Little Ant and all the soldiers from Unit 1 were at their positions, between the back of the bed and the wall. It was almost nightfall. Commander Unit 1 was in a meeting with other top generals, the soldiers were on their own. Some soldiers were more eager than others.
"Let's go! Let's go! Get into position under her pillow.", said Private 0105.
"Wait!", Little Ant yelled. "It isn't nightfall yet. The fat lady isn't in the bed fast asleep. There's no one there. We have to wait until she's there. Those are the Commander's orders."
"No more waiting! We've waited long enough. I'm sick and tired of waiting. Those who want to follow, come along. The other cowards, just watch the action from the sidelines! Haha..", laughed Private 0157.
A handful of them went. Not many though. Little Ant estimated around 20. He watched from the corner of the bed. If the fat lady found them, he could still make a fast escape back to safety. He saw the rogue ants position themselves around and under the pillow. They waited there for the fat lady.
Not long after, the ants from Unit 1 heard the key turn. They knew the time had come. The fat lady and the man had returned. It was only a few more hours before they would spring into action. The generals heard the key turn as well and were returning to their units to prepare for attack.
Little Ant heard the group of rogue ants talking.
"Yeah! She's back! We'll hit her the moment she gets into bed.", said Private 0197 enthusiastically.
"She won't even know what hit her. Ha ha ha.", laughed Private 0154.
"Yeah, we'll show those cowards!", said Private 0157, pointing at some of the soldiers from Unit 1 who had gathered to see what they were up to.
Little Ant felt the bed shake. He looked up to see that the fat lady had jumped on the bed. The man was there as well. He was seated on the side of the bed. He saw Private 0157 and 0154 running around the sides of the pillow. They were chasing each other. They didn't notice the fat lady was there.
"Hey guys! Stop fooling around. She's here! She's here!", Little Ant shouted at the top of his voice.
"Shut up coward! We're not afraid of her!", replied Private 0157.
They continued playing around the pillow and even climbed onto the top of the pillow. Little Ant was worried for them. He didn't want any more casualties from his Unit, even though these few were the biggest ant jerks. Ant Jocks he called them. Proud, arrogant and insensitive. They thought they were the strongest and best of the lot.
The fat lady moved closer to the pillow. Little Ant's heart dropped! He rushed out from his safety position to the corner of the pillow. He wanted to warn them. As he did that, he saw the fat lady's face move closer and closer to the pillow.
"Run guys! She's spotted you. Run before she crushes you!", shouted Little Ant from the corner of the pillow.
Private 0154 and 0157 took him seriously this time. They felt it. They felt a shadow come over them. They looked up and all they saw was a giant finger. It was too late. They knew it in their hearts. All they could do was try to run.
Little Ant watched in horror as they ran for their lives. Of course they were no match for the fat lady. Just the tip of her finger was a hundred times their size. She caught them, crushed them. She was looking for more of them. She was certain there were more. Little Ant could see it in her eyes. She was hungry for revenge after last night's attack.
"Run guys! Run back to base. She's coming after all of us.", Little Ant shouted, trying to warn the rest of the rogue ants as he was himself running back to safety.
He got back to the corner of the bed. Panting, he saw that the fat lady had turned over the pillow. "Oh no!", he thought, "Now she's going to spot the rest of the rogue ants hiding under the pillow. He saw her crush his friends with her fingers. She was sparing no one. After she finished those under the pillow, she moved the pillow away and attacked those who were trying to run back to base. She got them as well.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, Little Ant could do nothing but watch. He was powerless. He stood there motionless.
He saw the fat lady moving towards him. She had spotted a few rogue ants running back to base. She now knew where they were hiding. Luckily, it was a small entry way between the bed and the headboard to where they were hiding. Her fingers couldn't even fit through.
Little Ant retreated a little as the fat lady's face moved closer. He could see her giant eye balls peering into the entry way, looking for ants. She couldn't see them of course, because they were hiding between the bed and the wall.
He heard the General's voice calling all remaining soldiers back to base. He left immediately. Before leaving, he took a last look at those mean, peering, giant eye balls.
"This is not over.", he thought to himself.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Ants Vs Mary - Part II
The next day, they gathered again. Mr. Top Ant wanted to know the progress of the war. Calling his top generals, he asks for a report on the situation.
"General, what's the status of the war?", Mr. Top Ant asks the General of Unit 1.
