through the lens of my eyes

2007-08-05T19:35:00.000+07:00

i usually don't like being in an old hotel room. but, this one was different. i fell in love the moment i stepped into this room. it was beautiful. with old window panes and hue lights surrounding the room, it was just beautiful.

2007-08-05T19:28:00.000+07:00

flew to singapore last week for a meeting and stayed in an old-renovated hotel building. singapore is good for renovating and preserving historical buildings. when i saw this picture, i didn't feel like i was in singapore, but in one european country. the english manor architecture is still well preserved.

Ah... what are your goals?

2007-08-05T19:13:00.000+07:00

there are things to be done which considered to be my goals.

two books to be written, a non-fiction and a novel. i felt honored when somebody from the publishing company requested those two book especially written by me.

visiting dubai and beijing late this year and early next year. i always amazed by the forbidden city and the great wall.

get married next year (if and if). cannot stand my mother's yapping on my ears.

2007-08-05T19:00:00.000+07:00

Bali during summer vacation season where people were enjoying the sun and the cool wind from the wintry Australia. The low sky of Nusa Dua was full of people doing the para-sailing.

i didn't travel much this past summer season due to the work load at the office. but early July, i was quite lucky to be invited to bali for just an engagement party i have to attend for the magazine. a one day break, meaning to stay just one night then returned to jakarta the next day.

welcome to our story

2007-04-08T22:52:00.000+07:00

it took almost a year to finish it.

four of us,
four styles of writing,
four characters to build the plot,
four continents to travel through in the story.

satu benang merah di dalamnya.

we love it.
hope, you will, too.

[cetakan kedua sudah beredar dan dicetak dengan perbaikan warna dan halaman. beberapa toko buku yang saya datangi meletakkan travelers' tale di bagian buku laris atau best seller. sementara koran sindo dan majalah cosmopolitan memberikan good reviews untuk novel ini. juga, 43 good reviews dari teman-teman di berbagai blogs dan website. thank you buat support-nya]

2007-04-08T22:51:00.000+07:00

march was a traveling month. i spent only two weeks staying in jakarta. right after arriving from bali, i have to be at the airport early the next day departing to surabaya.

a scary moment occured at the runway of ngurah rai airport when my B747-400 flight carrying more than 300 passangers, mostly japanese tourists , aborted its take off. the plane started running fast from the edge of the runway going to its V1 speed ready to lift off when a sudden jolt was felt and the pilots aborted the take-off immediately. i've been in many take-off situations, but not once experiencing an aborted take-off.

in ten days from today, i will be flying to bali again invited to cover an indian-japanese wedding. quite unique. a week after that, singapore is on the schedule.

sometimes, i just wanted to be at home reading all the novels i haven't had time to read. but, i guess, they have to wait.

2007-04-08T22:32:00.000+07:00

morning came. and, it was time to sail to catch some fish.

2007-04-08T22:28:00.000+07:00

ada yang bisa kasih tahu nama persembahan buah-buahan ini?

2007-04-08T22:25:00.000+07:00

visited a small temple during the photoshoot and there was a ritual going on. didn't know what the ritual name was, but it was so colorful with lots of fruits offerings on the ground. the priest took the money offering that put atop of the fruits offering. after the ritual, one of the hotel employees gave one of its offering to me and the team and we ate them all.

2007-04-08T22:17:00.000+07:00

the boat sailed leisurely around east bali passing amankila and alila manggis. the clouds grew thicker, the blue sky turned greyish as it came to an end. rain would be just a matter minutes. physically i was tired from a long flight home from japan but having all these sceneries and with camera on hand, feeling tired was just out of question.

2007-04-08T22:12:00.000+07:00

i was following a couple having their pre-wedding shoots here. the weather was just beautiful. the sceneries! bali is so beautiful even the word 'beautiful' is so understated.

i would want to have my pre-wedding shoot like this, too, i said to the one who arranged it. "just tell me the date and i arrange it for you," that one said.

2007-04-08T22:02:00.000+07:00

took only one-day rest, the next day, still exhausted, my schedule flew me to bali for another photoshooting. this time, i would be in karangasem area where i the magazine never covered. it turned out, karangasem district was quite far than where i usually stayed in jimbaran area. but, i didn't regret it. blue sky, clear water, sea breeze not to mention hearty breakfast. it was just superb!

2007-04-08T21:51:00.000+07:00

sakura blossomed early this year. such beautiful flowers indeed! in the daytime, its pinkish color grace the surroundings and in the evening the color gives light to the darken night.

2007-04-08T21:47:00.000+07:00

one of otosan does during his retirement is farming the strawberries. you just can't resist having fresh cold strawberries after dinner which followed by drinking hot green tea.

2007-04-08T21:42:00.000+07:00

i just can't get enough of sushi. makan sushi di jakarta, di bali, di singapore, di kansas city, di bangkok, di sydney rasanya semuanya gak ada yang nyamain daripada makan sushi di negara aslinya sendiri. nasinya tetap sama, nasi jepang (nippon kohan), tapi the way they made them, the way they curl the rice into a sushi shape and the way they cut the fish and make it into a nigiri sushi, it's just different.

knowing that i love sushi, otosan and okasan came one night and brought two trays of sushi that we ate together during dinner time. okasan cut the fish by herself and made me felt so honored.

2007-04-08T21:33:00.000+07:00

kitkat anyone? what i like about this kitkat wasn't because of its chocolate taste. i forked in Y190 just to buy its can. japanese is so meticulous in packaging. if i couldn't contain myself, i would fly home with over-weight luggages full of cans.

