D Day

Dena rarely cries when she was small. I can only remember two things that put tears in her eyes. Malin Kundang & Alice In Wonderland. The part when Malin Kundang refuses to acknowledge his elderly mother and the scene in which Alice got lost and cries alone in the middle of a strange forest. No tears today. Till we meet again kiddo!

Last Day

"I want to doesn't always mean I'm going to." A life lesson from a nineteen years old. 

Two More Days

Stuck in a horrible traffic for more than two hours with Dena. She kept me insane. "Let's make an alphabet of colors!" Azure, Blue, Chrome yellow, Dreadful yellow, Enthusiastic yellow. She drove me insane. "Go left here. Why are you so to the left of the lane. Stay in your lane. Are you crazy? You're so close to that car!" Getting driving advice from a nineteen years old. Driving me crazy! Literally.

Three More Days

Out of the blue Dena asked, "Why do people dress up just to go to a mall? It's not like some stranger is going to ask you for a date or something. That will not happen here in Indonesia. No one is going anywhere alone here unless he or she is shopping. Everyone here is always in a group. Have some stranger ever approach you and strike up a conversation? A guy will be too embarrassed to approach a girl in a group. A girl will be too embarrassed to be seen in public alone." A dating overview from a nineteen year old.

Four More Days

Cooking to some soulful sixties music with Dena. Her songs. Not mine. Quietly watching her taking charge in my kitchen. She let me peeled some shrimps and cut some shallots and garlic. After only almost a year away from home she definitely have more experience in cooking than me. I'm going to miss this. She is going back to Vancouver in a few days. Tears in my eyes. I swear it was from cutting all those shallots. 

Safety First

A guy in a plane actually read an info-graphic of a safety card before take off. When was the last time I actually take time to really observe a safety procedure of an airplane? It's an ignorant way of wishing that nothing will happen to me so I don't need to know these things. A new habit to pick up: read the safety card, pay attention to the safety procedure of a plane. It's always good to know where the nearest exit. Knock knock on wood. 

Haunted

I wish Christine would choose the Phantom over Raoul. One love. One lifetime. Pain and anguish can make him do terrible things but he just wants to be loved. Gaston Leroux is a French journalist and a mystery novel writer who is overshadowed by various film and stage adaptation of his book, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. Did you know the book was very poorly sold in his life time? Truly phantomed.

Queue

Intermission at Master Card Theater after first act of Phantom Of The Opera. Extremely long line at the women's toilet. No line at all at the men's toilet. Five wild assumptions. Women have more bladder control problem than men. More women love to watch  musical operas than men. Women take longer time in the bathroom than men. Women drink more than men. Women look at themselves in the mirror longer than men do.

Dog Happy

Waiting with a crowd to cross an intersection at Orchard road, Singapore. Feeling rather blah. A guy squirmed his way to the front, turned around  and held up high a sign that says "Smile!" So I did. Then he turned the sign over and it says "...you have a free date!" Oops! So I did. Best date ever. LOL. The thing people do to be blessing for others for no other reason than just because they can. No hidden agenda. No expectations. Love it! When was the last time I make a total stranger smile?

A Card & A Date :-)

Genuine

What is it about children's drawing that attracts me so much? Most of them draw from their heart with no pretentious reasons other than I-love-to-draw-just-because. I wish I could draw like them. Why do you do what you do? 

Doodle by Sekolah Cita Buana students

Tough Love

I signed up for a full marathon in December. My first marathon! Yay! Great! I'll run with you. I'll run by your side. Seriously? You, a seven times marathoner, and you want to run with me, a newbie? You are not going to say anything or giving me a killer look about my turtle pace? You set the pace. I will follow your pace. But I will kick your ass if you start walking or whining. It's the most romantic thing you ever said to me! ;-)

Put My Foot Down

Have you ever wanted to say something to someone but words escape you and you just don't know what to say, how to say, and when to say? Worry no more. Just go to bureau of communication and express your feelings, premonitions, intuitions or whatever you want to call it in a clever way. "Let that which be unsaid be said." Love this!

Monday Madness

Don't get me wrong. I'm not picking on Monday. I love Monday. It's just coincidence that yesterday was the day that everything went wrong the minute I woke up until the minute I slept. What do you do when you have a bad day? You could be in a bad mood or you could laugh it off, shrug your shoulders and say "Oh well! It's one of those days!" Bitter or better? It's your choice. Easier said than done but worth every penny to try.

