A plate full of gifts,
Colourful to sum up a day
Before the sun sets--

pho bo & tien ly leaves with garlic, lunch in Ho Chi Minh City
graphs of my Universe
A plate full of gifts,
Colourful to sum up a day
Before the sun sets--

pho bo & tien ly leaves with garlic, lunch in Ho Chi Minh City
Life is a wide pool.
It takes plunges to the deep
To find an ocean.

one flower = one plunge in the pool after work

KL is serene tonight to plunge to a bowl of light in the dark
You were home
For a while,
A short while,
Until an ignored road calls
To leave,
To go back to
A road less travelled
Which a few are lured to walk.
It brings me to a place not known.
What's known is
Birds chirp along the way,
Hares run between bushes,
Woods give shades from scorching days,
Wild flowers nod to greet footsteps,
The narrow path brings this journey to a bright end--
Meeting
You.
pamit is a Javanese and Indonesian word that literally means “saying goodbye” although in Javanese the word pamit has a weight of a polite request to leave ♥️
Weekend, Beloved
Perfect with noisy kitchen
And finished laundry--
—

today’s healthful brunch❣️ we call it urap in Javanese cuisine — the raw leaves are “kencur” from the pot in the balcony ♥️
About kencur

wanted to eat raw veggies but i didn’t trust the source so boiled it was — missing my home in Yogyakarta where greeneries grow organically

the grated coconut

i still haven’t bought a new food processor after the old one was spoiled so today i had to do it with my favourite pestel and mortar — now my hands feel burnt of the chili heat 😎
In this life of hues
How can I note what’s given?
To work and study--

had breakfast sometimes dinner at this table for 9 days was an experience
it is a table under an artificial tree, the light is not too bright, not so obvious from too many angles so I chose it and when I saw the number, it became my table
next time might be other numbers 🍀
44 means foundation, hard work, growth, achievements and if it is what is communicated to me, thank you.
44 is also country code of United Kingdom; I miss Chisholme House where time flows calmly while this body works and mind studies life with true devotion engaging with fellow human beings and nature. Dear God, please carry me there again.
About Chisholme House
Home is
Where bird builds its nest
And enjoys all weathers.
—

almost home — landing soon
Pose as you love to.
Life gives one chance for one name.
Breathe in and breathe out.

my friend in his funny pose 😂
I can’t thank enough to him for informing me about the “Da Vinci Alive Bangkok”
he said “Rike, I’ll go with you if my boyfriend goes to his class”
Thank you, Bank!
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 💕
There are twins in life
Where mirror is concluded,
Balance is guarded.
—

my most worn twins — one pair is 6 years old, the other is 4; wait until both are uncomfortable to retire 😍

this time a room with twin bed is chosen, not because i stay with someone but i want to experience a different type of room — the same design, just the bed is different 👍🏽

the Twin Towers across the 38th floor
It's a preferred life,
Not a perfect one. Not much,
And she's fine.
—
45R is one of my preferred brands (doesn’t mean i buy a lot of its products though) – its good material is preferred, its most designs are not as they are to me “very foreign” ☺️
She's navigated
By stars that cluster in shapes.
They're glowing maps.
—

remarkable aspect of manta ray behavior is their ability to navigate across vast distances
a friend who didn’t meet for quite some time met me again in Hanoi and brought me this manta ray for my bag
she said she will invite me soon to her wedding 😍
thank you❣️
About manta ray
I realise that I am a meaning seeker and I seek meaning in anything interested to me.
I seek meaning in the holy Books, in my own self, in nature, in literary works, in work of art and even in Tarot cards.
I don’t regret my failures of putting the right meanings to things as they’ve brought me here.
Thank you❣️

Four of Cups
⬇️
many lament over life as if they have no love ignoring a hand offering love 😁 what an irony!
thanks to my dear self who has found a pinch of self love in the journey – not perfect yet, hope it be before the end of this journey
Nothing's right or wrong
To experience this life.
Hey! Judgement applies.
—

fish with veggies and rice paper (paper rice?) — green is always the best part in Vietnamese cuisine
not suitable for one, should invite a friend next time
not professionally, very slowly for satisfactory experience
I wish you a fresh air
That brings coolness in a hot day,
And lullabies me in a cold night.
I wish you a unique vibe
That loves me romantically,
And beautifies yourself naively.
—

banana flower salad — fresh and beautiful

young rice ice cream only in autumn ☺️ — unique and cool
Cảm ơn, Hanoi 🙏🏼
Pink petals falling,
Showering two tiny hands
Under bluish dome
—

