Takbiran

So it's official, Lebaran will be tomorrow! The mothers are thankful that they don't have to panic to cook rendang and others suddenly yesterday night I guess haha. 

Anyway it's the eve of Lebaran now and my house is surrounded by the sounds of Takbiran. It's always a nice scene to be in. It's like a time of celebration and gathering and so on. A yearly tradition that I look forward to every year heh. The sounds of Takbiran always makes it feel like there's a lot of people in my hometown, and they're all gathering together and just having a good time.

But strangely the roads were kinda empty just now. I went around town with my dad at night earlier and the road was okay. It's not very crowded. Perhaps it's also because we went at like 11 PM heh. But I do realise that the barbershops were full. So do the eateries selling bakso and snacks and so on. We were also doing "Bedug hunting" and sadly only managed to see 2 bedugs this time. And they're not even in town but on the outskirts of it. I guess time has changed a lot.

Lebaran in a way always makes me feel old too. Cause you know it's something that I look forward to every year (except when I'm in Singapore, since we don't have a long holiday). So it's like every year we experience Lebaran and we just realise how much things have changed. And of course how much I've grown older. I guess it's just the simple inevitability of time. 

New Moon Shopping

Today is the first day of the 3rd Lunar month and I went to the temple as usual. I went in the afternoon and the road was kind of packed with cars already. In fact I was driving through this road and I thought it's gonna be a smooth passage but oh hell no. I was probably stuck in a 100-200m long jam! Well yesterday was officially the start of the Lebaran holiday in the government sector, and most other businesses follow the same day. So I guess it's just a "right" timing for the jam to happen hah.

I went to the temple first and along the way home I decided to do some shopping first. Actually I was just planning to shop for some dehumidifier (serap air in Indonesian). You know that calcium chloride crystals your put in a container where you put inside drawers etc. Cause I realised my stock just finished! But err lo and behold I decided to spent 500k worth of drinks and snacks and chocolates.

I hate my lack of self control sometimes hahaha.

After that the day was spent at home. I guess we're too lazy to go out knowing how jammed up the road will be. It was a pretty relaxing day one where I spent it just reading books and also just lazying and laying around my bed. Gosh I love this period of time, where I can do this without feeling guilty and also without being chased by time cause I'll have to do other things and so on heh.

Anyway the government is carrying out Sidang Isbat today. Or the meeting where they will carry out the sighting of the moon to determine when will Ramadhan officially end. It's kind of like a yearly practice and everyone is waiting for the result. There's one Muslim organisation here which has decided that today is the last day of fasting and tomorrow is Eid. So there's a chance that tomorrow may be Eid (instead of Saturday). I can't imagine the panic of the mothers if Eid will fall tomorrow haha.

Alright I guess that's all for now! I guess I'm just waiting for the result of the sidang.

Holiday

Nope I'm not going for a holiday nor am I in a holiday elsewhere but hello hello it's the Lebaran holiday finally! It's one of the period of time that I look forward to the most every year haha. Cause I get to rest, reset and recharge. It's just a period of time where I don't have to do anything. Or should I say... Where I'm not expected to do anything heh. But just a wonderful time to rest! Something very rare.

Anyway as you can see I haven't been blogging here and as usual I'm not gonna give any reason but I was just very busy! As usual the weeks leading to Lebaran is always a very busy and hectic period. So glad that it's over now and we went through it smoothly (again) this year. 

Anyho I'm just thinking, now that it's the holiday, and my blog post number is really depressing this year hah, maybe I should liven it up a bit! I was reading an article a few days ago, and also was just reading a book and I'm thinking of doing a Stream of Consciousness blog post. Basically writing whatever that is coming to my mind. Or whatever things I want to blog about anyway.

We're having a long holiday here until the 2nd of May so that's not too bad it's about 13 days worth of post. I know I told myself that I'm not going to pressurise myself with blog posts number this year but somehow I feel kinda guilty when I realise my post number is so little haha.

Okay I'm not sure how this goes but hello holiday!

The Soul Trembles by Chiharu Shiota

Threads become tangled, intertwined, broken off, unraveled. They constantly reflect a part of my mental state, as if they were expressing the state of human relationships //
The Soul Trembles by Chiharu Shiota, Museum Macan Jakarta

So while I was in Jakarta, I also went to Museum Macan to see Chiharu Shiota's installation "The Soul Trembles", courtesy of Wilus who gave me a ticket! Thank you Wilus!! I haven't been to a museum in like... 10 years? I'm not sure when was the last time I went to one (if Angkor Wat is considered a museum then, 5 years hah). But I'm glad I went to see this installation. It's so amazing.

Personally I feel it's such an emotional-blowing one. The museum was quiet but Chiharu's installation was definitely visually deafening. It touches your heart, makes you feel a lot of things and think about her work as well. Personally I'm just awed by how Chiharu can put what's on her mind into these amazing artwork. Her dedication, her thoughts, and her passion manifests beautifully here.