2007-04-08T21:28:00.000+07:00

just like the shape of its can. a Rp9,600 fanta can

2007-04-08T21:23:00.000+07:00

my four-and-half years old nephew, masyu, looking to a japanese-bred puppy outside a grocery store. japan is a very safe country. people can just leave everything out and nobody will bother to steal or do bad thing. a couple of years ago, i, foolishly, left my passport at a post office in narita airport before walking through the immigration and i just realized it after more than half an hour. luckily, i remembered the last time i touched my passport and frantically ran to the post office. amazingly, the passport was still at the same place as when i left it.

2007-04-08T21:11:00.000+07:00

my march started with a quick trip to tokyo. it was my fifth time visiting japan. i still remember like it was yesterday, when i was still a secondary school. i was dreaming of visiting Tokyo Disneyland one day but never thought i would ever be able to do that. we were poor. and, i said to my father when would i be able to fly away visiting other countries and seeing Tokyo Disneyland. father simply answered, keep visualizing and keep praying.

as i landed at narita airport after 7 sleepless hours sitting in upper-deck (never choose an upper-deck seat on a long-haul flight), i remembered what my father told me when i was 11 years old. one day, you would be able to visit Tokyo Disneyland. don't give up hope.

i would never give up my hope.

2007-03-11T22:50:00.000+07:00

thank you Lord for creating the tulips for they are one of the most beautiful flowers.

2007-03-11T22:42:00.000+07:00

as melancholic as a flower can be. a stem-cut pink tulip under soft afternoon light.

2007-03-11T22:26:00.000+07:00

my sunday morning started with some drums sound like in one of the maroon 5's song with the same title.
went out early in the morning helping some of my college friends to take pictures of several flower arrangements. yet, along the way, i couldn't help taking some macro pictures.
we all love to see the beauty of flowers as they paint the earth with their colors. but, have we ever wonder what inside their beauty look like?

as i am retouching this picture, my amazement to see inside this pink gerbera's crown aroused. it's the other side of beauty we uncommonly see in a flower.

2007-02-11T21:24:00.000+07:00

i saw my friends get married for reasons of social acceptability or just because they thought it was a logical thing to do. then i watched as they became embittered and petty in their dealings with each other. i looked at my parents and saw at best, mutual toleration of each other. they seemed really in love which somehow glow in each other's presence. how can they have survived so many years of sameness, so much irritation at the other's habit? the central secret seems to be in choosing well.

good people can create a bad relationship eventhough they both dearly want the relationship to succeed. the truly lucky people are the ones who manage to become long time friends before they realized they are attracted to each other. they got to know each others' laugh, passions, sadness and fears. they share time together before they get swept up into the entangling intimacy. this is the ideal, but not often possible.

laughter is one of the key compatibilities. laughter tells you how much you will enjoy each other's company over the long term. if your laughter together is good and healthy, then you have a healthy relationship to the world.

then, look at the way he or she cares of others and deals with the daily affairs of love. if that makes you love him or her more, your love will grow. if it does not, be careful. if you do not respect the way you each deal with the world around you, eventually the two of you will not respect each other.

if you have sufficient faith that you can resist the endless attraction of the road not taken and the partner not chosen, then you may be ready to seek the miracle that marriage offers. if not then wait. the grace of relationship well prepared is worth your patience.

when time comes, a thousand flowers will bloom.

2007-02-11T21:09:00.000+07:00

singapore is the closest country i could feel like i was in the states. the closest border's bookstore i could visit rather than flying long haul to the land of the snow. last september, i took a break from work and flew there and was lucky enough that the room was upgraded and facing the harbour's view. it was one of the nicest visits to singapore i've ever had.

2007-02-11T21:00:00.000+07:00

chess and checkers board were put to the guests' enjoyment to play the pastime games. several tents were erected. their bright colors seemed to match the bluish sky above. this was one of the luncheon party held by the brides for her family and closest friends. guests were awed by its decorations and to be honest, i was, too. in three hours i stayed there, i shot hundreds of frames and it was here i shook hand with one of the richest men in the world and chatted with him.

working in the media certainly has its own perk.

2007-02-11T20:49:00.000+07:00

during my hiatus from blogging, i was invited to cover a huge wedding party in bali. it covered five resorts, five days and four nights, also lots of important guests.

they flew in the chefs, the entertainers and invited movie stars from their origin country. no wonder, a Singapore Airlines B-777 was parked in the corner of Ngurah Rai International Airport.

the coverage is in the latest edition of the magazine. it was one of a heck experience i've never forget and i felt so lucky being invited. just me and the magazine. not even, harper's bazaar, indonesian tatler, and prestige were permitted.

2006-08-21T22:10:00.000+07:00

and this concluded my ten-day three cities eight thousand miles journey.

2006-08-21T22:06:00.000+07:00

years ago, i was one of the kids looking through the wired gates of kemayoran airport dreaming of being inside an airplane and flying up to a destinations far far away.

as i took this picture on the way boarding a lion air flight, my mind took me to my childhood memory at kemayoran airport and saw that i used to be in the other side of the airport.

no one ever doubt the power of dream.

dream high. visualize often.

2006-08-21T22:04:00.000+07:00

in sam po kong temple, you can see kyai jangkar where it's being respected and prayed upon by people who came to seek solaces and fortunes. some said, it was the jangkar of admiral cheng ho's ship and kyai jangkar has a mystical power people believe.

2006-08-21T22:03:00.000+07:00

not to forget, the 500th year of admiral cheng ho's landing in tanjung mas.

