ありがとうとかけて、夢と解く

その心は、どちらでもYou(ゆ)とMe(め)がからむ素敵な言葉です。

Sorry for opening this post with a low quality nazokake which have no relation to the content :-), but several days ago Farah and I received a greeting card for our wedding with lots of heart-warming messages. I’d like to share one of those messages, because I think it was too good to be kept only for us.

Here the message read:

ありがとうを言って行動すると、あなたの夢が叶います

Which can be loosely translated as:

Be grateful and act, then your dream will come true.

The message came with a calligraphy of the word ありがとう which was fashioned into the kanji of 夢. A combination of wisdom and art indeed.

Well, it looks like gratitude is a universal currency - I believe all cultures regard it as an important quality. Even my religion mentioned that the blessing upon us will be increased if we are being grateful for the blessing that we had received.

And since there are countless of blessing that have been bestowed upon me throughout the years, I think the message remind me to be more thankful and not taking those blessing for granted. I hope I will never forget about that. 

And for Yurin: Thanks for the message!今度習字を教えてください！

花見日和

They say that the sun always shines on TV, but sometimes the weather forecast on TV is not that bad. Like yesterday, when it said that it would be a fine day today, it proved so. And because my Kooriyama’s mother had told me that this week is the full bloom of Takizakura in Miharu, then the conclusion is only one: today is the day for Miharu visit, unless I want to wait for another year to see the sakura. And up is the result. 

Brief facts about Miharu’s takizakura: it is one of Japan’s five famous sakura – the sakura trees that had been declared as natural monuments. The tree was estimated to have been there for more than 1000 years. And for someone who considered Fukushima as one of his 故郷, it really took long time for me to finally visit there (well, I’ve passed by it several times though). And even though it took around 4 hours round trip in order to see the sakura, I’m not regretting going there today to have seen it in such a fine weather.

糸

(Actually I want to post this at the 50th wedding anniversary of my parents last November, but I got a bit busy, so it was delayed until now. The following song automatically played on my mind when I flipped through the pictures of my parents, that's why I put the English translation of the lyrics here (loosely translated).
The song called 糸 (Ito - thread) by Miyuki Nakajima, and I always love the lyrics of the song. For those of you who haven't heard of it before, I think you can find the song on Youtube :-) )

糸(Thread)

We know nothing about why we meet

and we never know when we are going to meet

Where and how have you lived till now

somewhere so far away from me

You and I are two different stories

It is as if your life is the vertical threads

and mine is the horizontal threads

They were woven together into a shred of cloth

And one day, that simple shred of cloth might help warming someone on a cold winter night

 
Frayed when I got lost in the maze of my life

and frayed once more after stumble down chasing all the dreams

There were times when I wondered

will this thread of mine ever do any good

Feeling uncertain, blown by the chilling wind

Your life is the vertical threads

and mine is the horizontal threads

They were woven together into a shred of cloth

And one day, that simple shred of cloth might help cover someone's wound

 
Your life is the vertical threads

and mine is the horizontal threads

When the threads that are meant to be are woven together

The woven shred of cloth is the cloth of happiness

The Holstee Manifesto

I think most of you have ever read this, since it's quite a famous manifesto. The content was inspiring, but it's not the main reason why I post it here. The main reason was because when I read it, the lines remind me of my friends, who - whether they realize it or not - 'adeptly' apply some part of this manifesto in comical way :-) and it kept me grinning while I'm writing this :-)

This is your life.
Do what you love, and do it often.

If you don't like something, change it.
If you don't like your job, quit.
If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop;
they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.

Stop over analyzing, life is simple.
All emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.

Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people,
we are united in our differences.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is,
and share your inspiring dream with them.

Travel often;
getting lost will help you find yourself.
Some opportunities only come once, seize them.

Life is about the people you meet,
and the things that you create with them
so go out and start creating.

Life is short.
Live your dream, and wear your passion.

