Of travel, adenture and discovery

 Wanna runaway, with you.

Today was definitely a beautiful wonderful and adventurous Sunday! I really had a great time today and I wished my day was longer but anyway I'm really glad that I experienced this date. This Sunday is a special one because I went to Bogor with Ani, Febi and Felix via train! Yup my hometown's train system has just been revived after a long time so now there's an available route from my hometown to Bogor (which is a town between here and Jakarta).

And also this was the first time that I took a train in my own homeland.

We took the 5 AM train, and I didn't sleep at all the night before oh dear. The journey there was really lovely because of the great sights outside and the camaraderie atmosphere inside the train. It was made complete by dangdut music blasting through the speaker haha, though sadly (or thankfully) the electricity of the train got cut off and they stopped playing halfway haha. Was planning to sleep on the way but I got too excited I didn't sleep at all haha.

When we reached Bogor it was 7 AM and we were planning to head to the botanical garden first but it was closed so we decided to have breakfast at a nearby market. Had a delicious chicken noodle with an awesome springy (though a bit undercooked) noodle and the stall was really crowded. It's nice to walk along the market in the morning.

And we spent the morning walking along the botanical garden which is nothing much but trees haha. But I'm pretty awed by the big big trees! They have strong and big trunks that look really grand. I wonder how old are all these trees. We were excited to see the Rafflesia flower but uhh it wasn't there for some reasons. So we ended our walk and headed for a famous bakery in Bogor called Tan Ek Tjuan. They have some awesome coconut ice cream! 

Our main plan to go to Bogor was to catch Catching Fire so we headed for Botany Square which is a mall in Bogor where the cinema is located. We were rather early again so the cinema wasn't opened yet, but we hang out at Starbucks to get our coffee fix and my sleep-fix too haha. I fell asleep for a good 30 minutes there. And we headed to get the tickets and well just wanna say Catching Fire is so damn good! I went straight to the bookstore to get the final sequel Mockingjay. I regretted not continuing to read the sequel really.

Now I have to patiently wait for a year for the last movie to come haha.

After the movie we had lunch, walked around and then headed for the train station to catch our train back to Sukabumi which was at 6 PM. We reached back at 8 PM and yup, that's how this awesome Sunday come to a wonderful close.

On the way back I was listening to music and I couldn't stop feeling happy, and telling myself what a great day it was. I really enjoy experiencing new things, especially when it comes to traveling. I've been to Bogor, but all I did was to eat. So to go there and explore (kinda) the city on feet, and public transport, at our own will, feels pretty pretty amazing. Today I did so many first times, and revisited a few things. And it's always good to have them.

I took the train for the first time, I sat on the front seat of an Angkot (a public transport here) for the first time, I get to experience how these Angkot work (really interesting, kinda different from my hometown), and of course I get to explore Bogor. I truly enjoy being there. Being at the moment, at that place, and just exploring and exploring the new place. Trying new things and just bask in the moment and the day. It's refreshing too.

Well I mentioned in my blog a few times of how much I love traveling. And today I come to a realisation that well, the more you want to experience new things, the more comfortable you will be when it comes to experience more new things in the future. Well basically it means you need to have that wish and want to experience new things if not you'll just do the same old thing. And same old thing is a boring thing. Spice up your life yo.

And of course, travel as much as you can. Because the more you travel, the more open you and your mind will be, and thus the easier it is for you to adapt to a new place. And traveling will broaden out your mind. Sure, the comfort of our homes are more inviting but to me, I think the vastness of the world seems to be more inviting to me!

I really wish I can have more days like this in the future. Exploring new places, traveling with my cousins or friends, and experiencing new things. I want to die knowing I have done a lot of things and experience a lot of new things. Well I suppose the older you grow the more responsibilities you'll have but of course, seize opportunity when you have them.

Alright I guess that's all for now. It's the last week of November oh gosh. Time, where did you go! Alright wishing everyone a happy end to November and remember, travel more! Haha. Have a good Monday everyone :)

Shining Light

 This universe is so huge!