2006-08-21T22:01:00.000+07:00

sam po kong temple is like a museum itself. there are reliefs of its history that you can learn and follow. it was interesting and i just didn't have enough time to read all the story.

2006-08-21T21:58:00.000+07:00

masih ada dua jam sebelum saya harus berangkat ke bandara dan this time a taxi driver took me to the sam po kong temple where i roamed there for forty five minutes taking a lot of pictures and praying for my ancestors -- don't know who they were though.

2006-08-21T21:55:00.000+07:00

gedung tawang lawu di depan patung pemuda semarang yang terkenal amat sangat angker bekas barak tentara belanda dulu. tidak ada satupun paranormal yang berani memasuki gedung ini termasuk kru acara dunia lain yang konon terlempar keluar dari dalam gedung ini.

beberapa orang konon memberi sesajen di depan gedung ini dan beberapa anak kecil bermain dengan sesajen-sesajen tersebut. the rest of the story, you can guess yourself.

2006-08-21T21:53:00.000+07:00

gedung-gedung ini mustinya bisa di preservasi sebagai bagian dari sejarah bangsa.

2006-08-21T21:51:00.000+07:00

gereja glenduk dengan kubahnya yang unik. dinamakan glenduk karena kubahnya. gedung arsitektur peninggalan belanda ini hanya beberapa saja yang ada di indonesia dengan menggunakan gaya kubah. salah satunya adalah gereja emmanuel di jakarta. di beberapa tempat, gereja-gereja peninggalan belanda sudah berbentuk katedral dengan gaya gothic-nya.

2006-08-21T21:48:00.000+07:00

bapak becak membawa kami mengelilingi kota tua semarang tempat pusat pemerintahan di jaman belanda dulu. masih banyak sekali gedung-gedung tua yang berdiri kokoh dan tampak tidak terurus dengan baik. tapi suasana kota tua masih terasa sekali.

2006-08-21T21:41:00.000+07:00

when was the last time you rode a becak? it was two years ago in jogyakarta when the last time i rode it.

hawa panas yang bercampur dengan angin sepoi-sepoi dari depan jalan ngebuat saya ngantuk. belum lagi ditambah irama kayuhan kaki si bapak becak dan suara kreyit-kreyit kayu becak tersebut dari tekanan rangka besinya. sempat saya tertunduk menahan kantuk, tapi tentu saja pemandangan di sekitar membuat saya terbangun.

bayangkan jalan yang masih teduh dan lebar seperti ini.

seminggu saya meninggalkan jakarta dan jalan yang biasanya saya lalui berangkat kerja sudah porak poranda dihantam proyek busway. macet di sana sini, klakson mobil dimana-mana, dan motor-motor yang bersliweran tak menentu.

tentu saja menikmati jalan lebar dan rindang seperti di atas tidak saya lewatkan begitu saja.

2006-08-21T21:38:00.000+07:00

first to jalan pandanaran to buy some wingko babats, bandeng prestos and kue moacis.

2006-08-21T21:33:00.000+07:00

the next day, we hired a becak driver to take us around.

kadang-kadang saya suka kasihan. i was thinking like what if i were the becak's driver? tentunya capek ngayuh becak keliling kota ngebawa penumpang yang berat ini.

but, a friend reminded me, "iman... it's his job!"

okay.

2006-08-21T21:31:00.000+07:00

walking around simpang lima, i didn't know why i felt so safe. i took a lot of pictures around. people saw me like i was a japanese tourist, but they just ignored me and did their own business.

perhaps, i wouldn't do this in jakarta.

2006-08-21T21:26:00.000+07:00

across the soothsayer, you can find people were relaxing. lighting his cigarette waiting for his girlfriend finishing her dinner at a lesehan.

for the past weeks, i've been travelled to surabaya and seoul reaching thousand of miles, but to be able to capture this kind of human interest picture made me seem to forget all the tiredness from the weeks before.

2006-08-21T21:22:00.000+07:00

a full tummy then brought us to walk around a night market in simpang lima where i shot some pictures describing what people were doing there.

one of the street vendors interested me was a soothsayer where people were sitting around him and he was reading a fortune from one of the spectators.

it was interesting to see how the soothsayer read the future with the prayers of kejawen.

2006-08-21T21:19:00.000+07:00

it was late at night and the nine of us were all hungry when we came to a lesehan around simpang lima. we ordered ayam bakar, bebek goreng, cah kangkung, nasi liwet, es jeruk, es teh manis and opened some kerupuk kulit. all for just a hundred thousand rupiahs.

of course, having a lesehan dinner together with chats and laughs among friends was priceless.

2006-08-21T21:13:00.000+07:00

we were in semarang for yet another wedding exhibition held in that city. the second night there, we wanted to explore the special local culinary. as we walked around simpang lima, we stopped by beside an officer who was ready to off his duty and asked him about the specialties of this simpang lima.

i told you, semarang people are all nice, right. even the officer was kind enough to show us the well known lesehan and took picture with us. never before we took a picture with a policeman in jakarta.

2006-08-21T21:06:00.000+07:00

after seoul, korea, my journey took me to semarang -- just 50 minutes to the east of jakarta by air. i've never been to this city before. my semarang recollection was just a pass through on the way to salatiga when i was a high school student years ago. but to be really exploring this city and stay nights in semarang happened to me just days ago.

the city was smaller than surabaya. one thing i learned right away, its people are so humble and very nice.

in jakarta, you never heard people say "terima kasih" or "maaf-permisi" anymore in general occasion, but in semarang, i heard those words being said many times.

one thing from semarang i think the city lacks off is the mall. its mall is just too small.

