Tag: Bussorah Street

Love Eat or Love Pray? 🥰 (sharing)

Learning, Map It!

I can’t know anymore what makes this area special for me, whether the Masjid Sultan or Wardah Books or two favourite restaurants here. Anyway at least two are in must-visit list at the same time. After visiting Masjid Sultan to submit charity from my fellow Indonesian, today’s preferred was Hokkaido (halal) ramen as Wardah Books was closed and the Turkish restaurant was too crowded — I don’t like crowded restaurant.

FYI, Masjid Sultan is surrounded by hundreds of restaurants and shops; it is an equivalent with old-time mosque which was always built around market place in order for people to reach it in no time.

When I meet friends in this area, it is either with a statement “let’s meet up at the mosque” or “meet at *** restaurant” or “Wardah Books this time?”. There is one question that my friends and I like to ask each other as either teaser or respect: “eating 1st or praying*) 1st?” The answer?

*) praying here is not a flash pray before starting activities  like simply saying “In the name of The Gracious and The Merciful” but praying is around 5-10 minutes protocol that is normally done by fellow Muslim.

Group #1 (religious friends, they can pray “forever”, wow!): Pray first. It is more important than anything including eating. We should prioritise God who has given us everything, others can wait. Don’t make God jealous.

Group #2 (rascals, will let you pray while they start eating): Eat first. God won’t force you to pray when you are hungry. Better you eat remembering that you will pray rather than you pray and your thought is wandering around all kinds of food.

Group #3 (clown, bitter that makes all chatters jokers): Don’t ask me, I am fasting everyday because of having no food at all and so I don’t pray because I have nothing to thank for.

Group #4 (good jugglers, like Group #3 but to the next level): Why so picky? Can’t we do both at the same time? You can choose at the mosque or in the restaurant!

Some jokes are actually dead serious that the way people respond can either be considered as intelligence or harassment or abuse rather than as just fun. Yet I share mine as part of showing how religious comedy exists among Javanese Muslims (there are way more that I will never share publicly to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation); no harassment or abuse whatsoever. I even see philosophy in many if not all jokes. 😝

Ah! Life is so rich, why feel no good just because of one point of view?

Salaam.

open for everyone 🙇‍♀️

About Masjid Sultan or Sultan Mosque

more than just a bookstore; my Arabic class was here by then

About Wardah Books

good! my colleague of course said “no!”

About ICHIKOKUDO

this is how Hokkaido (halal) ramen looks – eater can select ramen with light-consistency broth that’s why I like it yet the presentation is not up to my expectation: messy kelp, wet spoon, no wet tissue 😌
berry jelly tea – yum!, sweet
today’s drink, also good 😊

Moment

Learning, life, love, Map It!, Poetic, This Person
Moment, Beloved
The breeze before falling rain
Greets the earth. A joy—

—————————————————————

Moment is when an experience gets clicked with all senses, falls on to the right-chosen meanings, stays for a longer time.

Yet each moment should vanish, fade away, blend into pixels of maturity in someone’s life. It will be forgiven, might be forgotten, must be learnt as life lessons. How delicious this life is for those who are willing to appreciate both shade and light. How beautiful life is as it is composed by millions of pixels of different experiences whose essence is memorable.

The more experience, the better? Yes, only when its essence is memorable. Its essence is memorable only when all senses are capturing the experience and reflecting it through lesson learnt. Or else, it is just motion gone with the tick-tock of a clock— not forgiven, not forgotten, no learnt-lesson.

Walking through the lanes around Masjid Sultan, sitting at the verandah of an old shop lot, reading new old-book from Wardah Books, drinking Turkish coffee, sucking the sweetness of kunefe, breathing the air right before the rain, hearing the warm chats from other tables are all motions which are waiting for the moment to disclose beauty before things end. The taste of life!

Weekend is always much appreciated through slow pace, to balance the fast-paced demanding targets that are relevant for a preparation before the next beneficial life journey.

May all beings be happy.

books before coffee, coffee before sugar, sugar before smiles
taken it many many times, still favourite Turkish food of mine
dear Lamp, is anyone living inside of you?

Alaturka Mediterranean and Turkish Restaurant, gonna be back again (and again) 🥇

a pretty corner
eyes everywhere, omnipresent omniscient

Listening Class

Learning, Map It!, Poetic
Listen to the rants
Of those needing some ears. Who?
Maybe your own self—

I need fresh air and different taste today! Pretty hot day and my bike really needs long rest. So I decided to book a taxi to Bussorah Street. Why not MRT? Today the automatic-smile-to-people apps of mine broke down and my ears needed some entertainment from random drivers who -if you are lucky or unlucky depending on how you perceive it- will tell a lot of stories about the Gov, the people, etc.

And Universe answered! The driver was perfectly being upset with a passenger that scolded at him because the passenger thought he made a longer journey and so the passenger had to pay $16 instead of $9.

“Walao! He think such distance can ah with only $9? If he live in Sentausa, he sure got money whaaaaat?! And if always take taxi, he sure know it is at least $15!”

“He think because he is foreigner he ok do what he like haaaaaah?!”

“You know he said “f***ing ***hole” to me ! He think he got right say that to driver! This is first time I complain to my office about my passenger you know. Usually I don’t care la people bitter or not smile or not talk but this guy ah scolding ah you think ok ah?”

Oops! If that was really the words said to the driver, that was rude!

He ranted more…. actually the whole trip I was all ears for him. Thanks God for my patience today.

“You probably need some coffee, Sir,” said I.

“Ya la. I so angry! I didn’t take passenger after him, straight to coffee shop to have coffee then took your order la. Still angry you know! My company already took my complaint. Maybe also need blacklisted passenger you know. People should not behave rude to drivers blah blah blah”.”

“You need to walk to the street. Cannot enter, not allowed one, you know right?”

“Oh, no worry, Sir. I know this area quite well. Let me walk. This is the fare, please take the change, for your noon coffee.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Have a nice day!”

I walked down the street to go to a small bookstore which sells books that I won’t find in Kinokuniya. This hidden gem among all those nice restaurants feels much more special in this pandemic. There are still many people but probably only 30% of normal days when tourists are swarming like alate around the light.

This was a nice day! I brought home some reading and good food!

Mission accomplished!

Time to listen to the Self!

Salaam

reading is like listening to self, you decipher your own intelligence through other’s writing