It’s only the last day of February…

…but I already smell end of March. I awoke in the dark this morning and started doing chores. I leave again tomorrow for a trip that I don't 'really' look forward. I haven’t had ticket since I wait till last minute to give myself time to listen to what 'I really want'. I cannot cancel the trip but I could choose the time.

I had nice time with my friend who lives in Denpasar. For someone who works from home, it’s a break for her. I asked her to accompany me to find a low table for me to make necklace that I pictured the table put somewhere in my studio. The long table I use now it’s full of stuffs I need for ‘daily operation’, I cannot spare enough space for making necklace.

I shopped for more necklace supplies before meeting my friend then we roamed Kerobokan and Peti Tenget. Actually we didn’t stop at many shops. We only made some three stops and enjoyed shops more from car. It was hot outside, that’s the reason. Anyway, it was nice to see her before she leaves again for South America for one month. It happens that we could only meet each other every two months or longer.

I got home a bit over 6 pm feeling relaxed but exhausted. I looked around and felt a bit bogged down by the mess of necklace project I started two days ago. It’s a real battle since I made things a bit out of style. Well, I have to go through this – that’s what I need to understand – so I know ‘what I want’. I might have to finish up today so I could move back to my own thing. I could use this for teaching Ayuk how to do clasps.

I have committed to myself that I would use the day to clean up ‘pending matters’ so I would not leave anything behind when I’m away. One week is enough to clear my memory from what I did and had planned last time. And rekindle the spirit would take some time. I have lots in plan but have made little progress.

Later the day, I would enjoy meeting new people in my friend’s house. She will hold a meet-neighbor get-together late afternoon to early evening. It’s an open house for her new (six months old) neighbors. I’m not one but was invited because her neighbors have ‘become mine’ since she talked a lot about them in our meetings. I am more than happy to meet them.

Thought it’s still Chinese New Year in Warung Made, apparently it’s still Valentine’s Day mood yesterday.

I spent half day looking at necklace supplies…

…I bought with my friend the other day. I felt blank – don’t know how to start. It’s a new material for me – glass and metal beads. I used to make necklace with stone and silver beads that give me ‘confidence’ but now I’m challenged to create chic necklaces in lower cost. I thought I could start a bit mass production with the help of Ayuk.

I was wrong. It seems I could not go out of ‘my style’ – big beads, short, one-of-a-kind, and asymmetrical for sure. I have limited the market of my necklace. How many ladies can stand wearing something asymmetric? Only a few I guess who think out of box and are funky enough to wear something different. Now how?

It’s close to dark when I sat and started to lay out a necklace. Like I had predicted, once I’m on, I could be on and on. I stopped after making some 12 necklaces. Not because I was too tired but because I needed light to match colors. If I had started earlier I could have finished the material before dark. But no coulda, woulda, shoulda…

A cousin passed away late afternoon after being in a coma for three days for unknown reason. I was not that close to her but I feel sorry that she left too soon. She was not yet 40. I turned off my music and paid respect.

And on again I surfed the Internet to find a florist in Jakarta that can deliver my order. None! I saw some but none was informative and ready. Then I might not be easy to trust since I would only order a night before. Last week I ordered a bouquet via online for a friend in Manila and it turned out my friend got a ‘different’ bouquet. Totally different – no carnation as promised but lily! I wrote my thought… rrr I mean I complained and they simply replied that they didn’t have stock of flowers I wanted (what I wanted was what they offered in their website). What? I ordered noodle, they gave me kwetiau? Same food, different taste. I could not complain more. It seems that I have to accept the way people do business. Relaxedly.

What did I do to send the flowers? I was back to the original mode of using the hands of my staff in Jakarta. Back to text messages.

The guard ran to me since I was not allowed to take pictures in stock exchange buildings in Makati, Manila.

Like a schoolgirl running to be prompt in class,…

…I had short morning. My girlfriend invited me to join her and her German friend to attend a yoga class in a place near my house. Actually I don’t have idea if the place is really near because we had to walk for about 7 minutes, briskly, in narrow path between rice field and villas to rent. Another place in the bunnies. The sanctuary is run by a Canadian lady – not young but of course has good shape. I liked my friend’s idea to try the class since I need a whip to do harder exercise!

So yes, I was a bit late because I misplaced my car key. We were still panting from half running when the class started. The room has magnificent view – all green – although actually the neighborhood is quite dense. It’s quiet and breezy! There were five of us in a class for twelve.

I must say this is my first time to attend a real yoga class. I have been practicing stretching using yoga poses for more than five years now. My body has become flexible because of the practice but… I hardly ever practiced the correct way to do breathing like in yoga. And the sort of meditation that goes with the breathing and stretching? Rrr… never did.

