One lovely quiet Friday morning at pulau Pramuka. I thought I could manage a half hour solitary swim in the sea from a wooden jetty. I mean I did an open water trial in pulau Putri. And I did Bintan triathlon for goodness sake. This should be a piece of cake, right? So in I went. I could only manage a five minutes swim before a panic attack set in that forced me to swim er.. more like to frantically flap my hands and legs like a mad dog back to the jetty. I didn't count the factor that at both events there were other swimmers. Darn! I haven't really conquered my fear of swimming alone in the sea.
A lovely humid Wednesday night. Was waiting outside theatre 5 to see the latest whatever instalment of Terminator when I saw a family of four; a guy, a lady and two girls. About 6 & 9. I was wondering why they are taking their kids to a 7.30pm movie on a school night. Okay, maybe school has not started yet. To my horror they went inside theatre 5! I checked my ticket, maybe I was at the wrong theatre. Nope. Terminator at theatre 5. Okay, maybe this was a new kind of terminator. I checked my mobile. Nope it's rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and gunplay throughout, partial nudity and brief strong language. How do you expect your kids to respect rules when you show them it's okay to break rules? Action speaks louder than words.
A lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon in a coffee shop. A guy with a little girl. She was probably two years old or maybe less. I was admiring her delightful pigtails when to my horror the guy offered her to sip his ice blended coffee. Call me old fashion but toddlers don't need stimulants. They naturally are Energizer's bunnies.
A session with a sport physiotherapist. She gave me a resistance band. Her instructions: Place the resistance band above your knee. Lay down with your knees pointed forward and bent at a 90 degree angle. Lift your top leg, make sure you don't raise your ankle higher than your knee. Hold it for 5 second. 2 sets of 10 for each leg. Piece of cake! So I thought. I couldn't even hold it for 2 seconds by repeat #6. In the first set. Wake up glutes!
One hot and humid Thursday evening. Leisurely walking in an upscale mall with a friend. A young boy, I would say eleven or twelve, walking toward our direction with hands glued to his tablet, eyes locked on its monitor, and legs clueless to which direction to take. He expected others to watch where he was going. I would have let him bumped into me to see his response. My friend was nicer than me.
First run after a three week break. Feeling rather discouraged and frustrated after only a brief 2.4K jog the pain on my right leg return. Biking slowly on the way home when I passed a bunch of street sweepers in light blue uniform. One guy stood out from the crowd. He was multitasking: singing, dancing, laughing and sweeping road at the same time. Having a time of his life. A gentle reminder of William Arthur Ward's quote: Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessing. Note to self: count my blessings not my my troubles. I smiled at him and gave him a thumb up as a thank you cheers.
Dena do you remember our origami frog race when you were little? Guess what, the rules are getting more complicated when I play with Marvin and Maureen. If
you land on a shark you get 10 points to move forward. If you land on jellyfish you get double jump. And my favorite:If you land two
times on an octopus you get to level up.I'm suspicious that Marvin make up many more rules to advance his own frogs but I can't remember all these rules! Not only that we now have Ninja frog, Cool frog, Mother Queen frog, Princess frog, Invincible frog and more. All have super power. I miss playing with you. ;-)
One lovely Sunday evening. Walking to a supermarket with Maureen & Marvin, my little niece & nephew, to buy toothbrushes and snacks for their sleep over at my place. Chatting with Maureen about tomorrow's plan when out of the blue she told me, "Tante Tina, you know we have a month holiday. My mom says we can do anything we want. Like, we can sleep over at your place everyday. Or we can be your kids!" :-)
One lovely Saturday evening. Feeling rather cold in an empty Trans Jakarta. In came a family of five took a row of seat right in front of me. The oldest, a girl, engaged in a lively convos with her dad. The youngest, a boy, sang a song with his mom. The middle, another girl, quietly observed other passengers. No gadgets, no nannies, no whining, no drama. Looked like all had a great time. Must be the shoes. They all wore that famous stripe.
They say an apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I often see two boys in my apartment complex who always on the go; running here and there and everywhere, jumping into the swimming pool, roller blading up and down the corridor's ramp and more. As a matter of fact I don't think I ever seen them walking or sit still. Then one evening I saw their dad. He too had roller blades on. Holding on to his wife and dear life going down a ramp while his two boys shouting something and laughing at the same time. Too bad I didn't understand Spanish. I had no idea whether the boys were cheering him or teasing him. You had to give him props though for trying to keep up with his sons.
