Auspicious Tuesday

Great speed workout. Honey tea. Light traffic all day. A big hug from my little sister in KDM. An intense story to be continued. A friendly taxi driver. Awesome pumpkin soup and green tea ice cream. I get to miss you. What's good about your day?

Muted Defense

"WHAT? You rarely text your daughter? My daughter and I chat almost everyday," someone gloated with a disbelief tone over my situation. I wish I replied," Yeah, but your daughter is only 3 hours ahead of you. I'm 14 hours ahead of my daughter. So when she sound a sleep, I'm wide awake. When I'm up and about she is in dreamland. Besides, she is a problem solver. I don't have to watch over her all the time, thank you very much!" Instead I smiled and said, "Good for you!" Some things are better left unsaid.

Tiny Book Volume 3

Shock Therapy

After a long run on a hot Sunday morning I stopped by a small convenient store in my place to buy a cold chocolate milk. A little Japanese girl was at the counter. She was slightly taller than the counter. Probably 7 or 8 years old. She was holding a small blue box and a 50K rupiah bill. Oh! What an independent girl! I thought. She showed the sales lady the blue box with one hand and show 2 fingers on her other hand. To my shock the lady took 2 pack of cigarettes from the display and gave them to her. What the heck!? I gave her a piece of my mind. Not the little girl. The sales lady. 

Body Language

One quiet lovely Friday morning in a small cafe. A mom and a teenage daughter having a lively conversation. Eye contact. Laughter. You should see how the daughter's eyes lit up when she talked. Non stop animated hands. No gadget. No pouting face. Or sulky expressions. She truly enjoyed talking to her mom. Lovely. Just lovely.

You've Got Mail!

Receiving a winner's medal via mail is as good as receiving a winner's medal on a podium. Both have similar effect on me. Like a kid in a candy store. Smiling from ear to ear. Babbling adjectives all day. Cool! Awesome! This is for my little brothers and sisters in KDM. For teaching me to persevere through adversity. You guys are awesome!

Jingle Lady

Waiting is not my cup of tea. So I came to a visa appointment armed with a note book and a black marker. A lady caught my attention. I love her style. A fitted white shirt and a knee length black pencil skirt that hugged her lean body. A nude strappy studded heels. Then she got up and walked up to the appointment window. Every time her right foot moved it made this noisy tinkling sound. Ting-a-ling clink clank. What in the world? I focused my eyes on her shoes. She wore an ankle charm bracelet with a sound effect! 

Fruitloops

Where in the world can you get fresh and cold honey dew melon and papaya from a street peddler after a long run on a hot, sticky and crowded Sunday on CFD? I love Indonesia!

Wind Beneath My Wings

Happy birthday Dad. I'm glad things are well with you up there. I can't believe it's been two years and five months since you left us. I can't believe I did two marathons and four half marathons since I started running a week before you passed away. Thank you for watching over me, for running with me. Looking forward to more race with you. 

Good Question

Q: Do animals have souls?
A: Of course they do.
Q: So what happen to dogs when they die since they don't have any religion?
A: Errr....dog heaven?

Dog photo by Frank Agustinus

Grand Parenting

One sizzling late afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa on the way to catch some wave in Kuta, Bali. Ain't life Grand! A little reminder that age only matters when you are a cheese, or a wine, or a scotch, or an antique furniture, or a vintage book.

Fatal Attraction

One blazing afternoon in Kuta beach, Bali. Three girls in bikini found a spot to tan. Girl one and two sat down and started conversing. Girl three quickly applied sun tan lotion all over her body and lay down on her back. Two minutes into tanning she took off her bikini top and lay in the same position. Instead of attracting handsome guys with six pack she got one fake tattoo peddler, two beach mat peddlers, one ice cream peddler, and one little boy who ran toward her and just stood right behind her for a long time until his dad came and rescued him. I think he was scarred for life. 

