Rest

Get rest, Beloved.
You've raced with a packed schedule
That's tamed by weekends.

the drink is “Teh Botol Sosro” the most legendary bottled tea in Indonesia 😘

mini tumpeng for today’s birthday dinner (most components by me) – need to rest my hands after cooking; this weekend is gonna be biking to east coast

A Path to Destination

Beloved,
It is about whether or not
The path is walked.
Not about prediction,
Not about opinion,
Not about hurting or getting hurt,
Not about giving up,
Not about result.

This journey is
Mine.
The destination is
You.
The end is
Heaven knows.

Today’s dinner

please don’t judge hungry stomachtoday was another reading, cooking and eating plus a bit of napping, laundry was missed and will be done tomorrow night after office 😎

this plate is a work of 3-hour labor of an amateur: potato perkedel (potato hash mixed with minced beef), fried rice with corn in Balinese sambal matah & teri kacang (my 1st attempt soooo challenging, too sweet, almost giving up, next time better with different recipe) – yay❣️

i made chicken soup for my own soul and my friend sent me sourdough from her bakery — alhamdulillah….

RAMBUTAN!!! 😍 exotic tropical fruit

Tell Me

It's confusing.
Tell me how
I should love
You.

Is it to shine
As a sun does?

Is it to glow
As a star does?

Is it to reflect
As a moon does?

Is it to pass by
As a comet does?

I'm none of those.
I am now loving
You as the space does,
It is to contain
Your existence,
Embracing what's all
In and about
You.

Tell me how
I should love
You.

RC Gorman’s work of art

Sweat

Sweat is
Either from hard work
Or from
Nerve.
Feel its particular heat and movement on the skin
To find which.

old that i love the most — i can’t count how many times i tripped and fell with her, just catching or sometimes racing with the wind; i wanted to give it away to my nephew but never happens as i so much love this powerful Blue

my frequent commute buddy when i am not on taxi or bus

colleagues who commute by bikes will shower (again) in the office before starting working because of sweating but i won’t

i let my sweat dry by the AC 😁

biking is in my blood, from elementary until senior high schools and sometimes in uni i did move around by bike — i only totally stopped riding bike when i was working in Jakarta where cars are more preferred even if the traffic is heavy

my friend was in biz trip in London and brought one home for me with much cheaper price compared to Singapore’s — new, lighter and brighter and fancier than Blue but sometimes too shiny for me to move around so she doesn’t get frequent outting; i’ll bring you out more, Red and maybe someday i will give you away to my nephew so you will be ridden more for functional fun

thank you, life for opening my eyes every now and then with or without sweating

A Book Is A Garden

A book, Beloved
Soaks a soul in clean water.
Washed off and refreshed--

I read a book by Haemin Sunim, Love for Imperfect Things. It is second book from him I’ve read, the first was When Things Don’t Go Your Way. While the latter felt like diving into my own understanding of life– a set of confirmation of what I’ve done and/or understood in life; the currently read is like a playful garden to me, giving me more space to reinterpret my life based on Haemin Sunim’s point of view.

I’ve stopped reading “heavy books”, those that make me more intelligent with bunches of upgraded sciences and knowledge, more critical towards others’ (different from me), more analytical around my folks (outside work), more rigid in forgiving those “making mistakes”. I am now trying to dull the knife in my mind, I’d love to have curvy corners that will just give slight sensation without wound when bumping or bumped by my fellow human beings.

💕

Yes, I am now a weak book reader, but I am an avid reader of my own heart and life.

This book reminds me that I should be bonding myself to an anchor called compassion in life so whatever happens to or around me, it is always love and kindness that become my basis of judgement and decision.

thank you, Haemin Sunim — how grateful i am to have read this book

Most books I am now attracted to are fiction, short books, those illustrated, colourful, with picture collection. I read some biography but only of my favourite people (now reading Alan Rickman’s).

Not a fan of “self help” books either as I don’t need to be helped, just need to sit together with a company to listen and to be listened to.

every chapter is as powerful as decades of dripping water that forms a smooth hole on a rock 💕

thanks to my favourite person for recommending this book; i wish to see you soon 💕

Continuing reading Haemin Sunim’s next book–

Weekend Idle

After 40′ swim, I continued Saturday with reading (I’m left behind target of my Goodreads’ 2024 Reading Challenge), cooking then eating. Some instagram checking inserted to check if my bestfriend sent me silly meme and videos to refresh our day–

Weekend, please don’t go too fast. I still have 2 books, cleaning and some laundry to do.

