graphs of my Universe
Loosen up,
Beloved
Between sunrise
And sunset.
Breathe in,
Beloved
Inhaling love,
The colourless.
Halt here,
Beloved
Enjoying void
That’s alive.
Breathe out,
Beloved
Exhaling blessings,
The colourful.
——
AgnesMo reminds me that whatever season it is, don’t forget to insert a space to have fun — thanks, Agnes although my way is so much different from yours 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
When I was a girl
I admired my mother’s beauty;
Being a juvenile,
I admired my sisters’ and girlfriends’;
When adult,
I admired my idols’;
Getting more mature,
I admired flowers’;
All of which forgetting
The beauty in front of the mirror:
Now I admire no one’s,
But I appreciate everyone’s;
All through realising
The beauty reflected in the mirror.
——
beauty after beauty
beauty refreshed
tell your beautiful self “Thank you!”
I’m high
Of thinking of
You that hums and chants
Nature of love
Spraying peace
Around my orbit.
I’m high
Of rotating on my own self,
And revolving around
You.
——
not so high a stack but it took three hours to do so — yes, i’m slow Iron Woman 😁
I stand on a sheet of paper
Full of flying poems
That tell me
That life is just like
That.
I stand in front of a mirror
Full of dancing shadows
That tell me
That real is just like
That.
I stand across the bridge
Full of swimming hopes
That tell me
That memory is just like
That.
I stand on a piece of heart
Full of singing loves
That tell me
That dream is just like
That.
I stand next to a bucket
Full of listed completions
That tell me
That failure is just like
That.
I stand with myself
Full of cries and smiles
That tell me
That success is just like
That.
Be just right,
Not less,
Not more,
As life is just like
That.
——
I never wanted to visit Korea until one colleague sent me a photo of library near our office in Seoul. Today he reminded me again about the library and told me to go there soon as he is moving to another location soon and might need to travel long to bring me to the library.
But he also said “Library is just like that. The most important thing is its collection, not its building.”
“And the building is like in the photo? Just like that?”
“Yes. It is just like that. You’re still welcome to Korea though.”
“Sure! Scheduled.”
🙏🏼
thank you!
I first saw his works in Amsterdam and Paris in 2017 — stunning and extraordinary! So when “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” came to Singapore, I didn’t think twice to go.
While there was so much to enjoy, the huge room where people can just relax within the expo before continuing their look-around or after doing it was my favourite.
This video was of my first entry to the room. After enjoying the Van Gogh VR experience, I went back there to enjoy the time before finally left the expo: children playing, adults chatting, some sleeping, even a lady dancing. There was serenity in this dark room full of Van Gogh’s colours virtually projected to the walls by technology.
I am blessed to be there.
Thank you!
Salam.
🐣
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 💕
Written on a board
Dreams as deep as memories—
Now is calling me.
——
i wish to write this in one ema for JLPT N5 😂 someday 🐣 yet i don’t want to lose my today, the best day i have every day 💕
It’s one fun day out
When colours race with the light
Depicting good moods.
——
life is a gambling for those betting against it
♥️ weekend well spent
💕 much to learn in silent colours
sunflowers ♥️
what do you see?
Van Gogh’s bedroom in the asylum
i brought this home together with some souvenirs 💝
While some think selfie as an indication of mental health issues (spectrum of narcissism, unhappy personality, having no friend and so on and so forth), I think it is the best indicator of self acceptance, self confidence, ability to enjoy aloneness, and ability to well capture any possible angles. I also see selfie as another kind of painters’ self portraits.
I believe my opinion is not the right one but I prefer holding it with good will and positive pride. And so my Instagram account is a bin of selfie photos especially when I am in a trip — yet only those I have met physically are welcomed to befriend there. 🙏🏼
While some selfies are truly liked by my family and friends, some others are criticised mostly because of angles that (they said) make me look not pretty although what they said is never an issue for me. I know that life is not always of best expected (often not) and I truly love the way I have looked over time.
♥️
What makes me love selfie even more is that I can manipulate them using Apps; not changing my face to look beautiful (damn there is no need and possibility for that — I am as beautiful as I am) but using them as canvasses to play colours and light.
getting lost? selfie!
super tired? selfie!
loving the day? selfie!
not always happening but accepting what is is a daily goal to me ♥️ selfie!
trapped in a small space yet wanting to capture wide angle 😉 selfie!
Power that is left
Tells outer layers of truth
That might not be true.
——
And it doesn’t matter as truth might have millions of layers depending on number of thoughts dissecting their stories.
Life is unlimited.
