Lone Ranger & Tonto

Kemosabe!

Today I’ve been thinking a lot about who have been my true friends. There are a few and still in touch offline or online.

Not many indeed–

I’ve always been a Lone Ranger meeting the Tonto who is another Lone Ranger meeting the Tonto. My Tonto is my Lone Ranger and at the same time I am a Lone Ranger for a Tonto.

One characteristic that never misses my Tonto is they are trustworthy, knowing much about local wisdom, hard working, skillful in daily life and laughing beautifully. 

We would never leave each other except space and/or time separates us. When I need help, my Tonto help me. When they need help, I would let myself willingly be a help.

About the movie most spectators think Lone Ranger is the only main character in the story, forgetting that Tonto definitely has a grand story of life just not exposed in a movie. In my story of life I’ve thought of being the Lone Ranger who is a main character in a story but I will never forget that Tonto is a primary character in their story and so I need to be their humble sidekicks as needed.

Today I am thinking a lot about who have been my true best friends. And I will always keep them as part of my growth– best part.

I’ve lost Tonto, too but still it was part of my growth.

Thank you, today for the serenity.

although I like the 2013’s movie, my true vibe of Lone Ranger and Tonto was way back to this Lone Ranger cartoon

Many Days She Does (revised)

Many days emit many emotions.
They show off how well
Life is capable of
Playing human beings with different stories.
She laughs.
She cries.
She reads.
She writes.
She sings.
She hums.
She does, even when she doesn't.
All with all her loving heart; or when doing things, she fills her heart with love.

sometimes I cry, not always because of sadness, sometimes I do because I feel so much loved….

She’s Reading

She's reading the books
Lining up in a long rack.
Scratching head and nose--

a corner that i like seeing but almost never pick the books from there – most of the books seem good but i prefer browsing around and picking those clicking with me

today i picked some to start my 2025’s reading challenge in goodreads.com

my Japanese is not getting better but reading about Japanese culture is still interesting to me

i followed the writer in Instagram two days ago and really want to see what his books are like

illustrated book is always interesting to me

am i into stoicism? not really but i see the book cover and pages are all glossy and that’s enough reason to read it

small and against the mainstream – read!

Excitement

Long road to travel
Seeing trees walking swiftly
River flowing, too--

Chinese New Year is coming soon. It is the most celebrated day in Singapore aside from National Day so many people will take a leave to celebbrate it with family, friends or to find getaway overseas. Many companies give extra days off to employees so they can take longer break in the year. My company is not exception. And so I take this opportunity to visit my 1st home country, Indonesia!

I will be in Jakarta for a few days to meet with some good friends and to check my little home that was now hostless since my good friend moved out after her marriage with a foreigner who brought her out. Another good friend is now monitoring my home once a week to check if stray cats need some food, plants need some trimming and sure the house itself need some fixing and security measure. Thank you, dear friends. 💕

From Jakarta I will continue to Yogyakarta, my home will be for retirement (damn…. my colleagues and friends keep teasing me “like you will retire soon, work, work, save money then retire at 60”. 😁

My original plan is taking train from Gambir Train Station to Yogyakarta Train Station. But then another good friend, a Jakartan, offered a ride. “Rike, I will drive from Jakarta to Jogja. Want a ride?”

Voila!

It’s gonna be my first land trip after years from Jakarta to Jogja; years ago when my brother was still working in Jakarta, he and his family gave me a ride from Jakarta to East Java until we all preferred train that was less tiring.

The offer “want a ride” was brilliant that the answer was yes with no second thought. It became even more brilliant that I wouldn’t have to drive (not a good driver I am)! Whoa! Excitement rose!

I trust this friend who has been in many land trip both car and bike around the archipelago both alone and in group. A super traveler indeed!

Friends in the whatsapp group cheered us up. Excitement rose higher!

See you, Jakarta! Then Yogyakarta!

Safe and safe!

can’t wait 😍 Jakarta to Yogyakarta with Mbak Adek 🙏🏼

About Aging

The world keeps spinning.
The body ages with time.
Trip in alignment--

Don’t be afraid of becoming old. Aging is truly a blessing.

With the gray hair I feel wisdom befriends with me. Still I have freedom to dye it to look radiant.

With the wrinkle on the skin I find kindness and understanding unfolds. Yet it is not wrong to put skincare to look healthy and fresh.

With weaker eyes I find my mind is sharper evaluating my self and environment. I can still wear reading spectacles to keep reading to refresh brain.