Maybe just one extra hour for tomorrow to be 25…. 😛

tada! today is about reading, cooking and eating — ice cream soon 😍

😍

peanut, garlic, chili, fragrance ginger (kencur)

palm sugar, kefir lime leaves

A View

Good view, Beloved
Gives her bright vibe and clear hope.
Saturday fever--

the view in female outdoor pool shower — Saturday can’t be more fun and brighter with heliconia

Do You Mind Me To?

If I'm to follow,
It's only to follow you.
Do you mind me to?

the sun, sunflower and a weekend

My Life Is Poetry

My life is poetry
I recite in solitude.
As short as Basho's haiku,
As long as Bhagavad Gita--

No ears are to hear,
No critic is to review,
As private as a fetus in the womb, dearly loved--
As hidden as an unexplored cave, well protected--

There will be time when it travels out
To a place called a meadow of flowers
Where words become meaningless,
Senses truthfully shout.

That day I'll recite my life
To that whom I truly endear.
That day I'll sing my song
About the love I truly adhere.

a humble life is a tiny drop of water pushing out ripples on a placid pond– hidden and loved

You

I wish I know
You better
So there won't be useless tears falling to long for
You.

I wish to meet
You now
So there won't be useless words
Uttered in secret for
You.

I wish to be with
You, too
So there won't be useless thought dancing restlessly for
You.

But I won't force to be with
You soon
As the timing is predestined by and arranged for
You.

counting my falling hair before finally meeting you

💕

Snoopy Said….

two friends see one same thing from different states of existence (a human being and a dog) and explain it in different words — both are right

i feel like i am Snoopy, lucky to have Charlie Brown as a friend

💕

Everything

Everything, dear self
Has its own time, no delay.
There is never doubt.

when my doubt is unbearable, i will open the Quran and ask to be given one answer to my doubt — after some short meditative moment; i will randomly open a page and the first part that i see or point with my forefinger, i will simply take it as the answer

and this is the most recent one when i asked about doubt “…. and He has appointed a term in which there is no doubt.”

it might be a coincidence that the “no doubt” appeared to me when i asked about doubt

it is not a scientific process to make a decision, but i choose to believe it because i don’t want to lose the ability to rely on intuition in time when logic cannot help

it takes practices and acceptance to embrace this simple (speculative) way of making decision, and it takes humility (for a logical person like me) to humbly believe

thank you, Gusti 💕

Comfort Zone

Comfort zone's, dear self
A clear bubble waits to burst.
Life is just like that.

need warm soup for weekend comfort: veggies n sukiyaki beef in dashi stock, tempe + torch ginger — imperfect combination but i love both 😍

need a second helping of soup and fruit before back curling up in bed reading then hopefully falling to sleep

Sonnet of A Tiny Love

Pondering where this tiny love story means,
Counting breathing through hope in highs and lows.
In I breath fragrance of rose, out jasmine.
How beautiful! No one but a key knows.

The breeze sometimes softly shakes the heartbeat.
The river flows tampering a quiet mind.
The fire ignites a heart that longs to meet.
Under the drizzle the sun warmly shines.

Beloved, is it you she's waiting for?
Is it her you're letting in your grand throne?
The cloud hanging disguises sweet flavor,
Or the flavor is love and love alone?

Love is beautiful with cloudy sweet dream.
If time allows, rain stops, be shown sunbeam.

there’s a girl within falling in love, a woman without daydreaming of love

be real, woman! the girl is as true as your love itself

never doubt your heart; trust your life

Piggy Bank Relaxes Me (ranting)





Seems that the “Kiai Semar” piggy bank in my instastory has drawn hidden attention. My friend sent me a picture of ancient piggy bank saying “Are you still saving in celengan, don’t you have a bank account? Why so traditional?”

Arrgh! Should I tell people I save in the bank? It is something common to save in the bank because I need debit card to do all my financial thingy every now and then. How can I shop without debit card? And they think my debit card will just get impregnated with money without me feeding it? I am saving in the bank, my dear.

When said by a close friend in a normal situation, it feels ok. When said by a distant friend who has a rather unpleasant history, it feels rather ouch!

Anyway celengan (Javanese) is apiggy bank, a traditional container to save money.

What does celengan literally mean? Celengan is a Javanese word formed by celeng and -an. Celeng means boar or wild boar, –an is a suffix to form a word to be a Noun. Celeng itself is a Noun, celengan is a Noun to change the word celeng into another Noun with slightly different meaning. While celeng is wild boar, celengan means toy wild boar or a container in a wild boar form.

Why wild boar or celeng? As we know boar or wild boar is a family of pig. Maybe because pig is a symbol of luck, prosperity, wealth so people hope that by saving in a container formed like a wild boar they can be lucky and wealthy. I don’t think it is an original Javanese culture as Javanese didn’t originally raise it in the neighborhood. They got wild boar by hunting — remember the word “wild”. This might come from a culture where pig was domesticated and so became close to human beings’ daily activities.

