Once upon a time: A phrase introduced early, Permanently stayed—
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When I was a child, adult people around me would tell kinds of stories especially under the full moon, and they always started the tales with once upon a time.
Although knowing that the tales were fictional, we children would still believe that those characters lived at the same time with us, it was just a distance apart, and that the lessons ought to be seriously taken by us— the naive little human beings. We have grown where making mistakes (formulated by moral values) is a shame, we were afraid of becoming those antagonist with unhappy endings in the stories told to us.
Storytelling is powerful indeed. How would I believe that behaving to parents without saying no is paramount in a human being’s life if it was not because of “Malinkundang” tale.
It took me years and years to understand that being well behave can be by saying no to anyone possible; and it was also because of listening to “Malinkundang” from different point of view.
It is at the end the sovereignty that frees human beings from their own toxicity. And it all starts with free questioning and responsible reasoning.
Wisdom isn’t about saying yes or no, it’s about saying yes or no in an appropriate way with respect to self and others.
Hey! I can’t say no to being vegetarian until I run errands and feed my fridge. 😁
situational vegetarian season #2 😁 – Cold Storage must miss me much!
No cane, root can be. Woods’re a case where food’s stored Use your axe and fire.
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My fridge had not much for me to cook. There was only green here and there. Alamak! What to do?
Limitation is where creativity waits to be picked. Let’s do the experiment. Just don’t burn the kitchen.
Ahhhh! My roasted potato and pumpkin soup turned to be exactly the same as those served in 5-star restaurant. Really? Might not be but…. Sorry, my tongue comments what my tongue tastes. 😁
Alhamdulillah. May all beings be happy.
situational vegetarian – no meat, cook what’s left! 😁not much in the case, while I’m hungry! 😌
Swear me, Beloved, Taste the life as a package. Or else you don’t live.
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High blood pressure is my best friend who always visits me after lamb party. It knocks on the door and slips into the bedroom then dances, swirling like a dervish. 😵
Lamb is good and gives me a beautiful headache! A complete package to sleep soundly.
🐑
Alhamdulillah….
today’s breakfast after Japanese class – lamb, then headache 🙃 sleep, sleep!
A door, Beloved, Reflects a host. Open, shut, To which wind sources. Or affects a host? Can be. Decision and reflection—
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Know your door, Beloved. Some winds are good and calming, some strong and disturbing. Not all winds should be welcomed. Close your door if you’re not ready with cleaning and tidying in your home.
😎
These five senses are doors, too.
Welcome, Tuesday! I’m welcoming you with warm heart because you’re a nice wind to this home.
🍃
gebyok entrance – Javanese traditional teak wood art
Dream team is unique— Bright, with little craziness To keep all intact.
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This dream team isn’t ideally perfect. The members argue and debate. We confuse and get confused at some turning points before clarity. We can be tired.
It is a perfect fit though for me. We fight for what we believe is right. We silently inspire each other. We don’t fit in others’ squares, are strongly reasonable and on point though. We don’t easily give up. We can accept wide spectrum of ideas and behaviours.
When everyone sings and the composition is clear in hand, no one can deny the unison in a choir. Ya, there is always one Snoopy-ing with its unknown tunes that (believe it or not) always makes other singers happier, more energised and the whole team glued and valued. That is how a dream is shared without discrimination. Snoopy being Snoopy is always needed for laughter and contemplation! That’s my dream team!
I don’t need perfect team because a dream team is not about a group of perfect people with perfect behaviour. It is about a group of imperfect heads with open mind and progressive appreciation sitting together to perfect a common goal to the right direction.
Holiday is going to be over…. Ready to sing again. Let’s wait what is the song and who is willing to be Snoopy-ing next year — ya, take turn, take turn ya…. 😁
May all beings be happy.
this picture on pyjama describes my dream team well
Red leaves, Beloved, Are red yet the eyes might catch Different reds. Normal—
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My red is a red no matter how red is mine compared to others’ reds. I respect others’ reds by not questioning their ability to perceive a red. In fact I only care about the reds of those in my inner circle in order to live harmoniously; and, those working together in order to ensure that the red is articulated precisely with no misunderstanding by all work partners.
Alhamdulillah.
May all beings be happy in this Christmas Eve. 💝
I love all reds in my frame. I joyfully let those out of the frame go.
Green, lush forest trail Where fresh air infuses life With hopes and good vibes.
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Today’s 4-hour walk in MacRitchie National Park gave me full stock of tropical vibes that will last for a year ahead keeping me positively motivated.