With less hydrated joints and less dense bones I move more slowly cum gracefully. There is no harm though to do sports regularly.

With fewer friends I still get good updates accurately about how the world spins and enjoy true relationship with little to no condition.

Eventually aging is about knowing that soul will release the physical body when they body is ultimately deteriorated, when time is up. I just need to ensure that this body knows she is never alone or lonely in the separation process.

Celebrate life!

see you next month, Hanoi

Doubted

This heart's umbrella.
Doubted, she's up to protect
And to let all go.

once i was doubted and so i let all go — it is humiliated to be distrusted while the heart is true

Collapsed Finally (ranting)

I collapsed, high fever, nausea, headache, painful joints, short breathing, coughing, name it….

It is the first after 3 years. Probably I am too tired: Universe told me “self isolation for 72 hours”. Lucky the 72 hours end in Saturday so I can fly out on Sunday. Hope I get well soon.

It’s between broken health in which I feel so weak physically and broken heart in which I feel so isolated. 😁

There is always lesson. Learn.

I just want to sleep….

doctor said “self isolation” due to that bloody virus 🥴😁❣️

getting home, i felt so exhausted and lethargic and heaty

still so excited but feeling so much hot that day while biking – wrong timing

Water Lilies of Jan 1, 2025

I decided to go out with Blue to breathe the day labeled as Jan 1, 2025. Water lilies were there closing or hiding after blooming in the morning. They will emerge again tomorrow morning to greet the sun.

About A Year

About a year, Love
Where you're present and again
Giving me all joy-

2024 was such a year! Thanks much for the one year teaching me again to warmly love sincerely with little to no condition: unclear hints that broke my heart. Life is not always about glory; it’s also losing to win lessons.

2024 was about sudden trips & data as professional breakfast & lunch. I see how fast I process biased opinions & immediately detour to the right path! Such a training by & for brain muscles!

2025 is about continuing my spiritual journey with the same foundation: singularity, uniqueness & humanity;

also about doing my life work with dedication & expertise;

sweet friendship with those that respect and love each other as best friend;

about enjoying long weekends in Korine Jati soon & enjoying longer holiday somewhere else;

about keeping sharing the blessings with those around me verbally, materially, intelectually & spiritually in moderation;

& knowing & loving myself again, again, again….

…. all genuinely & with light heart.

Welcome, 2025. I already feel your sweetness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025

dear, monkey mind

i don’t regret but it was the most painful moment in 2024 and thankfully i was helped by my life work

i love my messy hair that gets happy with breeze caressing it and my eyes that tell even when my mouth shuts

2024, thank you for bringing Banksy’s works of art to Scotts Road

Last 10 Minutes (entertainment)

Bahasa Indonesia only

Watching the last 10 minutes of this episode, I successfully brighten my day.

Already more than 10 times!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

thank you Dave and Iwet

Love by Meta AI

This morning I talked with my nephews about Meta AI chats done by many in the Net. They said I ought to try a chat and I did.

Here is my 2nd chat with Meta AI in which I asked questions related to love; my 1st was asking about Singapore today which is not so interesting to share.

Of Thousands of Dreams (reflecting)

Of thousands of dreams
Flowing, blocked, flowing again
With love, not anger--

Do I have many dreams? If many is defined by number based on Arabic rule in which more than 2 is many, I do have many dreams.

My biggest dream is to materialise my home where my family and friends will occasionally gather to chat around and to enjoy my cooking. My next dream is to travel to Morocco and Macchu Picchu with a loved one before I die. A loved one can be my best friend, my lover or my own self– it depends on the time, space and my final decision. The next ones are not so significant to share with many, let me keep them with myself.

Last night I conversed with my family about dream and there were so many dreams disclosed, from the mildest to the wildest. Then we put contexts on how each of us wanted to make the dreams come true. There were laughs and smiles and grins and opinions and feedbacks and compliments. We enjoyed teasing each other until finally everyone had to go back to each room for rest.

Those younger have dreams that I cannot even digest. The oldest of us has the mildest dream yet to me among all of us it is a powerful one: releasing everything before one dies.

Big dreamer, medium dreamer, small dreamer, tiny dreamer, meaningful dreamer, meaningless dreamer, whatever dreamer…. All are labels: do I care or not? I do care to sort who gives me labels: the labels are not important to me so I don’t mind people label me based on what they know about me but how they do it: genuinely or with prejudice, with anger or with love. The labels given to me is not about right or wrong, it’s about layers of my dear self. The labels given to me is about how people care about me based on their points of view– I can move to adjust the view or they can do.

