Tag: life

Pilgrimage

Learning, life, love, Map It!, Poetic, This Person
This life’s pilgrimage
Spiralling in to the core
Of old house within.

——

a mosque in Tokyo — Tokyo Jamii (Camii)

entrance — assalamualaikum, Tokyo Camii

mosque area – 2nd floor

i still know how to do sholat tahiyatul masjid (praying to respect mosque), recite QS Arrahman that is full of gratitudes and praises so i did it

the feel was exactly like when i pray in the temples and shrines

a feeling of home 💕

then a beautiful sister helped me with photo taking — she made me much taller, slimmer yet less me 😁 thank you 💕

time to fly home — thank you, Tokyo 💕

you make me love myself more and more, with all the wounds and scars

No Regret

Learning, Poetic
Rain has no regret.
It’s sharp needles jabbed to earth—
Wildly seeped for life.

——

even wrong decision tasted nice! trust me the chili didn’t even have heat in it 😊 no regret at all

Two

Learning, life, love, Poetic, This Person
There are two gateways
To enter one gallery
Full of works of art.

——

my left side of face is sadder, bitter and negative with which i’ve been made more and more accepting to unwelcoming sides of life 💕

my right is happier, sweeter and optimistic that has persuaded me to be more and more letting go of what is not working after some good deed 💕

whatever unpleasant and pleasant things others say about me, i feel complete with some gap that might not need to be bridged simply to show that imperfection is a perfect gift in life 💕

Note: the picture at the bottom is batik scarf designed by Dudung Aliesyahbana, a batik maestro from Pekalongan, Central Java

Dark Sky

Learning, Poetic
Dark sky reveals stars
That gleam sending signs of life
That glows silently.

——

rawon aka dark soup that has become the most delivious soup on earth

i left it in the fridge to fly back to Indonesia on Jul 30 and today arriving home my first after unpacking was heating it up for my lunch and dinner 💕

amazingly yummy!

Rawon, the most delicious soup on earth

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

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

On A Rope

Learning
A rope might help
To travel to the other side,
Yet it might be not.
Being in the other side
Is not always wise
As a wise is
That that means
Decision for the right.
Right time
Right place
Right person
That might be
Not right:
Not always right amount
Not always right distance
Not always right calculation.
This rope is right
Only when it is about
Knowing that pulling or releasing
Are both hurting
Right where and when it is decided to.

this?

this one is wiser for now 💕

might not be the right one, yet being relaxed and easy is sometimes the right one for now — i just don’t want to think too much; wisdom is not always hard 💕

Be Happy, Beloved

Learning, Poetic
I won’t, Beloved
Take you from what completes you.
Your here now is that, not this.
This garden with lemongrass
Is my here and now I love.

——

Ibu sent me this picture that she took by herself after forever saying “I can’t take good pictures like you, don’t ask me any” — 3 slices of some cake I bought online (sold through Twitter) and delivered directly to her ♥️

she said “thank you for the ‘spikoek’, it is amazingly yummy”

my mother’s love is so huge that i don’t realise like seeing a sheet of paper from 1 millimeter away 💕

i am enough with a few humble friends that truly understand me so i won’t anymore beg friendship from that not even wanting to know who i am 😁

Surprise

Learning, Those People
Surprisingly
Life throws one surprise
After another
Of all types
To me who is cushioned
Only by submission
And genuineness.
How generous
Life is!
How intriguing it is
At the same time!

Dear, Life.
I don’t want any other way to love
You.

——

Life is full of astonishments to me. The most recent one was when I met the architect of my Jogja base home in Jazz Gunung Bromo without planning. I happened to know that she has been the bamboo stage designer of the annual jazz festival for the past 15 years! Yes, she is an architect cum bamboo artist.

We decided to ride a jeep together to see the sunrise the next morning before she returned to Jogja and I enjoyed my jazzy night.

A short fun meet up with a friend it became.

Thank you!

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

feeling so blessed to have met so many humble human beings in my life and it has made my life even more wonderful

Morning

Learning, Poetic
Morning
My only time
That can be broken
But not damaged

Day and night
My only time
That can be merry
Without celebration

Life
My only time
That can kindle hope
Sweeping hatred away

——

the red in the tip of east side 💕

old jeeps to climb up to 3 spots to see the daily sunrise, this one is the lowest spot

Mount Bromo and her neighbourhood in one bright morning

the other side of the sea of sand

vertically

Snack for Today!

Learning

Baking that heals 💕

my productivity outside office 💕

not bad at all! 💕

with matcha as my cocoa is expired 😝

new yeast was not yet into my day, the doug didn’t rise as expected even after 3.5-hour rest 🙃

two types of flour for one recipe

feeling better with baking — trying new yeast that I’m not friendly with

Bitter Sweet

Learning, Poetic
Life is bitter sweet
For sense that is alive,
Willing and happy to taste
Whatever that is served.

Enjoy.
Life is full of tastes
From all directions

Enjoy.
Life is worth tasting
Until its completion.

——

enjoy! carbo please….

healthful food is food from my own kitchen

bitter gourd with sweet chicken filling

green and fresh

Dos & Don’ts

Learning, Poetic
Do what you want
Just don’t touch my thing,
Said I.

I moved your thing
But I didn’t take it,
Said wind.

Sometimes naked words
Are taken as a wrapped joke,
Said I.

No one said anything
As it is just a blowing wind
Missing me one day.

——

two days of sick leave and when i was back to work, my cats and boxed stone were re-arranged by heaven knows who

maybe my cats climbed up or jumped 😝

original arrangement 💕

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.

