from my heart

In 2002 I traveled along the East Coast of Australia with
my (at that time still) hubby and my around 2 y.o. son.
We hired a camper (an OC) in Cairns and moved along
southwards till we reach Brisbane. I liked the journey
itself and I loved the landscapes, but even if I find camping
is cool, I have to face the truth that I'm not cool at all. I am
simply a big town girl who isn't made for camping. I was
stressed out every time we had to stop overnight. At that
time the connection between my ex and me had already a
crack. Deeper than we'd realize or admit. I thought, my
stress was only because of my issue with the camping thing.
But I guess, our problem summed it up. Anyway, at the end
of that journey I was psychically rather a wrack than relaxed!

Why do I tell you this? It might be not a highlight of a holiday
in general, but I did have some good time though. The days
on the Heron Island, for example, were unforgettable. I wanted
to take a diving lesson. But as they heard, that I have never
even snorkeled before, they told me to start with that first. So
I did and I loved it. I forgot time and space, when I followed
the fishes. Probably I was a dolphin in my past life (there was
a comic about a boy named Denny - half fish, half human -
that I read as I was little and at that time I often dreamed I
could swim like a fish LOL Sorry, I wander..). We made
friends with other travelers. A (German) family had invited
us to visit them, when we reached Brisbane. And there are
some more good memories about that time.

To make long story short.. I'm sure you have read, seen and
heard about the flood in Australiam which affected some of
the places I have been. And as you know, although I'm not
a fan of seasonal items, somehow I often manage to make
a few random heart items before the Valentine's day (which
must be a leftover of the "heart-giving" tradition during my
school days). So, this time those items will go to the shop
AusDisasterRelief to help the victims. The card will make the
start. Another item will follow, I hope (won't promise anything
though..).



I don't have contact with the family in Brisbane anymore (I'm
a bad contact keeper, as you might already know ;)). I don't
know, either they are still there or not. But I hope, they are
okay, where ever they are at the moment...

yellow

Yesterday I was sitting in the bus and thinking about
furniture and home decor (yes, I've been browsing
through ebay again.. and I've found out, that at least
this seller do care about her photos - a pleasure to
look at, aren't they? I felt like I was at 'home' ^_^).
About why I'm so into vintage lately (up till now they
made me feeling sad looking at them - not a feeling I'd
prefer), why I'm attracted to the 60s-80s style lately
(aside of all the influence from the vintage items on
Etsy and those trends in the home & decor blogs). I
then noticed the yellow canister underneath the seat
next to the door. The color made me happy. It awakes
the vintage feeling to me. I wondered why (I know,
I'm questioning too much lately ;)).



I remember, that yellow was my favorite color as I was
in elementary school. It was a certain yellow. Sunny
yellow (it's what I associate the color with. Which one**
do you think is it on the picture above?). Not too red,
not too green. Not too cold, not too warm. Simply a
happy-making yellow :)

I also remember the yellow runner on my parent's bed
in the new house. I think, it had a slight touch into
mustard, but could be, it was only my slant memories ;)
My sister, my brother and I often played nine men's
morris and other board games on it. Or we just sat down
there and watch tv. What a cozy feeling (even if it was
actually made of synthetic material, so I didn't like to
touch it - it made me sweat -, but it was so cool to have
a piece of carpet in hot Jakarta *lol*).

Back to now, I'm still in love with yellow, even if it's not
the color I'd wear. Duh, I just remember, a bright yellow
tee was the first cloth piece I've bought in Germany and
everybody was feeling shone by me *lol* I also had a
bright yellow umbrella keeping me accompany till it was
broken (even then, I couldn't throw it away immediately
after those 7 years together.. how sentimental!). I guess,
yellow is always a part of me, like the sun shining in my
heart (I only need to recall it especially in 'cloudy' days,
right? :)).

Some more yellow things, that makes me feel happy:
sun (of course :)), mango, lemon, banana, dandelion,
brass, gold, canary, chick, raincoat (or any other coat,
like a choir friend wore on Monday :)), mailbox, that
logo with the two golden arches ;) (it's often a place,
where we went to eat, if we were somewhere we didn't
know well and I have to say honestly, that I sometimes
need junkfood *trying to look innocent*),...


You can see some of the yellow things I've noticed today
here (oops!! it's already so late - so, I mean yesterday)
and some more on the other side.


**) I feel like I wanna play (must be the side effect of
this afternoon, where I went to the Math exhibit with
my son's class ;)). I'll send the first two of you, who left
a note on the Flickr side at the right color patch, a
surprise each :) So, please click on the first picture and
leave a note there, if you wanna play.

first day of march III

Carnival photos must wait! I just
quickly browsed my old Indonesian
slides as long as my projector is still
outside and have to post about them,
because... I love FOOD!!

I wonder, why they always said, that
fried food is not good for the weight.
In Indonesia there are so many fried
food and most of us are not over-
weighted. I had to think about this
as I was making these chicken chips
for my boy a few days ago *yummy*



And here some of the street snack
sellers I've photographed in Jakarta.


He sold tahu pong, lumpia, singkong goreng,..
- everything is fried!


He sold kue putu.


He sold 'mi trek-trek' *lol* that's, how
my family call it. I don't know the real
name of the noodle (and I don't think,
we ever asked the sellers!!) *blush*


He sold ketoprak.

