Excuse me Mister! (Danau Singkarak, Musi, Padang)

What do you know about the world Sir?

you ain't know nothin

they said, last month you were just born again

but how come? then we're older than him

while moi? moi's been around since first time i saw the world

(i heard that small, big boned boy chirping

to his two friends in the back seating)

the car stopped by the river

everyone needed meal and the car a washing

down the river went the boy, screaming

as the wide, shallow river

his naked back sweeping

with its mighty cold water

That Sir was just smiling

his grin was saying

ah li'l boy, what do you know of this world?

you know nothing

than the oversized pants you are wearing

i might be born last month

but the world i have known

(thought i have developed this thing

a talent to lip reading)

in the evening

the car stopped for a while

for heavy meal and a bathing

this time, they went inside a village

dark was it, sky clouding

and the children i saw doing something

they thought smart of doing

excuding soap to make it bubbling

applying them on their skin

to get rid of mosquitos bitin'

(i smiled at their new invention)

then to the children happened something

the big boned boy thought it wasn't worth trying

his skin got itching itching

thus he went down to the river a washing

putting his toes first, water temperature a testing

dark was it, water sky mirroring

but he still thought of shrimp catching

along the grass towering

all grown up men had just finished a washing

he was left all alone, standing

the boy decided to be friendlier

to the straight haired born again Mister

Hey Mister, did you happen to cempedak fruit tasting?

it smells nice but why i felt like sleepy when sniffing?

is it really edible or what Sir? the boy went asking

(this time i pretended not to be eavesdropping

i was pretty sure that was his way of saying

I am so sorry for ignoring)

the Mister looked down smiling

perhaps thinking of the boy he longed to have

or just remembered he once was a youngling!

before he opened his mouth answering

the boy went on saying

Mister, like your crooked nose!

and why you always go uff uff

every five minutes or three?

(Guessed the Mister had been deciding

whether to like this boy or nothing)

have you eaten Son? Mister only said one thing

the small big boned boy looked up, nodding

*of Danau Singkarak, Padang, Musi*

Stranded (Sanur)

i thought God spilt the beans

when the the first time i saw the beach

Its sands wwere like mung beans
of different color, I mean
split all over the beach

or they resemble the cardamom seeds

small, yellowish, round

covering the whole ocean and beyond

it was like a big discovery for the boy that was me

and thought friends must see

hard and fine a grain

i laid it on my palm

i picked them up one by one

beige, reddish, yellow

colors that made me wow

how did they came to be like this?

a greedy child was I

harvesting as many

digging deep with hands

the precious round sands

colorful shells and pieces of corals

added to my collections inside my bag

the greedy child smiled

and then ran to the adults

satisfied, smiling as if nothing happened

it's only me and my marine treasure

can't wait to show them to friends

said the child which was I

and i glanced back

and smiled at the fine, round sands

i'll be bringing the whole sea

to my neighborhood

up in the mountains

*of Sanur, 1986*

First Dips

luv it! me and 9 other buddies had a big time UW at the Bush and Leaf and the Scout.

and I said to myself, what a wonderful world!

I have no fear of drowning
It's the breathing that's taking all this work

(Work, Jars of Clay)

On Pilgrimage (Kudus, Ambarawa, Semarang)

Cool. Humid. Cold. Rain. Gloom. Mellow. Happy. December is. It's the month of reflection for Sem. It can evoke in him a mood of reflection—if not melancholy. “Blame it on the weather,” he says, grinning.

His Decembers have been nice. For example, two Decembers ago he went on a ‘historic’ trip with Cik and Fajar to Dieng-Magelang-Jogjakarta. He said to them, even if you din join this trip, I will go there myself. (He’d never been this brave before!)

Now once again he finds himself in December, on a trip to Central Java.

Kudus
As the name suggests ('kudus' means holy), the town reflects Islamic influences. Some source says that it’s derived from al-Quds or Jerusalem.... Thus starts the ‘pilgrimage’ in the holy city. First destination: the old Masjid Menara with brick minaret dated back to the early days of Hindu in Indonesia. It houses the tomb of Sunan Kudus. Sem also attends Christmas Eve mass here in the city. what a Malam Kudus (Holy Night).

Bandungan-Ambarawa
From Kudus 'the pilgrimage' continues in the highlands of Bandungan, to the Hindu temple complex of Candi Gedung Songo. Here Sem stands in awe of what he sees: The temples are situated in the scenic mountains, spanning in the location of like 3 km sq. He can only wonder, what was on their mind when they built and dedicated these temples to the deity?