On Cloud Nine

A new half marathon PB and a third place in Woman Master category! Note to self: When I don't get excited about a race take an early morning walk along the beach and let the sun, the sand, the cloud, the trees and the wind recharge me.

Fourth Half

I usually get excited about a race D-7. I would start loosing sleep. I would get butterflies in my stomach even when I don't think about the race. I would get anxiety attack for worrying about everything under the sun. For the first time I feel nothing. No anxiety, no butterflies, no sleepless night. NOTHING. Is this a good thing or not a good thing?

Sun Seekers

One lazy afternoon in Kuta, Bali. Learning the art of letting the sun kissing your skin. The sun and I only made up for five minutes before I ran to the comfort of shades. Wondering how on earth people can stand the heat. They must have thicker skin or something. 

Lady In Waiting

They say good things come those who wait. I didn't see any good things happened to a lady who were waiting for someone in a small cafe one melancholic Monday. She had a this-is-suck look. And when the person she was waiting for finally appeared she gave them hell. Rephrase. Bad things come to those who make other people wait. 

Hit & Run

One cloudy early Sunday morning. I was just started my long run when this guy out of nowhere started running next to me and struck up a conversation. "Hey, are you a marathoner?" To which I said, "Yup!" I was hoping that would be the end of our conversation since I'm not much of a talking runner. But he continued, "Are you in college or school?" To which I said, "No, I'm in the army." The guy had a semantic reaction to the word army. He stopped running and left me alone. 

Catch Of The Day #33

Sleepless In Jakarta

Some people read when they can't sleep. Or listen to music. Or drink warm milk. Or watch TV. Or counting sheep. Why sheep? Because it rhymes with sleep. Keep. Deep. Leap. Creep. Jeep. Peep. Heap. Steep. Cheap. Beep. Seep. Making a list of words that rhyme with sleep is definitely not going to put you back to sleep. Weep!

Ironic

One humid late afternoon. Stucked in a mean traffic. Feeling rather thirsty and hot. Moving oh so slowly. Then for a good ten minutes it just stopped. Completely. Not moving even an inch. Lucky me I have my sketchbook and pen so I can concentrate on lines instead of the stupid traffic. Breath in. Breath out. Draw. Draw.

A Bag Lady

A nude color intricate lace skirt. A three tier organdi peplum. I still couldn't figure out whether it's part of her top or her skirt. A silky beige tank top. A lavish bag in tangerine. A killer stiletto that matches the color of her bag. A long, flowy, shiny big black hair. And a flawless makeup. Guess where I saw this fine lady?

Second Home

Saw so many of Dena's friends in Brian's farewell party at the Tobing's last nite. A lot taller. Listened to them jamming Maroon Five's Sunday Morning. Izaat asked me about my tattoos. Wish you were here, Dena. Everyone seemed to think that you are coming home this September. Everything there reminds me of you. 

Sampah Amal

Lari hari Minggu. Persediaan air hampir habis tapi waktu lari masih panjang. Terpaksa berhenti lagi di warung buat beli air mineral botol. Botol yang kosong saya berikan pada bapak penjaga warung. "Eh, jangan dibuang di jalan dong pak!" protes saya ketika melihat bapak itu mau membuang botol di jalan. "Tapi kan neng, dengan membuang sampah di jalan saya beramal untuk pemulung!" Dari pada tambah banyak kehilangan waktu lari untuk berdiskusi soal alasan amal yang menurut saya tidak masuk akal saya bilang, "Biar saya bawa lagi botolnya deh pak. Nanti saya carikan tempat sampah." Mungkin karena kasihan membayangkan saya lari sambil membawa dua botol ahirnya bapak itu mengalah dan berjanji tidak membuang botol itu di jalan. Tapi harga botol minuman yang biasanya 4000 rupiah buat saya khusus jadi 6000 rupiah. Barangkali untuk biaya protes dan biaya buang sampah. Baiklah!