My dream might be simple: having a(nother) home and that’s why I am called a simple dreamer by most friends but do they know what values I put into anything to build it: the design, the material, the character of the people involving in the projects, the prayer I request from all the elderly from my parents’ families, etc– they are precious to me. My cousin can be labeled as a simple dreamer just because she wants to release everything before she dies but do people know how life has toughened her that she has nothing but anger that can crack her with one soft touch and so she needs to let the toughness go to let softness embrace her soul?

Dreams can be used by people to label others. Some don’t want to be labeled. Some are ok to be labeled. Some don’t care with any labels. Those three are valid ways to protect themselves from cracking under pressure, the flexibility applied to glue the self together to walk the path of of dreams.

Whether the dreams can be achieved or not is not even the dreamer job to decide. I’ve seen dreamers cry, scold, die with dreams not coming true. Does it matter? No. The most important thing is the dreamer walks one’s path of dreams.

Whether labels affect the dreamer is another story. Although a dreamer says “Don’t label me” but one’s heart gets busy with false labeling, one is still in doubt. Although a dramer says “Label me I am ok” but one’s heart is still filtering the labels based on bias, one will be in doubt. Although a dreamer says “I don’t care about labels” but one still asks for opinions here and there without wising up, one will still doubt.

Yet is it wrong to doubt? No….

So?

Nothing really matters.

Just walk or fly or dive the paths of dreams, dear dreamers.

Words are just dust that cover the glass and so needs to be removed. Opinions and feedbacks are probably just judgment that cloud the view and so needs to be wiped. Evaluation is assessment is probably distraction and so needs to be thrown away. Forget it.

Me? I am a dreamer that walks my path of dreams, whether it is right or wrong, this mind will take the risk; whether it is small or big, this heart will contain it; whether it is good or bad, this thought will embrace it; whether my dream is coloured or black-and-white, this view will witness it; whether this dream is judged or not, I will acceot it. This self will only care to the words from those coming with love, not anger.

I am flowing, deciding to move on to what my dreams call beautiful: LOVE. I won’t evaluate others who only want complimet and agreement, I will be back to my consent of 2024: I am flowing quietly and calmly by knowing real blockage and debris so I live real although walking on path of dreams.

With your bless, dear Beloved.

To Pray Hilariously


to pray hilariously:

please keep these joints well lubricated & creak less,

allow me to afford bright-coloured lipsticks as most around me love smile more than gifts,

grant me clear thinking so I can converse reasonably with both the genius & the idiot,

lend me a bit of fresh kindness so I still look good although I'm not pretty,

let me be silly & have silly friends so I won't look silly alone,

make me wise & rich in silence as it will save some time & energy,

if I forget, please remind me
if you forget, no you won't forget for me.

yours truly,

a human being calling herself me

A Small Gift of I Love You


a small gift of i love you

my love to you is as much as the space among drizzles washing off my sadness

my love to you is as much as the pouring rain among the space giving me pure breeze

this weekend has welcomed me with sprinkling blessings like the rain in a desert

each day is a new day when sky opens wider horizon and shows me what i didn't see

do you feel the same?
the space among the rain
the pouring rain
the desert that celebrates
a horizon that keeps widening--

i love you.

thank you for making me smile a lot

💙

in life i learn to accept that love is sometimes not enough; it takes strategy to make things happen and i don’t want to strategize in love

i don’t want to force because i believe life has given me so much so if i don’t get what i want, it doesn’t mean a loss

that i have the ability to love as sincerely as possible is a huge blessing; that i don’t show it openly, it is to ensure everyone’s safety, dignity and comfort

flow, flow, flow

i love you, i love you, i love you

A Mother (ranting)

If I'm a mother,
I'd be my children's student
And their wisdom guide.

I had a Sunday cafe date with a friend while she was accompanying her son having taekwondo class nearby.

Like usual only with this friend I can always agree to go out of my home at weekend except when I am really caught up with urgent work. With her (and her husband and children) I can talk freely with loud laughter without being afraid of any judgement. They are perhaps my closest friends here in Singapore.

One of the today’s topics was mother.

We know quite a bit about both of our journey of relationship with mothers. As daughter we had almost the same experience of dealing with mother: acceptance to be a daughter of a woman with very different mindset and nurturing experience.

