graphs of my Universe
What is haunted, Love?
A heart full with prejudice,
Busy with judgement--
last May i had a biz trip to Bangkok and stayed in my preferred hotel next to Erawan Shrine – around 2 weeks ago 6 people were murdered on the 5th floor of that hotel, poisoned
my colleagues said yesterday “Rike, stay in my preferred hotel, yours is haunted now!” as if they would get bonus for bringing me in 😂
haunted is a scary word, as scary as a heart who cannot sing sweet songs
Today's dinner of a dreamer
Looks like a dream
Tastes like a dream
Smells like a dream
Sounds like a dream
But feels real
At a table for one
Of epic dinner.
—
Today’s dinner was way beyond my expectation especially the size. The taste was still as predicted as Thai food to be yet the vibe where I enjoyed my dinner was so relaxing that everything became good!
Let me show you today’s epic dinner.
In fact I surpassed the word gluttony. Please forgive me for being so greedy yet not finishing the order.
Next time better (better means eat more???) 🙃
💕
namprikapik muang kung: mackerel, deep fried eggplant, omelett cubes plus all the raw vegetable (some leaves like coriander leaves and others i know not, long bean, cucumber, small eggplant) and the shrimp paste sauce
❣️❣️❣️
fabulous💕
miang krob bai mara: deep fried bitter gourd leaves❣️❣️❣️
kaeng leang: spicy herb vegetable soup with prawns
butterfly pea leaves tea❣️❣️❣️
this… is… the pinnacle! i thought it was a warm drink as a gift — lucky i asked: it was to wash my hand 😂😂😂
and so i did
it smelled good yet my hand is coloured now 😂😂😂
It is very hot in Bangkok but I really want to sit down meditating before praying in a place where people pray. A place of praying is one of best places as in that area human beings are willingly connecting themselves with power beyond their own, God’s or whatever they call the power is.
I went to Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan near the hotel and it really is a serene spot among this busy city.
This hot day out has turned to a serene cool within.
Thank you❣️
in bloom
ready to bloom
Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan
wherever i go, i won’t miss — i won’t iss praying (my own way), it can be in mosque, shrine, temple, church, meditation center, hotel room, where.ever i feel my heart is showing me a space ♥️ — praying hall of Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan
wherever i go, i won’t miss eating — lunch before temple 💕
Lucky to be in Bangkok this time with the “Da Vinci Alive Bangkok”–
I thought Mona Lisa painting was big until seeing it with my very eyes; this one is the replica displayed in “Da Vinci Alive Bangkok”
back in 2017 in Paris, I didn’t even have the energy to walk nearer — maybe next visit, Mona Lisa ❣️
Best local delight's
Bangkok's 7-Eleven's.
Fresh presentation--
—
this is what’s fabulous about Thailand, not pictured are grilled banana, etc, etc, done for dinner!!! 💋💋💋
This life’s well weathered
‘Tween hot and cold, calm and rushed.
There’s home to shelter.
——
Indonesia Mosque in Bangkok — joining a short prayer
i went to a mosque then to a small shrine today before flight — 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 — 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
💕
Sweetness of this life,
Interchangeable
Only with
The heart
That sings love songs.
——
pastry that charms sweetness sensor tonight mixed with friendship woke me up
“long 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
While writing this, I am spending some time in Erawan Shrine before going to Svarnabhum Airport. I am now witnessing the power of storytelling. Soon I will be back to the hotel just next to it to pick up my luggage then go home.
My head is now ranting:
You can make religion and spirituality good commodity through story telling. Tell people that through your piousity and spirituality you will help them solve their problems or be close to gods or be happy or get their wishes come true; they will come to you with or without believing whether you are true or not. Don’t tell them they should pay as it is contra productive. Just tell them there will be energy exchange so logistics should be co-financed.
It is great and amazing that tourism is designed that way.
When will mosques ask visitors to pay? If they do, they’d better have a good storytelling more than cleaning cost. If not, that is great.
Don’t get me wrong, I am one of those believing with the power of religiosity and spirituality that solve life mystery. With one condition: if told in a wise and sweet way and told by a reliable person. Otherwise, they’d better eat their own sh*t (sh*t can be a lot of money from those being fooled around by them); don’t expect karma as they believe what they do is all right.
God bless gods. God bless all shrines, temples, churches, mosques, etc where people are praying. God bless storytelling.
God bless Erawan Shrine to where I will be back until I stop visiting Bangkok heaven knows when.
❤️
A fruit that’s bitten
Sends a sailor with a map
To harvest white pearls.
—
The room becomes bright
With two smiles under dim light.
Feel good with good sight.
—-
I met a good friend and he could not stop talking about how hard it has been for him to feel good behind his (nice) smile. He said that he is constantly in stress of silent competition at work or in loneliness far away from family. He said that people around him seem unhappy to see others happy.
Me: Normal! It happened to me when I was young. Getting older, it is easier to accept what is.
GF: You did compete? Unbelievable! You seem to have neither ambition to excel nor spirit to live. Low profile, high product yuck! Your motto sucks!
Me: I did lightly. You’re still young so just enjoy your competitiveness and being away from family. Make more friends and only one girlfriend. Some day you will be where I am now when nothing is worth chasing except cockroach to kill.
GF: So you feel good all the time?
Me: Most of the time only, not all the time lah… I am not a Barbie doll.
GF: Meaning you never have problem?
Me: Do I look like not having problem?
GF: I know you have problems and are sometimes upset about people.
Me: Ya, I do have problems. People confront me. I confront people. But I minimise blaming others. Most thing if not everything is about me making incorrect decisions. I am sometimes very very unhappy about others, too. I act boldly occasionally to show boundary.
GF: And you still can feel good when you are not happy?
Me: Yes, I have a lot of distractions ready: work, books, orchids, painting, people although mostly not them, biking, cooking. End the unhappy time fast.
GF: How?
Me: Distract yourself. Flip the coin to the other side. And remember feel good is contagious. At least you don’t look gloomy when you feel good.
GF: So how do you think I should feel good when my colleague stabs me in the back?
Me: Feel good that it is not you stabbing people in their back. Thank God for showing the real friends to you.
GF: Argh! I want to punch his face!
Me: Ouch! Will it make you feel good?
GF: Maybe, but makes me look not good, then makes me feel not good.
Me: Wow! You master it already!
GF: But don’t you realise some people will get offended even when we feel good and do things as we are? They think we are insensitive. They think we are ridiculing them.
Me: Why care? You only need your approval to do something that makes you feel good, with one condition: that you do it without intension of offending or hurting others.
GF: If they get offended?
Me: I…. Don’t…. Care….
GF: Okaaaaaay! Hey! How is the food?
Me: Not so good 😩 The worst tom yum on earth!
GF: Agree. So is it because you are not able to appreciate the food? And how do you minimise blaming others in this case?
Me: Of course I blame the chef! You think I am his mother? Let’s not be back to this restaurant again.
GF: 😂😂😂
Lessons learnt: stay away from chatty friends when hungry, be relaxed when talking to young men as they explode easily, find a good restaurant or cook your own tom yum, get older without grudge, avoid those disrespecting you, laugh joyfully
Arrived in Bangkok today I was welcome by a wreath of jasmines, so fragrant and elegant. Sawasdee Ka!
Tiba di Bangkok hari ini aku disambut oleh seroncean bunga melati, wangi dan anggun. Selamat datang!
GH Erawan, October 27, 2014 – 7:50pm
rike jokanan 
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