Himeji, I’ll be back next year 😍
This fool
Is learning
Through
Humming and
Walking with a friend and
Greeting fun adventures and
Kissing the flowers and the air.
Hello,
Fool.
Be sweet life!
—

one of my best friends is a prominent tarot master in Ubud, whose reading always reminds me that I am The Fool — thank you, De Nov ❣️
A little frog leaps
Across ocean in a pail.
Clean water splashes.
—

ranunculus, the little frogs ☺️
Some people choose flowers,
Some ice cream,
Some either as the chair is the glazed pleasure,
Not what's before.
—

there is a chair behind flowers, there is a chair behind ice cream — which chair do you want to sit on?
In Javanese culture chair symbolizes status, authority, power.
The chair can also be compared with someone who gives one’s lap for sitting that symbolizes comfort, indulgence.
Seems like those two are different but both can give the same quality of life either positively or negatively.
When someone gives you comfort as if you are everything, yes you might be everything but that person at the same time is controling your status, your authority, control your power — making you a puppet graciously. Graciously at least, you said.
There is a Javanese adage “wong yen wis dipangku mesthi mati” that can mean “put someone on your lap and s/he will die”.
Pangku or pangkon is one device in Javanese script to “close”, to “kill” a “root consonant” at the end of a word. When an alphabet is followed by a pangkon device, it will turn to a closed consonant, a “dead” end.

pangkon: the Javanese alphabet that provides lap to a root consonant and closes or kills it 😍

e.g.: how “harusa”, “makana”, “minuma”, “bapaka”, “rudala” and “kusuta” are turned to “harus”, “makan”, “minum”, “bapak”, “rudal” and “kusut” by a indulging pangkon
Congratulations. You’ve got a chair. You’ve sat on a comfortable lap. You are the master of a universe. Yet remember, the chair can topple down, the lap is just a part of an individual who has mind– the master mind that governs you. You lose without truthfully winning. 💕
I see just a chair. With flowers. Or with ice cream. Or with both. Or without any. Both sweet through different senses, enticing for comfort. For just a glance. For just a sniff. For just a lick. For just a second. And then blended with a familiar taste name “just now”, a dead end before now.
A chair is a past tense adorned by a hope.
Dear, Life. Thanks much for the endless love. I need no chair except the mountain under the white cloud. I need no lap but breathing this fresh air. And how much ever I want someone or something, I will never take them from their chairs or their laps. Let them be empowered or expelled there — it is their best place. Be peaceful❣️
Let me be with those sitting on no chair but the lap of a naked soul. ❣️
Thank you, dear mother tongue. Even your Phonetics and Phonology bear insight and wisdom.
Thank you, my twisted-cum-twisting mind.
It doesn't matter
Wherever I am.
I can find all
The air breathed,
The water flowing,
The fire flickering,
The wind swirling,
The earth stepped on,
The night falling,
The morning rising,
The day counting
The breathing towards
What's here and now.
No destination matters
As all is about this.
—

the best is now and here
If you want to climb through me,
Step on my shoulders,
Not on my head.
These shoulders are strong enough
To bear and push you up.
This head is only to decide if what you do is right.
—

hard-boiled egg is my preference; you can prefer medium or soft or even raw to consume but all of us peel the egg before eating because that’s what we call eating it right 🤪 and don’t forget to eat it with mouth, not your eyes
Failure seems ordinary
As I am tested every day
And pass
With or without flying colours.
I just need
A faith to cling that
I am not alone battling.
There is you.
There is
You.
—

very much welcome – tested by beauty; i could not stop wowing in silence 😍

i am fasting and getting tested with these sweets and freshness 😍 not difficult to pass this easy test though
Stepping in
To the wood
Under the sun,
The moon,
The stars,
Swarmed by the wild;
Ahead she prances
Along a composition
Orchestrated by the air.
—