💕
Okayama Castle – front view
Okayama Castle – back view
super fragrant flower in Karokuen Garden
Hold your own beer,
I’m busy with my tea.
Enjoy your brewed fruits,
I’m busy with my brewed leaves.
Toast!
For long friendship
With so much drink
Without getting drunk.
——
the chairs are beer barrels, tables are a wooden board on top of piling beer crates, food are mostly beef, beverages are all things
oolong tea for me, beer for Asahi-san, peach tea for Yakisoba-san yesterday night
we told him he still had to help us with errand bags so he’d be better not to get drunk 😂
Tokumori Shrine after work today
The main cable’s cut,
Power surge’s down. Light’s off.
Ruin of pride sprawling—
——
Mori Tadamasa — the owner of Tsuyama Castle
not taking high IQ to learn that many if not all the daimyos and above were human beings thirsty of power
human beings are both individual and social, original and political, psychological and cultural, good and evil; let life be fair at the right time and the right place to me — i just want to be humane and nothing else 😊 avoiding people with intrigues is paramount even if they are the ones that i love the most 😘
life of non aristocratic is more interesting to me where politic is just about how to stay in self control with some occasional sparks of witty explosions and to gracefully stabilise the society ♥️
rebuilt part of Tsuyama Castle’s Bitchu Yagura (viewed from not so nice a point) — you don’t have to look pretty or grand all the time, dear Castle 😍
when i saw the high stone walls of this castle, i could imagine how it was strongly fortified
just with 6 ruins of hundreds of castles in Japan I visited (Asahi-san has visited 75 and counting) and it is already clear to me what kind of culture this nation was built upon and what type of aristocratic people started the build — all nations are blessed in different ways
this is how beautiful Tsuyama Castle scenery was in one sakura season (foto borrowed from tsuyama.kokosil.net) — i’m blessed enough to see it in Jun ♥️
thank you, Tsuyama 🙏🏼
Note: Castle is open from 8:40am to 7pm Japan time
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!
Love is not leaving.
Kernel then seedling then tree;
Stays yet multiplies—
——
After some journey and some work finally dinner was here now and it was an unforgettable one.
This long dragged day is nothing compared to today’s dinner. A dinner accompanied by a poem.
Yes my life is full of flower.
Thanks for the blessings!
Salaam.
♥️
sure it is about flowers — thanks much! i feel a tiny love bouncing and getting bigger and bigger in my heart when eating
they put it under my green tea; what a sweet creativity this restaurant demonstrates — will never forget this!
This head, Beloved
Is full of colours
That suck all memories
To an abandoned landfill
Where poems dance in joy
Recycling precious moments
Into glowing beads
Jingling around a neck,
Chuckling on millions of love wishes
That scatter on a table.
——
yeah! this is one busiest corner of my head everyday! messy yet full of love 💕😀
Mountains to climb
As seas to sail
Diving deep in to the oceans
Knowing to go and to fail
——
7 Mountains (60%)
Walking the aisle
Two smiling earthlings can’t stop waving hands
To us
Who wonder
“They were toddlers we hugged,
Now they read solemn vow?”
It is a happy day
When we pray, laugh and eat together
Witnessing happiness that proceeds.
——
Matt, my best friend’s youngest son is getting married today! Matt and Cheer, Tante Rike happy for you 😘😘😘 send me all our pictures ♥️
cheering with groom’s mama after eating 😂 day is good with those looking forward to bright days ♥️
My poem for you
Is not in the words.
My poem for you
Sits on the bed of this heart.
The words that you recite
Is what language can say
About what is still,
Admiring you from a secret place
That keeps everything
And keeps flowing.
——
some poem is better utterred on canvas
a small play for a toilet at home; an intermezzo to take a break from the gift painting in progress
Look! It’s blue on green
Burning spirit to trueness
Of living simple.
——
I love the rice field sprawling along the train track in Japan. It brings feel of peace at the same time reminding me that there are still those who are willing to live as farmers even (according to my Japanese friends) with not so high income.
God bless farmers without whom we won’t live.
Salaam.
irrigation that travels like blood in body
the clouds that travel by the wind like dream in mind
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
It’s ever summer
When smile is sweet, words are true.
Then sun is joining.
——
thanks, Jasmine-san for bringing me to this place!
summer
pottery is never too cute
it is free opener; two for one diner
my 1st nato in life which was ummm…. and sticky yam or something which was amazing
one of my colleagues who is loving Japanese food will be so happy to finally see me eat sashimi without throwing up 😂
i love tempura and this is one of the best one i’ve ever had!!! and much cheaper than the ones in Singapore ☺️
yesss!!! Joetsu rice is the best and so is the sushi! 💕
sushi, sushi, sushi!
this fish cake that i’ll never be able to recook! perfect!