It’s a totally different way to conduct a yoga class than of I knew in Jakarta. The lady guided us how to concentrate on the breathing, tap chakra in some parts of body, touch parts of our body… Her speech is flowing like chanting. I liked the way she mentioned several times Positive plus negative makes neutral. And in the last part she mentioned about the principle of yoga: hearing (not listening) and breathing. Hearing? Yea, that’s the hardest part for many people. Hearing other people is not easy, hearing own body is an art!

I didn’t wear watch so was surprised when my friend said the class lasted two hours. What? Actually I was thinking how could she fit such meditation, stretching, and long relaxation in one hour! I was lost in her speech. The relaxation was so good that I thought I dozed off although I could hear every word she said.

On the way back, we were invited to have coffee in my friend's friend house near the place. Her house has nice view. And we could see villas in afar that she could tell who stay in those cute houses. She didn't sound excited to realize that the place where she stays can soon be called German Hill because of so many Germans living in the area. I looked at three of them, my German-speaking friends.

It’s another day with a new experience! My necklace supplies still sit inside plastic bag. Untouched.

The class.

It seems that tilem (dead moon) also affects people…

…or me. It started in the morning when I read an email, it hit me a little bit. I don’t feel comfortable if someone ‘indicates’ that (s)he doesn’t feel that I don't give enough space. Auch! I like to share plenty of space with loved ones because I also enjoy spacious space myself. Anyway, I thought about… what a way to start a day!

I had super day with my girlfriend. I took her to Denpasar in my ‘new’ car. I shopped for necklace supplies I needed after a friend asked me to continue supplying necklace for her garment outlets in big malls in Jakarta and Bali. I felt embarrassed. I haven’t done enough. Of course, I haven’t. I stopped supplying her after the first batch a year ago. Or more? Hm.

My car ran well, also in my friend’s rough terrain. I just needed to lower speed and select the ground. I guess I could speedy drive again after practicing a few more times. But it’s really nice to be able to drive with one finger again, it’s really nice. Also, no more back pain after long driving.

I was exhausted when got home before dark. I struggled with Internet connection for almost three hours. I was in despair because I needed to send an email. It was so bad that I began to appreciate good Internet connection anywhere. It’s a ‘gift’. Now I could see it that way.

I was not feeling good when a friend said not nice thing via online chat in my leisure time. I realized now that chat is not a good media because people feel secure that they think they could say anything without feeling the feeling of others. I thought I was being sensitive but who wants to be numbered in someone’s life. Uh. I was being sensitive or someone being insensitive? I resigned.

It’s dead moon, I better stay quiet and do the Mac way (simile I invented this evening): drag and drop to Trash.

Ninoy’s back in Makati intersection, Metro Manila.

It was still 5.30 in the morning when I sat in bed…

Selamat
ulang tahun,
kami ucapkan.

Selamat
panjang umur!
Kita 'kan doakan.

Selamat
sejahtera, sehat sentosa!!

Selamat panjang umur
dan bahagia!…singing Indonesian birthday song over the phone that I was surprised I could not remember the lyrics well. The simple lyrics had escaped my mind! My friend and I talked about getting older last night. That scares me a bit. Google has given my memory a big holiday since I spend more time online now. Not really good news.

I made a trip down to Denpasar to do car maintenance but only to end up I could not find the garage. I didn’t like the idea of giving up so I drove the road three times to make sure that I could not read Ketut’s guidance. I asked myself if I still want to do this considering the garage is not an authorized garage. I changed mind. I decided to give Mama’s car and myself a treat. I drove further to Sanur to have nice meal and good Internet connection. I had some stuffs I need to do online but the connection at home was not good lately.

Anyway, that’s just an excuse perhaps. I told my birthday friend that I had special lunch for the birthday. More excuse. I was a bit annoyed with Ngurah at Pallava, we had miscommunication! Ugh. It’s good though, in a way. I have been thinking to add a staff in Pallava to balance but haven't had a reason to do so. Some ideas need a good kick and I just got the kick. I was happy driving back after having a good time in my retreat.

Like my friend wrote in his blog about we are social, I had nice afternoon laughing a lot. I was flat because of the heat so connecting with people was a good choice. A friend who just joined Facebook was overwhelmed by emails that poured in. She got 40 friends in a day! I told her that her loved ones had been waiting for her to open an account. It was fun, we exchanged pictures and laughed about it. One of my accounts that I use to connect with my relatives I also use for my international friends. So now I’m connected with friends live in Portugal, the Philippines, Mexico, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Sweden, USA, and Turkey.

I cheered my birthday friend to have a good evening until the birthday comes at 23:45!

Tea cups and saucers as chandelier in my favorite retreat in Sanur.