(The Holstee Manifesto)

A Time to Pray

I pray to God to always give me a time to pray
so if the tide is high and my world goes dark
I could still wish for hope to spark
to keep me brave enduring the storm that I must embark

I pray to God to always give me a time to pray
so if I lose temper and my world goes red
I could still beg for patience to be spread
and learn to forgive and forget instead

I pray to God to always give me a time to pray
so if I feel down and my world goes blue
I could still plead for courage to ensue
to chase once more all the dreams that I pursue

I pray to God to always give me a time to pray
so if the sun smiles and my world turns bright
I could still get down on my knees and recite
all the praises for always making my life as splendid as the starry moonlighting night

Years To Answer A Question

Do you have questions from your childhood that remained unanswered even after you've grown up? I mean a really simple question from a naive mind of a kid? Well, I do have lots of them, since I was a very curious kid. I still remember that I liked to take notes on words that I couldn't understand, and hoped that when I've grown up, I could look down on those notes again and finally could comprehend what once I couldn't :-). And not just words, there were also some songs and stories that I couldn't completely grasp the meaning. One of it was a song called 'empat musim' (four seasons). I knew it from my sister, who learned it when she was in the girl guide in the elementary school. Here's the lyric:

Orang yang senangi musim bunga
orang yang berjiwa ksatria
bagai bunga warna lembayung
dialah sahabat saya

Orang yang senangi musim panas
orang yang berjiwa keras
bagai gelombang menghempas karang
dialah ayah saya

Orang yang senangi musim gugur
orang yang berjiwa dalam
bagai hymne berkisah cinta
dialah kekasih saya

Orang yang senangi musim dingin
orang yang berjiwa luas
bagai bumi salju mencair
dialah ibu saya

(I'll put the English translation later)

My sister likes the lyric a lot, and so do I. But some of it was so absurd, and even now that I've grown up and think that I could understand it better, some of it still made no sense. Like, what was 'bunga warna lembayung' (purple colored flower)? Was it Violet? Lilac? Orchids? Even some roses are purple (my sisters planted a purple one in our garden). And moreover, what's it got to do with being 'ksatria' (righteous, trustworthy)? Or, what does it means by 'bumi salju mencair' (melting snowy earth)?

Well, I could just take it as a song and enjoy it as it is, but those questions keep coming to me from time to time, haunting me through years of sleepless night... (oops, I'm overly exaggerating again... :-) ). And since I thought that it would not hurt to be curious and try to find the answers, I gave it a try. (They said that curiosity kills the cat, but fortunately the cat has 9 lives, so it doesn't matter if the curiosity kills him several times :-) )

Well, one thing for sure, the song was not of Indonesian origin, since we only have two seasons, not four. That also explained why some of the words are so absurd – because it was translated from other language. Then, if I could find the original lyric, may be I could understand what does it means by 'purple colored flower' and 'melting snowy earth'. Additional clue: it used 'gelombang' and 'karang' (wave and reef) as metaphor, so chances that the origin country was a country with sea - an archipelago is more like to it. Four seasons and archipelago, the first country that came to my mind was Britain - and the original words were in English. Hmm, the answer seemed not too far. I couldn't understand English at that time, but my brother and sister could, and I could asked them to translate if I could just find the lyric.

Holding on to the clues, the little me went to the library and try to find further leads to the answer. Hope was high, but unfortunately Sidoarjo was a small city that even the public library couldn't provide me with further hints. It looked like the quest was not as easy as it seemed. With no more clues, the only thing that I could do was just waiting for some hints to show up by themselves.

Years went by. I started to learn English at school, so then if I could find the lyric, I could finally understand it by myself. However, nothing came. I also began to know internet and use it to get more findings, but still, the search yielded nothing.

And just when I started to forget about the song, my sister brought the talk on it again.
“You know, I just watch a Japanese Drama, and they sang `four seasons` there”
“Really?”
Hmm, it looked like the song was not originated from Britain, but Japan. That explained why the internet search in English didn't yield anything. Anyway, Japan has four seasons, and it's also an archipelago, a perfect fit for the song. May be I could just do a search in Japanese and finish the quest... but there were some problems. First, I couldn't understand Japanese at that time. And even if I could, I thought it would be hard for me to find a computer with Japanese character input. Guess that the search still far from over...

