Tag: home

Prophesy

Learning, Poetic
Do you believe in prophesy
Where fog lingers down the hill
Leaving feet walk alone,
No light,
No eyesight,
No pathway seen,
Only heart listening
To the wind rustling
Flying leaves to
The North Star?

——

This artwork by Ichwan Noor is named “Bedhaya Kinjeng Wesi”

Bedhaya: a Javanese sacred dance (usually composed by a king to be) performed by at least 9 female dancers or bigger odd numbers

Kinjeng: Javanese word for dragonfly

Wesi: Javanese word for iron

Kinjeng wesi (iron dragonfly) is a phrase that appeared in one Javanese prophesy telling that the area where Yogyakarta International Airport is now located is the area mentioned to be the nest of iron dragonflies

Do I believe? Not so much. Yet it is always entertaining to talk about what the old days predict about nowadays.

I don’t have so much expectation that Yogyakarta will be a busy tourist spot (I don’t want it to lose more and more genuineness and originality of culture and traditions) — yet I hope at least there will be more flights from and to Singapore in that new airport.

💕

Roses Faraway Home

Learning
Where is home?
It is where roses dry out
Silently on a table
With their colours and shapes.

Where is home?
It is also where roses grow
Peacefully in the garden
With their beauty and scent.

Where is home?
It is where roses are
Sincerely exist in life
With their space and time.

——

left it on Oct 24 evening, will meet them again on Oct 30 morning in a home

Carrickfergus (song)

Learning
I wish I was in carrickfergus
Where the castle looks out to sea.
I would swim over the deepest ocean
For my love to be with me.
But the sea is wide
And I can not swim over
Nor have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatman,
To ferry me over, my love and I.

(part of the lyrics)

——

Carrickfergus is a song that has charmed me with just some words in it and the flow of its music. Some words sound very old yet familiar to me, waking up something ancient in me that feels home.

Carrickfergus itself is a place in Ireland allegedly one of the oldest towns there. I’ve never wanted to visit the place although it is quite well known.

i have the cassette in which this song is in — yes, cassette that I bought back in 2002 😃

Rose Tea

Learning
I am home
Welcomed
By a space
Waiting for its soul
To fill the gap
With emptiness.

I am home
Welcomed
By rose tea
Waiting to be brewed
To wake up the heart
With memories.

I am home
Welcomed
By another day
Waiting to be celebrated
To highlight meaning
With what is.

——

I left 3 stems of red roses in the vase and arriving, I found them beautifully dried — a jug of rose tea is my first relaxing session

I Bow to The Divine in You

Learning, Poetic, This Person, Those People
The bow that launches
Is the arrow that is shot:
An exhibit by the
One
That honour is inevitably
Gorgeous
For that
Respecting
From that
Witnessing.

Salute to the bowstring.

——

I have learnt how to genuinely respect my teachers and other human beings even more after learning meditation in Bali Usada — I humbly thank you, Pak Merta Ada. I bow to the divine in you and all my fellow Tapa Brata participants 🙏🏼

it was a sunny day so Pak Merta Ada invited us all to end the Tapa Brata with 1-hour meditation under the blessed bodhi tree — hope health and calmness be granted to all of us ♥️

Pak Ishak giving his testimony about the noble silence, Ibu Lady his wife video shooting him — the oldest participants in this Tapa Brata 2 we all cordially respect

canang under a tree as a daily respect to it for being part of the environment protection

torch ginger is the most grown herb in Bali Usada meditation center — yummy and fragrant when cooked

💚


Three of us stayed in bungalow #4 for 12 days of which in 1st-11th we didn’t talk to each other. We just took turn of using bathroom, switching on/off light at 3:30am and 10:00pm, making sure towel racks were sunbathed, replenishing toilet tissue, cleaning bathroom. All were done in silence in between meditation sessions, physical exercises, meals and lectures. Only at the last night after Tapa Brata was officially summed up, we could not stop sharing about our life journey until 2:00am.

Tami is 32, Fitri is 33 and I am 48: I am the oldest but I am the baby in meditation — they meditated 1.5 hours without changing position, I did but could not stop “ngereog” in the last 5 to 10 minutes.

