Rafting

Wild Water Rafting. When I heard about it for the first time I couldn’t imagine sitting in a raft in the middle of a river with very wild stream with just an oar in my hand. I couldn’t imagine I could do that high risk activity. So when a friend asked me to do that in a place somewhere in Magelang, Central Java, I shook my head. No, thank you.

Several years later when we moved to Malang, I heard about rafting again. This time it was not from a friend but from a travel agent. Together with 2 friends, we booked a 3-day-2-night holiday. No fathers, only mothers and children.
We hired a bus during our holiday. First, we went to Taman Dayu, a small water park in Pandaan. From there we spent our first night in tree house. The next day we went to Probolinggo for rafting and the last destination was Bromo.

I still had doubts about rafting. Is it going to be ok? There were children of 4-6 years among us and we were all beginners. But our guide from the travel agent ensured us that we would enjoy it. There was just one danger about rafting, he said. We all looked a bit worried and listened carefully to him. Then he said, “Once you do that, you want to do that again and again. You’ll get addicted”. I was curious if it would happen to me.

We would raft in Pekalen river for 12 km. We got our jackets, helmet and oar but small children didn’t get any. They would be seated in the middle of the adults for the safety. Then we got a briefing about the rules and instruction that we’d have to do during our rafting. They demonstrated how to hold the oar safely so it would not danger the other people, especially when the raft rides up a rock. Row forwards and backwards. If the raft sucks on a rock, we need to move our body so it will release the raft. Another important instruction is Boom, it means we have to hold vast the cord in the raft and move inside the raft to avoid being flung from the raft. We’d hear this instruction as an example when the raft was riding up a rock.

One raft can take 6 persons with 1 instructor who will sit at the back so he can have the control of the raft. To reach the river we went there first with an open pick up, and then we had to walk for about 20 minutes. Down there I could see the river, it was a beautiful scene. Too bad I couldn’t bring my camera there because it would be wet.


When I was in the raft I kept looking at the rock wall of 3-4 meters high. How would it be if it fell down? I’d have no time to run away. No one would survive. In compare with such enormous rock wall, we, people were just like the ants. But I know it will not collapse. It’s a bit scary but really is a beautiful product of nature.

We started to raft. There are lots of streams and they all have a name. There are 2streams with interesting names. The first is God bless. They call it so because the stream is high and dangerous. The other is Buttocks stream, because people from the village around the river use the river as a place of everything including the place where you do your daily need. Not only the people who get benefit from the river but also cows and motorcycles.

In the middle of our trip we took rest. The resting place was upstairs at the other side of the place where we stopped. We had to walk on a bridge to go there. The bridge is made of bamboo and it was 4 meters high from the river. The instructor told us an interesting thing about the bridge that you may jump from the bridge into the river. It’s safe.

Something in me began to fight, my desire and my fear. The bridge is just less than 30cm wide and it moves when you walk on it. To ensure the safety I asked one of the instructors to jump. He did. You have to keep your legs straight, otherwise I t would hurt you when you reach the water.

I stood on the side of the bridge. I was resolved on jumping but then I made a fault. I looked downward. I saw water so far away and I realized how high it was. My fear won. That was my first rafting. When we left the resting place I promised to myself, I would jump the next time I am there.
My second rafting was a year later. I was looking forward to jumping from the bridge. But too bad, I still couldn’t do that. This time we used another organization while the resting place with the bridge belongs to an organization we used the first time.

Lucky me I didn’t have to wait long. When our friends from Holland visited us, we went rafting again. It was just a couple of weeks after the second time. Not wanting miss the bamboo bridge again, we used the first organization. Hello Bamboo Bridge! I am coming!

So I stood again at the side of the bridge. My desire was strong but I still had doubt. I knew that I wouldn’t get this chance again, for sure not in a short time. I knew that I would regret if I didn’t do it. It’s safe and it’s my desire. What else? I am not the first one who would jump. I saw a lot of people did it and they were ok. Then I decided to conquer my fear. I jumped!

I felt flying and light like cotton blown by the wind. One second I thought, what am I doing? Before I could think further, I felt the water. I was alive again. The feeling was so nice that I jumped again for the second time. Later I heard about the same feeling from our instructor. First you felt like you were death and then the water woke you up. Indeed.

Do you see the picture of the bridge here? Nice, right? Noooo.. it is not the bridge where I jump from. No one took a camera while rafting so we do not have the picture of the bamboo bridge.

I am proud of myself. My desire has been fulfilled twice! But most of all, I am proud that I am a conqueror of my fear.