2006-08-21T20:33:00.000+07:00

the nicest thing being a tourist is i can shoot anything. everytime i visited a foreign city, two things that i try to find -- bookstores and people's market (pasar basah).

in pasar basah, you can learn something from its country that people everywhere is the same.

living in this world is about survival -- to survive everyday by working hard to face another day tomorrow.

2006-08-21T20:31:00.000+07:00

penjaja buah di nam dae mun market. satu slice semangka, satu slice nenas seharga 1000 won. berapa slices bisa kita beli di jakarta seharga Rp10,000?

tentu saja dengan biaya hidup yang amat sangat tinggi -- seoul is the second most expensive city in the world next to new york city as the most expensive city to live -- kita tidak bisa menyamakan kehidupan di seoul dengan di jakarta.

tapi sedikit banyak, gambaran di atas dapat dipakai untuk menggambarkan betapa tingginya tingkat perekonomian negara tersebut.

2006-08-21T20:27:00.000+07:00

come evening and this tree will be alive!

2006-08-21T20:14:00.000+07:00

waktu saya melihat foto ini kembali, bulu kuduk saya berdiri. dan bulu kuduk saya masih berdiri ketika saya mengetik posting ini.

ceritanya begini. seperti biasa, karena hobi saya motret maka saya adalah peserta tur yang paling tertinggal dan paling belakang. saya bisa mempelajari sejarah bangunan ini dari brosur atau buku yang bisa saya beli, tapi momen untuk memotret hanya ada saat itu saja. entah kapan saya bisa balik ke sini lagi.

it was a hot day and the clouds above was dark. rain was about to fall shortly when i was captivated by this wall. the combination of the old walls and the woods area to its right was a good composition for me to capture it.

at that moment, i knew that i was left far behind the group and for a split second, i felt a chill. uh-oh.

then suddenly, my never-troubled-camera stuck. it was just stuck. it has never happened before. i knew the battery was full since i just changed it minutes ago.

was i panicked? yes, it was my beloved camera! but, i did a stupid thing! a really really stupid thing out of my unconsciousness.

i yelled an expletive word to my camera!

in a place like that one you just cannot even speak with a loud voice. i yelled an expletive word!

at that moment, i can feel something strange. it was like i was slapped by the wind and i just cannot say what else -- i ran and ran. the tour leader was looking for me that was then i realized that something was not right the moment the tour leader asked me whether i was okay or not. i was pretty ashen at that moment.

the moral of the story -- never say a bad word in a place like that.

2006-08-21T20:08:00.000+07:00

ada yang pernah berkunjung ke kesultanan jogyakarta? masuk ke salah satu bangunan di kesultanan yang menjadi tempat pajangan lukisan-lukisan jaman peninggalan belanda dulu? di situ, lukisan-lukisan itu rusak karena tidak terawat. jika terawat pun mungkin prosedurnya tidak tepat hingga lukisan-lukisan bersejarah tersebut menjadi rusak.

mungkin kita harus belajar dari bangsa lain untuk bisa merawat peninggalan-peninggalan bersejarah.

memasuki istana kekaisaran ini di seoul, saya teringat waktu saya mengunjungi kesultanan jogyakarta. saya banyak menemukan kesamaan mulai dari lapangan luas di tengah-tengah areal sampai dengan bangunan-bangunan di mana raja atau kaisar bertemu dengan rakyatnya -- tentu saja dengan arsitektur yang lain.

tapi yang berbeda dari kedua tempat berserjarah itu adalah cara masing-masing tempat menjaga peninggalan-peninggalan bersejarah tersebut.

sayang sekali.

2006-08-21T20:04:00.000+07:00

semenanjung korea adalah sejarah daerah sejarah yang telah berasal dari ratusan bahkan seribuan tahun lalu bersamaan dengan berkembangnya kekaisaran cina di sebelah baratnya. banyak dari arsitektur bangunan-bangunan istana di korea mirip dengan arsitektur kekaisaran di cina.

i love visiting this kind of places. salah satu yang menjadi daya tarik saya mengunjungi tempat-tempat peninggalan bersejarah ini adalah membayangkan kehidupan orang-orang yang tinggal di tempat ini 600 tahun yang lalu.

2006-08-21T19:53:00.000+07:00

di lobby hotel intercontinental coex seoul, saya berdiri di depan patung ini cukup lama sambil berusaha untuk mengerti arti dari apa yang akan disuarakan oleh si pemahat.

si pria ada di bawah anak-anak tangga yang tidak bersambungan menuju si wanita yang ada di atasnya.

saya berusaha keras untuk mengerti apa maksud yang tersirat dari karya seni ini.

apakah untuk mendapatkan hati seorang wanita, si pria harus berusaha untuk menaikki anak-anak tangga yang tidak tersambung itu?

mungkin.

2006-08-21T19:46:00.000+07:00

same as their neighbors to the east, koreans love to read. they read everything and they read everywhere even in a rest area in a crowded mall.

for me, the worst part of visiting korea or japan is -- i just cannot buy any single book or magazine in their bookstores.