A Head In A Table

Learning
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 💕😀

Life

Learning
The price of good life:
A cluster that can grow wild
On the grey tree bark?

——

which is more precious? bark of the tree or the fungi growing happy? are they mutually enriching each other?

Scent of Flowing Air

Learning, Poetic
No scent is missed,
No inhaled air is empty.
The scent is a box of coloured mist
To bring in imagery.

These nostrils celebrate days
Through haling the loaded air
And propelling power through stories,
Millions of stories shared.

——

can’t leave without scent, good or bad

and its evolving fragrance, softened before dried

sadly this leaf was not so nicely scented 🙏🏼 thrown away

batik has a good scent as it is washed with lerak (soap berry)

frangipani, a flower that is popular as graveyard flower in Java island ♥️ sweet fragrance of the death

i miss the scent of the thin air by the rice field under the blue sky 💝

Free Weekend Class

Learning, life, love, Map It!, Poetic, This Person, Those People

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 💝

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

Love Traveling Through Time

Learning, Poetic
Within a radius
Love is felt.
There’s a radius
Made of meters.
She knows a radius
Made of years
That still pulsates
In the heart of this lover
Longing for rendezvous
That will have arrived
Right after the waves shorten.

Your fragrant name is
Blooming every second
In all lovers’ hearts.

Dear, all bezels of wisdom.
I blow kisses for you.

Salam.

——

Magical Days

Learning, love, Poetic, This Person
Today I saw magic
Warmly greeted my throbbing head.
“How deep is your love?” Said she.
“To whom?” Asked I.
“Does it matter?” Said she.
And so I was magically charmed
By these heart beats
Chanting a repeated naive rhyme
About how nice I’ve been breathing.

——

only those who know the death is just an inch away can do this wholeheartedly 💝

Everlasting Again

Learning
I’ll live not only 1000 lives,
I’ve lived forever.
I love not only my whole life,
I love everlastingly.

How can I not love the life
Giving me chance to meet you
Again
And
Again
And
Again?

I won’t though beg for another again
If again will end the love
To the now and here.

See you again
In now and here,
Better one
I know not where.

——

the way you treat me will not change my feeling to you; yet will not shorten my distance from you either — love is only for love, never for hatred 💝

Hurt?

Learning
No one can hurt me.
I am a feather,
I am water,
Either.

No one will hurt me.
I am a feather,
I am water,
Either.

We are feather on water.
No one can hurt them,
No one will,
Either.

——

no one can, no one will — if one does, one does to one’s self

Water In Me

Learning, Poetic
I’m water 
Humble enough to mold myself 
To this pitcher. 
This life’s a pitcher 
Kind enough to tilt herself 
To the river. 

I’m water 
Flowing by myself 
In myself to the sea. 
This’s the strongest soft 
With what this rocky heart 
Gets shaped through time.

——-

water: naturally willing to be shaped, spiced up, scented, coloured, treated by temperatures — matured through stories 😃

Woodpecker’s Messages

Learning, Poetic, This Person

She has heard bird news,
Sending messages
Through Morse Code.
Dots, dashes, spaces—

She has heard numbers, words, punctuations,
Telling stories
About no hope.
Acceptance, letting go, moving on—

She has heard songs, poems, winds,
Springing in heart
Warmly and gently.
Future is brighter only with clarity.

She has heard a woodpecker
Reminding her of signals and signs
In every dance of nature
To be enjoyed and understood.

She has heard of you
Giving blocks and traps
To redirect her to her own path
To happiness.

She has heard of heaven
Approving whatever she’d do
As long as she’s happy and safe
Without disturbing life.

She has heard
Dews imbuing morning to refresh,
Twilight whispering night to rest.
Life is truly a woodpecker’s Morse Code.

She has heard
And she closes her eyes,
But not ears
As long as she’s happy and safe.

Thank you, Michael Lai for again allowing me to use your poetic pictures to illustrate a poem of mine that has been poking me since forever. 🙏🏼

Bay Woodpecker Pecking a Hole in the Tree (4 Photos)

Love & Work

Learning, love
I’ll love
No matter what
I’ll be over anyways.
I’ll work
No matter what
I’ll be over anyways.
There is me
Or not, 
It might be the same.
Yet as long as there is me,
I’ll do what I can
To add more
Meanings
And
Utility
To my life.
I’ll love
No matter what
In life.
Life is good,
I won’t skip
A thank
And
Or
Cheers.

—

listen to love; it is everywhere 💕

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

Harvested

Learning, life, Poetic
Not only fruits,
It might be flowers, seeds and seedlings.
It might be leaves, woods or saps.
It might be barks, husks or roots.
It might be more.
Whatever beneficial—

What is this tree harvested for?
None—
No. Either
One:
Good deed or good time.

Harvest from life, Beloved.
Remember to sow before the next reap.


Her heart and soul is her best seeds,
And she is the farmer and the crop.

biggest lessons taken from this — not so much relatable yet good lessons indeed

a bit of hilariously heroic – good to build good mood 😃

enigmatic and dark

Perfect Imperfection

Learning, Poetic, This Person
Is life abundant?
She asked.
They said,
When you have everything.
She walked away,
There was never everything
In imperfection.

She says.
Life is generous.
They say,
Because you have everything.
She walks away,
There is never perfection
In everything.

Life is abundant,
She agrees.
They ask,
Do you have everything? You are not perfect.
She walks away,
There is always perfection
In anything imperfect.

—-

anger has long gone but sadness is still lingering like a hungry fox hunting a chicken 🙃 yet life is so generous to me offering sweet imperfection and simplest perfection that might be just a dream for those perfect perfection — so thank you as always! 💝

giving myself time and space to live again 💝