Borobudur Sunrise - Indonesia 3/9

It was 2:30 in the morning, but due to our jetlag, we woke up without much effort.

This was our first tour (read my review here), and both of us were really excited. We went down to the lobby at 3:25 and our tour guide / driver was already there waiting for us. "I love it when they're punctual" I said to myself, "no wonder they have the best reviews on tripadvisor".

As we drove towards Borobudur we passed by a few traditional markets that were packed full of people. Our driver explained that it's common for people to buy groceries from these "early morning" markets. Some might start as early as 2:00 am, and the market usually closes before 10:00am.

The air smelled fresh and humid as we pulled up to the Manohara Resort - a hotel that is given exclusive rights to provide sunrise tours. I thought we were joining a tour group, but to my surprise, our driver had booked us a private guide - Fatah, just for Borobudur.

It was still pitch black when we started our walk, and it was surreal. Like going through a mystic garden that would've been exploding with colours except, now, the trees and flowers quietly stare at us from the distant darkness. I couldn't help being reminded of my childhood. I grew up in a garden not unlike this one. It was filled with tall trees, especially back then, when the campus wasn't as developed as it is now. You can smell the saps drifting down from the trees, watch the flowers that have temporarily gone to bed, and the mist that touches your face while you walk. It was beautiful, even in the dark. Then I felt sorrow as I remembered the serenity from my childhood that I can no longer experience, and this walk, was just a temporary reminder of the stillness I had lost.

As we entered the gates there were nothing but stairs that I could see. It was majestic, and for a second I wondered if I could actually conquer all these steps and make it to the top. The stairs were narrow and steep, and half way up they became so steep it became easier to crawl. Our guide had been generous about sharing his story, about how his family was driven away from the very garden we walked through as the government expanded the area to made Borobudur more "tourist friendly".

He reserved his favorite spot for us while we walked around that tier. I felt like I was dreaming as everything seemed too beautiful to be true. Nothing puts you in perspective like a 1,200 year old temple, right? Could I be traveling through time? Imagine the number of hands that glided by these rocks that I am touching now. I wonder who they were, where they were from and when in the past they were from?

As we gazed into the sunrise, reality started setting back in. Keith, having gone to many UNESCO heritage sites before, was very impressed with the up keeping of this one. The stones were so polished they didn't have any sharp edges, some statues had been so worn down because too many people touched them for good luck. The nearby volcano had actually just irrupted 2 months before we arrived, but there wasn't even dust on any of the steps.

The details of the stones shown as the sun grew larger. The familiar heat started sneaking up on us. Ah, yes, that's right, we are in a tropical country now. Our guide walked us through each of the tiers and told us all the stories he knew about. Each of them were carved into the stone, and we remained mesmerized by the entire experience until we started walking back down to the hotel.

Our guide found us his favorite spot again in the "bale" (Indonesian gazebo), somewhere we can enjoy the scenery of Borobudur while we drank our morning coffee and ate our deep fried bananas. We were so moved that we couldn't stop staring at it. Like in a trance, I sat there and wondered if what we had gone through was real.

The truth is, this trip would've been worth it even with just this.

To be continued...

Yogyakarta & Grand Aston Hotel - Indonesia 2/9

After the three white knuckle landing attempts we finally made it to the ground and I couldn't be happier. Joy and I, at this point, were pretty exhausted and have been transiting for 26 hours, and the only thought resonating in my head was I NEED SLEEP...

Luckily, our driver from the hotel was waiting for us in the arrival area and our Indonesian exploration was set to begin. As we left the airport, familiar sights and sounds of south east Asia started to drum up excitement in my body. Joy was in awe of the traffic craziness - two lanes turned into four and scooters filled the gaps like grout in between tile; cars moved fluidly like they were doing the tango. After about 30 mins of driving, and about 30 near misses we arrived safely to Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel. Joy and I were elated to be in our first destination, and able to drop our bags and finally relax. The hotel room was big, the bathroom was modern, and the bed was like sleeping on a cloud, what more could we ask for.

Grand Aston Hotel Yogyakarta

We were exhausted but it was mid afternoon so we decide to venture out of the hotel and find some food. We walked down a few blocks to the nearest shopping mall, passing local textile shops and food stalls but none of us were brave enough to stop and try any of the the street food. What's great about these Asian shopping malls, is they usually have large food courts in the basement and this shopping mall wasn't any different.