By the time piggy bank is not in a form of pig or wild boar anymore. It can be in a form of chicken, frog, jar, etc including the Kiai Semar (a wayang character) that I bought in Kasongan, Yogyakarta. And the material can be from plastic, wood; while the original is terracotta.

Why am I ranting so long?

Sometimes liking it or not, I feel one word from one person can ruin my day in silence. It doesn’t matter, life is just like that. Why making that person so important that I get hurt by just random words from one? Forget it.

Thanks, celengan for making me even more relaxed after digging in the Japanese cuisine.

Weekend is here.

Please bless me with good time. Amen.

Have a good weekend!

ancient terracotta piggy bank for me

i wish to have a big one filled with gold — and some people will say “are you a gold digger?”

damn! if i am a gold digger, i won’t be here, i will have been in Japan married to the only son of a president of a company 😎

Relax

Relax, Beloved,
There's a place for victory
Other than fighting.

finding that Sunday evening i will be away, i changed my Japanese food craving to today, tomorrow will be my packing day for next two trips, reading and chasing wind

Friday’s message: just relaxxx and eat crabbb!

Garden of Eden

Eden, Beloved
Exists next to the kitchen
Where she has some fun.

A tropical garden is a kind of lush garden I want to see when washing the dishes. I am looking forward to it with the help from our tropical gardener– we can find them easily in Indonesia.

But it will be done after the Japanese garden. Right now the spot is still packed with construction material and debris. There shall be deep cleaning to ensure no left over of material in the soil and fertile soil to be added.

While the Japanese garden is restricted to inner circle, this tropical garden is where all guests can take some fresh air as long as they don’t make any harm to anyone around.

Please be patient, dear self. One at a time–

💕

had to cut out the coloured part as there is some spoiled part around it

yosh! now time to complete my laundry 😍

the sketch that kept delayed

Private

Private's, Beloved
This ordinary one's life.
Not much to expose--

I lock my Instagram account always and it forever will be locked, only those having directly met with me can become my contacts. Does it sound arrogant? No, it is a protection — to protect myself from unfair judgement from those contacts knowing me from my words or my pictures in my curated frames; and to protect my contacts from misjudging me simply based on my curated frames– they will be able to judge me more fairly by talking to me or meeting with me first before becoming my contacts in Instagram.

My contacts are those family members and friends; not even colleagues as we believe our professional judgement might be clouded with some personal bias that is not even related to work.

I am so so sorry for being so picky (a bit irritating I know I am) but I am still willing to reply anyone’s messages.

💕

What about WordPress?

It is where I am ranting and there are only 20-40 people visiting me daily and my postings are all extracted ideas in poetry that by nature can be interpreted by anyone. So anyone is welcome to visit my WordPress even without leaving a trace.

💕

Release

Release, Beloved
What's wished. Let it fly to find
Its way to go home.

this fragile dandelion is my favourite plant, it reminds me to release wishes to their way home, where they materialise their best potentials

💕

(picture from Pinterest)

Back On Track

Today I am browsing around with my Blue and feeling good!

Back on track. Let’s do it all day!

Thank you for all the active senses❣️

….many more to share in silence

Laughter

Laughter's, Beloved
You radiate cheerfulness,
We all count blessings.

when you laugh, the dried grass comes alive

Gringsing Bharatayudha (batik)

This battle's, dear heart
Will win you with condition:
You have the courage.

Whatsapp gave me a surprise that my batik Gringsing Bharatayudha is ready to ship; by plan it should be by November this year.

This time I don’t want it to be shipped, I’d like to collect it by myself so I can say thank you directly to the makers.

Gringsing is my favourite aside from batik nitik, kawung and parang. Gringsing reminds me how I was taken care of when I was a girl and sick — my mother would wrap me in a sheet of batik gringsing, my father would chant his mantra (I can remember what it was and will disclose it at the right time some day.) and my siblings would sleep with me in my bedroom until I was recuperated. Gringsing bears a sweet memory about my family in early period.

Bharatayudha is something familiar in our family. Our parents wanted us to be “true Javanese” who knew “the root” as a middle way because our parents held different religions; so Javanese tradition would not make them play tug of war of who would follow whom and it would not harm any of us to learn local wisdom. They bought R. A. Kosasih’s wayang comic books and other funny wayang stories of Punakawan (please allow me talk about it later). Another series that also built some of us was series of S. H. Mintarja’s “Api Di Bukit Menoreh”. We enjoyed it and shared it to other friends — we lost some books as some friends did not responsibly return the books after reading.

Long story short I grew up with Javanese and wayang wisdom before finally I decided to hold one religion as a legal requirement in our country — Indonesian must display their religion in the ID card. 🙃 I am thankful to be raised by parents of different faiths — they have taught us to respect others regardless….

