Morning Drive

I am very fortunate to live very close to my workplace. Unlike most people, I don't have to spend hours commuting to and fro to make my living. It requires driving past the inner streets of Kemang, cut across the stupid traffic of Kemang Raya to be in the office within 5 minutes. Nearby my office there is a public elementary school and often I would see kids in red-white uniform walking on the same street I use. This morning, just before I turned left to another street leading to my office, 2 boys about the age of 7-8 yeas old were standing facing the bushes, whilst some girls were crowding in one corner. The 2 boys were about 2 metres apart and they were peeing into the bushes. They were even talking to each other whilst doing it!

It's great that this kind of innocence still exists in the superficial life of this big city called Jakarta. It is refreshing to be reminded that at some point in our lives, we know no fear, we worry not about what other thinks of us, we do things without thinking even if it means exposing one's private parts in public. :)...

Traffic

Jakarta is a city with a population of 9 million (this figure comes from an internet site somewhere and it's almost impossible to verify because the amount of people who work in this city and live more than an hour away is a figure on its own, not to mention the unlisted citizens who live in the dark alleys of Jakarta slums) and these people need to commute. As a city it has a humoungous traffic problem which can never be solved. Town planning doesn't really exist. Future developments goes as far as 2 years into the future. The word long term planning is obsolete. In a town where money speaks louder than rules and regulations, anything goes.

As a result, traffic becomes the most commonly used excuse if someone is late for a meeting, or any appointment. This excuse will be received with a shrug, a roll of the eye -- it's so normal. I don't think it's normal though... This excuse can only be given by someone who's new in this town and have no idea on how bad/good the traffic is. There's nothing wrong in arriving early, make sure you bring a book, an iPod while you wait? It's called respecting other people's time.

Aaaaaargh!!! I hate traffic and I hate people who uses traffic as an excuse. Lame.

Parallel Worlds

Maybe someday I'll get to understand it better. How can a single girl from Indonesia experience a similar thing with a total stranger from North America, and I get to read about it from the wonderful world of bloggers? I suppose regardless of age, gender, nationalities or culture, human beings experience a common struggle. Things like fitting in, self-identity, fear of committment, relationship enxiety, are all alike to most of us. SOURandSWEET was made known to me by faetryn; I don't know her, all I know is I can relate to her struggle and it's comforting to know that someone somewhere feels the way I do. Bizarre, I know. But cool all the same.

So, here's an edited excerpt from her blog that is very relevant; and often happens in my life, not exactly.. but more or less. That whole ego boosting experience?? I can totally dig that!

Enter my current situation. There is a guy at my soon-to-be-former workplace that I’ve flirted with from my arrival. Harmless you could call it, at first, until yesterday when he asked me out. You see, ever since I told him I was leaving, he’s been laying on thicker than normal. “Well, what’s wrong with that?” I can hear you asking. To which I will answer with another question — why would you get onto a plane that you knew was rife with mechanical failures and is garunteed to fall apart mid-air? Crashing and burning is inevitable. I know it is not worth it, yet I find myself, instead of leaving well-enough alone, wanting to push things as far as they can go without anything ever “happening.”

So this guy thinks I’m cute, he wants to take me to dinner and pick my brain, wants to take me home and pick other things. And why do I respond? ‘Cause it’s a stroke to the feminine ego (and you thought maybe that didn’t exist?). But what of him? Have I found in him anything that is worth a response? Not necessarily, yet as I was at the grocery store last night, I realized I was walking with a lighter step in my foot, streams of confidence overflowing — ’cause someone finds me attractive right now? Oh. I start to feel a little crushing sensation, something’s wrong.

So, I’m at a bit of a crossroads right now. Boy, the flight crew of that plane sure look friendly (and cute), but in this case with discretion definitely being the better part of valor, it seems like the wiser choice to let this plane leave and continue to wait at what seems like a rather remote airport, for a plane that might withstand the flight.

Explore and Sing

We are taught to believe that angels in heaven sing like nothing on earth. Even if I believe that, THE VOICES' concert last Thursday prove that humans are blessed with divine voices that can bring you to other places. Somewhere serene and peaceful, where the hustle and bustle of everyday life is suspended. It was angelic music by 16 dedicated young singers making an attempt on compositions by William Byrd, Richard Bennett, Bob Chilcott and Gilbert & Sullivan. The first part act was in Latin, which was probably how I felt like I'm not on earth. There's something about songs in Latin that makes me shiver. There's a sense of old, of a wisdom centuries ago.

The second part was fun. Chookachooka train made me want to ride to dreamland.

Good music does that to ya'... It feeds the soul. You just need to get a lot more of them, or at least try to.

What the cards tell you...

A friend of mine told a story of an amazing Tarot Counselling experience. It was the first time I've heard of it being used as a method of self-development and not the usual fortune telling kind. Initially I was quite sceptical with the whole thing. She has always been quite religious, and for her to try something like that seemed to be against her own person. But she was having problems which was all consuming and she needed some kind of explanation. Strangely enough the cards really opened up her mind and provided her with the assurance she was looking for. It wasn't so much that the cards could tell her right or wrong, it wasn't that the cards could tell her what to do next; the cards simply helped her connect all the dots. All the facts and information that surrounded her but failed to reach her comprehension. It helped her see, and when she escaped blindness she gained confidence. She is slowly gathering courage to move on.

Everybody can use some kind of Tarot Counselling experience of some sort sometimes. It does not even have to come in the form of a tarot card reading. It can come in a form of reading an inspirational book, or listening to a good music, or just conversing with someone. What everybody needs is an experience where the mind is opened and for once, things become clearer; things begin to make sense.

I had my Tarot experience yesterday. It was enlightening, calming and interesting. Have you had yours?