My age doesn’t mean anything with these 2 ladies of harmonious mind.

See you again, my little sisters! Anicca! 💕

ngereog literally means performing reog dance; Tami used the word to describe someone’s intense movement during meditation due to muscle stress 😂

Ibu Lady, Srimurni and I showered by the morning light right after morning meditation and no shower (yet) — Srimurni was one of those could not stop talking to me after the Tapa Brata 😄

pure friendship is such a magical bond 💕

Land

Learning, Map It!, Poetic
A pair of strong wings
Bring me to a land of thoughts
Where hope shines the light.

——

landed home after burying hope to grow with flowers and spreading love with billowing incense smoke

View Finder

Learning, Map It!, Poetic
The light that is in,
The angle that frames, both play
To find the best view.

——

About Tugu Yogyakarta

photo taken while my friend was driving fast to avoid some motorbikes; i’ve missed the opportunity of taking its picture many times, this time no although not from a nice point of view

Dripping

Learning
This heart is leaking.
Droplets of love are dripping,
Fertilising life.

——

About wedang uwuh

wedang uwuh, a favourite beverage in breezy night of Jogja

inside wedang uwuh

Books To Breathe

Learning, Poetic, This Person, Those People
Have a seat, dear friends.
Breathe this home before our chat.
Leave the heat outside.
Pages of shapes and colours,
Tell them to bring their best selves.

——

Coffee table books are good to make guests relaxed before longer chat with me and at the same time to lay foundation of the chat. Not all guests visit me to chill out; some do to ask for help that might make it difficult for them to start a convo, so some flash reading can help them break the ice and sometimes for the host to loop back to the ice breakers when strategising to refuse unreasonable requests. 😉

Just fyi, some people don’t easily give up “selling misery to get a buy-in”, so be softly tough; one exquisite coffee table book might not even work.

About coffee table books

coffee table books taking turn monthly to welcome my friends

this book contains reproduced masterpieces of world’s well-known painters; the characters in the original paintings are all replaced by cats

all reproductions are by Susan Herbert

thank you, Ma’am for your art! 🙏🏼

here is very few from a total of 140 illustrations

The Beguiling of Merlin — Edward Burne-Jones, 1872-7

A Couple — Pierre Auguste-Renoir c. 1868

The Milkmaid — Johannes Vermeer c. 1660

The Child’s Bath — Mary Bassat, 1893

this is originally not a coffee table book but i will make it one — currently reading it 👏🏼

always suitable anytime so it will be forever on the table accompanied by the monthly one — only women have this power 😊

Home

Learning
A home is a breath
Haled in and out, slow and deep
Kindling sparks within.

——

Home is a house that I build very slowly with deep thought. The amount of energy put there is a number one priority about my future — I even pause almost all my personal travel plans this year in order to totally focus on this project full completion.

Bless me, dear Life.

Thank you!

💕

This is magnificent! So much money and thought must have been put to finally materialise this home. Very unique and serene! The “99 doors” must be symbolising the 99 attributes of God in Islam, the 99 names reflecting feminine and masculine qualities of God in the teaching. 🙏🏼

Do i wish to have this type of home? Javanese modern, yes but my home would be much smaller and humbler. 🙏🏼

The only resemblance of this one to my mini Javanese home is the wood that were bought from antique collectors, the greenery and the homey atmosphere. The rest is just two poles apart.

I am thankful to have a second home that shows the me in its character (my tiny home in Greater Jakarta is an industrial mass production that is definitely not me)

And I am charmed by the Javanese home belonging to Ms Farah.

Home

Learning, Poetic
Evening awaits
Trippers who miss home. Hurry.
Go home happily.

——

good evening, commuters — go home happily 💕

never bored with this angle; whatever weather, whatever colour — i love to be home 💕

Green and Greener

Learning, Poetic
It’s green grass back home,
Her grass looks greener, sweeter
Though. Is it the sun?