Last year Ibu Tien showed me a white sheet with Gringsing Bharatayudha pattern then several months later the half done. I could not resist its charm.

There are two scenes in the batik Gringsing Bharatayudha:

1. Bhatara Kresna the King of Dwaraka on the chariot: He is the coachman of Arjuna who is fighting against Adhipati Karna whose coachman is Prabu Salya the King of Madra. Arjuna and Karna are actually brothers from one mother (Dewi Kunthi) of different fathers whose each upbringing has brought them to different partiality. Arjuna for sure is in the side of Pandhawa, Karna decides to side with Kurawa who has provided life care and social status.

Bhatara Kresna, the King of Dwaraka (the most intelligent character in wayang, the master mind of all wars in his time) used to be my idol when I was a kid before I changed my mind to idolize Semar Badranaya (one humble deity who is assigned to accompany and guide Pandhawa)

2. Bima and Dursasana: Bima is the 2nd of 5 knights of Pandhawa the antagonist of wayang world; Dursasana is the 2nd of 100 Kurawa children the protagonist. In this scene Bima is executing Dursasana to death. This symbolises ending a preserved anger through revenge. Years back Bima swears to kill Dursasana and lets his sister in law Drupadi wash her hair using Dursasana blood — by then Dursasana sexually harasses Drupadi in public when Drupadi’s husband (Yudhistira) loses on a gamble table.

Not a few consider that the Bharatayudha (the civil war between Pandhawa and Kurawa) is not really a politically-triggered war; it is allegedly the result of the wounded pride of Pandhawa and the allies after Kurawa (Dursasana as the main perpetrator under the instruction of Duryudana the King and other Kurawa brothers’ cheering support) harasses Drupadi in the gamble court.

See. Woman can be the cause of war if not treated well— treated well can mean educated well, respected, nurtured, protected, etc. Drupadi is so broken hearted due to the fact that the Pandhawa knights donot do anything to stop the shameful act of harassment and she shouts pledging to wash her hair with Dursasana’s blood — that is when Pandhawa knights get so embarassed and promises to make Kurawa pays some day.

How could a group of knights be so retardedly ignorant? From one side it is integrity, following what’s agreed (the agreement is if Yudhistira loses in the last round of gamble, he has to give up Drupadi), in the other it is cowardice.

Sometimes being good is not an option when there is underpriviledge being abused or harassed. But it is predestined: there shall be evil to bring out good and good to bring out evil — cycle of life.

Fun fact about Bharatayudha: many don’t know that after death Pandhawa representing good side are still sent to hell for punishment, Kurawa considered representing evil are given chance to stay in heaven for some time. Indeed it is not our chosen side that brings us to heaven; it is our good deed does.

What a wisdom on one sheet of batik!

looks like a violence yet it is simply a depiction of a scene in Bharatayudha so please excuse the “looking like” violence

By the way honestly I prefer circle gringsing than square ones. Yet I know Ibu Tien’s team consists of those simbah-simbah and budhe-budhe (senior citizens) whose physical strength is not anymore at prime time so making square gringsing is easier than circle one. I will usually lend them my generous excuse: some of my batik sheets are not evenly dipped and even some are not fully drawn yet I still paid them full price. However, on some batik patterns like kawung and parang I will not let Mbak Izzah miss her grip in managing the work.

Weekend cannot be sweeter with this surprise.

I miss Jogja…. 💕

Dipped

Dip me in
Your colours
In which
Arrogance turns to
Modesty,
Selfishness turns to
Compassion,
Torrential current to
A calm flow.

Dip me in
Your colours
In which
Paintings sing
Love songs,
Music displays
Flowing curves,
Sculptures splash
Romantic hues.

Dip me in
Your colours
In which
I keep living love
With true intension
However little it is.
Never let
Your colours
Fade away from me.

Breathing Forgiveness

Good morning, morning.
Would you please lend her fresh air
To forgive the world?

please make forgiveness air that i breathe

today i learnt that i am not that forgiving

Fear & Hope

Dear, Beloved.
Thank
You
For reminding me
About being humble.

I won't
I won't
I won't
Let this self
Boast of one's self.

Please always tone me down
When I am too high.

Yours truly,

One of
Your breathed
Soul....

the first page that i continue reading from “Fihi Ma Fihi” directly slaps my ego to tone down

thank you for not giving me long time to feed my selfishness

thank you for reminding me that i still have fear to shadow my hope and ears to listen to what universe whispers

please protect those that i love the most from the imbalance between fear and hope

thank you, always

A Noise In My Head

A noise in my head
Is a noise in my stomach
And in the kitchen.

weekend is a noisy kitchen