Wish there are more and bigger places like this in more countries especially in South East Asia so that people can find sanctuaries to breathe in cleaner tropical air for a while after busily working in populated buildings where air is conditioned or in factories where excessive chemicals are used or made.
Thanks, Singapore for keeping some managed greeneries which keeps the oxygen happily circulated.
🌳
of the entrance of MacRitchie Reservoirgreeted by a big familyrespect neighbours 😃respect neighbours, don’t misunderstand 😁simple beautyhumble greenyellow irisyellow at the bankgate to the greengreen from the tree top walkwalk happily, wear mask to keep happiness longer
Sail by a bumboat To linger where nature’s mixed With preserved good life.
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Finally I visited Pulau Ubin, the only place in Singapore where there are no apartment buildings, malls or highways. It just a kampung (village in Malay language). Cool and green!
Wikipedia: On 3 June 2005, the Singapore Government ordered that all the farmers rearing poultry on the island were to ship them to mainland Singapore and rear them in government-approved farms by 17 June 2005, in the wake of the avian influenza. In exchange, the local inhabitants were offered HDB government housing packages, although they could choose to live on the island. As of 2012, there are only 38 people living on the island.[8]
Wikipedia: Pulau Ubin’s wooden house villages and wooden jetties, relaxed inhabitants, rich and preserved wildlife, abandoned quarries and plantations, and untouched nature make it the last witness of the old kampung Singapore that existed before modern industrial times and large-scale urban development.
Thanks, Singapore for teaching me a lot of paradoxical loads of experiences.
Holiday is real! 🤩
trace together, vaccinatedmonkey is free to roam as a neighbour 😎the most dismounting time in my biking history ☺️lock it up!walk onlyboardwalk in Chek Jawa Wetland – check why it is called Chek Jawa 😎Chek Jawa beaconsmangrove forestpray before going home, aaaahhh forgot when departing 😃see you again!
Wish you, Beloved, Sent with white heart through the air And short holiday
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Christmas falls on Sunday so it’s replaced with a day off on the following Monday. I take 2 days of special shut-down on 23 and 24 so…. It is a long weekend for 2021’s Christmas. Whoohoo!
As much as missing my family, I don’t have enough gut to go back to Indonesia which still applies 10-day quarantine in Jakarta while I still have to fly to Surabaya before meeting my mother.
“It’s fine, you stay safe there. Take good care of yourself,” said they. That’s enough as blessings to me.
So? Where to go?
Pulau Ubin by bike!
Al Fatihah to all celebrating Christmas and those enjoying holiday! 💕
Fasting, Beloved, A space where you’re meeting me To interpret life.
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Fasting is a very common practice for a Javanese. I started at six but saw the real benefits of fasting only at 20’s. At 30’s for around 5 years I skipped recommended fasting due to congested biz trip schedule before finally I realised of losing good healthy days.
Intermittent fasting has helped me a lot with heart health management. There are more benefits though for those who are in either good or bad health. Hundreds of journals and articles about it are easy to browse in the Net.
Side effects? For those not familiar with fasting, they will get lethargic or headaches in the first some days (for me not at all), dried lips (come on, you can put lip balm) or the worst probably people will get cranky when hungry 😁
To a rather romantic person intermittent fasting is a space where one can contemplate about life, love, problem before finally laughing or at least smiling with or without tears finding that everything is not coincidentally met. Everything is systematically designed, reasonably put, no coincident, no accident. And space is where one can see the broken pieces come into a big picture.
Just need a space. I respect your space. 😎
May all beings be happy.
today’s breakfast in the intermittent fasting – lekker!
Nature, Beloved, Speaks to you about a path Where wings be North Star Which gives signs and directions Only when you walk.
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Only when you know your destination, Beloved, and are willing to take the walk, all signs, symbols and directions become relevant.
Salaam…. 💝
many branches, prioritise!it is good to have a map, but having a destination is a pre-conditionthere’s always risk in an action – evaluate and still do the walkthere should be an exit of everything – decision making is paramount, don’t get trapped in indecisivenessknow where to evacuate esp in emergency situationknow where and what to wait 💝
Mirror on the wall, I’m the prettiest of all? It cracks up. Masks gone—
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Ah, weekends of mid December! Work is slowing down on several days. Weekends feel like starting on Friday morning. I have some longer time to talk to the mirror and find that I’m still there! A hidden innocent rascal nicely sitting behind layers of curtains
Masquerade on break!
🤡👻🤖👽😈👹👺🎭💩🎃👾🤠
🥰
May all beings be happy! 💝
🤩
watching Maru, feeling like looking at the mirror 🤪
Unclear, Beloved? You’re still the one. You don’t know? I think you don’t care. Such a funny thing. Apart Yet close. Burst the bubble please.