I was excited to try the local food from Es Teler 77. I decided to get a local rice dish with fried chicken. I dug in and started chowing down, the flavors were hot, spicy, unique, like nothing else I've had before. Joy tried a bite and thoroughly enjoyed it, without thinking she mixed in the all the spices into the rice. Joy had a few more bites and her mouth was burning, and couldn't eat anymore as the pain from her mouth was becoming unbearable. I finished up the dish and was off to try something else. We scoured the mall for more food, and Joy finally found exactly what she has been craving: Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and Mie Goreng (fried noodle). We order some takeout for dinner and the next morning, and headed back to the hotel as we had an early morning the next day.

To be continued...

Indonesia Here We Come 1/9

To understand why I needed to go back to Bali, you need to understand my last and first ever trip to Bali.

It was August of 2012 and I had gone to Singapore to visit my relatives. Out of a whim I decided to go to Bali during 3 days when all of them had to go to work. Being 3 days, I hadn't planned too much, just a surfing class the second morning and a 4 hour massage the last day. I would be on a plane flying back to Singapore before I know it and all I really wanted was to see if Bali's everything "Eat, Pray, Love" makes it out to be.

Before I left my aunt insisted that I bring her phone with me. I was only taking a back pack and the phone seemed excessive. So, I eventually decided to not bring the phone charger as I was sure I was going to be back in a flash, but that trip turned out very differently than I thought.

I fell down the stairs in the surf school before I even got on the surf board.

This is the surf school where I fell

Yes, stairs. Not sharks, not cliff diving, and not doing anything else epic. Other than the 20 minute walk I took around my hostel the night before, I spent an entire day at the BIMC (Bali International Medical Center) taking x-rays and another day and a half in my room reading. I had sprained my left foot really bad and was put in a cast. I then got wheel chaired from Bali back to Singapore; Singapore back to Taiwan; and eventually, after an extra month of staying home as a handicap, from Taiwan back to Canada.

My view for 2 days

Spring of 2014

Keith and I had been looking for cheap tickets to Japan but hadn't come across any. During one of our searches, we saw an extremely cheap ticket to Jakarta and I persuaded him to change his destination. We would buy this ticket to Jakarta, then book domestic tickets separately. It would be a really long commute but because of this, we could stop by Borobudur, a UNESCO heritage site that looks pretty amazing.

Over the 7 months while we waited for our trip, United Airlines changed our flight at least 7 times and I learned that booking through Expedia for TD added more work and frustration for us than convenience. Regardless, early morning Oct. 31, 2014, there we were at the WestJet counter, ready to start our trip. Our final route takes us from Calgary to LA, then after a 5 hour stopover, we would fly to Tokyo for a 2 hour stopover, then fly to Jakarta. We then would have to find our way from the International terminal to the domestic terminal, and catch our next flight to Jogyakarta.

Because of the separate domestic tickets, I was worried for delays and luggage issues, and surely, at our first check in counter, the WestJet lady explained how because they weren't able to check our luggage all the way to Jakarta, our luggage would be checked to Tokyo, where we'll have to clear customs then re-check in before we can board our next flight. I knew we didn't have this kind of time in Tokyo, and though I wasn't sure if we had any other option, I pushed for them to check our bags to LA instead. Supervisors were called and details of the tickets were looked into. Finally, they agreed to let us check our bags to LA only, but they then wanted us to pay for our luggage, which I knew we didn't need to, so another 10 minutes were spent on figuring that out, All and all, the conversations were pleasant, and we were beyond relieved that we can finally make all of our flights on time.

17 hours later, we finally arrived in Jakarta.

Jakarta Airport

It was 7 in the morning, but the heat was close to unbearable for me already. I changed into shorts immediately and we looked for the free shuttle that runs between the 3 terminals. After waiting for 20 minutes and turning down 10 taxi cabs, we finally gave in. At the domestic terminal, we stopped for some ayam soto (chicken soup) and bakso (meat balls) for breakfast, then napped away until it was time for us to get up again.

We quickly learned that boarding signs not only didn't display boarding information most of the time, when they did, they were often misleading. After observing for a few hours, we suspected that it was our flight that people were starting to line up for, so we decided to quickly go to the washroom one last time before we shuffle our way through the herd.