be a fool in the ocean of falsehood
realizing that being a fool is an enjoyable journey in life to earn meanings without burden
When clock slows down its intensity,
Bring me a cup of tea
With which imagination
Grows wild silently
And another cup
With which the Twin Towers
Are swallowed by dark night.
This cup of tea
Has freed me.
—

one more won’t harm me ❣️
(regularly updated for accuracy)
The way we see beauty shows how we perceive life in general. There’s no rigid standard of beauty. Each person votes beauty based on the culture nurturing him/her. The culture formulate beauty through space and time and unsensed dimensions with which it evolves and grows through the history of humankind.
To a female best friend a beautiful man can only be postulated through a man named Nicholas Saputra. To another a beautiful man is Keanu Reeves–this one I agree 😎. To another Jeremy Renner. To me a beautiful man can be as acceptable as a humble man is kind-hearted, responsible and healthy.
To a male best friend a handsome woman can only be described through a slim lady with flawless porceline skin and red lips like those modified ones from Korea. To another one a handsome woman is a Sandra Bullock. To another one is Rihanna. To else she can be anyone who is willing to accept their men the way they are.
In China, Africa, Europe, Java, Pacific definitions of beauty can be poles apart. Big eyes, round eyes, almond shaped, slanted…. Full lips, thin, thick, wide, heart-shaped…. XS clothing size, S, M, L, XL, XXL, plus size…. Straight hair, wavy, curly…. Etc, etc, etc…. Those physical descriptions identifying human body are blessings to some, curse for others; depending on how the bearers perceive beauty.
Ladies, you are all beautiful the way you are when your heart blooms genuinely. That’s what I always tell my nieces. And to my nephews I always say you are handsome and becomes super handsome with kind heart. Physical beauty will only be an empty box wrapped in fancy paper, no gift inside, no meaning but a space of living. Well-taken-care-of plain beauty with kind heart is a box of surprising precious gift well wrapped in clean paper.
Which one should we want? Any! No right or wrong. Yet to me –an-almost-half-century-lady– kind heart in a plain beauty is so much appreciated!!! Nothing compares to good heart in humble beauty.
😊
To dear nieces and nephews:
I love you. Be the light to your own darkness with healthy body and good heart.
Your senses are not only to catch what’s physical. Sense beyond! Beauty truly lies in a hidden heart.
❣️
this might be the only Coldplay’s song that I can listen to the whole day non-stop except low-batt ♥️ a biutyful alien I am!
💕
Dear
Young heart,
Fly to the moon and back
To the green meadow, humming.
Dear
Old body,
Bury me where banyan seeds sprout
Reaching out to sky, breathing.
Dear
Ancient soul,
Free me from any shape
So I can be alive anywhere you sow me.
—
I went to a small civilized** farewell party for a friend in KL, Malaysia, taking selfie before crazily singing in Red Box karaoke.
Life is short, be kind….
Or….. Just take a selfie.
❣️
Salam.
** civilized to me means NO FREE SEX, NO DRUGS, NO ALCOHOL ♥️

just take selfie when you’re feeling good

take selfie when you’re not in the mood

take selfie although people think it’s weird yet you’re nartistically free and freely glee
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!
None ever knows why,
All happen through unknown plan
Swarming around light
Celebrating unknown-ness
Night after night with no end.
—

kind of amazed that Daniel Goleman is into meditation 🤯
I bring souvenirs
Wrapped in a pouch made with love
For you who's waited.
This pouch might be forgotten,
The fragrance's always missed.
—

a batik pouch to wrap an oleh-oleh for a friend — all is handmade by me, done in about 4 hours; no sewing machine, only a pair of sciccors, a ruler, thread and needle

tell me what makes us meditate better than doing things with love

the body part is cut from printed batik “Truntum”

the round base is cut from printed batik “Wahyu Tumurun” using a stainless-steel bowl as the pattern

the waste including some Hansaplast to close some small cut on my finger
About oleh-oleh
There’s much ado
About what’s not done.
Shakespeare said that’s nothing.
There’s much ado
About what’s promised.
I said that’s nothing.
—

4th day of Ramadhan 💗 nothing but so much smile at my own cookings
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