"Mr. Top Ant, our unit was stationed at the top of the bed. We would like to report that our success was tremendous. We hid behind the fat lady's pillow until she fell asleep at night. When night fell, my unit ventured out. We managed to bite her multiple times. To be exact, 5 times on the butt, 1 on her side, 1 on her arm and 2 on her face. My top soldier even managed to hit her directly in the middle of her forehead, she now has a big red spot there!", the General proudly reported.
"Excellent work General! Anything else to report? Did we lose any men?", asked Mr. Top Ant.
"No sir! We were very fast with our work. We went in and out before the fat lady could spot us. We managed to injure another man as we retreated as well. We found him sleeping right next to the fat lady. We think he's her accomplice. We gave him a bite on the back and on the face as we were retreating.", replied the General.
"Good job General. Tell your men that I'm proud of them. They've done their fallen brothers justice. Go back to your positions. We shall attack again tonight. We shall attack until she admits defeat! Go General! Be safe!", said Mr. Top Ant.
"Yes sir", replied the General loudly.
The General of Unit 1 went back to his men, who were at their positions by the bed. The fat lady and the man was nowhere to be seen. The coast was clear. They gathered around the General.
"Men, I come back with new orders from Mr. Top Ant. He says to hold your positions and attack again tonight. He's happy with our progress. We must be more careful tonight though. The fat lady must suspect something awry. She's sure to do a thorough check of the bed. I suggest we hide between the back of the bed and the wall until the time is right to attack. Go men!! Let's avenge your fallen brothers!", commanded the General.
"Yes sir", replied the soldiers of Unit 1 loudly and proudly.
The soldiers in Unit 1 were proud to be avenging their brothers. Some of them had relatives in the unit that went down in their attack 2 months ago. The soldiers in Unit 8 were assigned to burrow in the rice. The ants were running low on food supplies and they tried to get anything they could get their hands on. The fat lady had found them and drowned them. Not only that, those that didn't drown she made suffer. Most of the soldiers in Unit 8 that had survived the drowning didn't survive that night. The fat lady had scattered some white powder all around them. All that crossed that white powder died slowly from the poison.
"I shall avenge my brother", thought Little Ant. He was the youngest of Unit 1. He saw the despair that mother and father experienced when they found out about the fate of Unit 8. They were all very proud of his brother, Big Ant. With determination in his eyes, Little Ant went back to his position and waited there till night fall.
"General, what's the status of the war?", Mr. Top Ant asks the General of Unit 1.
"Mr. Top Ant, our unit was stationed at the top of the bed. We would like to report that our success was tremendous. We hid behind the fat lady's pillow until she fell asleep at night. When night fell, my unit ventured out. We managed to bite her multiple times. To be exact, 5 times on the butt, 1 on her side, 1 on her arm and 2 on her face. My top soldier even managed to hit her directly in the middle of her forehead, she now has a big red spot there!", the General proudly reported.
"Excellent work General! Anything else to report? Did we lose any men?", asked Mr. Top Ant.
"No sir! We were very fast with our work. We went in and out before the fat lady could spot us. We managed to injure another man as we retreated as well. We found him sleeping right next to the fat lady. We think he's her accomplice. We gave him a bite on the back and on the face as we were retreating.", replied the General.
"Good job General. Tell your men that I'm proud of them. They've done their fallen brothers justice. Go back to your positions. We shall attack again tonight. We shall attack until she admits defeat! Go General! Be safe!", said Mr. Top Ant.
"Yes sir", replied the General loudly.
The General of Unit 1 went back to his men, who were at their positions by the bed. The fat lady and the man was nowhere to be seen. The coast was clear. They gathered around the General.
"Men, I come back with new orders from Mr. Top Ant. He says to hold your positions and attack again tonight. He's happy with our progress. We must be more careful tonight though. The fat lady must suspect something awry. She's sure to do a thorough check of the bed. I suggest we hide between the back of the bed and the wall until the time is right to attack. Go men!! Let's avenge your fallen brothers!", commanded the General.
"Yes sir", replied the soldiers of Unit 1 loudly and proudly.
The soldiers in Unit 1 were proud to be avenging their brothers. Some of them had relatives in the unit that went down in their attack 2 months ago. The soldiers in Unit 8 were assigned to burrow in the rice. The ants were running low on food supplies and they tried to get anything they could get their hands on. The fat lady had found them and drowned them. Not only that, those that didn't drown she made suffer. Most of the soldiers in Unit 8 that had survived the drowning didn't survive that night. The fat lady had scattered some white powder all around them. All that crossed that white powder died slowly from the poison.