The washroom was small to begin with, there were 3 stalls, 2 sinks, and perhaps 2 feet in between them. It sounded like a bunch of people were in them although I could only see 2 ladies bathing an entirely naked baby in the sink. I slowly approached the first unlocked door and pushed it open slightly. I immediately saw fabric moving inside and apologized embarrassingly as I moved on to the next door. However, this repeated itself and I realized all of them were full though none of them were locked. "Maybe they don't lock the doors because they always have so much clothes on and it'd be impossible to see anything anyway" I thought as I chuckled inside. After waiting patiently for a few minutes, one of the ladies came out. I pushed on that door again, but to my surprise, there were another lady in there! What I saw made my day, I was thoroughly amused, and continued to dream about the clown car bathroom situation as we took off for Jogyakarta.

To be continued...

Indonesia Trip Blog Post Links:
     Yogyakarta & Grand Aston Hotel - Indonesia 2/9
     Borobudur Sunrise - Indonesia 3/9
     Sultan Palace & Prambanan - Indonesia 4/9
     Kuta - Bali - Indonesia 5/9
     Day Trip - Bali Wonders 1 - Indonesia 6/9
     Ubud - Bali - Indonesia 7/9
     Day Trip - Bali Wonders 2 - Indonesia 8/9
     Seminyak - Bali - Indonesia 9/9

My Governing Values

This original post was from Feb. 6, 2010. It's been almost 5 years and I had actually forgotten about this course, but after reviewing it, I realized that my governing values are still the same. Reading about my values made me feel all warm inside, it's the same feeling as getting together with a friend you haven't seen in a while. What are your governing values?

Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

I went to a course offered by the Human Resources department in my company a few days ago. The title of the course was FOCUS: Achieving your highest priorities. The instructor wanted us to commit to 4 tasks after the class, and we partnered up to ensure our partner actually does keep the commitment. The first of the four, is to think about the values we feel govern our lives. After narrowing over 200 wise words, these are my findings:

1. No Regret
2. Freedom
3. Balance
4. Contentment
5. Respect

I highly recommend you to find your own set of values. The principle is not to have more than 7. After I figured out my values, I felt hopeful, and with a clearer sense of direction. Of course, being as vague as these words are, the direction is just a general feeling, and a blurry one. Because of that I decided to write down what each of these words mean to me, as I'm sure even if another person chooses the same values, they would have a slightly different interpretation.

NO REGRET
- To choose one's actions or inactions based on weighing whether one choice would eventually make you regret more than another
- To live by one's values/ideals and act according to those values/ideals over what may merely be perceived as the social norm
- To maximize one's expression of one's passion and beliefs
- To believe in yourself, believe and be confident in the choices your made, and accept the consequences

FREEDOM
- Being able to do whatever one wants without affecting the liberty, safety, and happiness of others
- Being free from social norms, conventional behaviours and expectations from others
- To be able to feel at ease and/or confident in the path/life one chooses

BALANCE
- Mental or emotional stability, a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions (Oxford Dictionary Online)
- To never have a severe lack or an extreme excess of something
- To never deprive too much of one thing over the preference of another
- To be as close to one's personal equilibrium as possible

CONTENTMENT
- A state of peaceful happiness or satisfaction, accept something as adequate despite wanting something more or better (Oxford Dictionary Online)
- To be satisfied with what you have and find peace in what was, is, and what may come

RESPECT
- A feeling of admiration for someone because of their qualities, due regard for the feelings and rights of others, agree to recognize and abide by (Oxford Dictionary Online)
- To acknowledge others' ideals and preferences but be comfortable with being different than others
- To keep composure, to be calm, polite, and with manner at all times

Don't let your life slip through your fingers without knowing why you did the things you did. Sometimes I wonder if there's any meaning in "life", and maybe there isn't, but there definitely is in "your life". Even if it's a simple one, find your purpose.

Practicing Contentment

I wrote this originally in October of 2012. I had been let go since July, and had just spent 2 months traveling. What I saw during my travels made me realize exactly how lucky I am. Though I was still unemployed, and I had badly sprained my foot, I was at a really happy place, and this was the collection of my thoughts...

My home town

Have you ever experience that feeling of unease, restlessness, that sense of dissatisfaction like you are not yet where you want to be even though you might not know where that destination is? Or maybe it’s a void, a feeling of emptiness, a lack of something you think you should have but not yet possess? So you do more, buy more, push yourself further hoping this feeling would go away, and maybe it does for a little while, but eventually, it sneaks back into your life.

