once a jolly swagman...

along the harrington street, further down the australian avenue,to reach sydney harbour and the opera quay. still impressed by the street lamps at night. i walked on...

"who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me?"

change in changi

'people in between', roaming around with their bags and tickets to fly again. all meet here, some for a short transit, others for a few hours wait, in this state-city of merlion.

i am certainly one of them.

if you have a few singapore dollars left in your pocket, why not try to taste the delicious food they serve up there, on the dock near the balcony from where you can get the view of landing airplanes, and close to a garden with a vast collection of cactus' green.

i dont. thus i prefer to stand here, in front of this bright yellow sign that says: "free internet"; and so i write this. well, anyhow, soon i must go again. and tomorrow, should things go well, these boots will take me to a new land.

time to jump!

from solo to semarang...

friday last week, pandan wangi train took me from one small village to another all along the railway tracks between solo and semarang cities in central java. once the slow train stopped in a station where i spotted this vehicle, a manual two-seats train.

that was yet another wonderful solo-journey. a backpacker's story.

'til the morning sun shines again!

mosquito

even boxes need a valentine, you said.
thus they hide from my sight,
to take time
just for themselves.

they go into hiding
inside those shelves where no light enters.
mosquitos do, though, quite unsurprisingly.

so i'll share my tales with them some other time.
when i too need a time just for myself,
like those boxes.

happy valentine!

eight pm something

the desk remains there, and the hills of unfinished works dominates the landscape of the cubical. sub directorate one is where i perform my daily routines now, and it is offering me treats of old jobs in new faces: never ending news that penetrate the time. anyone who occupies the seat must feel the heat. be prepared for sudden exams without prior lectures. papers, talking points, speeches and reports are but a few assignments to be consumed along with 'teh tarik' and black coffee.

these days the emmisaries, the extraordinary and the plenipotentiary ones, are flocking home. down there sharing a table with the head of state. i too share a table in my cubical, with colleagues like donna-donna-donna (yes like the song goes).

eight pm something, and soon the light will be switched off.

starlight

news from darfour
and from kinshasa
arrived at my desk
almost simultaneously:

two torch bearers,
carrying the glow from the stars,
walk through the nights
courageously.

food seller at night

i captured this image in an occassion of visiting a museum in jakarta, one night in september 2009.

there are night foodstalls around this museum particularly during weekends. this one is a picture of a man selling fried bananas, taufus, and sweet-potato dumplings. behind him is a stall selling drinks. hot and cold are available.

i took other pictures of those sellers. i like the contrast bright produced by the oil-lamp they are using.