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Misunderstood language of life endangers the only link connecting the lover and the beloved: vibrating in silence.
It looks like an internet: the network is there, it simply needs to be connected. It might be hardware or software malfunction? Anyway it’s a matter of choice, fix it or ignore it.
Air— warm, hot or cold Glides through all cavities Of bodies for life.
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I want to forget you for the rest of my life and in the next life and the next next next ones but these senses are too intelligent, able to capture the most minuscule amount of signs and symbols that you’re around.
Let me celebrate your noise everyday. Thank you for knocking on all senses doors.
Thanks for everything Not only abundance, but Also scarcity.
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Online work mode has made people think creatively to minimize boredom including inserting some fun through dress code in online meetings. This time thanksgiving. Yay!
I’ve read some history and the development of that tradition, not a fans though because I am raised a Javanese who is supposed to thank every day —every moment if possible— with whatever reason. If you don’t have reasons to be grateful, find one.
For being a human being. For being a female. For being one rascal in the family. For being a persistent colleague. For the abundance. For the scarcity. For being me now.
If it is still hard to thank for who you are, Beloved, just be you with the layers of fear, hope and awe.
Thank you! For everything 🐣
not a fans of costume but thanksgiving is not far from turkey, turkey headband is counted costume 🦃☺️ my hair! 🙄
Lily bulbs come back Among red leaves in autumn. Second chance from Her—
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What is second chance? Once again? Or again and again like lily bulbs that come back every autumn and bloom beautifully until forever ends?
spider lily near cemetery
Mother Nature has taught me that mistake doesn’t come with punishment; it comes with lesson to be a better human being, someone who has purer intention and clearer attention. She consistently brings messages about acceptance that no one will be perfect as imperfection is an included package to realise and/or materialise perfection. That welcoming the next good day is doing the best today. That if the next now called tomorrow is here, the second chance has welcome me to be a better me. A me that’s more me than before—
I remember my Kyoto trip in 2014, my first encounter with spider lily. Fascinated, I sat down on the grass for quite long time in front of a temple with my camera until a beautiful Japanese (old) lady stopped by me.
“Hana! Hana! Hana!” She said smiling, with her thumbs pointed to the lily then to my camera.
“Ya! Ya! Ya! Thank you! Beautiful flowers!”
It was a surprise for me. A moment with no preparation. A short act with no anticipation. She just went away with her wise old smile.
That lady was probably sent to me as a second chance to re-define what possibly a Japanese truly looks like as the previous week I didn’t have a good experience with another one in Nagano.
I won’t probably meet with her again, yet enough for me to know that when I’m that age, I’d like to be as friendly and warm as her. 💝
Thank you for everything that comes with second chance, even second chance after my second chance so that in the second second chance I realise that it is my second chance not to be missed.
Al-Fatihah for all those who miss the second chance and those who are waiting for a second chance.
Salaam….
spider lily at the rice field – I haven’t seen it in my country, worth trying
Coffee and cacao Who won’t love their aroma? Combined, it’s greater!
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After a full day, I decided to try a recipe that has invited me since forever. Steamed cake – coffee, cacao with a bit of cheese!
I’m not a fans of cheese and coffee but chocolate has been the love of my life since I didn’t even know chocolate was concocted from cacao seeds whose trees were grown in the front yard of Bu Har, the Art teacher in junior high school.
It’s always exciting to find sweet memories in bits of your work.
Tada!
I’m proud of making steamed cake with (almost) tiramisu flavour! 🥰yum yum!fresh from the steamer, evening after a long day 😍the start is relatively tidy and cleanthe end needs some sweet touch 😩
A strand of white pearls Harvested in the deep sea Bedazzles her neck.
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There is time when I regret of what’s done and nervous about what will happen. Why did I do that? I should have done this. What if I fail again? I am not good enough.
I used to think money was everything with happiness but I prove that money is the biggest illusion in life that I misunderstood. Now I consider money should be merely a tool, never a purpose. Yet I still think of what if my company stock price decreases? 😁
I used to look for happiness and protection in a relationship. With experiences I become strongly convinced that only a healthy relationship with the self can help me cope with problems; moreover, without healthy relation with my self any relationship with others won’t work well. Yet I still don’t heal from broken heart easily and still think whether or not I will meet someone I can share some simple happiness and shelter with.
I was between life and death situations more than once for some illness before, and so helpless about future. And gradually I realise that death can come anytime even when people are healthy. Yet I still hope I die when I let go of any confusion and live in clarity.
