With love, Beloved
The breeze blows the flying leaves
To where sweetness waits.
bamboo shoots & corn in love
With Love
Tag: 5-7-5
She’s Reading
She's reading the books
Lining up in a long rack.
Scratching head and nose--
a corner that i like seeing but almost never pick the books from there – most of the books seem good but i prefer browsing around and picking those clicking with me
today i picked some to start my 2025’s reading challenge in goodreads.com
my Japanese is not getting better but reading about Japanese culture is still interesting to me
i followed the writer in Instagram two days ago and really want to see what his books are like
illustrated book is always interesting to me
am i into stoicism? not really but i see the book cover and pages are all glossy and that’s enough reason to read it
small and against the mainstream – read!
Excitement
Long road to travel
Seeing trees walking swiftly
River flowing, too--
Chinese New Year is coming soon. It is the most celebrated day in Singapore aside from National Day so many people will take a leave to celebbrate it with family, friends or to find getaway overseas. Many companies give extra days off to employees so they can take longer break in the year. My company is not exception. And so I take this opportunity to visit my 1st home country, Indonesia!
I will be in Jakarta for a few days to meet with some good friends and to check my little home that was now hostless since my good friend moved out after her marriage with a foreigner who brought her out. Another good friend is now monitoring my home once a week to check if stray cats need some food, plants need some trimming and sure the house itself need some fixing and security measure. Thank you, dear friends. 💕
From Jakarta I will continue to Yogyakarta, my home will be for retirement (damn…. my colleagues and friends keep teasing me “like you will retire soon, work, work, save money then retire at 60”. 😁
My original plan is taking train from Gambir Train Station to Yogyakarta Train Station. But then another good friend, a Jakartan, offered a ride. “Rike, I will drive from Jakarta to Jogja. Want a ride?”
Voila!
It’s gonna be my first land trip after years from Jakarta to Jogja; years ago when my brother was still working in Jakarta, he and his family gave me a ride from Jakarta to East Java until we all preferred train that was less tiring.
The offer “want a ride” was brilliant that the answer was yes with no second thought. It became even more brilliant that I wouldn’t have to drive (not a good driver I am)! Whoa! Excitement rose!
I trust this friend who has been in many land trip both car and bike around the archipelago both alone and in group. A super traveler indeed!
Friends in the whatsapp group cheered us up. Excitement rose higher!
See you, Jakarta! Then Yogyakarta!
Safe and safe!
can’t wait 😍 Jakarta to Yogyakarta with Mbak Adek 🙏🏼
About Aging
The world keeps spinning.
The body ages with time.
Trip in alignment--
Don’t be afraid of becoming old. Aging is truly a blessing.
With the gray hair I feel wisdom befriends with me. Still I have freedom to dye it to look radiant.
With the wrinkle on the skin I find kindness and understanding unfolds. Yet it is not wrong to put skincare to look healthy and fresh.
With weaker eyes I find my mind is sharper evaluating my self and environment. I can still wear reading spectacles to keep reading to refresh brain.
With less hydrated joints and less dense bones I move more slowly cum gracefully. There is no harm though to do sports regularly.
With fewer friends I still get good updates accurately about how the world spins and enjoy true relationship with little to no condition.
Eventually aging is about knowing that soul will release the physical body when they body is ultimately deteriorated, when time is up. I just need to ensure that this body knows she is never alone or lonely in the separation process.
Celebrate life!
see you next month, Hanoi
Doubted
This heart's umbrella.
Doubted, she's up to protect
And to let all go.
once i was doubted and so i let all go — it is humiliated to be distrusted while the heart is true
About A Year
About a year, Love
Where you're present and again
Giving me all joy-
2024 was such a year! Thanks much for the one year teaching me again to warmly love sincerely with little to no condition: unclear hints that broke my heart. Life is not always about glory; it’s also losing to win lessons.
2024 was about sudden trips & data as professional breakfast & lunch. I see how fast I process biased opinions & immediately detour to the right path! Such a training by & for brain muscles!
2025 is about continuing my spiritual journey with the same foundation: singularity, uniqueness & humanity;
also about doing my life work with dedication & expertise;
sweet friendship with those that respect and love each other as best friend;
about enjoying long weekends in Korine Jati soon & enjoying longer holiday somewhere else;
about keeping sharing the blessings with those around me verbally, materially, intelectually & spiritually in moderation;
& knowing & loving myself again, again, again….
…. all genuinely & with light heart.
Welcome, 2025. I already feel your sweetness.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025
dear, monkey mind
i don’t regret but it was the most painful moment in 2024 and thankfully i was helped by my life work
i love my messy hair that gets happy with breeze caressing it and my eyes that tell even when my mouth shuts
2024, thank you for bringing Banksy’s works of art to Scotts Road
Splashed
Splashed by clear water
And refreshed, she looks forward
To seeing the sun.