This blessed belly sings
And dances then soon to sleep
With a dream waiting.
——
i politely rejected an invite of dinner so i could eat alone in an izakaya – 😍 having dinner at the window while seeing people passing by bringing joy or anger after work or school brought me to a corner called “thanks god i’m alive”
💕 izakaya with a glass of green tea, carrot juice, and….
potato salad!
edamame obviously
chicken 🫣 oil oil oil!
most of Javanese love this fish! incl me! 💕😍♥️
pickled cucumber
chicken skin and gizzards! i can be joyful just with this cheap food! 😍 but i want the best sushi in town tomorrow! 😁
On a green mountain
She stands, claps and bows to pray
For what’s been wished for.
——
Day was clear, no June rain welcomed me. Black birds were cawing but not noisy when I arrived, the caws sounded more like “this woman is not important and harmless, let her do what she wants to do. Leave her alone.”
The scent of just mown grass infused stronger freshness to the hanging air and sprinkled refreshing vibe to the scenery.
A lady in the shrine shop greeted me excitedly in Japanese which made me feel like attending an oral communication test with a desperate teacher thinking “fail, fail, fail”. Yet her beautiful smile cajoled me to take one ema (wooden plaque in shrine to write wishes and prayer) to write what I wish to wish forever for me and everyone.
About ema
The most impressive that day were the taxi drivers who drove me to the shrine and back to the hotel— both were willing to find the most basic vocabulary and grammar to make me feel good to practice my pre-basic Japanese; two grandfathers who accompanied a confused granddaughter blabbering Japanese gibberish.
Yet the shrine itself was the cherry on top of the cake that day. Shrine and castle never fail me!
Thank you, Kasugayama Mountain for welcoming me and letting me enjoy the shrine and its surrounding.
Thank you for letting this heart throb seeing what can grow in silence and for letting this soul sit still observing what can leave with no trail.
I am lucky. Always.
💕
going in to the Kasugayama Shrine compound
my friend asked me in Instagram “how many steps?” i said to her “i didn’t count, i will next time” but in my heart “one third of my breath” 😀
torii at the front gate of Kasugayama Shrine
ablution station before stepping to the shrine inner area to pray
i wish prosperity and blessings for my company ♥️♥️♥️
ema: after almost 50 years living, i can only wish the loudest possible in my heart “May All Beings Be HAPPY. All my dreams come true. ♥️”
prayers are hanging everywhere, tied anywhere — people want their wishes come true; as simple as that
if people don’t believe in the power beyond powers, why do they want to pray? to boost confidence? formality? culture? i’m sure they do it because they’re sure it is there whatever people call it beyond what’s taught in religions — i pray as others do
do you know the guy standing on the hill? Uesugi Kenshin — respected daimyo in his era
About Uesugi Kenshin
there is Kasugayama Castle ruin on top of the Kasugayama mountain — i didn’t go though, maybe next time
I used to fly the life
Faster and quieter,
Passing by blue sky,
White clouds over the lands and oceans.
Yet now I ride mine
Slower and merrier,
Passing greenery and buildings.
I heard others chat and laugh;
I am not curious about the convo
But I enjoy the laughter.
I will arrive slightly later
But happier,
Friendlier,
And luckier.
——
riding Shinkansen is more exciting than flying, I used to fly from one city to another in Japan but not anymore although recommended for some areas — always get new things in each ride! 💝
i feel lucky always and today i see same combinations of numbers appeared repeatedly that has made me feel even luckier — although i don’t know, i prefer to believe that it is a good sign before i forget it 😄
Hakutaka 555 departed at 844
sometimes i am superstitious 😁
yet i thank him for making some of my superstition sound scientific 😁
With no white towel
I surrender
To the realm that hugs this heart.
I am water flowing
With no effort
To the ocean that waits for this mind.
How would this name
Say no to a call that sings love songs?
I submit everything
With a smile
And grace.