2006-08-21T19:39:00.000+07:00

and, of course, starbucks is everywhere in the world.

but, it's so expensive. i said to myself that seoul is more expensive than tokyo. having visited tokyo several times, i knew some affordable places to buy things i needed. but, everything in seoul seems so expensive.

for instance, a macdonalds big mac with a medium coke and fries cost you Rp25000 in plaza senayan. in seoul, the same combo will cost you Rp58.000 in COEX mall.

permen mentos costs you Rp2500 at HERO supermarket. it will cost you W600 or Rp6000 in Seoul.

the same thing for a medium cup of caramel macchiato at starbucks. everything is triple than how much they cost is in jakarta.

but then, i was there for just four days and we were never be able to venture outside seoul where i heard from lots of indonesian workers working in korea -- there are a lot of cheaper places to eat and shop outside the city.

2006-08-21T19:33:00.000+07:00

at hyundai department store -- yes, hyundai has a department store -- i saw colorful snacks. they're actually kue moaci yang dalamnya itu kacang. tapi luarannya dibuat sedemikian rupa, bentuk dan warnanya, hingga menarik orang untuk membeli. it's quite expensive though.

kue-kue moaci ini bisa dibeli untuk dimakan sendiri atau dibawa sebagai hadiah kalau kita sedang bertamu ke rumah keluarga lain. it is so customary for guests to bring something if they're visiting another family especially the elders.

2006-08-21T19:11:00.000+07:00

salah satu yang saya impikan dari kota jakarta adalah kemudahan untuk penduduknya agar dapat berjalan kaki dengan santai dan tentu saja di tengah-tengah kota yang tidak polusi dengan udara kotor. as i walked across the wide street of gangnam area in the southern part of seoul, my mind could not be happier to be able to leisurely walk with warm fresh air filling up my lungs.

this particularly street has only five lanes each. i've seen a wider one with eight lanes in each side.

can you imagine when tuan gubernur see this kind of street in jakarta? four lanes in each side would be build for busway and, of course, all trees will be axed down.

2006-08-21T18:59:00.000+07:00

incheon international airport lies in a man-made island off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. just about two years old, the airport is known for its morning fogs in the summer and heavy mists during the fall season due to the difference between the cool temperature in the evening and the hot summer day. when your plane glides down on the way to its final runway at incheon and see through the window, you'll feel like entering an earie area with fogs surrounds you.

a friend said, "kayak masuk ke negeri kahyangan ya..."

it was so beautiful.

2006-08-21T18:56:00.000+07:00

a journey of a thousand miles starts from --
the dark and gloomy Bandara Internasional Soekarno-Hatta.

a crazy month indeed

2006-08-08T22:00:00.000+07:00

after three busy days during the weekend attending the Jakarta Wedding Festival and a short week ahead, i'll be having crazy days of traveling. first will be an overnight to surabaya leaving on friday and returning saturday afternoon. a quick dash home to see mom before catching a flight to seoul. then seoul until wednesday before leaving to semarang the next day. then bali at the end of the month.

there will be no weekends without a break.

so, i'll be blogging after semarang with lots of pics from seoul.

2006-07-16T23:36:00.000+07:00

i was fortunate enough to have a room with a view in the city i visited just for a short time. it was around 7pm in the early evening when the sun really set and left the sky ready to rest for the day. the chao phraya river that cuts in the heart of the city became alive with the lit up vessels that cruised along its body of water. the brownish water in the daytime was becoming like a mirror to the glowing lights from its surrounding.

bangkok is romantic. it changes from a busy and a dusty city in the daytime to a quiet, relaxed and beautiful city in the evening.

2006-07-16T22:10:00.000+07:00

bangkok mungkin lebih kecil dari jakarta. pertama kali mendarat di kota ini, saya diingatkan, "di sini, macetnya dua puluh kali dari jakarta! jadi kalo mau kemana-mana, tolong waktunya dihitung ya..."

luckily, we arrived on a two-day national holiday -- the starting of lent for the buddhists' month. so, the street wasn't as crowded as it would be on a regular day.

saya membandingkan jakarta dengan bangkok. apa yang ada di jakarta ada di bangkok. tapi tidak semua yang ada di sini, ada di jakarta. Of course.

contohnya suan lum night bazaar. pasar malam dengan areal yang amat luar. di sini, kita bisa nemuin berbagai macam kerajinan dan suvenir khas thailand. bukan itu saja, dari mulai kaus-kaus 3 untuk 100 bath sampai pernik-pernik untuk desain interior ada di sini. semuanya dapat ditawar dan semuanya murah untuk ukuran jakarta. sayangnya, saya paling malas menawar dan tentu saja itu hal bodoh. karena begitu tau saya orang indonesia, harganya jadi lain dan karena saya malas menawar, tertawalah si penjual.

satu hal yang menarik dari kota bangkok, kota ini aman. mungkin jakarta dengan pasar malam seperti ini akan menjadi ajang empuk untuk para pencopet seperti hal-nya di jakarta fair. tapi di sini, semua orang, baik turis asing atau penduduk lokal, dapat berjalan santai dan merasa aman.

dan tentu saja, kota ini penuh dengan waria dan lady-boys yang cantik-cantik. my God! semuanya terasa biasa, orang tidak memandang rendah waria di sini. mereka dapat bebas bekerja di mcdonalds, seperti yang saya temukan atau bahkan saya bertemu dengan beberapa editor dari dua media di bangkok yang - waria, dan mereka mingled dengan kita seperti mereka adalah kita.

itulah negeri gajah putih yang saya kunjungi.

2006-07-16T21:12:00.000+07:00

the evening after the event came when we decided to venture bangkok at night. the girls wanted to see the famous patpong area. and, of course, the idea awakened my curiosity.

at the end, we skipped patpong for a better place - Suan Lum Night Market. from patpong, we hired a tuk tuk, like a bajaj in jakarta, to take us to the place. four of us - all guys - were in the same tuk tuk and it was a helluva experience to ride that kind of transportation!

in split seconds, i took some pictures inside the tuk tuk just for the sake of taking a picture.

