Going home is the best part of traveling. – View on Path.

Berlabuh. Di hatimu, bolehkah? – View on Path.

Variasi kontur Pulau Sangiang, bukit berbatu yang ditumbuhi semak-semak. Kayaknya seru juga untuk dieksplorasi pulaunya. – View on Path.

Pantai P. Sangiang gak kalah indahnya dengan Gili Kedis di selatan Lombok. Perfect spot for surface interval. – View on Path.

Makan siang. Bersandar di P. Sangiang. Hanya 45 menit dari pelabuhan Anyer, pulau yang terletak di Selat Sunda ini konon katanya milik Tommy Soeharto. Pulau yang masih liar, hanya didiami oleh penjaga pos TNI AL. – View on Path.

A family united: Marlin has found his son Nemo! Sangiang is definitely worth to be revisited.
- Photo courtesy of Ibnu Wijaya – View on Path.

I am with the red snorkel. This was the second dive site at Legon Waru, P. Sangiang. Although the water looked greenish and murky, the visibility was not that bad actually. Saw a turtle zoomed ahead here.
- Photo courtesy of Ibnu Wijaya. – View on Path.

With the Sangiang gang. Thank you guys for great diving trip! – View on Path.

A Profound Question

An American friend once asked me, after learning that I take prayers, observe the fasting month, and don’t drink alcohol, whether I am religious. I was quite baffled with the question as I never considered myself to be a religious person. I don’t dutifully observe all the praying times and I don’t even read the holy Quran on a regular basis.

But does it mean I am not religious? What does it mean, really, to be religious?

I do believe there is a higher power in this world, something that we all are trying to fathom. Some people call it Allah, some Jesus, Buddha, mother nature or other deity gods. I think whatever name you put on your beliefs is a product of your upbringing and community. Few inspired people found their beliefs because they are looking for one and actually consider their options.

Religiousness is, more often than not, just people trying to fit in to the ideas that their community shapes them to belief. It is inhered upon them, by not doing all the rituals, they may incur God’s wrath and prevent them for going to heaven.

Is that what a religion is? About fear?

I don’t think so. If I know anything at all about religions, they all teach about the same thing. They teach about kindness, because God is kind. Because I believe that is all every single person on this universe is capable of doing. To be kind. Whether you actually do kindness or not, it is totally your options.

God can’t be revengeful. God can’t be fearsome. God can’t be a bully. And God can’t be so calculating. So common people shouldn’t be all that.

I cannot wrap my mind around the ideas that people who try to do kindness in their life, but do not label themselves by a certain religion, must certainly go to hell. Native people, living in the deep of the forest, isolated from the so-called civilization, are eternally doomed because their God’s name is different? That can’t be true. What about other people, who identify themselves as a religious group, kill other people who do not share their beliefs? That can’t be what a religion is.

So, if you’re asking me whether I am religious, I’ll answer ‘I am not’. But if furthermore, if you ask again, ‘Are you agnostic, then?’, I’ll answer ‘I don’t think so’. I do observe some of the rituals of my choice of religion, just not all. I do it because I can find peace in it and it is something I can relate to for times to times. I don’t believe that praying all the five required times in a day is purely obligational. If I do prayers, it’s because I want to, not because I have to. And I don’t think there’s only one specific ritual that can bring you closer to God. Why, I also feel God’s presence, everytime I am sitting on the seaside, wearing swimsuits and feeling the wind blowing. I feel closer to God when I am on a mountain top.

The way you do to be closer to God should be optional. I respect people who are religious and actually do kindness. But let’s not judge other people who do not believe something you do, shall we?

Post dive #1 at Pulau Sangiang. Just saw a huuuuuuge napoleon fish! Great visibility and variety of fish. And the island is really a hidden gem a stone-throw away from Anyer. at Pulau Sangiang – View on Path.

Resolusi 2014 #2: Menulis satu cerita perjalanan tiap bulan, agar tak lekang hanya tersimpan di benak. – View on Path.

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at Wisata Gunung Salak Endah – View on Path.

“Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves that all of life is not black and white.”
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie at Wisata Gunung Salak Endah – View on Path.

She’s the one with the messy unkempt hair colored by the sun. Her skin is now far from fair like it once was. Not even sun kissed. It’s burnt with multiple tan lines, wounds and bites here and there. But for every flaw on her skin, she has an interesting story to tell. – Date A Girl Who Travels -

Everyone has a destination, but we all have a different way of getting there. Which one are you? http://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/different-types-of-travelers?s=mobile – View on Path.

“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B. It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.” - Cheryl Strayed – View on Path.

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay,
watchin’ the tide roll away
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone, listen.
Two thousand miles I roam.
Just to make this dock my home.
- Otis Redding – View on Path.

Coral reef at Sepa Island, picture taken from the jetty in rainy late afternoon. It looks amazing from above, can you imagine how it looks from near? #coral #island #travel #indonesia (at Pulau Sepa)

Early morning at a deserted dock in Pulau Sepa. – View on Path.

2014 Resolution #1 accomplished! This is a proud moment, if I may say so myself. It’s all started with cool diving stories around the dinner table at home. My interest with diving then grows, but I am not a strong swimmer. I took a Discover Scuba class last year to test the water. I also began practice swimming regularly on my own every week. A year ago, I barely could swim free-style to the other side of the pool without feeling out of breath. My breast-stroke was just mediocre. Now I can do both style in multiple laps. As I am feeling more confident in deeper water now, early this year I enrolled in PADI Open Water class. I truly enjoyed the lessons, even more the exam trip. Passing the PADI certification last week, for me,
is a testament that if you want something badly enough, you can do anything! – View on Path.

Saatnya mengejar resolusi #2! – View on Path.

Selamat pagi! Sitting on the beach and listening to the sound of waves and birds calling to each other, what’s a better way to welcome a brand new day? at Sepa Island Resort – View on Path.

Today was the first memorable moments in 2014: getting myself certified for PADI Open Water Diving. One resolution to check off this year’s list! (at Sepa Island Resort)