One hot Tuesday afternoon driving on a narrow two lane street. Approaching a three way intersection. A guy on a motorcycle turned left. Holding a long white plastic pipe with his left hand and holding on the steering wheel and dear life with his right hand. I slowed down to keep a safe distance from him. And of course in a matter of second I heard vicious car horns from traffic behind me. Jakarta traffic. It's a jungle out there!
I always thought trust is earned, not given. That's why I never trust anyone I hardly knew. Until this lady, who sells jamu in GBK, let me had a glass of kunyit asam even though I told her I didn't have any cash with me. "It's okay, pay me later, I'm here everyday except Sunday," that's what she told me. I know it's only a matter of three thousand rupiah, but that's not the point. The point is I'm a stranger to her yet she trusts me. By giving me trust she uplifts me; she believes I'm a good person. Give trust, it's a must!
One lovely afternoon in a front lobby of a busy mall. A lady waiting for her car. I would say late fifties. Maybe even more. A funky patterned hightop sneakers, a mini sleeveless dress in flower and line pattern, a bright green oversized lime green tote, an oversize silver bracelet watch, a single pearl earring on both ears and my favourite accessories on her was her short grey hair. I should follow her lead and show my true color.
One lovely Saturday evening. Waiting for TransJakarta to take me home. I was thinking "I can't wait to see Tour De France when I get home!", when I saw a fixie bike in the middle of a fast lane of jalan Sudirman, going really fast among the light traffic. I thought my mind was playing trick on me. I thought five days of TDF finally damaged my brain. So I asked a girl next to me if she saw what I saw. I was so happy she said yes, I said yay out loud. She looked at me rather strangely then she moved to the another queue.
"Maraton menyediakan waktu yang sangat lama bagi seorang atlet untuk merenung. Sambil maraton kau dapat merenungkan wajahmu yang mengharukan, nasibmu yang sial dan hidupmu yang tak berguna itu. Lihatlah, pelari maraton jika berlari seperti sedang memikirkan sesuatu, wajah mereka tak pernah hampa. Kepala mereka penuh pikiran tentang masa lalu, masa depan, keberhasilan, kegagalan, utang piutang, kebajikan, dan kejahatan yang pernah mereka perbuat, dan dari seluruh persoalan yang menjepit mereka itu, mereka tetap harus berjuang untuk mengalahkan lawan dan mencapai finis. Semua itu sangat spiritual!" Andrea Hirata
Some people are genuinely happy. Under any circumstances. Other people are genuinely unhappy. No matter what. The rest can't make up their mind whether they are happy or unhappy. Are you happy? What makes you happy? When are you the happiest?
After four pots of white orchids wilted under my care I came to conclusion that plants hate me. Then I saw a friend harvest her wheatgrass at home and I was intrigued. I bought a wheatgrass kit and followed its instruction and it worked! I never thought it could be this exciting to see a bunch of small seeds turn into a super healthy wheatgrass shot. Skeptical but hopeful at first, joy and humble at the end! What else can I sow and reap?
I should have waited a few more days after some physiotherapy sessions but my right leg felt fine. Good things come to those who wait.I should have cancelled my training but I was eager to find out what I'm capable of. Curiosity killed the cat. I should have not ignored the pain but I thought it was a matter of mind over matter. What doesn't kill you make you stronger.
One breezy & lazy Sunday morning at the pool. Two men in surfing short. Medium build. I'd say late 30s. One carried a giant inflatable croc. The other carried a snorkel mask and fins. I waited for their children to run after them. But nope. Just the two of them. Having a time of their life. Grown ups should play more often. We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. ~George Bernard Shaw. Let's play!
To the whole world you may be one person; but to one person you maybe the whole world. You might not change the world but you can sure make a change in someone's world. If you change yourself you will change your world. Love makes the world go round.
One hot blessed Friday in a physiotherapy clinic. First she heated the back of my right leg with machine#1 that looked like R2D2. Then she hook me up to machine#2 with suction cups that massage my tight muscle. Last she used Machine#3 that looked like a fax machine, which transmit ultrasound waves that supposedly can go deep in my body to relieve pain and soreness. I think my right leg is ready to negotiate with me.
Just when my mind was ready to take up to a new challenge, my right leg went on strike. My body can't keep up with my soul. A sound mind in a not so sound body. Oh well, guess it's time to improvise.