——

There is a proverb in Indonesian “rumput tetangga selalu kelihatan lebih hijau“ that literally means neighbours’ grass always looks greener. And yes, that’s always what I feel in many countries outside Indonesia and Singapore yet at the same time I miss to be home in either Indonesia or Singapore where sun is both indulging and heating.

I am truly “green-eyed” some time. And I so much miss home.

🧑‍🎤

dancing orange

orange in joy

yellow having a chat

it’s just sweet!

inspiration for the garden right in front of my bedroom; right size to copy — thank you!

Transit

Learning, Poetic
Life’s a swift transit
Where tripper’s redirected
To where home resides.

——

before going home i made myself a rush to visit this three-tier turret of Takada Castle

behind the pink

behind the white

behind the purple

and right in front of it

Dawn and Day in Jogja

Learning, Poetic
It’s colours of peace
And humbleness
That I breathe.
It’s the attar of joy
And cheer
That I gaze upon.

——

dim light, sleep tight

like sleeping in a Dutch era house

i love this armchair

watching in the dark

old chair, old table, old mirror

bathroom traditionally concepted

loro blonyo symbolising Dewi Sri (goddess of earth) and Raden Sadono

disclaimer in all rooms, i love village noise though so i don’t need earplugs

About Warwick Purser

a pool of lotus and water lily

look at the buddy! 🥰

orchids everywhere

mushroom, messenger of the earth at the path to “Omah Demang”, where I stay this time

Home

Learning
There’s a calming vibe
Surrounding a place called home.
A short getaway—

——

Mt Merapi and Mr Merbabu from up the sky

my first landing in Yogyakarta International Airport, the new airport

calming home for the next 3 nights

greeting from beauty coming out of the mud

White Welcome

Learning
When home welcomes you
With unexpected colour,
Blessings are around.

—-

Home again! 💝

Nice to say hi to orchids that I thought to be yellow but white instead!

thought yellow but white! pretty!

the second bloom after 3 years! thank you!

all are here! full team! 💝

Cuts and Bruises

Learning, life, love, Poetic, This Person
All cuts and bruises
Paint a life of a blossom
Before it decays.

—

i was so young and innocent, a loved friend of many, a hated enemy of some — i was so much blessed 💝

life has brought me travel through labyrinth of life with traps and turns that cut and torture yet i am still a loved friend of many, a hated enemy of some — i am still so much blessed with cuts and bruises 💝 i’ve lost much but i find myself

no one shall erase this happy girl within — a blessed soul that travels through space and time 🙏🏼 thank you

Table

Learning
Table, big or small:
Where meal, words and energy
Entertain people.

—-

Yesterday’s lunch break chat was about furniture. My colleague who just had a house warming said that she only has a bed and dining table and is planning to buy more things soon. Our styles are so much different and I think hers has also tapped my mind.

My dining table is a wooden slab with a long bench at one side and 4 chairs in the other. If there are more people visiting (which not yet happens up to now), they should drag armchairs from the living room or voluntarily standing. 😂

Hers is a retractable table that can be as small as 75 centimetres and as long as 3 meters. She has a total of 8 in her family so she needs space for 8 in the smallest family gathering. It attracted me to have one as mine looks bulky and occupies so much of space; however, modern retractable table doesn’t suit my Javanese house and of course it is expensive. So it is just an interest in a chat with her.

my colleague’s type of dining table — modern, sleek, retractable, expensive, suitable for her luxurious condo in Singapore 🙏🏼

We also talked about beds in which we agree good mattress is paramount for our old back. 😀

Both of us agreed to invite each other in the future when there is long weekend and of course when trees of rambutan, mango, banana, matoa, chiku, and so on in my back yard are ready for harvest.

my type of dining table – heavy, bulky, occupying space yet beautiful for my humble abode 💝

Salaam.

💝

Dream of Home

Learning, Poetic
If home’s made of dreams,
It’s green, warm and musical;
Or nothing at all.

