Horsing Around

Happy blessed Chinese New Year. I've been through four full cycles! Yes, you get it straight from the horses mouth. That's how old I am. I won't say the number, figure it out yourself. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. When you get to my age diet is like beating a dead horse. That's why I run. So I can eat like a horse and be strong as a horse. Once I run, wild horses can't drag me away from it. Speaking of running I have an early morning running date with a friend tomorrow. Well I better get on my horse then. Horse sense tells me I should stop blogging and sleep like a horse. (Okay, I just made the last one up. There isn't such a phrase.) How do horses sleep?

Less Is More

It's weird that I find myself less worry about you, Dena. How come when you are with me I worry about you all the time, but when you are 8289 miles away from me I hardly worry about you. I miss being a full time worrywart. What else is worth worrying about?

Goody Two-Shoes

Almost two years of running and I've worn out four pair of shoes. But this is the first time I felt so attached to a pair of shoes. I don't want to give them away. I don't want to put them in a closet. I just let them retire nicely near a washing machine, a recycling basket for paper and a cardboard box for plastic. Every other day when I do my laundry my shoes and I reminisced about the day we crossed a 42.195K finish line for the first time. 

Air Head

One lazy afternoon. Long queue in a boarding bridge. A flight attendant was greeting passengers at the entrance door. Quiet tall. Tiny waist. Classy make up. Elegant standing pose. Confident. Attractive. She could be a model. She looked me straight in the eyes and gave me the sweetest smile. Then she said, "Jakarta?" I wish I had the nerve to say "OMG! I'M IN THE WRONG PLANE!" to add a little drama to a boring day. Whatever happened to: Welcome! or Selamat datang! or Hello! or Good afternoon! or Apa kabar?

Helpless

Long queue at a shinse's office. Shoes scattered at the entrance. No one is allowed to go in with shoes. A family of three generation. A grandma, a mom, and a 10 year old boy. Grandma and Boy played a game in their own iPad. One of those game you can play together I assumed because Grandma and Boy were busy giving each other instructions. Mom looked on quietly. An hour passed. Queue moved so slowly. "Let's go eat first!" said Grandma. All three of them went to the entrance. Grandma and Mom put on their shoes quickly. Boy just stood at the entrance and did nothing other than buried his head in his iPad. Mom came to the rescue and put his shoes for him. He didn't even say thank you. Grandma didn't say anything, her eyes were glued to her iPad. 

Q-Tips

Which one is the right way to queue in a restroom? A or B? If you answer B you seriously have no clue how to queue. First come first serve. If there were two cashiers at a department store do you see two queues? If there were six tellers in a bank do you see six queues? Of course not. The same principal should apply to restroom queue in Indonesia. 

Damsel In Distress

One quiet afternoon in an empty restaurant. A couple. An Indonesian woman, look about mid thirty, small frame, colored hair, heavy make up. An Indonesian man, big build, about forty, beer belly, hair facial. Nothing special. Just an ordinary couple. They would probably go unnoticed if the woman hadn't spoon-fed the man an entire meal! Seriously? Mom! See what happened when you spoon-fed your son? 

Run Forrest Run

Tahura Djuanda Trail Running Race 2014. My goal was to beat my own time from last year's race. Not only did I made a PB, I finished 3rd place in 10K Women Master division! On a podium to receive a medal, I was like a little kid in a candy store. Delightful and Giddy. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing and blabbering adjectives repeatedly: Cool! Awesome! Incredible! Crazy! Totally swept by a podium-phoria. In contrast the second and the first winner were cool, calm & collected. Unlike me they just smiled a little here and nod a little there. I was the happiest #3 on earth! What do you expect, this the first time I received a winner's medal! This one for you Wolfgang Oey. Thank you for always pushing me out of my comfort zone. You are Awesome!

D & L

It's always delightful to bump into former students. Hello Lakesha! Thank you for a cheerful greeting, a very big hug, and some encouraging words. You just made my day! Really nice to see you blossom into an awesome young girl. You kind of remind me of Dena. I wonder what she is up to now. 

To Be Or Not To Be

I'd like to believe that I'm a pretty nice person. I don't like confrontation. But sometime I wish I would just tell off a person. One lazy Monday in a bank. Yay! There was no queue. Only one elderly lady with her nurse at the counter. I was watching something on the big screen when out of nowhere this woman just cut me off and when straight to the teller. I wish I would tap her shoulder and said "Excuse me, but I'm next in line." Instead I took lots of deep breath and let it go. What would you do?

