First Day in Larantuka

Not really the first day, but since we arrived at the night before, so it’s not totally wrong to call it as our first day. Our first day in Larantuka was cloudy, literally, which was good for us who wanted to wander around walking to see what’s nearby. Our hotel was located not far from the pilgrimage site of Semanta Senta, such as Mater Delarosa statue as well as Apostles’ sites. The site was also right next to the sea. So beautiful. What caught our attention then was a signboard of Palace of Larantuka King.

Mater Delarosa Statue

I did not know that such a palace exists in that city. Feeling curious, and expecting that it’s a tourism object that was free to visit by any tourist, we came to the building. The shape of the building was not attention grabbing, since it’s quite the same with the other neighboring buildings. What made it different was the cannon replica in front of the house, a Jesus statue, and noticeably large front yard.

There was a guy there, he greeted us and let us enter the palace. Apparently, it was not a regular tourism object. The descendants of the King was still living there. Entering the palace, we saw there was an altar and some condolences flower bouquet. Apparently, the first daughter of the very last King of Larantuka passed away few weeks prior our arrival.

The existence of the kingdom had been nullified since the integration of the region of Larantuka to Republic of Indonesia.

We were welcomed and received by the grand-daughter of the last king of Larantuka as well as her husband. They were very nice, told the story about history of kingdom of Larantuka, and also provided us with snacks and tea. He also told us that in the night, there would be a corpus christi procession in that town, and one of the stops would be in front of the palace. We’re so excited knowing that we would see a very interesting event shortly after arriving in the city.

Another agenda for that day was to find accommodation for the rest of our stay in the town. Google Maps provided little to none help for giving the landmark position. An offline map that we obtained from somewhere also gave wrong information. We walked around 1 km to the west to find a particular building, but apparently it was located  only 50 meters in the east of our hotel. Nice! *sarcasm*

In the afternoon, we also spent some time to visit my mother’s friend, Bu Ummi, in Larantuka. She and 3 or 4 of her friends gathered at her house at that time. It’s so nice of her, that we were served with Es Palubutung, Jagung Titi, and some of the other snacks. She, also her friends, also accompanied and delivered us, using pick up truck, to several accommodation options that she had identified.

We were like visiting from one corner of the city to another corner, to see the accommodation options. There was a kost which located in a very condensed area. When we arrived, a bunch of kids came and surrounding us. I know, not us, it must be for the foreign friends :p.

At night, we went to see the Corpus Christi procession. We got different information about what time the procession would be started. Some said that it would start at 6pm, some said 6.30pm, and others said 7pm. What we knew for sure that the procession would start from Cathedral, and end also in Cathedral.

Since the mid-day, citizens that lived in the road where the procession began to prepare for the event. The most noticeable ones were the altars for the stops as well as the bamboo fence that they put along the road. The bamboo fence was acted as the holder for candles.

Finally the procession started at around 7 pm. The parade which was involving dozens of priests, nuns, as wells hundreds of pilgrims began to move from Cathedral. They spelled the praying chant while walking. Few of them brought bells and rang them. Few of them brought along the candles with them. If the candles on the fences on the sideways were off because of the wind, they would light up them again with the candle that they brought. I do think that it’s really majestic.

They marched 1 kilometer long to the road in the west side of the cathedral, and stopped at the dedicated points. One of the stopping points was St. Philippus Chapel, right in front of Kopernik Office in Larantuka.

After watching the commencement of the march near cathedral, we ran to the Kopernik Office using a shortcut path. We needed to be ahead of the parade and arrived earlier in Kopernik office to accompany Ka Teresa and Ka Yan – Kopernik staffs in Larantuka. At that event, our office provided free drink and displayed Kopernik products (e.g. solar lights and bright box). Ka Teresa suggested the presence of the foreigners might attract attention :p. And it would also be great moment to see how the procession going from nearby.