Clear & Fresh
Opening the door,
She's welcomed by clear rain drops
Freshening the breath.
hibiscus
And The Water Flows
And the water flows
Down the curve earth to bring
Message of the heart.
flow
flow
Clovers
Raindrop
Beautiful
You're so beautiful
Glowing among sailing clouds
Bringing memories.
beautiful as a pure heart
Less
Less looks more daring
When this heart wishes to rest,
Avoiding dead end.
today’s dinner — less favourite noodle, the udon
A Mother (ranting)
If I'm a mother,
I'd be my children's student
And their wisdom guide.
I had a Sunday cafe date with a friend while she was accompanying her son having taekwondo class nearby.
Like usual only with this friend I can always agree to go out of my home at weekend except when I am really caught up with urgent work. With her (and her husband and children) I can talk freely with loud laughter without being afraid of any judgement. They are perhaps my closest friends here in Singapore.
One of the today’s topics was mother.
We know quite a bit about both of our journey of relationship with mothers. As daughter we had almost the same experience of dealing with mother: acceptance to be a daughter of a woman with very different mindset and nurturing experience.
Our acceptance to our mother’s love evolved beautifully. Both of us have realised how much our mothers love us and how much we both love those women called mother. It was just a matter of positioning based on respect and understanding. It is always about knowing what and how love manifests in life.
oolong tea, thanks for witnessing friends’ laughter and genuine talk
That she is herself a mother of two children has taught her what a mother’s love means. To me I experienced various conflicts and arguments with my mother until at one point I realised how hard it was to be in her position and how hard to me to accept the fact that I have to accept my position before her culturally, biologically and ethically.
This friend likes to share with me how she raises her kids and the vice versa, I also like to give case studies and see how she treats some situations. Among all married friends she might be the one I would like to be like in most situations, not all as we still have different opinions in some topics if I am a mother (I know it is just an if as I don’t even have a hope to be someone’s wife at this age). She is open to communicate with her kids and husband up to a level of sitting at a round table to openly argue about things; at the same time she has her boundary at which point a mother stops to force and at which line a child must respect parents.
Today’s was our last 2024’s meet-up. She will fly to Karuizawa, Japan on Dec 11 until end of year and I will finish my work before end-of-year’s home country leave for a short while.
This friend always makes me miss my mother.
Ibu, I will call you tomorrow morning…. Know that I will always love you . Know that I will say yes if you become my mother again in my next life.
💗
I Am
I'm not a prophet,
Not a saint. I'm a human
Accepting a lane.
if i am allowed to choose, i’d like to be in the lane of flower where colours, shapes and scents are with me
but this ability to smell nice fragrance in life is accompanied by the ability to smell bad odors
and so accepting the lane with its duality and paradox is the only way
Touched
This heart has been touched
By a breeze secretly blown
By the air of love.
i will keep learning, unlearning, relearning
life is beyond what eyes can see; even eyes can’t see what’s blocked by a sheet of paper
voice can be cancelled by a block on the ears
touch can be blocked by leather gloves
taste can be blocked by a no to appetite
but this heart will be wide open to inner journey whatever they think, whatever they say, whatever they do
Early morning after QS Arrahman
Scars
There are scars, dear heart.
They stay. Painless, ugly and
Bringing back a day--
some mirrors will remind me of the day these scars were then wounds caused by incidents committed through actions either well planned or lousily coincided
forgiving but not forgetting is not as easy as how i say
have i forgiven? or should i be forgetful?
Show of Light
Tell me, Beloved,
Your light shows me light journey.
These steps are now light.
me and Blue, ready to greet the wet earth after rain
hi, home 💕
what will be across the resevoir?
light on the railway
An Empty Jar
She's an empty jar
Longing for your rain to pour.
Fragrance of dried clay--
what do we want to pour into ou empty jar? blessings or cursing? love or ignorance? up to us–
A Date
A date, Beloved,
Gives energy and sweetness
To life. A blessing--
Have a good weekend, everyone❣️
today i had a date with a good friend and her son in Thomson Plaza; while Vito the son was having tuition, his mother and I enjoyed our Korean lunch then coffee in Ya Kun Kaya
then i accompanied them to dentist for teeth cleaning before heading to Columbus for her son’s wafel and our french fries
Thomson Plaza is our favorite place as it is not far from our houses (1 bus, no exchange), it is where her son takes his English tuition, there is no tourist and it is close to Upper Thomson neighborhood where nice cafes and restaurants are located
Journey
Journey's, Beloved,
A trip with destination.