It never occurred to me at that time that in couple of years, I would go to Japan, live there, and also learn the language. But by the time I set my feet on the country, I've completely forgot about the song. So I just lived my life peacefully without worrying about it :-), until one day when I went driving with Ohira and Mi-chan, I saw a store named 四季 (four seasons), and the nightmare... oops :-), the song popped back in my head. I wasted no time asking Ohira and Mi-chan.

“Do you know a song called 四季? Quite an old song I think”
“Well, there are lots of songs about season that I know, but unfortunately, I didn't know which one called 四季”, Ohira said after a while.
“Hmm, guess it's hard to know which one...”, I pondered ways to get more clues, when Mi-chan said, “How about this song: 春を愛する人...”
春を愛する人? It completely has the same meaning as “Orang yang senangi musim bunga” (The one who loves spring)
“That's it! Cool! How can you guess it right?”
“Well, I just happened to heard that Glay sang it on karaoke several days ago.”
“What a coincident. Thanks”
“Anytime”

So when I got home, I quickly browsed Google for 四季 and 春を愛する人, and hoped that it would generate some hits. Even if it don't, I think I could add 'Glay' and 'karaoke' to the query, and I was sure that the results would appear (Google is a very convenient tool indeed :-) ). And, as I had guessed, it generated matches. So the song was really from Japan. Well, here's the actual lyric:

春を愛する人は心清き人
すみれの花のような僕の友達

夏を愛する人は心強き人
岩をくだく波のような僕の父親

秋を愛する人は心深き人
愛を語るハイネのような僕の恋人

冬を愛する人は心広き人
雪を溶かす大地のような僕の母親

And finally we came to the long awaited part: answering the ultimate questions... :-) (the answer is not 42 though :-) you will be able to laugh on it if you've seen “Hitchhike's Guide to the Universe”)
“Bunga warna lembayung” was actually　スミレの花 - violet. Well, it doesn't directly answer the question on what's it got to do with being trustworthy though, but a little browsing on flower's meaning (using Google, the ultimate tools, again :-) ) showed that violet means 'modesty, faithfulness, and virtue'. That's it. A good friend (the one who loves spring) should be a faithful one, like the meaning of violet. (And if you happened to be curious on what the Japanese lyric actually said about the one who loves spring, it said that it's someone who has a pure heart – again, a match to violet meaning).
“Bumi salju mencair” was actually 雪を溶かす大地, earth that melt the snow. Well, since it's a metaphor for mother, I think I don't need to put much words on it: a warm mother heart would be able to melt all the snow even in the coldest winter night...
Quod erat demonstrandum, and there complete one of my long quest... (I can sleep sound at night now... :-) )

And for those of you who don't understand either Indonesian or Japanese, here's the English translation:

The one who loves spring is the one who has a clean heart
Just like the flower of violet, he's a friend of mine

The one who loves summer is the one who has a strong heart
Just like wave beating the reef, he's a father of mine

The one who loves autumn is the one who has a deep heart
Just like a hymn of love, she's a lover of mine

The one who loves winter is the one who has a patient heart
Just like a earth melting snow, she's a mother of mine

Now that the quest is complete, I think I should start a new quest. What should it be? Hmm, how about finding the one who loves autumn? :-)

Mighty Duck

It's a warm day for autumn (good day for closing this rainy weekend :-) ), and I just found this duck with her ducklings basking in the middle of the river. Quite dangerous place though, since there were crows around which didn't mind at all to have the ducklings as lunch...

Then, it would be the job of the mother, not only to protect them, but to teach them on how to survive on their own. Whether she'd be able to successfully accomplished it is beyond my knowledge, but people (and also ducks? :-) ) often able to do miraculous things when they need to do it for those that they care for - rather than doing it for themselves - so I believe that they'll be alright... or at least try their best to be alright.

And anyway, quoting one line from Nora of Final Fantasy XIII: "mother is strong" - then, no need to worry I think...