Project 365

Look at love
how it tangles
with the one fallen in love

Look at spirit
how it fuses with earth
giving it new life

Why are you so busy
with this or that or good or bad
Pay attention to how things blend

Why talk about all
the known and the unknown
See how the unknown merges into the known

Why think separately
of this life and the next
when one is born from the last

Look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb
the other speaks in words and signs

Look at water and fire
earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once

The wolf and the lamb
the lion and the deer
far away yet together

Look at the unity of this
spring and winter
manifested in the equinox

You too must mingle my friends
since the earth and the sky
are mingled just for you and me

Be like sugarcane
sweet yet silent
Don’t get mixed up with bitter words

My beloved grows
right out of my own heart
How much more union can there be?

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Innalillahi wa innailaihi rojiun.

I was very shocked to find out that my uncle (I usually call him papa) has passed away today. I still can’t believe that it happened to him. He had an accident on his journey to Madinah. The bus driver suffered from sleep deprivation and hit a truck. Everyone, except him, was fine and only suffered from minor injuries. It was as if Allah SWT deliberately wanted to take him away…

His death is a great loss to our extended family. We can no longer hear his laugh that can be heard all over the house. His "goooooooollllll" scream when he watches a football match. His encouraging words. His jokes…. Oh, I feel like it was only yesterday that we had this interesting discussion about politics in Egypt. I still can’t believe this.

I’m greatly worried about my aunt and my four cousins, especially the two youngest ones. Ya Allah, give them the strength and the patience to go through this difficult time…

I did a bit of experimenting today. I wanted to make an Egyptian macaroni bachamel (a popular lasagna-like food), but it would involve quite a bit of tasks and would require some pans and dishes (I was too lazy to wash them haha). So I thought of making a veggie lasagna. About two years ago, I was invited to a family dinner of my Dutch friend and his mom cooked this type of baked veggie cheese pasta thing. It was delicious! Ever since that dinner, I had been trying to make it my own, but… you know me?! Always not in a mood of cooking.

So today, I took out all of the ingredients and made this veggie lasagna. I’m not a fan of tomato sauce to be honest, so I used a bachamel sauce instead (which was easy to make). I put some broccolis, potatoes, and mushrooms. I’m a cheese lover, so I put lots of cheese on top (I even put two different cheese hahaha… one of them was parmesan cheese).

Alright, the picture doesn’t do it justice. But I assure you, it was delicious! LOL! The broccolis were too overcooked though; because I think I steamed them too long before putting them in the oven. So, next time I’d probably steam them for few minutes. I’d definitely add more varieties of veggies next time… like zucchinis, cauliflowers, etc.

Loving it! 🙂

O Seeker,
These thoughts have such power over you.
From nothing you become sad.
From nothing you become happy.
You are burning in a flame
But I will not let you out
Until you are fully baked
Fully wise, and fully yourself

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

There is no point of letting out. I have to deal it with my own 🙂

A beautiful red rose :). I can’t remember when was the last time I got a rose haha…

Well… not only the rose that made my day, of course.

I met many new people during an international dinner today. It was such a great evening. It always felt good to be in your comfort zone. And yes, I realized that this was my comfort zone. I always enjoy to be around with people who are interested in different cultures, who have been abroad for quite some time (hence, they know the kinds of things we’ve been through as a foreigner), who do not judge others based on their appearance, and so on…

I haven’t had time to write about the trip. So, for now… I can only post some pictures with the captions. These are some of the best parts of the road trip, sorted by my most favorite ones 🙂

Switzerland: The Alps & The Lake

The roads to the Alps were still closed as it was still snowing heavily over there, so we had no choice other than to take the Gotthard tunnel, the third longest tunnel in the world. The Alps and the lake were so beautiful. Too bad most of the places in Switzerland are touristy and too crowded, compared to New Zealand… But the good thing about traveling with car was that, we got to avoid the tourists and got to "chase" the view of Alps and the lake… so breathtaking!