It was still early when I got a phone call…

…from driver who delivered Mama’s car to me. Auch! It was barely 9 am! I hadn’t finished my morning. I ran to get myself ready in no time. I was quite excited to see Mama’s car again. Finally I could end months of renting a car, never too late, but I was pretty late to make a decision. Anything has its own time, they say.

I hesitated to drive Mama’s car because of ‘the car’, I think it’s too low for Ubud. My friends believed it’s because I used to drive bigger and taller car. That is true too. But yes, Ubud is not friendly for less power and low car because of the terrain. I would test my ‘new’ car on the road to my good girlfriend’s house out in the bunnies. If the car survives then hope it would survive other terrains (in Ubud).

Then I observed my gradual change in principles. I strongly refused to drive Mama’s car when some relatives shared me their idea after Mama’s passing in August. My refusal seeped through me over months. Why not? Like the day I decided to open a Facebook account that later I happily run two accounts now. I’m happy I could say I have a not-so-bad open mind although it might take months before I actually change mind. Never too late. For one, everything has its own time. And, to give an idea to be mature is just nice. Now I look forward to experiencing other new ways to see things.

So I’m happy to own a car again. I brought the car to a carwash only to be a rainmaker again. Like often, after I had my car washed, rain poured so hard. It’s fine, at least I know I have had my car a proper bath after an overnight trip from Malang.

Another new chapter starts.

It’s her.

Yesterday, my friends and I talked a lot about…

…what if we don’t have problem in life. Our Balinese friend said that we would be sitting next to Buddha statue and be serene. In short, it won’t be fun.

It started when we learned how he, as Balinese, handled a family issue in such a not-Balinese way. Then we discussed how our families perceive our reaction since we moved away from them. As Swiss, my friend's family thought she has been Americanized. As Javanese, my family thought I have been Westernized. As Balinese, our friend’s family thought our friend as… strange.

Our discussion extended to the fact that we are never completely free from issues in every step of life. My girlfriend felt for her husband who has started to lose a bit of memory and hearing. That nothing she could do to help had bothered her. Today I felt annoyed because some close friends’ names slipped off my mind. How could I? I remember the faces very well but took long time to recall their names. Ugh. Now I’m not too proud of my principle of Delete all messages. I should have kept some messages. It could be important.

The past two days I dug out my old hard-drive to find some files I needed. Like I said the other day, I could not help but checking out old pictures as well. I found some nice pictures that reminded me good times with closed friends. It’s nice but I liked to keep it in the old hard-drive. I didn’t take my friend’s suggestion to keep all pictures in one hard-drive. Mm… that’s nice but life also needs partition.

It’s Saturday night again.

Neat stairs in a park in central Makati, Manila.

I took off my clothes even before…

…climbed up the stairs to bedroom. I could not take it for another minute. I was all wet of sweat. The day was so hot because the sun was intense. I was in my ‘interior’ when making coffee and warming up cake, while watching traffic outside window. I didn’t want to see somebody with a jump.

I spent almost a whole day with a dear friend who had missed me for weeks. We exchanged love text messages often but nothing we could do since time didn’t permit us to meet soon after my birthday. It’s strange in such a small village like Ubud that could happen. Sure. I was touched when my friend said that knowing that I’m around is enough for her, she feels lonely when I’m away. That’s what I told my Jakarta friend about what I feel about her around. I’m lucky that so far I haven’t been the one who stays behind.

Anyway, I took her to meet my other dear friend, my neighbor. I told her that I really wanted my two dear friends know each other as part of my life in Ubud. She was more than happy. They became friends in no time through lots of giggle and talk. And after the girls finished running errands, our friend happily joined us to take my girlfriend home in the other hill. I did another house tour of my friend’s for him. I have taken many mutual friends to my friend's house since she moved in August. Her house is a scenic tour on its own.

It was close to the end of office hour when I decided to just send fax to order a forwarder in Surabaya to send Mama's car to Ubud soon. It turned out the car could arrive as soon as… Sunday!

While my good girlfriend in Jakarta missed to do girlie thing on Friday, my girlfriend and I enjoyed this today.

My studio is like a real office…

…with documents all over table and floor. I worked at home all day. I had so many things to do and all had to be done in computer. Now I know why many offices ban chat messenger and Facebook I heard. I’m not sure about the latter though since I saw communication traffic from friends who work in office. And Blackberry! How do they manage their time? We are master of multi-tasking!

I responded to some updates from friends that had been sitting untouched more than a week also some new ones. It feels good to clean up emails. I also wrote some updates on many issues. I organized Mama’s car to be sent to Ubud soon. Paperwork that took time. The thing is I don’t like to miss a thing so I make sure everybody related to the issue is informed. I found fax machine is still useful in this email era. It gave me extra time to get the hard copy. Hm..