We're just tiny little things

Yet there's so many things

We can do, and become

Just now I had a really depressingly beautiful time. It was a clear night, stars were shining and the 3/4 moon was shining bright too. Little clouds were spread along the sky and we decided to head for the mountain. I took my camera with me, and my tripod, hoping to catch a beautiful scenery of my hometown from the top. I set up my tripod and camera and when I switched it on, two words sent shiver down my spine, and killed off my excitement.

My camera screen says "NO CARD"

It was so depressing really! I was transferring some files last night and you know I usually rushed off to sleep and forgot to take my memory card out of my laptop. Ah well, lesson learnt of course. But well whenever this kind of situation happens, like when there's a beautiful scenery but I don't have a camera with me, I just simply told myself that well, I'm thankful that I got to witness something like this with my own eyes. Though sadly I couldn't capture it.

The stars were so amazing tonight. The moon was shining bright on the clear night sky and it's so pretty. It was so quiet and all I could hear was just the rhapsody of frogs and crickets. I looked up at the sky, glittered with sparkling diamonds. And I felt really really small.

Whenever I'm at an open space, be it an empty field, or beneath the clear blue sky, or like just now, below the starry sky, I feel really insignificantly big. I was looking up just now and there were so many stars. And it made me think that I'm just one tiny living thing on this universe. I feel that we're just this tiny planet in such a huge, yet-to-be-discovered-more universe. And it feels pretty amazing to be "small" and "tiny". It gave me hope and joy.

We might be small but I feel really wonderful. Although we may seem small, but I truly feel the power that anything and everything can happen to us. I feel the bright warmth of our capabilities - of the things that we can actually do in life. And it feels pretty amazing to have such feelings really. To realise the things that can happen to us, the things we can do, and the people we can become. Yet, we're just one tiny little thing in this universe.

So one day if you feel like a poop, remember this! So many things we can do and become!

Alright that's all for tonight. Feeling pretty amazed tonight. Hope I can feel like this, everyday! :)

Growing Up

 Life only gives a one-way ticket to our final destination!

I've been wanting to write about this, but well umm yeah, you know me, it's very hard for me to write and blog at my ease so anyway here I am. Today I've been gathering my thoughts about the two words above - Growing Up. I suppose it's two words everyone is kind of afraid of? And we're all quite in denial about these two words. But, we have to accept them.

I'm 21 now and I suppose, I'm in this phase of "growing up". I'm not a young kid anymore but neither am I an old guy (though ironically I always tell myself that being 21 is old). And like what I blogged about last time the twenties is a very interesting time of your life. Interestingly beautiful and difficult too, because that's when life reveals itself more to you.

Do you remember when you were young, when your parents/teacher/other adults told you not to do something? And when you asked "why?" to them they will either give an answer you don't understand or they will just simply say "because I told you so" or "because it's meant to be cannot". And being young we just do as what we were told to.

And we grow up, physically and mentally, and our minds expand like the universe. We learn (to our dismay perhaps) that what we were told to when we were young didn't make sense. Or we discover the truths ourselves and so on and forth. As we begin to embrace our mind and knowledge, we slowly separate the truths and myths.

We begin to separate our rights, and our wrongs based on our judgements and feels.

Humans, we're never perfect. Like what the old saying says "One man's meat is another man's poison", what's right for us may not be right for others. What's wrong for us, may be right for others. Now that our minds are being expanded, our heart comes in the way with emotions. You'll begin to think if what's "right" is right for others, because it may hurt them and so on. You'll begin to fear that your right will be deemed wrong by others.

My dad always asks me a question, "Do all nice, are right things? Or do all right things are nice things?" and I always ponder. Doing something nice may not be a right thing to do but doing something right, will always be a nice thing to do (although it may be hard to swallow).

This is just one of the many examples of course.

But I suppose today I come to a conclusion that well, another thing that tells you when you're growing up, is when you begin to get confused on differentiating between the right and wrong. Because you're affected by many things when you come into this two-forked road. Your mind, which is shaped by the things around you and your heart, which is you own compassion and emotions. Separating right and wrong seems harder and harder as you grow up.

Of course not everyone finds it difficult. Those with a strong personality can easily differentiated those two because they're really strong minded. And neither am I saying everyone else is a softie because you couldn't  differentiate. I suppose it takes time too. Experience will help you through this. As you grow older you'll find it easier to follow your heart, with your mind helping you to make a decision, or to even carve out your own road.

I suppose, is this how growing up feels like?

When you get confused by so many things and everything seems so overwhelming to you. When you feel that the past was so much better than the present, and you wish you will forever be a kid. Growing up feels overwhelming but remember that it's a process everyone has to go through to get to our final destination. So just enjoy it. Life only gives a one-way ticket to our final destination so make sure you enjoy this journey for good.

Well, I suppose you know you're growing up when you begin to get the answers to why Peter Pan doesn't want to grow up. It's a complicated story.

Happy Tuesday! :)

Lost track

It's already the eleventh of the eleventh month of the year and... I truly have lost track of time. It feels like it was yesterday when October started. Last week I thought to myself that it was still October. Well obviously it's not haha. Well I suppose things are getting busier for me so that's probably why I lost track of time. But anyho it's good I think?

Currently feeling really sleepy right now. So I'll end of here. But anyho here's a poem I wrote last night. It's been long since I wrote one so here goes.

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I sit, I sit and I sit

Sometimes I sit and stared at emptiness
I wonder to myself what am I doing here
Listening to my yearnings that no one can hear
To travel the world and see its greatness
To explore and go to places I’ve never been
And so, what am I doing here?

I sit, I sit and I sit
And looked at my own two feet
I wonder to myself why am I sitting down
Why am I not out there, out of town
Chasing my dreams, grasping them with my hands
Fighting for what I believe in, on faraway lands

I looked at the sky, up above the trees
Puffy clouds and leaves swaying in the breeze
Birds chirping, flying up high above me
Leaving their nests, go wherever they wanna be
And they seem to sing an endless happy melody
While I stand quiet and listen to a soulful remedy

I sit, I sit and I sit
And wonder to myself, why am I sitting down.
Shouldn’t I be out there, chasing my dreams
Shouldn’t I be out there, no matter how hard it seems
Doing the things that I love, passion as my fuel
Here I am, troubled and entangled by a constant duel

I sit, I sit and I sit
I couldn’t find the answer to these questions
But stirred in a river of a thousand motions
Why am I here, why am I not there.
No one knows why, and I don’t dare,
to know the answer to the question

Those nights

 Time

I was just listening to Golden Lotus by Asiabeat from the Buddha Bar III album. The song reminds me a lot of nights in Singapore. Because well, it's kind of a silly reason but anyway, I miss those nights in Singapore where I would turn my TV to Vasantham Central just to listen to their off-air songs from 12 AM/1AM onwards. And sleep.

Although eventually I found out that the songs are from Buddha Bar III album and I bought the album via Amazon too cause it was rare. Even though I already had the songs back then and could listen to it via my iPod, I still preferred to listen tot hem via Vasantham central. Silly reason, but I just love doing that. The feeling of knowing that the night is no longer young and the silence and calmness of the night begins to creep in with the songs.

Same goes for Channel Newasia off-air music too. Which sadly till now I can't find the songs used by them, which are really really nice! I even recorded my favourite.

It now seems and feels really silly to know that back then I would literally switch on the TV just to listen to these songs. But I really miss those nights more than ever now. Back in those days where I can actually just chill and wind down at night by listening to these songs, although I was, or wasn't dreading tomorrow. It's pretty much liberating and calming.

Life is pretty much different now. The comfort of the past is always welcoming to me.

Anyway, November is here now, we're left with like 58 more days to the year and time seems to fly faster and faster. I suppose it feels right to feel that time seems to fly faster as we grow older? Maybe because as we grow older we begin to appreciate and to feel the presence of time, unlike when we were young when time seems to be non-existing.

2013 has so far been an ever-changing journey for me and I'm not sure how to feel about that. I suppose like what Hercalitus said, that change is the only constant in life. And I feel that when you go against it things will go pretty much difficult for you. So I choose to go with it and flow with it, although at times I feel that it is quite difficult to do so too.

I've always spent the last two months of the year reminiscing and reflecting about the year, how has it been for me and etc. December would be the highlight of this reminisent. And well it's always good to look back, and also to begin looking forward to the new year ahead. In fact I already set some new year resolutions for the upcoming 2014!

Ah well, I suppose tonight is just those nights where I miss the past.

Have a great Sunday everybody.