CouchSurfing

Couchsurfing at locals’ houses is by far my favorite part of any previous travels that I did! I got to learn and discover new things. It was memorable! My couchsurfing experience in Arzo, Switzerland was THE BEST one out of all! We got to stay at a super cozy 16th century apartment and got a chance to have a delicious vegetarian dinner and a breakfast prepared by our wonderful host! We couldn’t ask for a better host 🙂 She’s just the best!

"The Great Wall of Switzerland"

We planned to go to Lugano in the Italian part of Switzerland, but our host recommended these castles in Bellinzona (there are three castles by the way), not too far from Lugano. So we decided to change our plan and went to Bellinzona instead! It was worth it 🙂

Italian Pizza

Our main aim of going to Italy was to EAT! We didn’t regret it at all! I ordered a seafood pizza (Frutti di Mare) and it was DELICIOUS, even more delicious than the Italian pizza at my favorite Pizza Café at UQ (Uni of Queensland).

Côte d’Azur

The beach was beautiful, but the weather wasn’t that nice and the city was just too posh, full of wealthy tourists. It’s not my most favorite parts of the trip but it’s just refreshing to see the beach again!

I just got back from my road trip!

View Larger Map

Switzerland was breathtaking! The Alps and the lake were just so beautiful and refreshing. This was the country I had been longing to go since I was a kid and I was so glad I did it!

But New Zealand was still the best in terms of nature. Nothing can beat that beautiful country 🙂

Won’t be writing anything in this blog til my mood is back to normal…

Til next time!

This was my third and probably the last time to do a bike tour around Lisse. What I love the most about this bike tour was our picnic and my first discovery of a tulip field with a windmill background! I always saw it in the postcards or calendars but never in real life! I thought it was unreal and was photoshopped! But I was so satisfied that I finally found it 😉

These are some of the websites — ordered by my most favorite ones — that I always read whenever I’m stressed out 🙂

Nguping Jakarta (Indonesian)

http://ngupingjakarta.blogspot.com/

I think most of, if not, all Indonesians know this website. Inspired by Overheard in New York (you should check that one out too!), it showcases some funny quotes that are overheard in Jakarta.

Instruktur Bahasa Inggris: "Can you tell me about your family. In English."
Mahasiswa: "Sorry, sir. I don’t have a family in English."

Kampus di Bintaro, didengar seisi kelas yang merasa program pelatihan bahasa mereka gagal total.

Dilbert Daily Strip (English)

http://dilbert.com/

Do I need to say more? 🙂

Clients from Hell (English)

http://clientsfromhell.net/

A collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from (web) designers. Some of them can only be understood by those who are familiar with web designing and IT, but most of them are not hard to understand and it will make you laugh for sure 😉

Client: “I googled my name and there is some nasty stuff about me on the Internet. There is this guy saying in his blog that I am an idiot. I want you to remove that blog and block the Internet if they write shit about me.”

Us: “We cannot do that.”

Client: “Well, get someone else to do it then. I want every nasty stuff about me removed from the Internet today, and make sure nobody can write bad things about me. I want you to control the Internet.”

Us: “We can’t control it and neither can you.”

Client: “Right, if you won’t do it I’ll find someone who will.”

Us: “Good luck, let us know if you succeed.”

Lajang dan Menikah (Indonesian)

http://lajangdanmenikah.com/

A collection of stories about single, dating, and married life. Although the stories are too long, they’re very entertaining 🙂 Love the way the author wrote them!

Nguping Teknologi

http://ngupingteknologi.tumblr.com/

… and some more:

• Chicken Strip (Indonesian) — an online comic strip about IT and current events
• xkcd (English) — a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language
• NiceTry.me (Indonesian) — a collection of funny and interesting pictures

Worth-visited but outdated blogs:

• Serasa — misspellings and weird things captured in pictures.
• OhMy!gle — a collection of some hilarious chats 🙂