If you are interested in rafting, you can contact Regulo Rafting, jalan Pakis Argosari VIC-4 Surabaya. Telephone: +62-31-5669866. Email: regulorafting@hotmail.com or Songa Adventure, Jalan Nginden Semolo 34-40 Kav. A 11 Surabaya. Telephone: +62-31-5967467Email: info@songarafting.com – www.songarafting.com. The first one has the resting place with the bamboo bridge. Read more!

To Forgive And To Forget

In Holland there is a saying, to forgive but not to forget when it comes to a fault or mistake. I know it is difficult to apply in our life. It is difficult to forget the many mistakes repeatedly done by the same person and to forgive him or her, yet this person doesn’t want to confess and regret it and just gives empty promises.

Suspicion takes the place of trust between the parties. Sometimes you are not yourself when you are close to each other. You don’t feel comfortable and want to get away from that person quickly.

You have been hurt. It costs you a lot of pain, tears, sorrow, stress, time, energy and much more. This situation makes you unable to concentrate on what you are doing. Everything is not going well. Just to hear the word which reminds you of the fault makes you stressful. The wound has left a scar. So, how can you forgive it and much less forget it?

To get forgiveness you should ask for it, promise not to do it again and keep the promise. It happens rarely that you forgive a fault before the person who does it, asks for it especially when the person does not confess and feel regret or keeps doing it. But to my surprise, there are indeed people who are able to do that.

They can forgive without being asked, not because they are super human or because they are holy. No, not at all, they are just like all of us. They also have been hurt and feel the pain and get sleepless nights. There is one thing that makes them able to do that.

I read once a meaningful saying from my Daily Bread book:

Forgiveness is not a weak attitude of “unconcern”, “not care about”, “easily be trifled with”. Forgiveness is a strong attitude that does not deny and disguise the fault but conquer it.

They know they get benefit from their act of forgiving. This act does not delete the past. No matter what you do, you can never change the past. With their forgiveness they make themselves free from all nightmares. They bring themselves out of a terrible place to a comfortable one. They heal their wound.
Now, how about to forget? I think no one can forget a fault completely. Maybe you can but not me, ha…ha..ha…ha…

People cannot or can hardly forget someone else’s fault but can easily forget his own words. That’s why I wrote this not just for you but also for myself.

I believe most of you still remember in details a fault the other people did that hurt you so much. No problem. I agree with that saying above, to forgive but not to forget. Please don’t misunderstand me. If someone says that you have to forget the fault, it does not mean you have to forget anything about that.
For me to forget the fault means you should forget the pain of it. If you still know exactly where, when and how it happened, it’s ok. You shouldn’t feel guilty about it. But like the saying above, you should think of it not with anger, sadness and much less revenge. Free yourself from all those negative thoughts which just make you weak. Let your brain work hard to lead you to the positive thoughts. Put well in your mind, those things have happened and you don’t want to let it control yourself. You have the control.

No matter how many times you hear the words, songs or stories which remind you about the fault, you can stand it and stay calm. That is the way to conquer the fault. It is wonderful to be the conqueror, isn’t it? Read more!

Why Malang?

That's what I was thinking when I made this blog. Why Malang? I was not born there, nor been there before, I just live there, been 3 years now. I have lived in several places in Indonesia and Holland. I speak Indonesian, English and Dutch. I don't speak Javanese as the native language used in Malang, so why Malang? I fell in love with this city on the first sight (read: first arrival).

What I knew about Malang was that the weather is cool compared to the other cities in Indonesia and it is well known with its apples. I remember when my father went on his business to Malang for several days. He came home with a big box full of apples. I didn't remember the taste but I still remember when I opened the box and touched the apples, that didn’t make me curious about this city but that were what I thought of when we heard about the plan to move there.

We moved to Malang because of the job of my husband. When I came there, I didn't have any friends or family living in Malang and as I wrote before, I don't speak Javanese, the most spoken language there. But I just felt home at once. The city is small and clean. Ok, it can be much cleaner though but it is indeed cleaner than the other cities in Indonesia I have visited. The traffic is not crowded, lots of wide streets and the weather is great. It's the combination of Holland and Indonesia. I can wear tank top and/or short pants without being afraid of getting sunburn like in Jakarta or getting cold like in Holland. Perfect!

Malang means unlucky in Indonesian but this city gives me a feeling on the contrary. I got a lot of new experience with its people, nature, events, habits, etc. Also I got lots of time to think about things which I previously ignored as I thought not important. This city opens my eyes and mind wider. We have been in several places but this is the place I get more things to see, to learn and to think. That's why Malang it is. Read more!