Body, mind, spirit and soul—
-
Jun 10, 2023
when the air taps my whole reality
with everything subtle and overwhelming
——
please excuse my strong arms 😀
after the Tapa Brata my classmates and I are still escorted to meditate everyday of 60 minutes for 90 days
it should be 36th day today but i only have 33 days in which i am able to do full meditation — in fact my doctor was quite surprised that unbelievable progress is indicated in better numbers from the laboratory test result after i meditate regularly — happy tears 🥹
my health is much better with calmness that is on track and harmonious thought that builds gradually
i’ve registered to next level Tapa Brata next Sep so i can get more benefits to help certain issues in this beloved aging body and to strengthen my mind
can’t wait to meet with the wise teachers who guide us and humble caretakers who help us with daily needs in Forest Island 🥰
i don’t know for sure what i can share from my achievement through meditation yet maybe someday i can help others reduce health complaints at low cost — i’ve always wanted to cure diseases with fragrance and herbs; my high intelligent friends said “pseudoscience, a crap wrapped in fancy paper”, i said “it doesn’t matter at least i can help them feel calmer and think positive”
all what happen in my life are like magic both the unexpected and expected — i hope my meditation brings more good magical celebrations to me and my beloved family and friends
and all…
May All Beings Be Happy
💕
Lightning is so quick
Striking sight with its brightness
Before earth goes silent.
——
Love is sometimes a sight that attracts the eyes, strikes in less than one minute, blinds the eyes for some longer time before gradually clears the mind again. Gradually yet surely 💝 with intensifying silence and lack of reciprocity. Life will be back to its true beauty.
May all beings be happy.
in this case a writer is either a loyalist or a stupid! both not equivalent with the brilliance in his/her writings 😂
What’s romance, my love?
Is roses stay in the branch
With no disturbance.
They’re unpicked until falling
Gracefully kissing the earth.
——
Yogyakarta is one of the most romantic cities on earth, where life is automatically slowing down and love can be felt sweeter, simpler and longer; my friends said “the most romantic or the cheapest?” i said cheerfully “i love cheap things that make me happy including cheap friends, people with high maintenance cost please go away” 😄
one serene night in Stasiun Tugu
How’s life, dear pearls of friendship?
Your shadow flashed in the tips of these eyes
All of a sudden.
I wish you all good heart
That shines
Through the orbits
Of all friendly comets
That travel the universe
Bringing verses
About love and friendship
That last forever
With the expanding universe.
You are truly loved
And missed….
——
Brisbane 2017 with Mbak Wien, my friend back in uni the only person able to make me sit in a club for almost 5 hours in a riverbank of a Brisbane river (not sure what river it was though), yet she was not successful to make me drink but jugs of orange juice
a loving daughter and sister, a wife of a kind man, a mother of 2 brilliant boys, a rather crazy friend
when will i see you again? maybe some day when i’m back to down under
God bless you 💝 and all my dear friends 💝
There are star clusters
Glowing in the horizon
Sending messages.
——
From Yogyakarta I brought home a pair of batik grompol sheets which I ordered 6 months ago. Happy I must be!
Grompol is a Yogyakartan special classical batik pattern. No other regions can claim otherwise.
Let’s talk about batik grompol today.
Disclaimer: 1) while the primary interpretation is based on what I learnt from the masters; many of it is my own thought based on what I understand on symbols and signs of Javanese, Islam and Hinduism that intertwined in my upbringing. So please be critical. 2) too much information, too little time for me to summarise. Please expect disconnected ideas, connect them by yourselves.
Grompol batik pattern is a sub-category of ceplok pattern in which one geometry pattern is clustered (squares, triangle, circle, lines, etc). In Javanese language ceplok literally means clustering, grouping, gathering based on the same characteristics or criteria (size, colour, shape, pattern, lines, etc). So hypothetically ceplok pattern is always about gathering, uniting, getting together.
Grompol pattern is characterised through the clustering of of 4-petal flower, a flower pistil in the middle, a seed with 4 couples of 3-ceceg and 5-ceceg (ceceg is a terminology used to describe dots in batik pattern) and “wrapped” by a square with 8 points that almost looks like octagram.
Flower
4-petal flower is a symbol of fertile or healthy life. The 4 petals of the flower can be related to four points of the compass: east, west, north and south.
Flower pistil symbolises the centre of life, potential growth in human being. It can also represent the sun, the soul, the heart as centres of discourses to be applied based on contexts.
Flower which is the beauty before fruition is representing an expectation that human being should optimise their state of beauty which in Javanese almost always refers to the developed wisdom in human being manifested as kindness to fellow creature on earth before one dies.
Seed
A round seed surrounded by 4 couples of 3-ceceg and 5-ceceg symbolises seed of life that should be well protected from all directions.
The seed can be interpreted the same as the flower pistil in the middle of a flower. It is generated from the pistil fertilised by the pollens. It is the centre of life, potential growth in human being. It can also represent the sun, the soul, the heart as centres of discourses to be applied based on contexts.
