjoy the 0%

destined to embrace beautiful flowers ❣️

Last Train

I won't miss the train.
The last. A home is waiting
With a cup of tea.

i saw this scene very often from my room; last midnight was the most impressive when i felt so much love living as me with no one but me ❣️

How Fragrant Are You?

How fragrant are you
Through the petals sweetly picked
By fragile fingers?

I love perfume especially when at home.

Some facts of how certain oils as part of perfume ingredients are harvested shake my liking to perfumery. If I buy those perfumes, am I abusing certain group of people? If I don’t buy, am I letting them unemployed?

Life is sometimes as simple as abc– Yet life is sometimes as complex as ancient codes to decipher.

Time to concoct my own perfume from responsibly-sourced oils?

Fresh Air

Fresh air, Beloved,
Welcomes sweetly through a move.
Strong or weak, enjoy.

it was fresh at the same time eery — i felt a strong blow of fresh air at my left hand last night between sleep and awake; so sure it was not my breathing as I know well how I breathe

new place welcomes visitors differently like the grass greeted me sweetly this morning

thank you for the welcome; I am a guest, not an agressor 🙏🏼

Playground

A playground's, my love
Where a dragonfly sits still,
A lotus bud sways--

missing Ubud, my playground

one day before purchasing a plot of land in Lod Tunduh, Ubud, I cancelled it with no logical reason; feel of Bali to me is a playground of my house and several months later decided to start a home in Yogyakarta — sometimes it takes just a strong push inside to make the right choice: no logic, no rationale

Cured

Cured is what's preserved:
Head and heart from discomfort
Of forgotten hope--

Enjoy your weekend!

i don’t like daily chemical medication but once i realized that it is part of what makes the body cured (longer preserved from decay), i’ve made great peace 😍

back-to-back trips are at peace with 3-in-1 (passport, money and medication) primarily prepared

let’s fly again

Note to fellow human beings: All what human beings do to be physically healthy is to ensure a longer preserved life. I’ve made peace since forever that human beings’ body is dying everyday, unstoppable, just made the process nicer and more relaxed.

Plunge

Life is a wide pool.
It takes plunges to the deep
To find an ocean.

one flower = one plunge in the pool after work

KL is serene tonight to plunge to a bowl of light in the dark

Perfect Weekend

Weekend, Beloved
Perfect with noisy kitchen
And finished laundry--

today’s healthful brunch❣️ we call it urap in Javanese cuisine — the raw leaves are “kencur” from the pot in the balcony ♥️

About kencur

wanted to eat raw veggies but i didn’t trust the source so boiled it was — missing my home in Yogyakarta where greeneries grow organically

the grated coconut

i still haven’t bought a new food processor after the old one was spoiled so today i had to do it with my favourite pestel and mortar — now my hands feel burnt of the chili heat 😎

Work & Study

In this life of hues
How can I note what’s given?
To work and study--

had breakfast sometimes dinner at this table for 9 days was an experience

it is a table under an artificial tree, the light is not too bright, not so obvious from too many angles so I chose it and when I saw the number, it became my table

next time might be other numbers 🍀

44 means foundation, hard work, growth, achievements and if it is what is communicated to me, thank you.

44 is also country code of United Kingdom; I miss Chisholme House where time flows calmly while this body works and mind studies life with true devotion engaging with fellow human beings and nature. Dear God, please carry me there again.

About Chisholme House

Pose!

Pose as you love to.
Life gives one chance for one name.
Breathe in and breathe out.

my friend in his funny pose 😂

I can’t thank enough to him for informing me about the “Da Vinci Alive Bangkok”

he said “Rike, I’ll go with you if my boyfriend goes to his class”

Thank you, Bank!