And then we arrived at Kopernik office. And apparently, we're way ahead of the Corpus Christi march. Ka Yan and Ka Teresa had prepared the product display. As the replacement of regular candles, they used the solarlight in the altars as well as in front of the chapel.

Stopping in the chapel, the lead priest’s assistant noticed the brightness of the solar light. And then he took initiative to replace the candle that was being used for the lead priest to read the script with the solar light. It’s not very easy to read the script in the night just only relying on the dim light from the candles.

East Flores - Prolog

Last year, I joined Kopernik, and got a chance to visit East Flores, one of the poorest district in Indonesia.

For me, it's one of the most unique and memorable experience in my life so far. Frankly, it's not easy, but I enjoyed it so much. The next few posts would be containing my story about my trip for the project.

However, I think I need to put a disclaimer here:
the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the institutions to which he is affiliated, or colleagues whom he was working with.

I don't know, it feels weird though to write about my work in social media. I never did it before, since usually it's related to my client, and privacy is a sacred thing. However, in here I will write about my stakeholder, my most important stakeholder, which is people who live in remote areas. I don't make an NDA with the people in the remote areas as well, so I think that's fine :p

Here is my story.

30 - repost

Chances are good that it’s not actually your birthday today. But that’s okay, because it’s mine and as such, I get to make a wish. (I post this days after mine actually)

Although there are many things that I want, but I should say that everything is sufficient now.

I’m in a profession I like, with clients I adore, with colleagues that I'm happy working with, in location that I want.I’ve got an amazing family that supports me through all my craziness.
I’ve got great friends who love me for me.I’ve got a roof over my head, and it doesn’t even leak. My refrigerator is full. Life is good. Alhamdulillah.


So, I figure, I’ve got this wish lingering, begging me to use it, and… my life is in happy place right now. Then I remembered, it’s my wish, but that doesn’t mean I have to use it on me.


So, I would send the wish out to the world. I'm gonna try to imitate what's been done by the original author of this post: "if I’d heard of something sad happening somewhere, I’d send my wish to the people in that place. If I knew a friend was going through a rough time, I’d send the wish to them."

Sometimes I was the one in a rough patch and I would allow myself to soak up the wish. Although now I'm in a happy place, but it's a circle of life. It's a wheel of fortune. I know it could get rough some time. But I just need to trust Him.

It was vague, it was open, it didn’t seem too demanding. I didn’t need anything specific, Cars and Gadgets weren’t the cure – the world just needed more good things. I believe that good things happen. A lot.

So, today I am going use my wish, and direct it at you. Yes, you.

I wish for something good to happen for you.
I wish for you to have the courage to ask for what you want.
I wish for you to have the wisdom to accept help when it is offered.
I wish for you to have strength and tenacity to keep reaching for your dreams, even when the odds seem stacked against you.
I wish for you to find happiness and to take pleasure in the fleeting moments, realizing that they are like pennies – when you add them up, they create a wonderful life.


Good things are coming your way.
I wish… I wish for good things to happen.

I'd like to extend the wishes to the people in Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Nigeria. Every time I remember a video of a Syrian kid eating grass because of food supply deficiency, it always breaks my heart. Hundreds thousands of people experience the similar thing. I hope God gives them strength to overcome it all, the root cause of the problems could be fixed really soon. Same wishes to the less fortunate people in Indonesia

30

This post is inspired by a blog post by Bree Ervin. I found the post when I tried to find a good sentence to be used as the response for birthday wishes that given to me.

Actually, content-wise, it's good to post this on my birthday, but, nope. I don't post any birthday-related article on my birthday :)

At first, I thought of posting a modified version of her post. On a second thought, I think I'm just gonna copy her article in its entirety and give comments inline, in blue.

So, here it is:

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Chances are good that it’s not actually your birthday today. But that’s okay, because it’s mine and as such, I get to make a wish.

Hey, I read this on my birthday! Spot on!

