La Dernière Nuit avec Joanna

It was supposed to be a night of tears, of weeps and of contemplation because we would say goodbye to a dear friend. But instead, it was a night of laugh, of joy and of creative madness that we enjoyed with Joanna on her last night with us in Salatiga.



Unlike the other party, Joanna picked an unusual theme that was not exactly close to what I imagined. I knew she is moving to Papua but I never thought it would be the theme of our supposedly sad-tearjerker party. The Papua Night, that’s what she called and everybody has to dress up like a Papuan. Interesting, I said.

The night began with a nice dinner at Ibu Rini’s. As always, we enjoyed the meal at this restaurant.



But the real party wasn’t began until we moved to Joanna’s house. I was shocked because I was the only one who didn’t think much about making costumes and accessories. I just brought face paint as I thought it would best define a Papuan without getting half naked. Well, I was wrong. Most of them have thought in advance of making themselves as Papuan as possible without getting half naked. Smart!







I really enjoyed painting some faces though. With my creativity, I was making them looked so interesting in a different way. Overall, the costumes and accessories were hilariously beautiful and insane at the same time.







Joanna wanted this party as casual as possible so that everybody could enjoy the time. Some people played board games and some other just chatted or ate the food.







Selena, who arrived in time from Batam for this occasion, and whom I had the honor of painting her face, threw a great idea of playing Limbo. It was hard for people to play this game especially if they don’t have a good stretch on the body. But all of them did a good job.





Andre whose costume was more of like a ‘wong-edan’ rather than a Papuan and Sakri, who wore something of more Pocahontas than a Papuan princess, share the winning of being the most flexible people on the party.





The winning prize was a dessert of fresh strawberry and chocolate dip. The great thing was that the winning prize not served only for the winners but for all of us to enjoy. It was so deliciously like heaven!





The night was weary and the last bite of strawberry in chocolate dip was a perfect wrap-up of the party. Somehow that fresh strawberry reminds me of Joanna’s personality who is always fresh and colorful. And that tasty chocolate dip, hmmm … that defines of how sweet our friendship has been.





La dernière nuit avec Joanna a Salatiga, il est merveilleux!

Blue Like Jazz

There are so many reasons of why believing God could be difficult. But I've recently finished reading a book called "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. I think, by far, this book/his writing has the best approachment on how human being to believe in and to see God. This book mainly talks about Don's experience of knowing God throughout events of his life. It's very interesting to read his opinion that is so blatantly open and honest.

I know that people may misinterpret Don's opinion throughout this book so I recommend to read it with discernment. 

Dreams

How strange it is to picture our thoughts
To see them as clear as the mountains on a sunny day
Each detail fixed for a fleeting moment like a fish in a stream
Who is suddenly disturbed...and never comes back.
And yet we try so hard to recapture the moment
but it just fades away into the abyss of the past
Oh how we try
Could it be that it is a reminder of life ......... Nothing Lasts Forever

by Les

Pictures of March

I didn't know exactly when my interest of photography grew. But I remember reading a report about the World Press Photo competition on a newspaper few years ago. The winner of that year was a picture of an Iraqi father, he was captivated by the US soldiers, his head was covered and next to him was his son holding him tight with his face expressing fear. That picture opened my eyes about photography, and how one picture can tell millions of words, feelings and meanings. 

I haven't had much chance to explore the world of photography. But I'd like to take a risk of exploring it with my little pocket digital camera. I know that this type of camera have limitations but I think it will be fun to just capture the things that are interesting by whatever means we have. The thoughts of exploring the photography world has moved me to post at least a picture that I like to become the picture of the month. The pictures I post is not necessecarily the pictures I take. It maybe from my friends, famous photographers, or other people.

I dedicated this month's picture to a friend who I think is a talented photographer. Joanna loves nature and people, which graces most of her picture collections. These pictures were taken when we're in Pacitan. I love the color of the dawn and sunset, the fun, and the spontaneousness. 

Thanks Jo, it's indeed good memories!

Pacitan

Pacitan has been quite a place to getaway for many people at the work. They’ve always talked about it and shared how beautiful this little coastal town is. These frequent stories had become some sort of irony because although I love the beach and the fact that I’ve visited to many beaches in Indonesia, I’ve never been to Pacitan.

Well, after some long thoughts and planning, me and my 10 other friends finally made the way there. The road to Pacitan was not as bad as I thought, in fact it was a short-four-hours-trip. My eyes were feasted with the beautiful view of the southern part of Java landscape with its hills, valleys, woods and rivers.

Pacitan have several different beaches. During our three days visit, we stayed at the main and the longest beach called Teleng Ria. The beach and the waves at Teleng Ria remind me a lot about Bali, sort of. We also visited the other beach which is 30 minutes away from the main one. It was called Srau or the shell beach as what people called. We were surprised and in awe when we got there to see the stunning view in front of our eyes. The white sand, coral, beautiful cliff, blue ocean, it was another feast for the eyes. 

I've put some pictures on this part but I must agree with my friend that sometimes a picture can't describe the beauty of God's creation such as this.

Rain

Rain has been a good friend for Salatiga and the people who live in this town for the past few weeks. Somehow, rain has changes the landscape of this little town. The grass stays green with the constant watering from the sky and the trees are always afresh after the frequent shower of the rain. Salatiga looks and feels even more beautiful than it used to be. People may call this kind of weather gloomy, sad, and depressing. But I call it refreshing and calming. It is always fun to see the drops of water from the sky falls down and then splashes when it hits the earth. It’s like watching the dance performances.

Bridge Marine

The past two weeks have been quite busy with going adventures. Last weekend, me and some friends went up again to Bandungan to the Bridge Marine and Flying Fox (again). The flying fox was good, but the Bridge was freaked me out. It was more like a lot of work, energy, focus, especially for altophobic like. Looking down while you
walked on the network was unimaginable. It overall it was okay though I may not try it again unless people pay for big bunch of money.