I also helped out my cousin restored a blog I set up for our business in the past. Retrieving data from my past external hard drive had brought me to browse old picture folders. Five years pass like a flash of lightning. Very bright but short. So bright to lighten up, too short to remember. I ended up taking time to upload some old pictures to share with cousins.

It’s dark already now and I haven’t had a chance to iron three loads of laundry. Home office.

Bimbim invented a new way to enjoy being in my place.

My friend shared with me the other day…

…how happy her helper was after learned about my friend going to host our friend and me lunch in her house. Her helper often felt concerned about my friend being alone most of the time. That she didn’t eat a lot, that she didn’t talk a lot with friends, that she didn’t have friends come to house often,… She must be lonely!

Actually my friend’s helper was also excited to have learned that I would be around soon. My friend and I laughed when we compared notes. It seems that Indonesians and Filipinos are concerned with the importance of togetherness, while my friend and I would like to shout I want to be alone! We giggled.

Yea, a cousin asked for my confirmation the other day if I feel alone in Ubud. I said I am more than happy. Still he didn’t believe Are you sure? In the evening? It got me thinking. Actually, I feel not good because I feel very fine to spend mornings, afternoons, and evenings by myself. Like some of my friends who felt guilty when they enjoyed their time without spouse around. That’s!

So when a friend I hadn’t talked for a long time 'accused' me for being less happy because I live by myself, I felt Auch! I didn’t say anything but closed the conversation. I might not appear to be a normal Asian if I shared with him the opposite. It confirms me that as Asian we are suggested to mingle more at all times.

I bonded with Ayuk this noon. I asked her how she spent Valentine’s Day. She only giggled and didn’t share with me about her day. She must have a good time and I’m happy for her. Positive accusation.

She is the one who cares in my friend’s house. Nice Filipino lady.

Now I know the meaning of…

…"got Facebook-ed"! I spent all morning replying emails and doing administration works in computer so I could not help but ‘watching’ the traffic in my Facebook. Glad that I assigned a separate email address for my Facebook accounts so the notifications do not clog my regular email accounts.

Anyway, I could not help but a bit active in watching other people’s and my attitude in virtual networking. The other day, a friend who has about 760 friends in her list, said that she once stopped communicating via Facebook since her comment to one was commented harshly by others. Then another friend shared her hesitancy because she heard a friend’s unwanted picture was being tagged. Things that I had anticipated.

So when a friend deleted a picture I uploaded because she thought she didn’t wear proper clothes in the picture, I had to accept. I didn’t think about it but others might have different impression about the way they want to look. That was when I started to be watchful of my personal consideration and others as well. I took off tag a friend made on my picture today, simply because I don’t want my picture appears in her links. Complicated? Welcome to the Tamagotchi world – the world of having a virtual ‘pet’.

It got me thinking, I cannot abandon this virtual network without deactivate my accounts first. I could not handle things that are beyond my control. Am I too serious? I cannot help it. And since Facebook also serves like an email account, my friends liked to send me message via my Facebook inbox. Welcome! I'm being Facebook-ed.

I spent all day unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, and preparing stuffs for tomorrow. My real connection has resumed.

Walking in Salcedo Village from Saturday market.

I smiled when I read my friend’s status…

…in her Facebook. She didn’t look forward to be in long flight. She might have flown to Denpasar yesterday but from Mexico! Actually I also didn’t look forward to being on a trip today although my trip could be only one-third of my friend’s. I missed my other home but is there any other way I could be home in no time?

Everything went smooth. My flight was not too early so I had woken up 'properly'. I didn’t feel sleepy all the way. I read a new book I brought from home. It’s an interesting story about Japanese sisters living in the US. Pity. I left the book in seat pocket in my first portion flight. First time. I was a bit furious, not because I lost a book, but to the fact that I was not organized. Good. I’m still human.

I bought a book in Changi, before I remembered about my lost book, while I looked for a new release of Coelho. I didn't read the book. In this trip, I read almost all magazines available in magazine rack near pantry or lavatory. It happened I sat in the last section of the plane in both portions. Cattle class, they say. That's when books I brought left untouched.

Anyway, it’s good to be back. Having four places in four cities to visit regularly the past one year, I don’t feel I’m here nor there. Each place has its own life: nice and challenging. I missed to be in a place when I was in other place. Knowing the feeling, now I know how to enjoy each place. I remember this one, said in many wisdom books, be present.

Finally I remembered to take picture of Balinese welcome billboard in Ngurah Rai airport.

