Luck

Anger, Beloved
Swirling stream drawning what flow,
Demolishing luck--

Anger can bring unluck, now I believe that.

I was furious because some people made unnecessary mistakes. Although mistake is mistake that can be fixed but covering up is another level of mistake making a mistake not just a mistake. I can never accept when people are not well treated, not well protected, ignored, disrespected.

anger is maelstrom

I still could not get rid of the patches of anger even after some hours. No sleep cured it. No food did. No nothing. I felt my body tremble whenever thinking of how those mistakes were made and so on and so forth.

This very morning I realised that my anger didn’t bring good things. It brought me heat in head, unclear thought and unlucky events. And the unlucky events were the worst as I’ve always been feeling lucky in my life.

Look what happened to me….

I queued behind a lady who failed scanning her fingerprints and facial recognition in the immigration autogate that made the waiting too long for such a sophisticated system. My Malaysia Digital Arrival Card submission failed 4 times today. My passport identification page got folded. My automatic bagagge check-in failed, with a bonus of bitter sour unfriendly female airline assistant treating my passport like a trash.

Please forgive me, dear self. Those mistakes do not belong to you and you are not responsible to bear any cost; they are those people’s, let them deal with any consequences possible.

I feel lucky.

Feel lucky.

Lucky!

Hidden

All cracks in the stone
Show what is glowing inside.
Light in the darkness—

2nd day of Ramadhan – craving another one that is not shown through a photo 😁

Full

How full are you, Love?
Leave a space where air can move
And water can flow.

It is Ramadhan 1, I started my 30-day fasting.

Fasting is not a new or foreign to my family. My parents consider it a sacred practice in their life. My oldest sister does fast every two days. Intermitten fasting is never a new thing for us. We are Javanese, we fast both as a spiritual sanctuary and mental exercise.

When we talk about fasting in Javanese tradition, it is not always like the Islamic fasting (not eating, not drinking, not smoking, not having sex on the daylight). Fasting or pasa or poso in Javanese is managing what is in and out through all doors of senses in our body. It can be simply by choosing what to eat, when to eat, how to eat.

In old days Javanese did many different types of fasting and so they name those types of fasting differently.

Mutih (derived from the word putih or white in Javanese) is when they only eat rice and drink water. They won’t be consuming anything with tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, gurih, etc.

Ngidang (derived from the word kidang or deer in Javanese) is when they only consume leafy vegetables and water, and no other things.

Ngrowot (derived from the word krowot that means “no rice” in Javanese) in when they will not consume rice and any product of any kind of rice).

Etc….

For this Ramadhan I decided to do ngrowot. It means I will not consume any rice and any product of rice crom dawn to dusk, from day 1 until end of Ramadhan. I want to know how good I am pushing myself through “hunger”.

Bismillah!

Yes, I can.

💕

my first day of “Ramadhan Ngrowot” breakfast

😁

Breathing

Living is breathing.
A quest of in and out air
To define meaning

breathing day for some of my beautiful batik, the Javanese exhibition of wisdom

One of treatments to handmade batik is letting them breath or in Javanese language we call it “angin-angin” that is literally “wind-wind” — hanging batik clothes in fresh air, not directly under the sun to let them be in contact with air to decrease the humidity.

Enjoy your breathing.

❣️

Super Life

Super life, dear love
Celebrating all senses,
Diving to the deep--

gulai jantung pisang & tempe

in process

jantung pisang 💕 the potential of super life, banana tree — banana tree will naturally die after it gives fruit!

In Between

In between breathing
There's a space to insert time
That means forever.

nikujaga is a favourite for guests visiting me but they consider it snack in between meals as it is too sweet for them to enjoy with rice; for me it is good to cook: simple and fast

today’s lunch and dinner 😍 the meat isn’t the best as the slicing is too thick — it’s still ok

We Are The Champions (Queen)

There's a time, my dear
You cherish with sweet breathing.
Winning against self--

i used to be very harsh to myself until 2019 when two doctors made me realise that taking care of my body is as important as taking care of my spirit and mental

i started expressing myself more freely and genuinely, less drama, no excuse to stop me from being calm and confident, accepting me the way me is, unlearning old knowledge, learning new knowledge, opening my heart to all possible layers of truth and beauty

now i believe i am one of this world champions seeing how well i coped with my own self until i can feel so comfortable again back to my me

…. now i won’t let those playing around with me for their own fun in to my life as my life is not only a span of fun free time yet it is a span of fun dedicating time

thank you all for being you even with just a brief existence here now in this short journey

💕

Chosen

Chosen, Beloved,
One yes after lots of no.
Where can I find one?

voted for president and legislation today in the Embassy of Republic of Indonesia – well done!

Pretty Beautiful

You're pretty beautiful
Filling me with so much love
Through eyes that are closed.

both the dancers and the cute watcher are pretty beautiful –

Nicely Soaked

Nicely soaked in love
With flowing sweet intension
In a good morning

soaked in water in this Bali morning (7am) – a standing phone helped capture a moment nicely ♥️

jineng that becomes a gazebo at the pool; jineng is originally Balinese rice storage house

Angel

Angel, Beloved
Wraps me with hundreds of wings,
Showers me with light.