However, there is time when I know that only in the now I can accept everything. In the now I can shed tears with mixture of gratefulness for what’s breaking my heart and blessings of what’s boosting the quality of life. In the now I can smile just by seeing piling laundry waiting for ironing. In the now I can see the canvas is the door of self healing. In the now I can imagine sending a cake full of love for my loved ones who live in many different places, whom I cannot visit with many reasons. In the now I can see shades of real and true happiness in each and every experience from wake up to sleep.
Thank you for the now and now and now that form a strand of pearls called forever.
I live forever until the last now meets with the first now.
Al Fatihah to all of my loved ones across the oceans. I bless you happiness.
Salaam….
back on track, contemplating with coloursdo things with love, the definition of love? enjoying good things to the fullest or, in bad time enjoying the process with patience 💝thank you, Emily for the message 🪶🙏🏽
Trace back history Deeply buried in the dark. Strong trees start from roots.
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History of life. History of family. History of country. History of a nation. History of a continent. History of the world. History of human beings. History of the universe.
Whose stories?
History is written by the victors, said Winston Churchill. Is that right? It might be, politically.
She’d love to understand histories from those who have experienced life journey with heart and soul.
Harvest is to reap What’s nurtured from the nature. Good plans might not work.
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Last weekend was one of the merrier offs. Meet up with friends in different places + online conversation with best friends did draw interesting facts about how they apply parenting.
I’m against those who consider children as investment. This mindset is broadly believed where I was raised. This old concept has poorly discouraged many of us to grow as we are.
Many children from my time feel that their success should be to fulfil what their parents want as the investors who often time consider financial support is paramount, not to actually use their own ideal dreams to contribute to society as an individual with their unique ID and personality.
No, I don’t deny how important formal education is for modern human beings. And so financial support -normally from parents in my society- should be highly appreciated by those who enjoy the privilege. Yet the financial support should not make children become economically vulnerable against their parents.
In the other hand children must know parents -assumed as the major or primary support before living independently- get old and need support in their retirement and so those elderly should be well taken care of. This should be a form of respect and responsibility, not an abusively forced task.
Good parents should know it is a responsibility to prepare children to be responsible human beings; good children should know it is a responsibility to support parents in retirement time. 💝
It is not easy to deal with parents who don’t give room or give very thin chance to bridge gaps of many topics. One of the significant result is these children fail managing their own future plans: losing the chance to work in a dreamed place, missing the chance to live abroad, getting married with someone they don’t love or being single for not getting approval to get married with the loved ones, and so on and so forth. I’m one of those 😝
When one best friend said she wanted her son to be so and so but the son shown his rebel, I couldn’t resist myself to not say “Do you remember why you are now still there?”
She laughed and said,”Ok, ok thanks for reminding me. But you are not married. haven’t been a parent, haven’t had children that’s why you can say that easily…..! You would be disappointed if your children grow not up to your expectation. You would never want them to live below your standards. They should be the one materialising parents’ dreams that are missed. What would you say, my dear?”
Damn! She might be right!
However, how would parents expect children to be what the parents failed to be? Don’t they think children will fail to do so as well with the same style of parenting parents copy from grandparents (who failed in the first hand)? 😫
Please forgive me, best friend. Can’t always agree with but respect your stance. If I have children, I won’t lazily apply the dictatorship or transactional relationship. 👍🏽😘
I thank God to be single in this situation although I have smaller hope to “harvest my own next generation”. I’m quite happy that my brothers (and some crazy good friends) allow me to love their children as an open-minded aunt cum good friend when they need to have fun smart discussions. 🥰
Rivers change their flows, Meet salt, join tides, become sea In an estuary.
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Eyes are a lagoon where tears are gliding through to the ocean of realities before evaporating then giving up what’s not serving anymore and turning grief into spirit to achieve the next milestones.
Soul is what’s peeping out through two windows, zooming in and out of what life presents to the self, finding the best view with accuracy and precision to gain clarity.
There won’t be anything wasted. All is flowing, without stopping. Like rivers that keep moving from soft to fast flows before finally joining a vast ever-moving force named the sea.
May all beings be happy. 💝
an estuary in Sempu Island, East Java – a hidden gem, hope it stays (relatively) hidden 💝
She’s dancing freely Between needles of the rain. Wounds in a bright soul—
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She loves rain as much as she adores rainy days. It reminds her of millions of water needles sharply in high speed falling on earth, different parts of earth.
Heart rain washing a rainforest is a blessing, flood in Jakarta tortures many stray animals and the underprivileged.
It’s not the pain, Beloved. It’s what’s left after suffering.
rike jokanan 
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