The round shape of the seed indicates the completeness, thoroughness, integration, centredness, perfection, full cycle.
Ceceg is one type of isen (ornament in empty spaces among primary patterns of batik) in batik. Isen is more popular in Central Java than other regions, isen can be in the form of dots or lines or the combination of both repeatedly put in the intended empty spaces without changing the primary pattern, even there is an intension for isen to highlight the primary patterns.
3-ceceg can be interpreted as Trimurti, the three balancing power of Brahma, Wisnu and Siwa (Siva) which are the 3 powerful powers of creation of the universe, preservation of the universe and destruction of the universe.
5-ceceg can be interpreted as 5 types of self regulation: knowing one’s own identity and personality, connecting to inner self, managing the humane desires, living through good sources of life (no corruption, sharing to the needy) and self reflection through traveling or pilgrimage. A human being is expected to continuously strive for perfection of these five without expecting the perfection to happen.
Points of the Compass
Octagram represents 8. Number 8 in Javanese wisdom is about welfare and authority. Number 8 also represents 8 gods guarding the 4 points of the compass in which 1 direction is guarded by 2 gods of specific authority. The compass itself has 9 points – 1 the centre, 8 the directing points.
The 1 point in the middle is sat by Siwa. 8 points are sat by other gods based on what they manage in the natural realm. Those 9 (1+8) are called Dewata Nawa Sanga (nine guardian gods) in Balinese and Javanese culture. Those 8 are wellknown as Asta Dikplaka (eight gods of 8 directions).
Number 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9
Like in other cultures, Javanese gives significant role to numbers in their game of meaning.
Summary
That it is a ceplok type signifies the clustering, gathering, integrating of certain characters. So this batik is message and prayer for uniting of between or among family members. It is also a message and prayer of integration of human being internal wisdom – a state of maturity. Batik grompol is often worn by bride and groom in their wedding day due to its very sacred meaning of ultimate protection and potential growth through a gathering.
The uniting or integration should be based on clarity of wisdom and protection. It is the wisdom personally and culturally harvested and nurtured. The beholder, owner, wearer of batik grompol is expected to realise that this pattern is a message and a prayer that they are well protected at the same time expected to extend the given protection to all directions as the gods of all points of compass spread their protection to the universe.
The pistil of the flower as the potential growth in human being put as a compass centre in human being life can be interpreted that human being integrated wisdom has as strong power as Siwa who is sitting at the centre of the compass/chakra. Although described as destroying god, Siwa is actually symbol of re-creating, re-cycling. His being sat in the centre of a chakra (wheel, cycle) is significantly describing him as recreation/recycling agent who then distributes the re-created/re-cycled material to different function around him to be re-governed wisely by “different gods” (remember the 8 gods of all directions).
A human being should be able to learn, re-learn and un-learn one’s own life experience and lessons then to better redo or re-process the way one solves problems or to simply treat other creatures.
The round seed means a centred human being who has achieved the understanding of integrity, full cycle of life. It doesn’t mean the human being is flawless; it means the human being is aware of one’s flawedness yet accepting the state of imperfection of being human. And through the acceptance the human being keeps bettering one’s self in treating one’s self, fellow creatures and the nature. This is an everlasting interaction and intertwining between micro cosmos (jagat alit in Javanese language which represents human being) and macro cosmos (jagat gedhe, the universe).
And all in all, a human being shall pray to his God or make one’s self sure that to any direction one is heading to, one is safe and peaceful. Religious human being will live through guidance and protection from God. Spiritual human being will find inner centre in one’s self whatever one calls it and focus on what one is doing in honesty and sincerity. Free thinker will boost one’s self confidence and focus on what one is aiming with integrity.
So batik grompol has helped me understand that all my fellow human beings are essentially doing the same things as what I am doing in my life, just explained through different perspectives; and we are only of different pace and timing.
What a beautiful batik pattern. What a beautiful meaning.
my beautiful grompol batik cloths were born through the golden hands and soul blessed to this beautiful lady, Ibu Tien Wartienah
I started teaching this morning. Overall I’ll be teaching English, soft skills, art and hopefully someday Japanese. I partner with my best friend to establish a free weekend class for the kids and youth in her small library in south area of Yogyakarta. It is a community support that we humbly provide for a better leadership and communication skills of our young generation.
We have very very very limited budget but we commit to help the community not only to welcome but also to design bright future.
Pray for us.
May all beings be happy.
children class this morning — very very basic communication skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking — what a sweet fun session! 💝
these two girls were the youngest students today 💝
rike jokanan 
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