I’ve already got everything I want. [me? umm, can't really say about this. I'm grateful (I hope so), but there are still many things that I want to get or see, for me or for other people]

I’m in a profession I love, with clients I adore. [checked]

I’ve got an amazing family that supports me through all my craziness. [super checked]

I’ve got great friends who love me for me. [checked checked]

I’ve got a roof over my head, and it doesn’t even leak. My refrigerator is full. Life is good. [checked checked checked. I'm in a happy place right now. Alhamdulillah]


So, I figure, I’ve got this wish lingering, begging me to use it, and… I don’t need anything. [see my response above]. Then I remembered, it’s my wish, but that doesn’t mean I have to use it on me. [hey, I agree]

Remember all those cheesy times you could make a wish – on the first star, at 11:11, on dandelion puffs, and eyelashes? [errrr, I didn't and don't do those things anyway :p]

Well, when I was about 9 or 10 and woke up to the fact that I was a spoiled white girl, [definitely I'm not a white girl] I started using those wishes a little differently. I stopped wishing for more cheap plastic crap or ice cream or candy and I started closing my eyes and wishing with all the passion in me “for something good to happen.”

I would send the wish out to the world. If I’d heard of something sad happening somewhere, I’d send my wish to the people in that place. If I knew a friend was going through a rough time, I’d send the wish to them. [I think for a 10 years old girl doing those prayers, it's pretty mature and kind]

Sometimes I was the one in a rough patch and I would allow myself to soak up the wish. [indeed. Although now I'm in a happy place, but it's a circle of life. It's a wheel of fortune. (Hey, it's like lyric of a song :p.) I know it could get rough some time. But I just need to trust Allah.]

It was vague, it was open, it didn’t seem too demanding. I didn’t need anything specific, Barbies and My Little Ponies weren’t the cure – the world just needed more good things.
The funny thing is – my wish always came true. [okay, it doesn't happen to me of course, haha. Sometimes it comes true, sometime it doesn't]
Because, good things happen. A lot. [can't agree more]

So, today I am going to use my super power, my wish, and direct it at you. Yes, you. [I would like to change 'you' to anyone who needs the wish out there. But the word selection of 'you' pretty much gives a special effect to the readers. Wait, now I know why I love her post. Since I planned to do this kind of post for quite some time, and she executed that in a very excellent way)

I wish for something good to happen for you.
I wish for you to have the courage to ask for what you want.
I wish for you to have the wisdom to accept help when it is offered.
I wish for you to have strength and tenacity to keep reaching for your dreams, even when the odds seem stacked against you.
I wish for you to find happiness and to take pleasure in the fleeting moments, realizing that they are like pennies – when you add them up, they create a wonderful life.

I wish for you to have a day – one whole day – that you can devote just to yourself and your pleasure.
Today, I’m taking mine. I’m cranking my tunes and I’m spending the day in the kitchen cooking. I’m making new foods and revisiting old favorites. And when it’s all prepared, I’m sharing it with a small handful of people I love. [I don't know. I'm still feel a bit guilty everytime I do the self-indulgence thingies. haha. Ok, but definitely I don't cook. But hey, I do share small handful of food to my family, friends, and work-mates :). Ohya, my mom (May Allah bless her) also extends by sharing food to the unfortunate ones]

Today I am all smiles and no stress. [Can't say so. I was trapped in a traffic jam on my birthday, but then again, it's expected since I'm a Jakartan]

Good things are coming your way. I wish that you too can find a day, one day out of a year of days, to take yourself out of the race and just… simmer.
I wish… I wish for good things to happen.

[I'd like to extend the wishes to the people in Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Nigeria. Every time I remember a video of a Syrian kid eating grass because of food supply deficiency, it always breaks my heart. Hundreds thousands of people experience the similar thing. I hope God gives them strength to overcome it all, the root cause of the problems could be fixed really soon. Same wishes to the less fortunate people in Indonesia]

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What I like about her wishes is that it's not always about material things, but also more on the intangible things, like courage, motivation, compassion -- which I think that many people tend to overlook that.