I really miss them!! Do you know,
what I love about them (besides
of the food itself of course ;))?
- Their creativity in designing the
wagons. Not only optically, but also
functionally. You'd be amazed of
what they all have in their wagons
or barrows!!
- Each of them have specific tone.
Buyers can recognize the sort of
the food they are selling by the
tone. And mostly it's not a modern
tone that comes out of a loud speaker.
No, it is e.g. a specific rhythm of
beating on their wok or a piece of
wood. Or even only their specific
yelling of a phoneme (or kind of ;)).
- They have working hours. Some
food can only be found during the
day and some others only in the
evening or even late evening.
Some foods can only be found in
specific places (cause the sellers
are not moving around with their
booth like those in the photos).

It's about tradition, which amaze
me, I think.

My dad used to say, street food
taste so good, because they are not
as clean as at home *lol* Maybe
he's right, maybe not. Who knows ;)
As my son and I were there in 2006
we could not resist to buy some
street ice cream (glad, my boy could
eat them without getting sick like
some of my German friends).

I know, I'm weird, but street ice
cream is still the best!! My favorites
are jack fruit ice cream and mungo
bean ice cream. They taste like
sweet childhood memories :)



While I ate kue putu, as I was a kid,
I now eat modern cookies, like e.g.
french macaroon. I've heard about
them a lot, but just had the opportunity
to try them last Friday. A new seller
on the weekly market is selling Swiss
bakery products and also the french
macaroons (in Switzerland they are
also called Luxemburgerli).

They are really yummy, but SO
expensive!! So I started to look for
recipes in the web and found some
links on David Lebovitz's site. I think,
I'm gonna try the chocolate one once
I have a bit time to experiment. This
one is for all my Euro fellows, who love
Snickers. Aren't your mouths watering?
*waving especially to Renate* ;)

OK, three posts in a row. I think,
that's enough for now ;) Have a
lovely (rest of) Sunday!!

a piece of australia

Talking about journey.. the vase from
Pia, which I've won last December has
arrived on Monday. It's SO beautiful!



In her note Pia has written, that it
is a little piece of Australia to her and
that the color and texture is like the
ocean. How true!!! Photos don't do it
any justice.



It makes me longing to go back there
again one day. I've been three times
down under a loooong, long time ago.
So I opened up my Australian box,
where I keep every piece of papers
and anything else from our last trip
in 2002. I haven't opened it for years
(was afraid of some memories..).


It must have been taken by my dad or
my brother. My son was 2 y.o.


Some stones I've brought from Oz (too bad,
I don't remember where from - I'm such a
chaotic person!!) and gold dust we've
washed in Ballarat.

Today I set up my projector to look
through the slides I've made on my
trips in 1995 and 1996. Please click
on this photo to watch the slide show
of a few of my fave pictures from over
200 slides ^_^



Thanks again, Pia, for bringing me
those sweet memories back with
the vase!

I'm really glad, I've found Pia's blog
thanks to Holly. Not only she is a very
talented person, she is also an adorable
person herself. If you don't know her
yet, you should visit her blog - I'm
sure, you'll love her and her blog!
Since I've found her, I've been following
her posts quietly. But then in December,
as she was having her blog anniversary,
she has posted some links, which I simply
had to click. In her soundscapes series
I found this incredible post. I was so
touched, I simply had to comment...

love hate

Oh, this carnival time...

Guess what I've found yesterday, as I went to
work.. one window front was broken, but was
already fixed temporarily by the fire department.
The bad side effect of the carnival :( Luckily the
glazier came that morning and fixed it quickly.

I have to admit, I'm not a big carnival fan. Well,
it's not in my blood ;) So, I go there only if I'm
really in the mood.
I love
- the creative spirit people suddenly have,
- the music (it's not about perfection, but joy!),
- the great costumes,
but I hate
- the alcohol people drink too much during this
time (oh, how I hate that smell in the bus!!!!!),
- the vandalism,
- the junk and shards overall.

Tomorrow is the day of the big carnival procession.
I'm not sure, either I'll go there this time. But
if I think of the pros... I think, I should :)



They are the offspring carnival musicians I've
seen yesterday. Oh, how I love the sound of the
drums and the horns! I miss playing saxophone
in the marching band or in a big band (not that
I can still play the saxophone ;))!!! The school
marching band I was in is no more the same
now.

Here you can see their performance in 2008.
How static they became (hm.. maybe because
of the small place?).. We (all of the musicians
including the percussionists!) used to walk
around and show some forms, like this. That
corps used to be our hardest competitor, as the
girls were in the other girl school of Jakarta.
How silly! *lol* We could never beat them, as
far as I can remember ;)

Oh, wanna see my school uniform and a bit of
the school building? Then watch this :) It brings
me certainly back to the past...

calm spring

It has been raining all day long and also windy.
I love rain, but don't like wind at all - except
on hot days. I remember, once I went home
from my Balinese dance course on a heavy
rainy day, as I was about 7 y.o. Of course
I got very wet. So, my mom sent me to
go under the shower. After that I sat in the
reception room (it's quite usual there to have
a room to meet guests), playing with my doll
and listening to the sound of the rain and the
thunder. I will never forget that feeling.
I think, it's one of the reason, why I love
rain and thunder.

My new necklace: calm spring.

home pet

I was wondering,
what's the name of those pets
I used to have as I was a child.
They live in snail shells,
but don't look like snails
rather than crabs.

So, I've googled and found them
hermit crabs!

I loved them - they're cute.
But I think, I didn't know,
how to treat them well,
as they died pretty fast :-(