—-

exhausted like heaven! the toilets and cleanliness imprison me, the railway system bids me a farewell — not a perfect home of mine 💝 Singapore and Indonesia is the best home of mine 💝

home is where new dreams are ready to come true 💝

dandelions ready to fly 💝

No Regret

Learning, Poetic
One by one they fall,
Petals decompose to soil,
Fertilising life—

—

when i see more fine lines under my eyes, i feel blessed that i am alive up to this age; i wish to live longer with the same amount of love or even more 💝 there is no regret for all are signs and turns to the home 💝

Garden

Learning, Poetic
Colours, hues, shades, tints
In a garden strike the eyes
Wandering within.

—

I am on an emergency short leave to visit my mother as my mother is sick. A sister called saying “she doesn’t want to eat”, “she can’t sleep well”, “she doesn’t want to visit her doctor”, “she thinks it is her time”, blahblahblah…. Alamak! Although sometimes we think she can be a drama queen, we start to think seriously when she can’t sleep well.

The second day of my visit she already watered her plants that line along my sister’s narrow garden. She sang along while walking in her house. She ate one big chunk of fast food’s fried chicken that my nephews insisted taken away for her. She has been back to her nature after meeting her children and grandchildren whom she missed who are now laughing with her at every breakfast, lunch and dinner time.

This morning she happily greeted the newspaper lady delivering her favourite “Jawa Pos”, the lady said “good morning, Ibu, you look radiant again”. She also had a short chat with her front neighbour about rain, cats and plants.

I think sometimes you just need to meet someone to be healthy. 💗

Yesterday morning I joined her watering the plants and took pictures of some of the blooms that have always made us all smile.

Salaam.

java tea — we call it “kumis kucing” here
jasmine sambac, everlasting fragrance — her favourite
zinnia, the humble beauty
white bougainvillea, the tough beauty
orchids at the left side of the gate — “your sister is a good gardener, she has made your orchids happily bloom!” she said
the one at the other side
the one squeezed between leaves

Greed

Learning, Poetic
All have right to live, yet some by greedily eating up others. Sigh.

—

the rose apple leaves in my front yard are helplessly eaten up by locusts
the tree is not as productive as before but the fruits are still sweet and fresh….
….and so many flowers are coming out, ready to bloom

Your Eyes

Learning, Poetic
Your eyes, Beloved
Drown me to a depth of soul
Where you hide nowhere.

—

are your eyes still the same? 😍 sometimes you need to change your profile picture to show how your eyes wise up 😍

A Home (ranting)

Learning, This Person
A bird builds a nest in what its mother describes a home. Protection—

—

No one is truly detached from one’s root and that is a foundation that should not be shaken. Foundation is the last and foremost protecting part of a building. When others try to shake adult mature’s foundation principles, they are sooner or later surely destroying a construction that has been built carefully and systematically through parenting, education and culture especially in early age.

Still want to change your friends to be like what you want them to be? It is either killing them inside or killing you inside. Worse is both don’t realise that the other is dying or dead inside; even think there is a good change considered “a success to educate (wrong) friends”. Ah….! Illusion.

Solution? Eh? How would you treat a beautiful gift given to you? Don’t try changing others’ foundation principles. Instead accompany them grow to their best version as they are.

And for those not even appreciating their own or others’ roots: congratulations, you are doomed. Oops! I mean it takes longer time for you to reach true goals. 😁

Salaam.

💝

fly, achene. find a home where you rest your dreams.

Travel

Learning, Poetic
She travels with all galaxies and intentions to find a home. Sweet.

—

all are rotating and revolving, traveling to find a sweet home; wherever home is, they travel — everlasting home is here now 💝

Home

Learning, love, Poetic
Home is
Where an equation is done.
X factor is found,
Balance is placed,
Abundance is defined
Although life is never perfect.

Home is
Where the most important things gather.
Love is respected.
Respect is loved.
Priority is defined
Although life will never be perfect.

Home is
Where a painting is displayed.
Colours are combined,
Shapes are drawn.
Beauty is defined
And imperfect life is accepted.

—

that one tall white tree in the middle is the eucalyptus tree decided to cut down for the sake of the house to built in a nice spot; thank you, eucalyptus; it is unfortunate that you could not be replanted with some reasons — as much as I love you (so so much), I prefer respect for a home with other trees breathing with me 💕