Anyway here are some of my favourites! Here's to more museum visits in the future.

An Unknown Journey

Collecting Small Memories

In Silence (my personal favourite)

Searching for The Destination

Where Are We Going?

Out of My Body

Kings of Convenience Jakarta 2023

Kings of Convenience in Jakarta, 9 March 2023

Last Thursday was the best night of 2023 so far for me. Cause I finally caught Kings of Convenience live! My goodness I can't believe I finally saw them live after... 14 years of waiting! And it was a magical night. I've been a fan of them since 2009 and they've been one of the bands that I constantly listen to throughout these years. And of course they're one of my favourite bands ever.

As expected their voice is so magical. The harmonisation, and of course the guitar playing is just oooh "chef's kiss" haha. I really want to learn how to play the guitar now.

Anyway the concert is at Ritz Carlton ballroom at Pacific Place in SCBD. The concert started at 8:30 PM but I went in at 6:30 I think. I waited for 2 hours with 2 wonderful opening acts. But err I waited while standing up! So yeah I had to pay the price later on. My body was aching hah.

The concert was amazing. It was a wonderful 1h45m and also I think KoC should call themselves Kings of Audience Interaction haha. The way Erlend and Eirik interacted with us throughout the concert was just fun and friendly. And the (singing-loving) Indonesian fans just add everything up.

Anyway it was a fun, emotional and sentimental night all mixed up with KoC. I'm so happy that I managed to see them live. Definitely a concert bucket list ticked off! Thank you Erlend and Eirik for coming to Jakarta. Do come back and visit us again soon!

PS: I did actually see them live at Laneway Fes SG in 2013. However I only managed to see the last 10-15 minutes of their set. Which was a decision beyond my control. So I'm not sure if that can be considered as catching them live heh.

Ji It Meh

团结 // 活力 // 神奇
Unity // Energy // Mystical

Hello hello I'm back again! I'm like one week late about this but well I was just sorting my photo out and also recovering from my super pain shoulder and arm. So last Saturday (11th February) my hometown just had our Ji It Meh celebration after a 2 year hiatus! Well there's Covid and so this year's return was pretty welcomed by everyone I guess. I thought the event was pretty successful. It wasn't as huge as the last one back in 2020 where we went around town but this year it was just around the temple.

Worth the shoulder pain cause #huat

The event started at 2 PM but I only went at 3. It was super crowded, I couldn't even enter the area, had to enter it like about 1 KM away from the temple and walked hah. As usual I just went around to take some photos and also helped carry the deities sedan. Yup worth the shoulder pain cause #huat

That's my cousin at the back

At 6 PM I went to the temple and met my uncle and I just sat down and rest cause I was damn tired haha. I guess age doesn't lie. My cousin joined us in the evening and went around with him again as he carried the sedan too. This is the first time where I stayed at the event till it's finished. 

People mountain people sea

I would say it's a huge success, I love seeing the unity and fervour of the people on this day. Everyone just gathered together and went to take turns to carry the sedan. Despite the long hours (we ended at like 8 PM), everyone sticked by and yeah it's just a great sight to see, and to experience.

Happy Ji It Meh!

I'm not sure if it's just me but... The energy during Ji It Meh is just different. Perhaps it's the mysticism side, since we carry the deities around. Or it's simply just the energy shared by hundreds of people that gathered in one place at the same time. Celebrating one thing all together. It's special.

On another hand, it takes a big event to realise that you live in a small town.

Happy Ji It Meh everyone!

Happy CNY of The Rabbit!

Home is where the good food is

Today is the last day of CNY celebration, or also known as Cap Go Meh, or Yuan Xiao Jie, or Chinese Valentine. I didn't have the chance to wish you a happy CNY so on this last day of CNY, happy  Chinese New Year of the Rabbit everyone! May all of us be given great health and prosperity in this new year. And I hope the tiger had treated you well last year heh. I hope this year is cuter with the rabbit.

Anyway I had a great celebration with my family back in January. My cousins whom I haven't met in like 4 years went back to the hometown and we had a great reunion! We had the usual reunion lunch on CNY eve, and it was a great time of catching up and sharing whatever life stories we have. Most of my cousins are all married with kids now so yeah I had my fair share of feeling old hah.

As for the CNY day itself it was a rather quiet and chill day. Which I really enjoy. I went to the temple today as usual since it's the 15th of the first lunar month. Took some photos with my film camera.

Life has been really happening the first 36 days of the year. Didn't really have the chance to sit down and blog properly. It seems like I always have something to do at night heh. But part of this is also because I've been "busying" myself with something. That's for another separate post I guess! Well I do hope I can update you once in a while. I really don't want to leave this blog dead.

Anyway I hope everyone had a great CNY celebration. It's been a pretty unwholesome CNY for the past 2 years. And I truly hope that CNY 2022 was the last unwholesome CNY we'll ever go through. It's been a tiring and unwholesome 3 years for the world indeed. Alright that's all from me for now. 

I'll talk to you again soon.