Many of us are raised to strive for external validation and “success” in society’s view. Some may even work mostly on creating and maintaining a superior image so they can show the world that they are worthy of life and has demonstrated so with their glamorous appearance. I believe the initial intention of this way of thinking is a positive one; one that encourages people to be better and ultimately lead to a happy and fulfilling life. However, for many of us modern urban beings, when we try to apply this, the negative counterpart of this positive intention manifests itself more often than not.

When am I enough

Striving for excellence, or wanting more in life, has 2 sides. One is the positive side that encourages hard work, diligence, and the betterment of oneself. The negative side takes away our happiness and emphasizes on the “lack of” success before a goal is achieved. Once this pattern of thinking is established, regardless of our past or current achievements we become happy only when we arrive at the destination, the goal, or what I call the peak. But that moment of success eventually fades away, whether it lasts for 5 minutes or 2 weeks depends on the individual, but once the feeling ends we sink back into dissatisfaction until another peak is conquered.

Many of us don’t even realize how much modern society promotes this way of thinking. We are bombarded by other people’s values like “you will finally be beautiful when you get this dress”, “you will finally be worthy of love when you lose 30 more pounds”, or “you will finally deserve to be happy when you escape to that tropical destination”. And people work like mice on a wheel, chain themselves up like slaves until they reach their annual vacation and can finally live the life they deserve. But they don’t just live like humans then, they have to live like kings and queens so they make up for the 48 weeks of slavery they’ve endured all year. They’ve worked hard at it and they did a lot more than other people around them, so surely they must deserve the happiness this extreme lifestyle brings them right?

Doing more is not the solution

The truth is, happiness is not something we can gain by externally achieving an arbitrary goal (especially by society’s standards). Happiness is and has always been within us; it is who we are. However, understanding this theoretically is far from effectively applying it to our every thought. Most of us have a self-protective mechanism that serves us when we are in danger and prevents the same threat from happening again. Our subconscious picks up the slightest movements and dictates what lessons we ought to learn and what to discard. This protective mechanism is loyal, but if we have been living in too much fear and worry, this mechanism could have been hyper active and have imprinted too many warnings that no longer serve us.

Thinking we need to have accomplished something to be worthy of happiness can be a difficult habit to break, and that’s why we need to practice contentment, because for many of us, being content simply doesn’t come as naturally as being discontent.

Keep practicing, all is coming

You’ve heard of this before, but here it is again, the key to contentment lies in gratitude. When we focus on the things we do have instead of the things we don’t, we open ourselves up to the wealth that already is. There is literally no downside to this mentality, because if being happy about all that we have fulfills us already, all there is to come in the future, is more abundance. Keeping a positive attitude also improves productivity, besides, if all you have now is already enough, maybe savoring it is what you need to do next.

Focusing on internal satisfaction will also lessen the ups and downs external rewards (or lack of them) bring us. Unlike external gains, internal satisfaction is not a destination but an existing state that requires only awareness. So stop comparing yourself to others, the grass will always look greener on the other side, but no matter whether you really have more than the other person or if they have more than you, focus on you, just you. After all, you are the only person you have any control over, the number 1 person on your team, and the most important cast in your movie.

As with most things in life, there are no short cuts. Practice is the best way to implement this new habit into your life. Grab every chance you can find, and remind yourself when it’s most difficult to be content and in time, you will notice that the drama around you no longer have as much of an effect on your happiness and eventually, inner peace will blossom.

The Beginning

So I have decided to start writing again, seems fitting as we embark on a new year. I'm very glad that Keith decided to join me this time as I'm sure his input will add that special touch this blog needs.

I've always loved the phrase "in a split second", because, isn't that how all of our thoughts are formed? Over time, these split seconds makes up an entire life time, and these pieces of thoughts and images make up our epic stories. My hope is that through our day-to-day dealings I find moments worthy of savoring, and that by recording them down, it becomes apparent that life is filled with joy and fulfillment.

Both Keith and I will be posting new and old writings as we go. There are just too many great memories I can't wait to revisit and share. When that happens, you will notice the label "Old" in the post.

Here's to a brand new beginning, and cheers to 2015!


New Year Down Dog (taken in Apr. 2013)