2006-07-16T20:57:00.000+07:00

i was at MBK when i saw her.
her beauty captivated me and i was astounded to see a perfect creation
for seconds, my eyes were stripping her
giving thoughts to the dirty mind inside the brain

she was wearing a white tank top
with pink bra straps peeking out on her smooth shoulder
intoxicating me

my heart raced
just paces to pass her
when i can smell her soft parfume
giving senses to my mind

suddenly,
a man rushing to hug her
just when i passed her

for the first time i can hear her voice

"hey..." she said firmly

with a strange low intonation
to awake my intoxicated mind
pinching my consciousness
that she is a he!
and this is bangkok.

2006-07-16T20:49:00.000+07:00

a white envelope came to my desk. inside, a return ticket to bangkok was waiting. yes! after feeling so burned out, a two-day trip to bangkok was like a relieve i was looking for. and, yes, it was just a two-day trip. for sure, i wouldn't be complaining about this short trip to the fact that it was a business class return ticket inside the envelope.

2006-07-16T20:39:00.000+07:00

i've been visiting bali twice the past month. both were invitations to attend some launchings. bali is nice and being in bali is -- nice. but, if you ask me right now -- i would have said i've been to bali too many times and at the point i have to drag myself to fly to bali, literally. it's still in july and i've visited the island for more than my fingers can count.

i long for a vacation in the island. time to relax and unwind without thinking about deadline, writing and photographing. of course, i'll shoot some pictures but those just for my own collection OR i won't bring any camera, laptop, pda that would take me into working and not relaxing.

i really need to have a vacation. don't know when i can get one.

2006-07-16T20:24:00.000+07:00

being human
a forever breathless
the moon's quite slip
in the shadow
brings only the freshness
of flirting
with the lasting
beauty of stars,

as - if you blinked
and left

in the momentary
absence of your eyes
the sparkling rest
of why a man
could fall so far
into being --

human.

kansas city, 29 may 1997

2006-07-16T20:17:00.000+07:00

deep sigh from deep within
entwined with the breath of the night
cascading invisibly
through my open window,
giving life to the curtains,
shadows --

shadows and night breeze
skimming, soothing, teasing
me
and half asleep
in my drunken stupor,
I dream that it's you
your face
your hands

and not a soft --
lonely --

summer wind...

kansas city, summer 1995

2006-06-11T21:01:00.000+07:00

on the way back, we passed the kampong aer. rows of wooden houses built above the water. people were about to get ready to face a new day.

the panorama was different than the island i am so used to visit.

being in a new place -- it gave me a new experience.

2006-06-11T20:37:00.000+07:00

pasar terapung - the floating market. you can find them in thailand, cambodia, vietnam, sumatra and kalimantan as the rivers are the main source of their lifes.

our boat was already in between the sampans as one of ibu-ibu called our guide to come near. what she sold were just basic things like tangerines, bananas, and some of vegetables that lied onto the floor of her sampan. we were just couldn't resist the offer of buying some tangerines from her. it wasn't expensive at all and the tangerines were all so sweet as we ate one by one along the journey.

just another style of having breakfast in the middle of bouncing waters.

2006-06-11T20:31:00.000+07:00

then it was daybreak. the starting of a new day when people need to do their businesses.

the mood was different than the first thirty minutes we started the journey. more and more sampans carrying what they can sell to the others.

the chit chats grew louder as we stopped our engine and sailed closer to them. the air was thick as we could hear some of the conversations in the local language mixed with the bahasa.

it was business as usual. everyday. every morning.

2006-06-11T20:22:00.000+07:00

as the sound of motor tempel buzzing around the ears, we passed many boat houses with dimly lights inside. it was still dawn, but people were starting to get alive. you can see the interactive of life of human and water along the river. bathing, brushing, doing what they need to do.

the kids were just simply jumping into the river, from afar sounds of people were heard -- kids laughter were like inuendo to the continuity of the buzzing motor.

one small sampan passed. then another one simply brushing the way to the one just passed.

the more we went, the more sampans we saw.

the lights creeped slowly through the thick clouds. it was enough to give us a different panoramas then we used to see.

it wasn't bali anymore. it was just different.

a different perspective of life.

2006-06-11T20:17:00.000+07:00

the day hasn't been broken yet. the light of the sun has no where to be found. and, the mood was already somber by the thick clouds above when the small boat slowly departed to a destination we were about to go.
it wasn't bali and this area gave me another perspective of life.

sebuah kehidupan di atas air -- di pulau kalimantan.

2006-06-11T02:13:00.000+07:00

nothing in the world is more sacred than tears of love and joy.

2006-06-11T02:07:00.000+07:00

dunno why, but somehow i like macro photography.
just trying to test my lens to the maximum it can do for a macro photography.

2006-06-11T02:01:00.000+07:00

saya selalu iseng dalam memotret. apapun yang saya anggap bagus untuk di capture akan saya potret. saya mencoba untuk memotret dari sudut-sudut yang tidak umum sekalipun.

di pagi hari di suatu hari, saat tim majalah makan pagi di discovery mal, ada hal yang menarik yang saya perhatikan. tangan editor saya yang sedang memilah-milah roti yang hendak dimakannya.

tanpa ragu, saya duduk di karpet dan mulai memotret tangan-tangan editor saya tanpa ia ketahui.

hasilnya adalah seperti yang diatas setelah diedit dengan soft focus.