Angel Moon and Chris under confetti

Chris, Angel Moon and the person behind her

both pictures sent by a friend watching Coldplay from Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok – thank you❣️

Feel

Feeling, Beloved
Wraps a soul in ecstacy,
A heart in jollies

working from remote in Bali feels perfectly energetic to fully contribute to team ♥️ at the same time feels home

i need to renew my passport (changing it to e-passport) and so i can only do it in Indonesia — Bali it is

e-passport was done yesterday at ~3pm and now i continue working from this small Balinese bedroom until end of this week

Kindness

Kindness, Beloved
A strand of gemstones glowing.
A gift for my love--

arriving home from Malaysia, i found a sukun (bread fruit) as a gift from my neighbours (cleaners, gardeners, security guards) for the 2nd time — need to look for things that can give them smile

thank you, neighbours!

A Fan Not

A fan not, dear love
Takes away half of portion
Of adoration.

no garnish, just 2 cabbage rolls for today’s night munching

my first cabbage rolls — not the best, i regretted of putting a can of tomato into it, should have been half of if

i am not a fan of tomato 😌

i still have 8 remaining in the freezer and will make it perfect next year 😍

Now Here

Now here, Beloved
Is the best nowhere to go.
Breathing, close your eyes.

gethuk sukun with grated palm sugar 💕 for today’s breakfast! long weekend will be full of home cooking and some fun now and here

happy long weekend fully home…. no no fully home, maybe biking or walking too

waking up hungry, i went to kitchen this morning; re-steam the sukun then put one big slice in the mortar

yesterday aunty cleaning service knocked my door and showed me a big sukun (breasfruit) saying “Ma’am, would you mind cutting this into 2, one for me and and for you” — she promised me to give some sukun harvested from a tree at the green swimming pool; of course i did it happily! thank you very much, Aunty! 💕

i loved to eat it steamed or fried back home — can i grow it in my backyard? 😍

About sukun

A Guest

A guest, Beloved:
Someone enjoying your home
Then a warm farewell

it’ was either me or my friend the guest here; yet we both enjoyed today’s dinner so much

Sweet Setting

Leaving with no grudge
That giving an ugly setting
To this short story

you can be someone’s story background like those flowers and grass in this photo; make sure you make the story go more smoothly or feel more easily — keep your bitter and sour taste for yourself 😁

so much love today as all things were perfectly resolved — idem ditto for all days ahead 💕

Friendly Visits

There's no other word
Better than welcome and thanks
To visiting friends.

me, Mbak Dee and Pak Soer in MRT red line from Orchard heading to my home — welcome to my humble abode! 🙏🏼

Mbak Dee and I are durian eaters, Pak Soer is social durianer 😂

maybe it is the durian at night that has made me “fresher”, not only the medication that brings some spike of food craving 🤭

we went home at 12am with durian burp smell and promise to meet again some day

thank you, Mbak Dee and Pak Soer 💕

One Best

One best, Beloved
Not ranked number one but that
From problems not run--

there’s always one best and this one is for today’s 😊 (sauté grated carrot, fried dried fish, seaweed)

home cooking is my favourite food

Old

I'm old, Beloved.
Inch by inch closer to the gate
Of letting all go.

the wooden structure at the end of the bridge used to be a ryokan that is not in operation anymore, it was left with its old days’ golden era — it is now deserted and decayed

a reflection of getting old?

A conversation with best friend about definition of old and our getting old.

Me (M): By UN definition we are not old yet. Old is those above 60.

Best friend (BF): That’s just to make the working age later and later.

M: So we still have at least 16 years before officially called old by the definition.

BF: By then they define old as those above 70.

M: I guest human beings push the boundary to stay young.

BF: Young and immortal?

M: I don’t want to be immortal.

BF: You will if you have children. You will want to live seeing them grow up, get married, give you grandchildren, and so on with you healthy and happy with them.

M: They want it, too? Only if I am around without any care needed from them I guess.

Both of us: 😂😂😂

About the UN definition of old

Home

A home, Beloved
Where kitchen's fun and alive,
Diningroom's smiling

i’ve been living away from my parents since young age and before that i loved to cook for everyone in the family; i was not a best cook but my father loved most of what i made — now i realize why i prefer home cooking (both mine and my friends’) to the restaurant food — most home cooking is loaded with fresh ingredients, less additive substance and lots of sprinkles of love

my friends are visiting soon and i am thinking of cooking for them — excited! 💕

Home

I'm flying back home
To weave a new home that's warm
And knows only you.

—-

Muraksara Nusantara — “Indonesia’s human beings” in Soetta Airport domestic arrival, in transit before Singapore

Yes, I know most of them thanks to their roles and professions in Indonesia — I respect most of them due to their integrity leaving me no doubt that human beings are created to inspire others positively, question some due to their fake impartiality whether their people or their “political promotor”

we Indonesian will never forget how these two men of two poles apart life principles fought for the birth of Indonesia that is formed from hundreds of sultanates and kingdoms — asked, I would vote Hatta first as a man of integrity for his loyalty and honesty, while Soekarno for his speech and bravery

Home

Home, Beloved,
When all faces lining up
Remind me of you.

—-

Rupa Buwana in Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Banten — faces of those people of the world who have outstanding contribution — I am still asking “why there is no Steve Jobs and Emily Dickinson? 😊💕

Indonesia’s 1st President and Vice President — Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta