Sound of Peace

Imee Ooi and Kanho Yakushiji, Sound of Peace concert Jakarta

Right lets begin this blogtober with a very late post about a wonderful concert I went to in July!

So back on 23rd July, I finally attended the first live music concert since the pandemic. And I'm grateful that I break this "hiatus" with the beautiful Sound of Peace concert by Imee Ooi and Kanho Yakushiji, and also the JSJG group! I'd say it's a great concert to start from haha. Nice and slow pace. I was a bit apprehensive back then because back in July Indonesia was still in the BA5 wave. I was scared that the concert might get cancelled or something but nope. Everything went well!

I've been listening to Imee Ooi songs since... I don't know, my secondary school days? I think like many other Indonesian Buddhists, we are very familiar with her music especially her famous Chant of Metta. I've been wanting to catch her live! As for Kanho I discovered him back in 2018 I think. I can't remember. But I really love his rendition of the Japanese version of the heart sutra.

When I see the announcement of the show I was so ecstatic! This is such a huge concert where two powerhouses of Buddhist music join forces haha. I went to buy the ticket right away.

Full crew!

Anyway I won't go into details of the concert. It's just a beautiful concert. I feel like my ears, eyes, and heart have been blessed with their music. Especially after such a long long time. The visuals in the background were amazing, accompanying the wonderful music too. Imee's voice is so heavenly and Kanho is also an excellent performer with his band. And a new discovery is the JSJG group!

I'm thankful that I manage to go for the concert. And well, here's to more concerts in the future!

I definitely need to shake off these pandemic fatigue.

Thank you Imee Ooi, Kanho Yakushiji and JSJG for the wonderful concert! 

Hope to see you again soon here in Indonesia. 

Happy Birthday Indonesia!

 Selamat Ulang Tahun Tanah Air ku.

It's the 17th of August which means my country turned 72 today! Happy Birthday my beloved tanah air. May you always grow and prosper always as we move forward! :) It's always a special day to me. Although I've spent most of my life away during this day, it's always a good day to reflect about being Indonesian. A good day to wish for greater progress in the future. Well we still have a long way to go. But we'll get there. I always believe so! In our own unique ways and roads.

Indonesia may not be the best country on earth. I believe there's no such thing as a "best" country on this planet. I think we all are all beautiful and flawed in our own ways. I love my country. I love my homeland. And I'm still trying to be that one person who could bring a positive change here. Indonesia is huge, I don't even know where to start! Haha. But one act of change is better than none.

Well my message to my country is that I hope we can all remain united together in the spirit of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or to be united in diversity. We are all people from different walks of life. Though we may have differences, I hope we'll remember that at the end of the day, 

our blood is red, 

and bones are white.

Just like our flag.

We The Fest 2017!

 Summer memories. Thank you WTF 2017!

Hello hello! I just got back to We The Fest 2017 yesterday! Well it is a 3-day music festival, would really love to go for the whole three days but life happens, and I could only go for day one. Which is alright cause it was an awesome day nevertheless! I got to see Shura again, and caught some acts I've been wanting to see live! On the other hand I'm gonna miss Mondo Gascaro, Lightcraft, Phoenix and Dua Lipa which was today and tomorrow. Well I'm sad but it's alright, one day hopefully!

Anyway left my hometown at 11:30 AM for Jakarta. I was quite worried cause I woke up late! Supposed to leave home at 11 but I woke up at 11 hah. Just went to shower and pack my bags and left home at 11:30 so whew. Thankfully I made it in time! Reached PRJ Kemayoran at 3 PM and went to join in the queue. There was quite a long line at the security check so yep thankfully I was early.

 Stars and Rabbit. So so incredible

The first act that I watched was Stars and Rabbit! They are one of my favourite Indonesian bands, and their debut album "Constellation" is one of my favourite albums ever! I missed them at 2015 RRREC festival right here in my hometown cause it clashes with Mid Autumn hah. So I redeemed myself this time! Anyway seenig them live is a whole new story to be honest. I really love their energy on stage. You can feel the raw emotions run through the words and music of their performance. So incredible!

One of the highlights is definitely singing to "Worth It" with them, and dancing along with Elda on "Man Upon The Hill" for the closing song. Oh my goodness. I can't describe the feeling but it's just amazing. Pure euphoria and adrenaline rushing inside you and you see them perform.

 Indonesia's very own electronic duo, Bottle Smoker

Next up was Bottle Smoker! I've heard of them recently but haven't really give them a proper listen. Yesterday was also my first time catching them live and it's also an amazing set. I really love how their songs are inspired by rituals from around Indonesia. And well you can really hear them on their music. And same as Stars and Rabbit, their energy on stage is so amazing. We were all dancing through their music! These two talented duo have a great road ahead of them definitely.

Went to have dinner before continuing the night. Love the food selection... For the non-vegetarians HAHAHA. As much as I can recall there's only a mushroom pizza from Pizza e Birra, cireng and fries as vegetarian option (dessert not included). I hope there's more veg food option next year! :P But nevertheless the pizza is delicious. They have truffle oil holy mama! Also had some beer.

 Good to see Yuna again!

Next up was Yuna! Okay I didn't manage to catch her full set cause I really want to secure a good spot for Shura which was after her haha. But nevertheless it's good to see her again!

Welcome back Shura!

And then it was Shura! I managed to get a good spot about 3-people away from the front. Well Shura was incredible again. I'm so thankful that I managed to see her live again! Also it was awesome that we get to listen to her full set, as it was cut short during Neon Lights last year. She came close to us as usual for Touch and I managed to give her a card that I wrote for her. Yay thanks Shu!

 This was during Touch as usual :')

And also another awesome thing happened: Indonesia's president Mr Jokowi was watching her too! So during her set she said something like "The president is watching me behind". We couldn't really catch what she said but well yup, after the night, the president really did watch her hahaha.

 Gryffin shaking things up!

Last but not least to close the night was Gryffin! I discovered Gryffin through his remix of Bipolar Sunshine "Daydreamer". And then I found out that he did lots of great remixes! From Years and Years Kings, Desire and Troye Sivan's Youth. Also his new releases were awesome as well. It was such a great way to close the night to just dance to his music together along with the crowd.

Okay Gryffin set was probably my first ever DJ set. I'm not really that into Electronic Dance music. I do like a few (like Gryffin, Avicii, Jai Wolf and others) but I don't think I've ever been to a DJ set before. To me it felt so incredible to see everyone break into a dance during parts of the song (the drop? Is that what you call it?) and everyone just dance without caring about everyone else. I was dancing along too, without giving a shit whether I dance well or not haha. It's so amazing! 

So yeah I kinda understand why people really love the whole EDM scene. But to me I think the term EDM is too wide to be put into one genre. But yeah you get what I mean.

Yup that's all for WTF this year! I think it's a well-run festival in my opinion. The wait time between sets was short. Like I think there was only a few minutes of delays and not like 20 minutes of delay hah. Also the overall rundown of the festival is great! I really hope to return next year. I think it should go back to its 2-day lineup heh. I mean 3-days is awesome. But if it were 2 days, I think I might stay for everything. I kinda feel three is wee bit too long? I don't know, just my opinion.

Also please include more Indonesian lineup and even Southeast Asian ones! That'll be so cool. Alright thank you WTF 2017 for the incredible time even though I only went for a day. Really hoping to see you again next year. And also thank you Stars and Rabbit, Bottle Smoker, Yuna, Shura and Gryffin for the incredible time yesterday. Hope to see you all again one day too! Hope you had a great weekend :)

Eclipse

Today was quite an interesting day, with a lot of things being "commemorated" on this lovely Wednesday! First of all today is a public holiday here in Indonesia to celebrate the Balinese new year. It is called Nyepi, and it is celebrated by all Hindu devotees in Bali and its surrounding. It is a day where silence is observed in the morning (hence the name Nyepi, which is derived from the word sepi, meaning quiet) until the morning of the next day. I love the symbolism behind this day.

Silence is observed because Nyepi is a day of contemplation and self-reflection. The day before Nyepi is the exciting day where huge paper demonic figures called ogoh-ogoh are being paraded around towns and then eventually burned off. This symbolises the destruction of bad qualities to welcome the new year anew. Something like that. I would love to experience a day of Nyepi in Bali, although there won't be anything you can do since even businesses will be closed for the observation :P

Well, wishing a happy Balinese new year to those celebrating!

The next event is the rare solar eclipse that happened across central Indonesia today! My hometown didn't get the total eclipse, the sun was covered by 85% I think. I actually stayed up the whole night to witness this as the eclipse took place from 6.21 AM, and the peak happened at 7.21 AM. I didn't get to document this wonderful event, but I did witness it with the help of an old camera film and a shade haha. It's so amazing to see the sun being covered, the universe is such an amazing thing isn't it!

Anyway usually here we'll "see" the eclipse by seeing its reflection on a pail of water. We did the same thing today and I managed to take a nice photo of the moon leaving the sun, a few minutes after its peak moment. Okay I tried my best alright, but I hope you can still see it! So so amazing.

 I tried my best, an old camera film, a pocket camera and a pail of water

The next total solar eclipse in Indonesia will happen 33 years later. But if I remember correctly there'll be a solar eclipse (not sure total or partial) that can be seen in Singapore in 2019, I hope I can witness that as well. I was reading a National Geographic article last night about eclipses and the writer says that eclipses are great opportunities for us to witness the solar system in action.  

Couldn't agree less with him!

As for the last event well umm today is the 1st of the second lunar month! That's it hahaha. I did go to the temple today, whew was a bit late but not extremely late. I couldn't find a parking spot at the temple just now so I parked my car on this super awkward position and location. I was so worried throughout the whole chanting time cause I was afraid that a car might not be able to move or something. But thankfully nothing happened. Lesson learned, don't be late haha. Or look for a good spot first.

Alright that's all for this eventful day! Just another day that reminds us what a wonderful universe, planet and place we live in. Love the planet my friends, isn't it just amazing, so so amazing, to think of the whole universe? This wonderful blue dot that we can see from the moon.

Happy (belated) Record Store Day!

"Who needs a boyfriend when you have a record collection"

First of all, wishing you a belated Happy Record Store Day! So on the third Saturday in the month of April, the whole world celebrates Record Store Day (RSD) which is a day in which different artists release special releases in a physical format. Be it in the form of vinyl, CD and even cassette. And also to me, it is a day of celebration for people who believe that music still needs a physical manifestation!

Although RSD happened on Saturday, I'm so sorry but I just have the chance to blog about it now!

This is my first time participating in an RSD. Last year I wanted to to but I was having something on that day so I couldn't go for it. This year I am determined to go for it because I've been wanting to experience it! Although I myself don't have a vinyl player, and all I'm looking for in RSD is CDs, which I think is fine too. It is still a physical format for music. Besides there are many booths participating and majority of them are selling CDs too.

So I left my hometown in the morning for RSD Indonesia which takes place at Bara Futsal Building in Kemang, Southern Jakarta. I was feeling really excited as I came with a list of CDs I am looking for. And I was also trying my luck in finding great albums that I chanced upon.

Happy digging!

There were lots of booths from various record stores and music stores and they were selling a lot of albums, mostly in the form of vinyls (duh!). But they also sell CDs and cassette tapes, and some booths specialise in only CDs. I love the feel and the vibe of the whole event. I find it very intimate, raw and communal. The camaraderie of the whole place is beautiful, it is indeed a place where people who share the same passion mix and mingle together, you can feel the love everywhere.

I was just digging through the piles of CDs from the different booths. The first one I went to was the booth from Kedai Musik - which is a shop I've been following on Instagram haha. It feels kinda awesome to meet the man behind that shop (although we don't know each other heh). In his booth I discovered Deep Forest's Boheme album!!! I have been looking for this album for years, back when I first discovered them. HMV doesn't have them, the different CD shops I went to don't have them either. Contemplated to get it through Amazon but they no longer ship to Indonesia. So when I discovered the album I just took it and keep it safe hah. I mean... I'm preventing other buyers from taking it hahaha.

My haul

Anyway here are the CD haul I got from yesterday's RSD:
- Bjork's Vulnicura
- Lightcraft's Colours of Joy
- Payung Teduh's Dunia Batas
- Deep Forest's Boheme

Bjork released her new album this year and I've been looking to get a physical copy of it! So much raw and beautiful emotions in this album. Such a heart-raising album, I wanna see her live one day.

Lightcraft is an Indonesian Indie band and I actually discovered them yesterday while they were performing live. I was about to leave the event when they started playing. Their opening song totally caught my ears and I went back all the way to the other end of the building to catch their performance. I asked one of their personnel who was standing near the stage if I can get their album and she kindly brought me to a booth that sells their album. Thank you for your help! You have a new fan :)

I discovered Payung Teduh back in 2012 I think... I know I was definitely still back in Singapore when I saw one of their videos on Youtube. I thought hey, I will find their album when I'm back in Indonesia but boy I was wrong, their album is nowhere to be found hah. Everyone was looking for their album as it was made a limited number of copies I think. So I was determined to look for it in RSD and I'm so glad I did! They are an awesome band, and I love how chill and "cooling" their music is. Definitely the kind of song you wanna play on a rainy day, or late nights. Definitely a great Indonesian band!

Isn't this too pretty

I also bought this notebook with a Sigur Ros Takk cover printed on wood covers! It is such an exquisite notebook and my notebook fetish just boils strongly inside and I was like... I have to buy this. So I burned a hole in my wallet and got it. But it's cool, cause well the lady said they only made this specially for RSD so I'll take it as a memoir keepsake too. I'm still drooling over it now.

Anyway all in all, I truly love my first Record Store Day experience. It is a day where we take our pride in owning physical forms of music - physical manifestations of music. During my experience in RSD Indonesia, I chatted with a few different people. Some of them asked me what CDs I was looking for, what genres I like and stuff. I realised that we all share one love - of owning physical forms of music. For example I met this guy who has been looking for Payung Teduh's album but had no luck (oops I bought it already haha). And then there was also the owner of Kedai Musik who was offering me some CDs who will definitely become a rarity in the future.

So I realised one thing - even know deeply I know that the CD industry is dying slowly, it is still something that people are looking for. And knowing that I owned quite a number of CDs made me feel "special", knowing that in the future, other people might be looking for what I have been owning for years. And this is what makes owning physical forms of music so unique and so awesome. As the year goes by, the value of your albums will increase. Well maybe it's not that much for CDs but definitely for vinyls. Although I know in the future, the number of people who are actually still looking for physical forms of music is going to decrease. Or well, I hope it is going to increase!

I have been collecting CDs and albums for as long as I can remember. I can still remember back in primary school, I would spend my hard-saved cash on two things - Lego and CDs. I remember back in P6, I went to HMV with my sister and they were having a sale promotion. Like buying three CDs (of this special rack) for the price of 21 bucks. One of the albums I got was this compilation of different instrumental music, mostly by Japanese arists. Believe it or not, some of the music that I bought back then is still inside my iPod now. And of course, I still have the CD with me.

Record Store Day is a pretty special day for me. To be surrounded by people who share the same passion as you, to meet like-minded people in terms of owning physical forms of music, and to be hopeful for the future of this industry. I am definitely coming back next year, and if you are interested, you can start collecting the CDs of your favourite musicians as well :)

Happy Cap Go Meh!

 Happy Cap Go Meh!

Today is the day where my hometown celebrates Cap Go Meh! It is a day celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st Lunar Month (hence the name Cap Go = 15th), to celebrate the end of Chinese New Year celebration. Since CNY is celebrated in a span of 15 days.

However, it's been a tradition that the festival is celebrated on the 21st in my hometown. So the folks call it Ji It Meh instead. Nevertheless it was a pretty festive day because the deities' sedans (we call it joli here) got paraded out on the streets around the temple this year as they didn't do it last year. Can you believe it's been 13 (or 14) years since I last participated in the procession? Time flies indeed.

The prayers began at 1 PM. It was raining super heavily then, and the rain got even heavier and gustier as time goes by... So I was a bit worried that the procession might be cancelled. At 4 PM-ish the rain didn't stop but I decided to head over to the temple still. To my surprise, it wasn't raining in the temple area. Whereas in my house it was raining pretty heavily. I was walking on the road following the procession when I met someone I know who was carrying the sedan for one of the deities in the temple called Kongco Han Tan Kong, who is one of the main deities in the temple.

 Taken while I was carrying the sedan.

One of the men who was carrying the sedan asked me to take his turn carrying the sedan and of course, I gladly take the chance! I've been wanting to carry the sedan and join the procession since young. So well today my childhood dream came true! :D Anyway the sedan is very heavy. Like they said, it really feels like someone is sitting inside it. So we take turns carrying it. I was carrying it for a few distance and another man took my place, and so on and forth. Anyway we don't only carry it but we also sway it. I think it's a significance of good fortune and luck.

 End of the procession

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and seeing the sights. I left home first because I had a delivery to settle. After that I returned back to the temple for the closing ceremony. So one by one the sedans enter the temple. Once they have been placed there, the idols of the deities are being carried back to the altars one by one. And then some prayers were carried out, and the event came to a close! People were being offered food and cakes, I just love the atmosphere inside. It was really a happy and festive one. I'd love to return next year. And definitely at an earlier time.

 The temple official taking the flowers out
PS: I've never seen the temple so smoky before

Today was definitely an eye-opener for me because... Like I said above it's been close to 14 years since I participated in one. 14 years ago I was a small boy who is shorter than the sedans. I can't even carry them! Hah. So I just stood on the side and watch them go by. Now I'm a young man, and I am pretty glad to be given the opportunity to carry the sedan. I supposed I'm kinda sad that I missed out a whole lot in these 14 years. But then again, what matters now is that I'm back here, and I would love to participate in this every year. To share the happiness and festivity with the people of my hometown.

 People taking turns carrying

Also, one of the things I love about today is the fact that many young people are taking part in this procession. And I feel it is important that we, the younger generation, should continue these traditions and festivities for many more years to come. These festivities are one of the most important things that bind the community together, that bind a city together. I'm not just talking about the Chinese/Buddhist communities here, but everyone. Because today, people regardless of race and religion came together around the temple to share the festivities. 

Alright, it's been a beautiful day. Looking forward to next year's Cap Go Meh already.

Train

 Mangga Besar station

I just got back from a short trip to Jakarta today, as I got to meet someone with my brother yesterday! I used to love going to Jakarta, since it has everything. But with the recent jams and horrible road conditions, I don't love going to Jakarta and I only go there when I need to go there. But fret not, we have the train now! Like I've blogged last year, the government re-opened the Sukabumi-Bogor route last year. And from Bogor you can take the train to Jakarta, all in all, a 4-hour jam-free journey!

I love taking trains now. They are comfortable, convenient and pretty smooth ride too. My dream for my country is to have all major cities connected with railways, and also small but "significant" cities. Wouldn't it be great if public transport here is improved, and everyone would rather take public transport instead of driving their cars? Less traffic on the road I suppose.

And when I look at the window outside of the train, I realised how much potential my country has, to become better and stronger. I am not losing faith in my country but I am in fact always hopeful. And I always hope I can always be a part of this hope.

Still waiting for the Sukabumi - Bandung route to open though. That'll be awesome!

Bali trip 2013

 Go for a solo trip at least once in your life

Trust me, it'll be good

Hello, I realised I haven't blogged about my solo trip to Bali last year haha. Although it happened a year ago, oh dear, but well better late than never right! Anyway I'm not going to blog everything about my trip because honestly speaking I kinda forget about the details of the trip. But I just remember how wonderful it is to travel alone, definitely an eye opener.

Anyway I went to Bali on the 3rd to 5th of March last year. I've been planning to go for a solo trip. Plan was to go after my ITP to Batam (can you believe it hahaha) but I couldn't because the time was too tight. So I decided to go after year three. I wanted to be ambitious and go to Laos but that's a bit mad for first time solo traveler so I decided somewhere closer, and also close to my heart and that is Bali. Besides, it's been like 10 years or so since I last went there.

Bali is a very lovely place. With its Hindu-majority population, it definitely doesn't feel like Indonesia. It feels like I traveled to another country. And the last thing I want is for its culture to be tainted. I love the island, life seems very chill there apart from the bustling Kuta area where tourists flock in. There's something so inspirational and spiritual about the island which I really love. Maybe it's the religion, or the people I don't know. Just lovely and nice.

 Flowers offering you can see almost everywhere there

Anyway I only have three days there so I was really trying to get as much Bali as possible haha. I took a morning flight from Singapore. I can still remember that I woke up late and arrived at Changi 20 minutes before the counter close. Arrived in Bali at about 11 AM I think if I'm not wrong. The weather was really lovely outside the plane. Blue sky and puffy clouds.

Okay although I went alone, I met with a local guide there. He's a guide whom my sister met when she was in Bali. I met up with him at the airport and we drove for lunch first. I am really thankful to him because he made going around Bali pretty convenient. Of course I could have spent the days riding taxis there and stuff but I heard how scary the rides there and how you can get easily ripped-off haha. So thank you to him for that, oh his name is Mr Suwandi by the way.

 Uluwatu cliffs

The last time I went to Bali, I didn't get much of the island itself. I think we spent it by the beach and going to the monkey temple. So this time round I went to all the places I've been wanting to visit. Uluwatu, Tanah Lot to a traditional Hindu temple (called pura), Tegallalang for its rice terraces, Ubud and yeah these are the major places. I stay in Kuta and that's like the traveler's heaven I suppose? So many people there and that's where people flock in.

 Almost sunset at Tanah Lot

Bali is a very beautiful place. Uluwatu and Tanah Lot are my favourites. I love Uluwatu for being a temple on a high cliff. And thankfully Mr Suwandi knows kind of a secret path that we walk on to a random open space near Uluwatu high on the cliffs which is nice. I've been wanting to go to Tanah Lot. Although sadly there was high tide so we couldn't go to the temple on top of the rock. The sights are definitely unforgettable. I was shutter happy back then.

The building of an ogoh-ogoh at Ubud

This would be paraded during the Nyepi celebration

Walking around Ubud is also a lovely experience, walking along the cafes and shops. Pretty artistic place I must say. I came across a primary school in Bali and it's nice to see the locals walking around. The kids carrying what seems to be like a broom for cleaning up and their artwork, probably the ones they did during class. Ubud is definitely a place to chill. If you want to avoid the hectic Kuta area you can head here for a relaxing stay.

 Kuta beach BEFORE the storm hahaha

Kuta is a very bustling place. But Kuta beach is definitely a nice place for a morning stroll. I remember strolling along Kuta in the morning of the 2nd day and... There was like a sudden rain-storm. Like seriously sudden. I walked at 8.30 AM and at like 8.40 plus it just poured crazily. Kuta at night is very lively. I walked around Kuta and chill by the road. Then heading back to the hotel with an ojeg AKA motorcycle taxi. What a night haha.

Tea for one please!

It was a lovely trip indeed. I ended off by going to Mt Batur for lunch with a great view. And to Tegallalang to see the grandeur rice fields.

Before I embarked on this trip I kinda question myself to whether the trip will be "worth it" and nice, with the fact that I'm traveling alone. But hey, it was definitely an experience I always crave for. Traveling alone definitely opens another side you never seen before. Basically, since you're alone, you have no one to talk to, to share thoughts with but yourself. So yes you will be surprised to find the things which you don't know about yourself.

Stone carving in Ubud

Traveling alone definitely is a soul-searching moment. It's pretty much an epiphany to me. And I recommend everyone to travel alone at least once in your life, when you have the chance to. It will be worth it trust me. And you're going to enjoy it. Unless you're those kind of people who cannot be alone. And please don't try to travel alone to "hardcore" countries for first timers haha. Bali is a lovely place you can start with. Just don't do stupid things there heh.

Alright shall stop here. Great time reminiscing about those days. And I'm always looking forward to the next solo trip I'm going to have. And well, soon.