Unlike my friend's thought, Manila looked 'normal'…

…on Valentine’s Day yesterday. Bouquet of roses? It’s not so special here because Filipinos like to send flowers especially roses anyway. My friend told me that Filipinos are romantic all year long. I could see that when I visited the city for the first time. I saw advertisement of ‘send roses to…’ in mini markets that open 24/7. Bouquet of flowers are also sold in unlikely places.

So how’s my Valentine’s Day? While I observed how people celebrated the occasion, I must say I didn’t feel special about the day. But, I made it special for my special friends. My friends in Ubud sent me so nice text messages how they missed me and liked to share me tons of love. It’s the thought that counts! I miss them.

I spent my V-Day morning packing a red Chinese-style bench I bought a couple days ago. Actually I am not so sure how I might pass this bench in checked-in baggage but I don’t want to worry about it now. Like often, I just don’t want to think about it. The packing took an hour. I made sure bubble sheets covered all surfaces and cushioned corners to avoid damage on the way. Anyway, I enjoyed busy morning.

My friend had get-together in the evening, I went dinner with my other friend. It’s nice to watch people celebrating the day with loved one(s). They dressed up! But really, I didn’t see lovey-dovey couples in the street. I guess all lovey-dovey messages have been sent through virtual world. Like A sends Purple Heart to B. I asked a cousin why she did that often with her ex boyfriend in Facebook, sending different colors of heart (it comes in purple, red, pink, that might have different meaning). She laughed it off by saying It’s just a picture. Again, it’s the thought that counts! So it’s good that nowadays people can also pass drinks virtually.

The euphoria of the day has diminished on Sunday morning. I need to do a couple of things. I bought 500 GB external hard drive that I need to run today. I also have to start packing for travel back tomorrow. Another phase passes.

I look forward to starting the next…

Five for the year, one for next year.

Last night my friend and I walked in a little park…

…in the heart of Makati. The same park used for Saturday market. The greens are neat. There are benches here and there. It has nice walk path around and playground for kids too. And because of the location, in the center of business district where people live in apartments, the park is well utilized. Undoubtedly, people need space.

But what kind of space? I felt a bit concerned when I saw many people – who were there sitting or standing, with friend or alone – were connected to cell phones and some with earphones. Even girls who walked cute dogs – big and small. I told my friend that it seems many people's ‘friends’ are out there, not here with them. So friends, or dogs, who were close to them are not considered close enough to be treated as ‘beings’. A new paradigm, my friend reminded me.

A new paradigm. A new paradigm. It haunts me. It gives me a reminder to be present when I'm with friend, totally. I have other time to be connected to virtual friends that ‘luckily’ I have plenty since I live by myself. I once heard that Manila is the capital city of short text messaging. Now I see many places are capital cities of ‘any means to connect with virtual world’. A friend told me the other day that he planned to get a 3G cell phone so can be connected to Facebook 24 hours. Uh.

I made another real connection today. I made friends with some ladies I met first time in a talk on Indian Wedding as part of regular meetings of MVP (Museum Volunteers of the Philippines). My friend invited me to join. My batik sarong had attracted attention so I shared a bit about Indonesia. And before home, I signed up to be MVP member so I can share more about my culture in the future.

Share with real people when you can…

Getting first Indian tattoo with henna (that looked like turmeric) paste today.

My friend has told me many times…

…that I’m too quiet when meeting one-on-one and a party of people. Hm. It got me thinking. If I’m too quiet, I might be a boring person so I might have fewer friends and got fewer invitations to lunch or dinner. But it's good to get such feedback, I need. Yes, I could be awfully quiet especially when I have things in mind – not necessarily thing that bothers me but also thing that excites me.

So I became an observer of myself today. I had lunch with my friend and her friend (my new friend then). We had nice time in Mac Center, my friend had business to do but ended up we all had a good time showing things in the Internet. It was fun.

Lunch was great, the talk was even greater. Hey, I was not that bad. I might not be chatty but I talked quite a lot too. Like I could keep the conversation going. Now I don’t know where I have gone wrong. It seems that I have a hidden button that one has to push it right to get me talking.

Roaming the Mac Center has made me decided to buy an external hard drive after a long consideration. I already have two external hard drives from previous laptop computer under Windows. Cousin Aga kept telling me about the disadvantages of using external hard drive that had me keep considering. Out of the blue, I decided to utilize my Time Machine to do auto-backup every now and then. I have to decide now before it’s too late. My picture and my life are there.

Browsing the Internet, my friend introduced me to a new online community. Book reader community called Shelfari. It’s another form of Facebook but no feature to link one to another except finding friends in our Contact who already have Shelfari account. It’s like a book club where we can show what we are reading, have read, and plan to read plus our wish list. The website also has a connection with the biggest online bookstore. So clever.