Our acceptance to our mother’s love evolved beautifully. Both of us have realised how much our mothers love us and how much we both love those women called mother. It was just a matter of positioning based on respect and understanding. It is always about knowing what and how love manifests in life.

oolong tea, thanks for witnessing friends’ laughter and genuine talk

That she is herself a mother of two children has taught her what a mother’s love means. To me I experienced various conflicts and arguments with my mother until at one point I realised how hard it was to be in her position and how hard to me to accept the fact that I have to accept my position before her culturally, biologically and ethically.

This friend likes to share with me how she raises her kids and the vice versa, I also like to give case studies and see how she treats some situations. Among all married friends she might be the one I would like to be like in most situations, not all as we still have different opinions in some topics if I am a mother (I know it is just an if as I don’t even have a hope to be someone’s wife at this age). She is open to communicate with her kids and husband up to a level of sitting at a round table to openly argue about things; at the same time she has her boundary at which point a mother stops to force and at which line a child must respect parents.

Today’s was our last 2024’s meet-up. She will fly to Karuizawa, Japan on Dec 11 until end of year and I will finish my work before end-of-year’s home country leave for a short while.

This friend always makes me miss my mother.

Ibu, I will call you tomorrow morning…. Know that I will always love you . Know that I will say yes if you become my mother again in my next life.

💗

Fresh Weekend

The mangos that fly from across the sea,
The nectarines that stare at me,
The plums that hide among their fellow fresh,
The trio that will not stop fascinating me
Until I happily cry
To close the weekend.
Refreshing tears into
Fresh weekend--

what is fresher than a basket of fruit?

You Are

You are butterflies
Flying around my heart
Tickling me to whisper
I love you.
But where are
You?
Hiding behind signs
That I've misunderstood,
Disguised between symbols
That I've wrongly guessed,
None is solely for me.

Love

My heart jumped
Still jumps
But will she jump after
A gesture that was told
Hopefully not right
About a love that is discriminated?

Is my love still true?
Or will there be a light
Telling me otherwise?

is it as gossipped and gestured? or not? – i never know as i don’t see consistency and directness in the messages sent

Why Love Poem #2

What do I have to write about
You today?
My pen doesn't want to move, she said "The poem about him is like a blinking tiny beacon afar, signing on and off. Hard to read."

What do I have to feel about
You today?
My heart doesn't want to move, she said "The poem about him is like a flickering will of wisps swaying weakly. Hard to follow."

What do I have to believe about
You today?
My mind doesn't want to continue explaining, she said "The poem should be a prose that will take so much time to complete. Hard to describe."

What do I have to accept about
You today?
My soul doesn't give any sign but smiling, she said "The power is not what you need. Only love suits your journey. If not love, let go. Hard to digest."

What do I have to let go about
You, Today?
My life doesn't want to stop laughing, she said "Laugh when gaslighted. Smile when gaslighted. Look when gaslighted. Never strike
back. Stay or walk away. Peacefully. Not as hard as thought or felt or believed or planned."

I stay in the same plane to keep walking with my love poems for you, Today.

life is an opera, the most illogical and grandest one at times

How long do you think I write one poem? Less than one minute up to as long as 20 minutes.

I never use AI. Never and probably will never except using AI is the only way for me to live.

My poem is always about what happens to me or at me. It is always about what I love or not love. Is it always about love? Yes, because the only relevant thing to life is love: it can be romantic love, platonic love, family love, friendship love, dedication to work, compassion, self love, love to Love.

I feel it so flowing when I write love poem, it takes me snap of fingers to make it happen. When I am stressed after some meeting, I will type a haiku. When I am in the aeroplane sleepless, I will usually write love poem in my small book. Writing poem is never a distraction, it is a motivation to get fresher and braver and to perform better.

One more thing: the depth of the poem not only depends on my mood and calmness but also the mood and calmness of the subject recited in the poem. It would be so much calmness when I write about my little brother; much bravery about my sister, much fun about my older brother. My early poems in 2008 up to 2012 is full with expression of depression, around 2014 to 2017’s is energizing energy, 2019’s is liberation and blessings to forward movement. And 2024’s poems feel a bit heavy with a feel of being played around but still flowing rather heavily on positivity.

I kind of enjoy the altered energy everytime the writing of poem involves different stories and objects; so much enlightening inside and giving energy to keep the faith in this silent journey within.

Specifically past 3 months I’ve felt big energy of gaslighting and game playing. I am just observing and doing best to evaluate whether it is what’s inside me projecting my own despair or reflecting a despair from outside me.

No matter what, love poem is still my preferrence.

Early morning letter to self