2006-06-11T01:58:00.000+07:00

just a contemporer shot for fun.

2006-06-11T01:56:00.000+07:00

simply, one of my dreams.

2006-06-11T01:50:00.000+07:00

a simple wedding cake to complement an intimate wedding dinner.
an outdoor gathering made beautiful by its surroundings.

2006-06-11T01:38:00.000+07:00

for me, any place can be romantic. any place with someone you love and in love with you, can be as well a romantic place.

but this place is different. it lies at the end of a pier into the sea where you can together viewing a magical sunset hand in hand.

this place brings a romantic aura to you to complement your love.

it is the most romantic places imaginable.

2006-06-11T01:34:00.000+07:00

moment like this that i thank God who gives me a hobby i love so much.

photography.

2006-06-11T01:21:00.000+07:00

misery arises because we don't allow change to happen. we cling, we want thingst to be static.
if you love a woman you want her to be yours tomorrow, the same as she is today. that how misery arises. nobody can be certain about the next moment.

what to say about tomorrow?

life is constantly changing. life is change. only one thing is permanent, and that is change itself.

2006-06-11T01:14:00.000+07:00

cold bottle of aqua, anybody? in Bali, you surely need one of them.

2006-06-11T01:10:00.000+07:00

i used to work in the kitchen as a line cook. a hard work, but i enjoyed it so much.
when i saw this line cook doing what he was doing -- puting some garnishes onto the dinner plate to make it more appetizing -- i remembered what i was doing back then four years ago.

somehow, i miss doing things in the back of a kitchen.

when was the last time i really cook? i haven't cook any single meal let alone a gourmet one i used to prepare back then.

2006-06-11T01:02:00.000+07:00

seeing is believing. waiting is not a fun thing to do.

satu hari, seorang bijak berkata bahwa kesabaran seseorang dinilai dari bagaimana cara dia menunggu dan bagaimana dia menghadapi detik-detik penungguan itu sendiri.

pertanyaannya adalah bagaimanakah kita menjalani detik-detik yang mengharuskan kita untuk menunggu?

2006-06-11T00:51:00.000+07:00

it's three o'clock in the afternoon when i shot this picture. the wind lightly swept warm breezes from the sea. the lighting was harsh and the shadows showed it.

but for whatever reason, breaking a paradigm of photography of not shooting on a daylight when the sun is high, i love this picture.

the tree's green leaves and the blue sky.

those are the reasons.

2006-06-11T00:45:00.000+07:00

for so many time, i have to be in bali. and, seeing this picture gives me a reason why i am so in love with this island.

pretty honest, i'm getting bored. i wanted to discover a new area. a new island. a new region.

but, bali always charms me with its aura as if i fell under its spell.

it hypnotizes me with its beauty, its colors and its nature.

i just need to gaze at this picture and close my eyes and let my mind takes me to the relaxing moment i always felt when i was in Bali.

the reason

2006-06-11T00:19:00.000+07:00

the reason i haven't been blogging for awhile is because of these tubes that stuck into my mother's chest for almost a month. her pale arms were too frail for the transfusion needles to be stuck into, the doctor had to do a small incision on her upper chest instead.

for more than a month, i have to go back and forth between home, office and the hospital every day. it exhausted me to be honest, but you just cannot feel exhausted when your mother was lying in the hospital battling her illness.

my father is a cancer survivor, but i cried when i saw him having his chemotherapy three years ago. not along ago, i broke my heart when i saw my mother's hair fell out layer every layer until it reached its baldness and she's getting completely bald.

but, at least, she's home and recuperating.

father and i are taking care of her with the good faith that my mother will be alright and everything will be okay again soon.

amen.

2006-04-30T08:56:00.000+07:00

di satu hari di minggu lalu, ketika saya sedang melewati jalan rasuna said, tiba-tiba saya teringat akan sebuah puisi Indian Amerika untuk seorang ibu yang melahirkan.

before you were conceived, i wanted you
before you were born, i loved you
before you were here a minute ago,
i would die for you ...

with the heavens as witness,
i make my vows to forever
love you with all my heart ...

kemudian saya teringat akan adik dan keponakan saya. saya teringat cerita adik saya bagaimana sakitnya melahirkan masyu, bagaimana ia harus bangun subuh-subuh menyusui, menghadapi masyu yang rewel seorang diri, membawanya ke dokter kalau ia sakit dan mengasuhnya sampai akhirnya sekarang masyu menginjak masa sekolah.

apa yang adik saya lakukan ke anaknya adalah juga apa yang ibu saya lakukan ke saya. saya masih ingat ketika ibu saya membawa saya ke rumah sakit karena kenakalan saya masih kecil, merawat saya setiap kali sakit walaupun disertai omelan karena saya malas makan buah, dan bagaimana ia dengan sabar dan kasih ada di samping saya yang sedang kesakitan karena operasi usus buntu yang seharusnya berjalan hanya satu jam saja diperpanjang menjadi tiga jam.

hidup dan waktu terus berjalan detik demi detik. bayi-bayi akan lahir setiap detik, orang-orang tua akan meninggalkan dunia setiap detik pula.

tapi di tengah-tengah itu, ada sebuah ikatan batin yang kuat antara kita dan orang yang melahirkan dan menjadikan kita seperti sekarang ini. ketika kecil, kita diasuh dan dibesarkan karena kita adalah amanah Tuhan yang diberikan kepada mereka di dunia. ketika besar dan mereka menjadi tua, kita bantu mereka dengan bakti dan tulang punggung untuk memudahkan tanggung jawab mereka terhadap amanah yang diberikan itu.

ketika melewati jalan rasuna said hari senin malam kemarin, saya membawa seorang ayah yang cemas dan seorang ibu yang terduduk lemah.

ibu saya sedang sakit.

