Zzzzzz......

Sometime ago I watched a news about an exhibition from a photographer who exhibited collections of pictures of people while they were sleeping. It was interesting because I took quite a lot pictures with the same objects too, but my goal was to make fun of the people that I took pictures of. :) So, I was thinking of putting them on my blog but I wasn't trying to immitate what that photographer (whose name I forgot) did on his exhibition. I thought his idea was brilliant. It's interesting to look at the people when they sleep. We never know what's going on in their mind.

My chubby little nephew, Deo. He fell asleep just before his birthday party last year.

My best friend's son, Zidane. He was in the back of the car on our way back to Salatiga from Jogja.

Pretty much exhausted from our Bali trip, Peco was sleeping deep on our way back home.

It was 5:30AM in the morning, they've been partying hard on New Year's eve but Daniel and Zubs strived to watch the first sunrise of the 2009. They were sleeping in the rented car on their way to Sanur beach.

Sid took the picture of a random man sleeping on the river bank.

Picture of February 2009

On our recent trip to Borobudur, I realized that many pictures that I took were mostly the temple as a whole. But I was fascinated to see the pictures that some friends took showing off the details of this monument.

Some details on the carving that tells the story of Mahabharata and Ramayana.

An experimental photography.

Thank you Melissa Mattingly, Dana Crawford and Abbie for the beautiful pictures!

Perubahan?

Sudah lebih dari tiga minggu ini hujan terus bertamu di Salatiga, tetapi cuaca sepertinya sedikit berubah beberapa hari ini. Sinar matahari sepertinya tidak malu lagi menampakkan dirinya. Walaupun aku menikmati hujan yang hadir setiap hari tetapi kunjungan sinar matahari itu membawa sedikit kehangatan ditengah dinginnya hawa yang menyelimuti kota ini.

Saat aku berpikir tentang perubahan seringkali aku merasa takut dan khawatir. Aku menyadari bahwa perubahan akan selalu terjadi baik dalam kehidupanku maupun kehidupan orang-orang di sekitarku. Hal yang tidak bisa dihindari itu sering mendorong seseorang seperti berada di suatu tempat asing yang tertutup oleh kabut. Secara alamiah, manusia akan sekuat tenaganya membangun benteng sehingga ia terlindungi dari kekuatan perubahan. Walaupun begitu, sekuat apapun benteng yang dibangun tidak akan bisa menahan laju perubahan itu.

Dalam perenunganku, tidak ada hal lain yang aku bisa lakukan selain bersiap-siap terhadap datangnya perubahan. Memulai kerelaan untuk membuka pintu hati dan jendela pikiran adalah hal yang bijaksana sehingga aku bisa memandang lebih luas lagi dunia ini. Tetapi saat terlintas dalam pikiranku tentang akibat dari perubahan itu, hatiku mulai ciut. Aku tidak akan pernah tahu apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya.

Mungkin Tuhan memakai ketidaktahuan itu sebagai cara supaya manusia-manusia yang kurang beriman dan kurang bernyali seperti aku ini bisa bersandar sepenuhnya kepada Dia. Seperti saat kita berjalan di tempat asing yang diselimuti kabut, satu-satunya hal yang diperlukan adalah nyala lampu yang cukup untuk menembus kabut itu. Aku percaya, walaupun aku tidak sering memakainya, bahwa Tuhan memberikan Buku Kehidupan dan Belahan Jiwa-Nya sebagai terang untuk menerangi jalanku. Sehingga dengan percaya diri aku bisa melangkah menuju ke tempat tujuanku.

Dalam hatiku aku bertanya-tanya lagi, siapkah aku terhadap perubahan itu? Saat aku memandang keluar jendela, kulihat mendung berarak-arak datang menutupi sinar matahari yang sedang menari-nari menebarkan pesona kehangatannya. Bersamaan dengan awan kelabu itu, kudengar deru angin yang datang membawa rasa dingin saat menyentuh kulitku. Mungkin aku tidak akan pernah bisa menjawab pertanyaan itu. Tetapi satu hal yang pasti aku bisa selalu memakai Buku Kehidupan dan Belahan Jiwa Tuhan sebagai terangku.

January 2009 Picture of the Month

I've always thought from the very beginning that the picture of this month would be the ones from our trip to Bali. Well, I found pictures that represent the hightlights of this adventure.

I stole this picture from Abbie's file as I looked through all the pictures she took in Bali. The picture was taken on Sanur beach at 5ish in the morning on the first sunrise of 2009.

I took quite a lot of pictures when we were on the Hidden Beach but it turned out not so good. Thankfully, Peco took almost the same amount of pictures of scenery but with way better quality and angle. He climbed up to the rock and sat there while taking pictures of the surrounding.

Bali 08-09 Part 3

Day 10 - The last day in Bali was the saddest day of our lives. Got to end the holiday/away-from-the-real-life life. We stopped by at the tattoo's parlor for Daniel to get his clan's tattoo. It was a good one.

All stuff were packed and we're ready to leave the hotel. On our way back home, Abbie joined us on our ride on the bus replacing Daniel who flew back to Ponti.

We got to the ferry dock just before sunset. The sun went down as we got in to the ferry as if that's the way of him saying goodbye to us.

This may be the best trip to Bali I've ever had. As soon as the holiday ended, we started to think about coming back to Bali again and stopping by in Gilis. I hope and pray that we'll make it that way!

Bali 08-09 New Year '09

Kuta Beach - We celebrated New Year with friends from Salatiga, Papua and South Africa. It was a whole lot of fun! Go to http://secondhandcheese.blogspot.com/ or http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=365789 for a better description about how fun it was. :) We had New Year's dinner party at Queen's Tandoor, a superb Indian restaurant in Seminyak section. And we spent midnigt right on the Kuta beach with thousands of people. It was loud, busy, crowded, hot but it was an experience that I didn't want to miss.

The first sunrise of 2009

Bali 08-09 Part 1

Christmas 2008. I decided that I needed sometime off from Java and Bali seemed to be an ideal place to get away. So, James, Daniel, Peco and I planned on an adventurous trip to the island of god. Spending Christmas and New Year there was such a different and fun experience.

I am not a good writer so I believe that whatever words I wrote on this part won’t be adequate to express the excitement that we had on our Christmas break. People say that a picture san cay a million words. Since we took a lot of pictures on this trip, so I will write less and put up more pictures. I’ll let them speaks millions of words to you. ;)

On the ferry on our way to Bali

Christmas on Sanur beach 2008!

Dreamland Beach - It was a nice white sandy beach on the area of Jimbaran. The popularity f this beach grows amongst domestic tourists from year to year. It has strong waves that sucks your energy even if you just want to play with water! But it was fun.
On our way to Ubud, Peco drove and on the back were two junkies with their huge suitcase tried to look cool. Sorry for their fingers.

Ubud - Nice little village, try the Balinese suckling pig at Ibu Oka, the healthiest organic food at Sari just behind Abangan Bungalows, or an excellent Mexican food at Naughty Nuri's 2 (We were planning to eat at Naughty Nuri's 1 but all seats were taken). Take a look at Antonio Blanco's Museum, very interesting place. And when you go to Monkey Forest, read #1 rule. Don't touch the monkey's tail!
The Hidden Beach - Definitely the highlight of our trip, though it was only a short visit. For the direction on how to go to this little paradise go to http://www.baliblog.com/ It's not super difficult to find this place but you have to have extra attention finding the little sign that said "White Sandy Beach". A must to go beach for those who like a little adventure. Not much of a touristy beach with some warungs and beach chairs available for rent. Go to Warung Well Come, they have good food and good people to hang out or to talk with.