Enjoy each moment.
everyone is leaving home to go home, by air, by water, by land, by soul, by spirit, by mind, by heart, by love, by any means…. just going home
Painful No More
Sometimes she believes
A branch to cut for whole tree.
It's painful no more.
it was the only time i took picture of my needled arm before MRI, the person doing it was a trainee and she poked on my arm 7 times without getting the right point, she was panicked but aftaid of giving up until i whispered to her “i know you feel responsible to finish this task but i also have the right to feel comfortable, let your senior do it, i’ll request nicely”
sometimes someone has to give up for the sake of everyone else’s comfort — sounds awful but that’s how life works
Witness
Witness, Beloved,
Beholds the flow, stuck and stream
Of a river. Quiet--
quietly sitting by a flowing river
Favourite Episode
I love, Beloved,
When laughter's mixture of joy
And hidden strike back.
i love this episode especially when the challenge to eat avocado seed happened
enjoy 🤣
Love Bond
Love bond, Beloved
By blood or vow is all gift
Embraced and nurtured.
me with my aunt on Oct 27
i paid a homage to my father’s sister in law, my beloved aunt
we call her Budhe Didi, a 90-year-old Javanese woman who is now the oldest elder from my father’s family line; my mother is the other one (80 years old)
she was very happy seeing me and said “send my best regard to your mother, please bring her here to me, i miss her so much, please finish your home soon so i can meet her in your house warming…. bla bla bla”
i could only say “please bless me”
she also reminded me to keep the bond among cousins, nieces and nephews even when all elders (someday) rest in peace
aja sampek kepaten obor (never lose our family bond); it is not an easy job in modern era but i think it is the right way
thank you
❣️
The Master
The Master, Beloved
Shows me how beauty is made
And destroyed. That's life.
Ibu Tien is a senior batik artisan who has been my main source of my Yogyakartan classical batik collection. As a Javanese I never want to even sit at the same level with a master; I will sit at least one level lower from them at least when being in a frame. 💕 She is about 15 years older than me. Other then her Mbak Izzah, Ibu Tien’s daughter in law is another master of Yogyakartan classical batik
Mbak Izzah preparing my package; this stack was not one-time haul, many of them are those started 2 years ago — yes, one sheet of batik can be processed up to two years, mine was because some colouring process was done in another city (Solo) and some batik makers had to pause the batik process to go to rice field (taking care and harvesting rice)
Wukir Sari, Imogiri, Oct 25, 2024
Mbak Fitri is a master of “batik nitik” who becomes my main facilitator for “batik nitik” collection. She is the one introducing me to the senior batik artisans who dedicate themselves to this tradition. I sat down on the floor and made her sit at the chair although she strongly refused; my respect to this master although younger than me. 💕
Mbak Fitri’s artisans at the studio
Bangun Jiwo, Kasihan, Oct 26, 2024
Go Home
Where's home, Beloved?
Between colours in rainbow
Gliding where you are--
Brewing Dream
Brewing dream, dear love
Is tea and water in kettle
And temperature.
tea leaf brewed with cinnamon this afternoon
chamomile tea brewed this morning
Slow & Steady
It' slow and steady,
Snails throw a party with me.
Everyone's happy.
look at how they party: slow and steady, they didn’t stop climbing up the plant but i didn’t see their movement but suddenly one was already up on one leaf — fascinating nature
Death
What's death, Beloved?
A gate to a new garden
Where new game's waiting.
Just last week I made a plan to apply for a new MacBook as mine is 5 years old, 2 years longer than the replacement timeline. This MacBook worked wonder but with the heavy work I wanted to make her retire and use a new one.
Most of my friends know I treat some machines in my life as human beings: I give them names, talk to them, touch them like they are my babies. Although technically I don’t take care or them well: I don’t clean the Mac keyboard regularly, I don’t pump Blue and Red’s tyres regularly, I don’t always dust my luggages before putting them back to the dust bags, etc.
Today my MacBook that I planned to replace with a new one went on strike. It didn’t turn on the whole day. Her turning off really turned me off. I did all steps to turn her on with no result. The host IT guy gave up. Everyone tried all things possible with no result. We did even one silly thing: sunbathing the Mac next to the window, nothing happened.
When time comes with death, no one can prolong any life.
Maybe a coincidence, today one of my cousins passed away. He was such a fun brother to all of us; a wise man who lived his life to the fullest. His nuclear family is lucky to have them, we extended family are, too. Happy journey, Mas❣️ You are blessed so no need to worry. See you again.
thank you for these tough years
rike jokanan 
You must be logged in to post a comment.