Umi No Hi

"A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching."

-Anonymous



It's public holiday in Japan today - umi no hi. "Hari Laut" in Bahasa. Wikipedia refers to it as Marine day, probably because Ocean Day or Sea's Day doesn't sound as good.

Below are some shots taken at the not-so-beautiful Kannonzaki beach in Kanagawa prefecture which we visited during Golden Week holiday last May.

By the by, there's this one nasyid, Secerah Pawana, that keeps playing in my mind whenever I visit a beach. Probably because it began with the sound of waves crashing on the shore. It's an old nasyid, sung by The Zikr, the group which later became known as Raihan. This was back in the days when they were still donning big serbans, colorful jubah and wore celak on their album cover, when the album itself could be bought for less than RM10. Mestica includes a new version of Secerah Pawana in their Layar Keinsafan album, but I still prefer the one done by The Zikr.

Secerah Pawana
Seindah sedamai pantai melambai gemalai
begitulah hati merindu kasih yang padu
bagaikan pepasir basah disimbah lautan
begitulah perjuangan ini
biar basah dengan iman dan ukhuwwah



kita ingin segalanya indah
sebersih pasir pantai memutih
seindah dan secerah pawana
berseri ukhuwwah dipupuk kasih



kita ingin segala terlerai
dengki dan dendam kesumat musnah
biar keikhlasan berbicara
di dada hati luas saujana



Seindah sedamai pantai melambai gemalai
begitulah hati merindu kasih yang padu
bagaikan pepasir basah di simbah lautan
begitulah perjuangan ini
biar basah dengan iman dan ukhuwwah