2006-04-30T08:47:00.000+07:00

i remember when i took this picture. it was on monday after work. the sky was almost dark and the lights from the building have already lit. i only had seconds to captore the glow of downtown kansas city before the sky was completely dark and uninteresting.

this picture holds a special memory to me.

i almost got mugged taking this picture.

2006-04-14T00:13:00.000+07:00

a song writer expresses his or her feeling through the words and melody of the songs he or she writes. i'm not a songwriter therefore i cannot express my feeling through a song.

a camera is my medium to communicate whatever feeling i have with the people.

the picture above describes what i felt at that time.

loneliness.

2006-04-14T00:11:00.000+07:00

holiday seasons is the most romantic time of the year.

2006-04-14T00:04:00.000+07:00

spring 1996. it was ten years ago when i took this picture. there was time i felt i missed the city i used to live for more than eleven years. but, it was just a part from the past that will stay forever in my personal living history.

do i want to visit the city again? maybe.

maybe not.

the city burried a lot of memories.

for whatever reason, it still holds a special place inside me.

2006-04-13T00:25:00.000+07:00

di sebuah hari libur, ketika jalan thamrin tidak sesibuk biasanya. di tengah-tengah jalan, entah dari mana, seorang pedagang buah melintas sambil mendorong gerobaknya.

move to another day.

beberapa hari kemudian, di satu hari kerja di jalan wijaya yang sibuk. di bawah terik panas sinar matahari yang sebentar lagi akan tertutup oleh gemuruh hujan, seorang mbak penjual jamu gendong berjalan di pinggir jalan dengan langkahnya yang gontai. ia tetap berjalan entah kemana walau langkahnya menunjukkan sebuah ketidakpastian.

have you all ever wondered, kalau kita diberikan sebentuk gerobak buah untuk didorong dan dijual, kalau kita diberi pikulan botol-botol jamu untuk digendong dan dijajakan -- kemana kita akan berjalan menjual dagangan tersebut?

pernahkah kita sejenak berpikir bagaimana kalau kita yang berada di posisi mereka?

2006-04-13T00:22:00.000+07:00

yesterday's thunderstorm made the city of jakarta a wreck. traffic stuck everywhere and even some casualties due to the falling tree. according to detik.com, there were a total of 41 trees fell to the ground.

you can see the deadly clouds came passing above the western side of jakarta.

2006-04-13T00:16:00.000+07:00

i've never cared for the color of white. white is just white. unlike blue which is my favorite color, white is just a color i seldom chose for whatever i need to utilize.

not until this afternoon when an occasion reintroduce me to WHITE.

the decor was all white.
so simple yet elegant.
so charming yet indulging.

did i fall in love with the color afterwards?

not quite.
i still favor blue.

2006-04-13T00:05:00.000+07:00

10th of april in the year 0f 2006 was the first day the students go back to school in japanese education system including for those who went to school for the first time.

including my nephew -- masyu.

i remember my first day of school like it was just yesterday -- i cried! i was crying hard, kicking and screeming, knowing my parents left me. what a shame!

but, surprisingly enough, masyu didn't cry at all when his parents left him. shame on his uncle whose on his first day of school was crying.

he was the tallest boy - taller for a 3.5 year old for his age - in his class and proudly said to his uncle that he didn't cry at all.

"oom iman, masyu didn't cry, mommy told masyu, oom iman cried!"

darn it! like my sister didn't cry on her first day of school!

2006-04-12T23:55:00.000+07:00

i went to a doctor this morning to check something up inside the left posterior of my neck. sejak pulang dari bali yang terakhir, bagian leher sebelah kiri saya selalu sakit.

setelah ditekan, dilihat, dipencet, dilihat lagi dan didiagnosis dengan segala macam ilmu kedokteran, si dokter bertanya, "kamu sudah minta tolong tukang pijat untuk mengendorkan otot-otot leher kamu belum?"

woalah.

analisa si dokter -- saya kecapekan.

otot-otot leher dan bahu saya itu tegang dan salah satu otot leher kiri tertarik yang mengakibatkan chemical balance dan peredaran darah di sekitar kepala bagian kiri jadi terganggu. salah satu resep dari dua resep yang diberikan adalah pergi ke tukang urut, relax dan don't work too hard.

i wish.

2006-04-12T23:47:00.000+07:00

the really egoless person is not humble at all.
he is neither arrogant nor humble.
he is simply himself.

2006-04-12T23:43:00.000+07:00

i always love this passages. read those slowly until you understand the meaning behind them.

time is horizontal.
it is from A to B to C to D;
it is in a line.

eternity is vertical.
it is not from A to B and from B to C.
it is from A to more A to still more A.
it goes upward.

2006-04-12T23:32:00.000+07:00

in the summer time, early in the morning before the sun got high and scorched the land below, i would rise in the morning and walked to Loose Park from my apartment to jog. i love jogging than any other sports, well tennis and golf will count. people say golf is when you challange yourself. but, for me, jogging is the cheapest exercise and you also can challenge yourself and your body.

but, that's not what i like about this park. it's a vast green area in the middle of Kansas City where you can breath in and out fresh oxygen without any polluted air would sip in your lungs. the atmosphere itself calmed myself and made me ready to face the hectic days.

i miss jogging in a park. where in jakarta could i do such a thing and feel safe even in the evening hour?