So like any other days, today I learned something new.

An ad on a warung-car in Salcedo Village, Manila.

Now I’m into Facebook,…

…it’s funny. I always have either of my Facebook pages open but I don’t always notice who are online. But people could just find me and started a chat! That’s when in Y Messenger I liked to keep my ID invisible. In Facebook, no ‘invisible’ feature.

Anyway, today I caught up with three friends that I hadn’t talked for more than five years. One lives in America. I detected their mixed feeling after learning about my new life. But they were happy for me for they were and are still my dear friends. It is so nice to know that good friends are always there to listen and support.

Yea, I have to admit that Facebook is an amazing tool for reconnecting with people we once felt close. It’s a true proof of 'six degrees of separation'. I run two Facebook accounts now: one for friends from office and school days, and one for relatives only. Still I’m very selective in inviting. I don’t connect myself with people I didn’t normally talk although I might know them well. Neither with my little nieces and nephews. Good I haven’t got any invitation up to now because, perhaps, hardly anyone notices that I’m that girl. I’m happy with my settings at the moment although I still freaked out when a friend said something about me from their News Feed. Ugh but it’s a good start to be normal.

I created some necklaces today but I noticed that I needed to work with unlimited material to open up my creativity. The material I bought with my friend yesterday are way too limited for me to create something wow. So apart from Facebook-ing and making necklace, I also signed up a Facebook service for Neru. It’s kind of fun after I’d tried blog to advertise my shop in the past. Trend changes often.

Like my way to connect with people…

Morning in Salcedo Village, Manila.

Manila is in pleasant weather…

…these months, my friend told me. We enjoyed walking in wide and clean curb in luxurious satellite city where my friend lives. We had late lunch then browsed a market nearby. It’s a really nice market with lots of stalls selling girlie stuffs: pearls, stones, gift wraps and boxes, home wares, and food from different provinces. I liked the idea of OTOP – One Town One Product – applied in the Philippines. I used to see the sign in Thailand but my friend said that Japan also has the same arrangement. Yea, global marketing has mixed everything up like Aboriginal drum but made in Bali.

I spent all morning finalizing jewelry business in Excel and tagging price on necklace creation. I decided to leave them all here and let my friend sells it. Funny that I’m kind of tired to see those creations of two years ago. I need not to see them so can create something else. And yes, my friend and I shopped necklace material quite a lot in the market. We already enjoyed the profit of our first sale. It’s fun!

Observing my friend’s spirit, I felt motivated to make necklace again. I think I need a new table special for necklace project. For one, I need to feel motivated at all time and one way to do it is not to kill the little flame inside by having everything ready at anytime. Such a simple idea I got unexpectedly. I have started considering options for permanent working table: what kind and where to put.

I closed the day with listening to my friend practicing presentation for history class she takes this season. It’s interesting! What a serious material for a serious girl. The Battle of Leyte Gulf. Another spark in me has been ignited. I need to commit to a course back in Bali. My Ubud friend and I had talked about something for us to do to improve ourselves. I have to kick it to happen when I get back.

I conclude my day with the reality that I need to be away from routine to see a new perspective about what I have been doing.

One town, one product, in the Philippines.

My friend and I spent half day together…

…in my friend’s place. We felt like school girls. Do things together, but separately, in a room. I also had my laptop computer with me knowing that she is also one that hooked up so sharing a computer is almost impossible.

When I arrived her place I saw her tray of necklaces she made over weekend. She bought beads during her last trip to Bangkok and was over excited about it. I was glad to see sparkle in her eyes. While I brought three trays of jewelry for us to ‘make a plan’. We planned to join a big bazaar in Manila early March so I came with idea what we can sell.

We spent hours working on what we wanted to do. It was fun to work on price in three currencies: IDR, USD, and PHP because some stuffs are paid in the first two currencies but it has to be sold in local currency. It’s my friend’s part to decide the price in PHP since I don’t have sense of the power of buying in this city. It’s nice that we could finally decide on price. I was still tagging prices when my friend went online to check out stuffs for our next batch.

I taught my friend how to fix toggle on a necklace. She looked so happy with her first creation. I told her it's time for her to sell her creation and stay offline. She giggled. I felt funny to have influenced my friend in a way of how to make necklace. It seems I could easily give people an idea. My other friend signed up Facebook just now.

What else to come?

Nice colors can be enjoyed in every corner of life.

Having a discussion often opened me…

…to a new way to see things. Likewise, for others, I believe. That’s when I liked to push my disinterest in anything to the light. So I could say something about my disinterest in particular and the new light I find out later.

