Poetic Bromo

I definitely am more of a mountain person than a sea one, I found places like mountains are poetic in their own ways. And oh very beautiful Indonesia is, with just some hours spent on the road and budget trip on the mission. When the chance to get away from the city on the weekend, we got to do so. 

(Photos were taken with iPhone)

Last weekend, friends and I planned a trip to Bromo. Catching the sunrise was one thrilling journey through the savanna in the dark of dawn, getting up to Pananjakan and arriving there with so many others. But I got to tell you, the view was breathtaking. It was unlike I have seen before in Indonesia, knowing that mostly I have lived a city live and only going out to the nature once in a while. This reassured me that I got to go see more of Indonesia. The low fog summed up the pretty picture, consisting of rows of mountains and greeneries throughout our eyesight. We took a deep breath to fully felt the majestic mother nature and just enjoyed the moment being. 

(Ngadisari, Indonesia not Healesville, Australia)

Lastly, Jazz Gunung perfectly captured the beauty of jazz and the sound of nature with the beautiful mountainous sunset as the background. So much of me were surprised to know how much I have not seen in Indonesia and how Indonesia really possess the charm. Definitely weekend well spent, a perfect getaway from work and a worthwhile experience spent with friends.

Falling In Love

I was rather astounded to find myself falling in love with a painting. Never before that I can truly connect with such fine things or maybe I haven't acquired the taste. However this on got me on the spot.

This is not mine (yet!!!) as I found it on my trip around Kemang to look up for things for my project. No, this one does not suit my project no. My friend and I stopped by at Gudang Gambar, where we were welcomed warmly by the owner. When I looked around this caught my eyes.

Photo courtesy of artist and Gudang Gambar.

A painting by an artist in Shanghai depicting the grandeur Huangshan mountains in Eastern China.

There was just an enough amount of dexterity, decent amount of abstraction and a warm feeling conveyed through the adjacent layers of interpreted peaks and bases. There was such depth on a bare plain surface.

If there was one success matrix that I would choose, it would be the freedom to appreciate other's body of work at ease. I want to buy the painting.

Success

I have been, excessively, watching de Botton's video in the past few days.

Particularly this one on status anxiety, got me thinking about what is it that really matters and not in the perception of one's status. Sadly speaking it might be true what de Botton explained, that success is relative. It is how we compare ourselves to others. But keep in mind that giving yourself too much to other people's perception means you're paying them too much tribute.

Success never stands alone, rather it has been a aspect that correlates to expectation. So what would you rather choose? Boost your performance up or to lower your expectation?

Lately I've been seeing so many promises on acquiring money quickly, on getting on the top as fast, on working the least to get the most. Friends were sharing how they achieved their goals in one night and not having to work anymore ever again.

I think we were flustered by what we really want and what we perceived of what we want. 

Sometimes we just jumped into conclusion without spent enough effort to enjoy the process. Has not working become our goal? If that's so, I wouldn't want to achieve it so soon then. Perhaps it's not that those guys were not enjoying what they were doing too, it was just the notion of instantaneousness that made them felt that they're doing better then their fellows, while in reality, it was none about the things above. Being successful has to be defined by each individuals to suit their aspiration.