Girl Talk

One fine cloudy Saturday afternoon. Three girls in a restroom of an upscale mall. All wore heavy make up, stylish tight revealing clothes and killer high heels. Girl#1 gave each girl a white envelope. Both started counting the money. Girl#2 counted the money twice and said "Only five hundred thousand rupiah? Seriously? Are you kidding me?" Girl#2 kept complaining about the amount until Girl#3 said "Oh well! At least we had a great meal!" I wonder what kind of work they do. Food critique?

Art Run #3: Elephant

I love Horton. He is one cool elephant. When he commits to something he stays faithful, persistent until the end. No matter what. Through all season and weather, through boredom, fear and humiliation. He stays committed to his words. My kind of animan er...animal. "I meant what I said. And I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent!" Dr. Seuss' Horton Hatches The Egg

Garmin Connect: Elephant Run

Pain Killer

If I can endure pain in a marathon I can endure anything. So I thought. Beads of cold sweat trickling down my forehead as the guy needled my wing on both of my ankle. Twenty minutes of excruciating pain. This is worse than pain from marathon. This is pain with capital P, a stubborn and loud one that wouldn't go away just by concentrating on my breath. But I'm glad I met Pain. Agony from marathon seem friendlier now. I'm definitely going to do another marathon!

Haruki Murakami

Finally! A writer who understand what I go through during a run. It's not about running technique, strategy, or the latest running technology. Just anecdotes of a mind through running. I found myself smiling and nodding from start to end of this book because Murakami put these running experiences eloquently to words. Felt like talking to a best friend who knows me too well. "Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor of life."

It's Nuts!

What is it about performing art that gives one such a self-assurance and a can-do attitude? Two awesome ladies from Chance To Dance shared their passion and talents with KDM children. Within two and a half months I witnessed a shy and nervous child blossom into a self-confident person. She was beaming with pride when she performed in The Nutcracker. I hardly recognized her. I should have more drama and dance in life. 

Life Marathoner

After one month and one week contemplating about my first marathon experience, I think I know the answer to a why-do-you-run-a-marathon question. Pain & Joy. Pain is a funny thing. The more I resist it the more it hurts. But when I embrace it eventually it will go away. That's why I'm addicted to running. I learn to befriend pain. And without Pain I wouldn't know how to appreciate Joy. A life time reminder.

Catch Of The Day #25

"If you can't say something nice. Don't say nothing at all." ~Thumper

Drawing Dad

Meet David LaFerriere, a dad who draw on his two boy's lunch bag everyday just because he wants to brighten their days. Little things that can light up a child's face. A dad who is not afraid to show his love through lines. My kind of dad. 

Art Run #2: Chicken

So I was excited with this Art Run thing. I ditched Sunday's car free day route for my long run in attempt to draw a chicken's head. I didn't have any distance or pace as a goal which was quite refreshing. My target was a chicken's head! I was so busy thinking about my chicken, my brain totally forgot to tell my body parts to quit on me during this run. 12K went so fast. I had such an adrenalin rush at the end of the run I went up and down some stairs for another fifteen minutes and ran back all the way home because I can't wait to see my chicken in Garmin Connect. A very nervous chicken or bird or duck. LOL

Garmin Connect: Chicken Run

Plan C

I love drawing in lines. I rarely use color because I'm an impatient person. But then I got this Bamboo drawing tablet and it comes with a stylus that allow me to color in a quick way. Then I found that I can load all kind of brushes in Photoshop that gives my color a sketchy effect. Love the effect but I think I will use color on special occasion only. It took me forever just to pick the right shades of blues. An impatient person who is extremely picky about colors. I'm doomed!

Poor Thing

Lovely afternoon in a restaurant. A mom with her boy. I would say he is about twelve or thirteen. Almost as tall as his mom. She was so attentive. She kept engaging him in a conversation and occasionally added food on his plate. Clearly he was the center of her universe. How sweet. Then at the end of their meal she held his face on one hand and used a toothpick to clean his teeth with her other hand. And he even let her! I assumed this was a normal routine. I imagined in the future he would have a hard time finding a wife who is willing to do that. The thing mothers do for their kids! 

Art Run

Run. Draw. Both are in the top five of my favorite things list. Who would've thought I can do both at the same time? I can draw with my running track! Why didn't I think of this before? It will require a lot of planning and a little of imagination but this makes running amusing & delightful! On my way to GBK a security guy said, "It's raining, Bu!" I replied with a big smile, "Yup! That's why I'm making a sun today!" He looked at me like I'm some kind of a crazy lady.

Garmin Connect: Sun Run