Semarang
Sem visits one touristy spot: Gedung Lawang Sewu. Sem dares himself to take underground tour where it is said to be haunted—given its bloody past. He feels goose bumps that he mumbles “bring your torches Jeanette, Isabella” while holding his battery-powered torch in the dark.

Outside, the night is about to fall. He rushed to Oudstadt—very much like Jakarta’s Kota Tua or Duesseldorf’s Altstadt: there’s canal, bridges, stocky buildings, and a church. the latter is Gereja Blenduk that’s been there since 1753.

Bread Alone
December is a time for reflection and also insouciance. And even during pilgrimage, when spiritual hunger is fulfilled, pilgrims still need worldly food. So here Sem is, enjoying second, third, and hundredth servings of meals and delicacies.

First Time (Pelabuhan Ratu)

Nobody's an Island (Kepulauan Seribu)

Nobody's an island, so ayn't I.

and then so ayn't my friends.

So together with Umi, Phie, Mamet, Echi, Rudy, Toto, Tetty, Uwi, Ifan, Leo, Yudhi, Ipul, I went on island hopping at Kepulauan Seribu.

At first, I din expect much considering the mighty west wind I 'encountered' with at Tidung. I only hoped for nice weather so I could observe more species in nice environment. And.... so be it: clear sky and waters, plus mild wind and undercurrent.

At the first plung, I instantly fell in love with the corals, fishes, and echinoderms. I also joined in the exciting echinoids (bulu babi) hunt. It's surprisingly edible and tasty! Using a stainless steel tongs, I disarmed four urchins!

When the night came, life at the beach was also wonderful. The water twinkled here and there with red LED-like flickers as though someone igniting matches in the water. Amazing!

The island hopping continued to the ever famous Pulau Putri with its submarine-like 'seaquarium'. After that, they jumped to the water. the corals and the fish are colorful here and the site is vast. I felt blessed at the sight of a neon green clown fish aka nemo aka ikan guri, swimming here and fro, guarding his anemone. (It was a good beginning too for me for I swam around sans life jacket!)

J'aime Tegal

Long long ago, I, as once a Pantura-frequenter, thought it'd be nice to stop by and explore the city. So when Ent, Marcia, Cupay ignited the idea, I quickly yessed it. Besides i needed to attend a wedding reception there.

that morning on third week of Nov, we hopped on Dedy Jaya. The road was loooong and it was not our brother. bumpy one moment, smooth another moment. thankfully most of the time Dedy sped.

We arrived in the city at 14.15. it has malls! We, being constantly hungry, lunched at the nearest warung. The ready-to-eat menu was like what I usually see in Jkt with an exception of sotong cooked in its own black ink. (“where do sotongs refill their ink?” joked M). And here none puts a “warung tegal” sign or call theirs warung tegal.

We explored the city on becak (Been a while since I rode the last time in Yogya). we went to Pantai Alam Indah to watch sunset. we stopped by a military museum and then to Alun Alun Poci for exra heavy dinner.

Day two. In the morning we headed to Guci. At an intersection we got off for a transit. Like my previous experience in Yogya, some thugs forced us to wait in the minibus. this time I refused to give up. we chartered a mikrolet.

The driver offered to take us on a scenic Kampung Danawarsih (?). It has a beautiful river. Someone tried to cross the pillar-turned-into-bridge and trembled that he retrieved. Lol. And it was fun to dip my feet in the thigh high cold water. It’s probably the cleanest in-the-kampong-river I’ve seen!

Off we went up to Guci, stopping by to snap some Farmville-like views. The air is so refreshing here. It was noon and cloudy. We hiked up to the hills. The good thing is it has a warm springs which we dipped ourselves in.

Mr. driver insisted on taking us to the canopy bridge. It’s beautiful, stretching like 100 m across the river. Picturesque is the surrounding. Perhaps we can go there and camp! And it was good for us to meet a man “shepherding” ducks, never been as close! He’s got black ducks too, a hybrid of entok (mallard?) and duck. It is said they make tasty grill.

Speaking of eating, i should say yes. we came to the city to devour! our culinary feast consisted of: chicken and goat satay, soto balungan, soto gambyong, and soto tauco, nasi-jinggo-like (forget the name), durian and many more, and of course, being in Tegal, gallons of tea served in clay pot or teh poci.