Doodle by Dena

Sunday Night

Sitting under a humongous tree next to Dena. Sketching under a starless sky. A mini square piazza with shooting water which dance to classical numbers. Children running around and through the square. Laughing. Getting wet. Delightful squeal. Listening to Dena enthusiastically pointing out silly things they did with the water, then asking me this question, "Why are children are so attracted to water?" Pondering as if she never done that at one point of her life time. About twenty minutes later three fathers joined the fun. Laughing. Getting wet. Delightful squeal. Grown up should play more often.

Life Expectancy

Steve Irwin, extremely enthusiastic about animal kingdom, pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film and died almost immediately. He was 44 years old. Ulrike Von Mengden, loves orangutan with all her heart, lives in the only house in Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia. She may look 93 years old or more. But her soul is 39 years young. Apparently doing what you are really passionate about can either kill you instantly or prolong your life.

Wild Guess

Have you ever look at an orangutan's eyes really up close? I swear I thought I saw a person's eyes and she was inside this furry, shaggy costume with no zipper to get out. Her stares were blank. She looked through me not at me. Her eyes were extremely melancholy. As if she was saying "I'm in a situation I despise, but there is nothing I can do to fix it. My only option is to numb myself, loose hope and be comfortable with this condition I hate." Maybe the fact that this orangutan I saw was inside a cage that gave me such notion. Or maybe I just have too much imagination.

Inspiration

I had lunch with a couple of charming and lovely ladies. One is seventy three years old, moved from Germany to Irian Jaya in the early seventies and lived there for almost twenty five years. The other is ninety years or more, lives in a house inside Ragunan Zoo, immensely passionate about animals especially orangutans. Both ordered fish & chips with a glass of beer! I had salad and a glass of water. I felt old, predictable & boring :-) 

Life Project Dena

"I'm going to graduate from ECUAD in 2016, get a job overseas, work my butt off for at least five years to get enough money to retire early and move to Gili T for good!"

E-Couple

A couple in a cafe sat together facing away from each other. Both were busy texting. Both were smiling. For a good ten minutes it took me to sketch this they stayed like that. Facing away, texting & smiling. Not once they talked. Then the guy stood up and left, still texting. Five minutes later the lady looked up from her mobile, surprised to see he wasn't there. She stood up and looked around frantically to see which way he went. LOL. 

Book Me!

What do you do with your old books? Most of us probably throw them away, donate them to charity, keep them on a shelve to collect dust or sell them at a secondhand market. But not Ekaterina Panikanova. She uses them to create beautiful art. Changeable installation. Interactive art. If each book has 365 pages, I could have different art everyday just by turning the pages. Drop-dead Gorgeous!

Running Thoughts

Running untangle my mind. Daily traffic stress. Gone. Relationship anxiety. Gone. Running makes bad thoughts disappear. Just dog happy thoughts. Like a pair of running shoes that can turn running energy into power to charge my mobile.

J-Rex

Like to think they are cars and take up a whole lane of a street. Will give you a killing look if you dare to beep them. Attack you from every directions possible, front, back, right, left like a swarm of bees. Ignore all four ways intersection's traffic lights and sneak a way as if they were a pro baseball player stealing second base. Go in an opposite direction of a traffic in full blast and give you an angry glaring lights. Unwilling to give you way even when you put your hand out. They rule pedestrian walk with an iron fist. Watch out for the notorious Jakartanosaurus. The ultimate king of the road. Roooaar!

Hidden Agenda

I can't believe my eyes when Dena put our diving trip in her agenda. You have an agenda? You actually organize your schedule? Finally! I remember when she was in junior high and high school she always insisted that she had her own system to remember stuff. I bought her cool agendas, I even made one for her but she never used it. I guess you outgrown your system? After years of nagging her to use agenda this feels like victory. Ready to admit Mom always...eer most likely knows best, dear?

I'm Back!

Two months, one week and one day. That's how long my left ankle won't let me run. Finally I had her permission to run. After she made me signed an agreement to take baby steps, to take things slowly, and to treat her like a queen. Or else! She let me ran for four something kilometers in a drizzling evening! Felt like a kid in a candy store. Woohoo!

Catch Of The Day #19

Communication is a synchronized interpersonal dance. May I have this dance?

Wishing Well

It's official, Dena. When I die I want to be cremated. I want you to travel around the world and throw me into the seven seas. Arctic Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Oceans. So wherever you are going to end up on earth I will be close to you. Unless you decide to live in another planet. 

Ariah

Sad story. Colossal stage. Seats are not numbered. Breathtaking lighting. Long way walk to the entrance. Colorful ensemble. Tiny multimedia screen. Fabulous merchandising. Hot weather. Energetic dance numbers. Wall's jingle. Beautiful composition. Ruthless traffic. Awesome friend. I love Jakarta! What's next Vinda?