I talked about how Facebook and LinkedIn work with my friend this morning. We had quite a discussion about the pro and con, and the consequences of being in such network. I liked that I could see my friend’s point of view about taking the advantage of being in the network. I appreciated the point of view but still I could not imagine myself in one. I have enjoyed Facebook using a false name and heavy restriction access to my account. For I don’t know what the reason, I still like to keep my stuffs very private. I have let myself open in this blog and that is enough.

Anyway, I observed several things today apart from learning about the other side of using an online network. I visited a Sunday market for the first time. It’s a bit different than Saturday market I visited almost every Saturday when I was around. The market was more spacious so it had space for people selling art and home wares. It’s interesting.

Home made cooking always drew my attention. I liked the way people do things from the heart. Even selling coffee as home industry had interested me. It’s the story behind the industry that’s unique. Also the story behind German bread home industry that the French guy had to use German flour to ensure the quality of the product. Isn’t it interesting to learn about how people do things with passion? I wonder though if they could earn a living from such small-scale business. They might also sell in other places on other days and places. But really, I appreciate small business so much. It’s so nice to have the opportunity to talk with business owners or artists that sold their artwork in such market. Things I also like to do myself if I have the opportunity.

I liked to measure business size these days. I need to learn more from people who run either big or small business. Said this year would not be a good year for business that I don’t see it that way. So we will see…

Legaspi market today.

The past days I feel like…

…time is running so fast. It’s not new for those who lead a busy life. I don’t have a busy life but I realized I don’t have much time to do many. I’m not going to see my Ubud friend till two weeks from now so by the next time I see her it would be three weeks! Where does the time fly?

I spent my time running from point to point yesterday. I drove down to airport slowly, not my usual, because everything was just beautiful. I would like to say a hundred times that driving in Bali is so enjoyable at all times: morning, noon, afternoon, even in the evening. So yes, I was drawn by the nice sunny morning. I arrived airport a bit late ‘my time’. My cousin gave me a birthday kiss that I felt it had been long time ago.

An hour and half in airport passed like a flash. I caught my connection to Manila in Changi airport. I did two things I had planned: get a pocket camera and cream for sensitive skin that I’ve been using the past few years. My soon-to-be-old pocket camera enters the fifth year. With technology that develops fast, my camera fits to belong to a museum. The thing is I still love it!

Anyway, I squeezed time before check in to decide on a camera. I had one brand in mind that I copied from my friend’s who liked to compare reviews – that I don’t have the patience to do. Luckily (for the shop staff) he managed to change my initial choice. He got me with the right statement This brand makes lenses, your choice does not. I could not agree more. I also have that concept in mind when buy something. Buy something from the specialist. The purchase done in less than 30 minutes. I spent the next minutes running to get my cream.

Three hours flight felt like nothing. I still dream inflight Internet connection exists someday. If that happens, no more long flight! I have to admit that I’m one who does anything online like many. This is not about connecting with loved ones through Facebook but other areas as well like book-keeping, journaling/blogging, and of course correspondence. I found that we don’t have choice but hooked up to computer. Not just for connecting with others but to whip ourselves as well if we appoint an online supervisor to watch our life goals.

Interesting to observe how we spend time…

First shot of my new camera done by the shop staff.

I missed many…

…since yesterday. I held necklaces from Mama’s treasure trove. I was planning to redo the necklaces when came to realization that it’s Mama’s thought and energy that had been poured into the necklaces. I missed her suddenly. I could ‘see’ her making necklaces in her room with boxes of beads and silver nearby. I chose one necklace, my favorite Kalimantan red beads with many intricate silver beads, to hang on my bedside tablelamp. The necklace looked perfect on the neck of a modern metal stand.

And when my dear neighbor friend texted me for a hundred times now how he wanted to see me soon, my heart fell on the floor. I was busy since morning running errands around Ubud. I tried to finish all at one go. Good that it was sunny all day. It’s hot! It’s so different than yesterday.

I felt my tummy empty flat when I sat in my favorite warung to have late lunch. I did my ritual of reading today’s newspaper. Suddenly I missed life in Jakarta, the life, not the city. The Jakarta Biennale is on. I almost cried reading the art agenda held around the city. Got home, I found my friend left a message asking me to be with her at the Java Jazz early March that is a few weeks from today. March is around the corner??

And more when talked with my good girlfriend in Jakarta about her activities since she got back from London early January. Oh, you won’t believe it with happenings around the city. One after the other. The talk was so good. Rumahku was fully attended. We went on a tour with 30 ladies and a truck to carry terracotta we shopped in the kampong. It was unbelievable! I told my friend frankly that I miss the life in Jakarta.

We negotiated the time I should fly to be in the life of Jakarta. We hardly found the right date. Then we agreed on the fact that we could not get everything because she also missed fresh and clean air of Ubud… She dreams about it often now.

The guy who gave me stare-pressure when I was having lunch this afternoon.

My life is so erratic…

…the past two days. Like the weather. It looks like there’s a shift. Strong wind and horizontal rain happened in December two years ago. It didn’t happen last December although Balinese had prepared for such weather. They cut trees early December. And what didn't happen last December has started to happen.

Anyway, because of the weather, my plan changed often like the wind and the rain. I planned to work in Neru yesterday. I just got in when suddenly the light out. PLN worked outside. Ayuk laughed out loud. It didn’t stop me though. I worked manually with Ayuk’s help. Two hours giggling with her was fun. We did good work together. But then I had to leave early because nothing I could do in the dark without power.

It happened again today. A family issue forced me to sit all morning to compose a serious letter. So serious that needed reference and the skill of using beautiful words to express not-nice thing. It was ‘fun’. It squeezed my brain to dry after hours of writing – reading – sinking in – editing – reading – sinking in – final editing – reading – editing. Hardly ended!

Since my day plan had been ruined by the unplanned task in the morning, I stay home. The weather was so erratic that I didn’t want to wet myself in the rain. And my afternoon was even unpredictable. I washed glass beads I bought last Friday with my friends and started to make necklaces out of the beads combined with beads my friend gave me as birthday present. It was fun. Like my cousin said It’s like in a trance. I was.

And the decision I made before dark would make my day tomorrow like a typhoon. Maybe…

My friend’s infinity pool picture taken by Pien.

I still did my thing…

…when I started chatting with a friend. I called my thing working although I don’t feel right because I really enjoy what I do for living. To me working should carry the notion of suffering a bit. It's just my imagination for sure. I spent my days with necklaces I made. I had to change the label, take stock, and check out each one before send them to friends and Neru.

Anyway, like all working girl, late afternoon is the best time to slow down a bit or a lot. I opened my newly opened Facebook (FB) account for friends from office days. I started to chat with one helplessly. I called the chat FB effect. She guided me through the setting that helped me to save time to learn about how Facebook works. I almost lost appetite when I got an idea to open a new account to connect with family members. I got some invitations from cousins already.

My request to be friends with my cousins was replied in no time. They were online! As I’m their friend now I could follow whatever activities they posted. I didn’t expect people spend time in Facebook in happy hours. So I communicated a bit with them while I checked out their list of friends. I was still in inquisitive mode about Facebook. A cousin has 500-something friends in her list! It scared me. She must have known each person but how many sides of these persons she had known before she added them to her friend list.

Anyway, that is not my problem. Like my friend said, see the positive side of Facebook. I try. She told me that her husband complained every time she opened her account. Her husband is not in the club. I imagined later what happens if both are. They might not interact with each other but with hundreds of friends in virtual world. I could see how this game eats up our time especially when Internet connection is slow like mine. Facebook offers so many activities apart from connecting with your friends; like hatch egg, grow plants, look after pets, send flowers and chocolates… What is this? Isn’t it fun to do those offline? Now I start to see the negative side again.

I enjoyed Facebook I must say. Being inactive is enough to enjoy Facebook that runs in the browser's background. It’s nice to know what people think and act. We are social. Oh one thing I learned from this. The profile picture! It often shows the best of one, of course, but some people also like to have their picture with spouse or kids. While I chickened out by having iguana and Balinese leak as my profile pictures. Sorry.

In conclusion, while I enjoy having early offline Valentine’s Day card from my sister, I also enjoy being connected online.

The Valentine’s Day card.

My life is back to…

…routine. Mopped, did laundry, and had fruits. Things I didn’t do when I had guests. I simply didn’t have time to do those in the morning. Our mornings were full of chatting and laughing together. My cousin said that my house has magnet that we don’t feel like going out. It’s true!

I let myself being attracted to the house magnet today. I had looked forward to… I spent morning replying and sending thank-you emails. Birthday texts are still pouring in and I don’t feel like replying in text. It’s a nice sunny day that my cousin missed. It often happened that my friends missed the sun while they were here. It seems that Ubud liked to show its different side.

Facebook is far from my attention already. I realized this noon. None of my invitations to friends are responded. I believe one's level of seriousness shows so I don’t blame friends who didn’t respond to my invitation to be my Facebook friend. I don’t care enough either. Meanwhile my good friend who had pushed me to open Facebook account was excited that I already did. Said she’s going to separate her Facebook friends for me! I had tried to convince her that I’m not interested to be active but she was very sure I could enjoy Facebook after a while. For me now, nothing can convince me more, I am not a virtual networking type.

I will spend the rest of the day networking with myself.

A monkey-bank in Tegallalang rice terrace.