"I shall avenge my brother", thought Little Ant. He was the youngest of Unit 1. He saw the despair that mother and father experienced when they found out about the fate of Unit 8. They were all very proud of his brother, Big Ant. With determination in his eyes, Little Ant went back to his position and waited there till night fall.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Ants Vs Mary - Part I
So the head ant, Mr. Top Ant, calls a meeting. He says to the bunch of them, "There's this fat lady always crushing our comrades with her giant stubby fingers!! We must do something! We mustn't let our comrades die in vain!!". The chorus of soldier ants, all dressed in black tops and red army pants shout, "Death to her!! Death to her!!".
Mr. Top Ant gathers all his top commanders. They sit around a giant bottle filled with yellow liquid (that would be my oil bottle). They seem to like the smell it emits and the slippery feel of the land. After a long meeting, they decide that the best way would be to kill the fat lady slowly but painfully. Confident that their venom from their tiny bites are the best way to go, the commanders then brief their individual units.
The top commander, Mr. Red Black (ok, so I'm not so creative with the names...can't possibly name them Bill or Jack or Tom right?) tells his unit, "Men, we are not going to lose this war. We shall multiply even as she tries to kill us. Multipliers, go do your thing!! As for the rest of us soldiers...fight on!! We must find a hiding place and ambush her from there. Attack in groups. Do as much damage as you can.".
Mr. Red Black asks his deputy, Mr No. 2, "From our statistics gathered by the team, where is the best place to hide? Where has the fat lady not done any casualties?". Mr No. 2 replies, "We should hide under her bed and ambush her when she sleeps. Another method is to hide in her panties. Our soldiers have noticed that she doesn't check her panties before she wears them. Now that will really hurt her! We can also hide in the toilets and attack her in the morning when she's still half asleep. She will barely notice our men there."
Mr. Red Black then address his unit again, "OK men! You heard Mr No. 2. Split into groups and concentrate on the bed, panties and toilet. Remember, be stealthy! Walk along the walls or crevices so that the fat lady doesn't notice you. Go men! Seek revenge for your brothers!!"
Mr. Top Ant gathers all his top commanders. They sit around a giant bottle filled with yellow liquid (that would be my oil bottle). They seem to like the smell it emits and the slippery feel of the land. After a long meeting, they decide that the best way would be to kill the fat lady slowly but painfully. Confident that their venom from their tiny bites are the best way to go, the commanders then brief their individual units.
The top commander, Mr. Red Black (ok, so I'm not so creative with the names...can't possibly name them Bill or Jack or Tom right?) tells his unit, "Men, we are not going to lose this war. We shall multiply even as she tries to kill us. Multipliers, go do your thing!! As for the rest of us soldiers...fight on!! We must find a hiding place and ambush her from there. Attack in groups. Do as much damage as you can.".
Mr. Red Black asks his deputy, Mr No. 2, "From our statistics gathered by the team, where is the best place to hide? Where has the fat lady not done any casualties?". Mr No. 2 replies, "We should hide under her bed and ambush her when she sleeps. Another method is to hide in her panties. Our soldiers have noticed that she doesn't check her panties before she wears them. Now that will really hurt her! We can also hide in the toilets and attack her in the morning when she's still half asleep. She will barely notice our men there."
Mr. Red Black then address his unit again, "OK men! You heard Mr No. 2. Split into groups and concentrate on the bed, panties and toilet. Remember, be stealthy! Walk along the walls or crevices so that the fat lady doesn't notice you. Go men! Seek revenge for your brothers!!"
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
They're back...
Had a lovely 10 day long holiday in KL. When I came back, guess who was there to greet me? My favourite guys...the half-black half-red ants!!
Not too sure what they were trying to do. It was pretty weird. I have this bottle of cooking oil. I put some kitchen towel under it to catch the oil drips. The ants were there, sort of just walking around and they had collected some sort of debris (which I can only guess is from the cement under my cooking hob and sink or the wood from the cupboards). Anyway, it seemed like they were trying to make some sort of nest or something. They were piles of it here and there. It wasn't scattered around; they were in groups. So anyway, cleaned that up.
Next morning, as I was brushing my teeth, felt something bite my ass. Got hubby to check. Was a red bump there. Damn ants!! Looked at the bed, found one or two walking around.
Later, went into the bathroom. We have a packet of cottonbuds by the sink. Bunch of ants in there, just nuzzling in the cotton!! Why? Why? I ask myself? What is it that these ants want? Anyway, washed that off.
Today morning, after my shower, took my panties out of the wardrobe. I usually don't inspect my panties but this time as I was about to wear it, I saw some spots. Thinking it was dirty, decided to take a closer look. Lo and behold! ALOT...seriously ALOT of ants there. Don't even want to imagine what it would be like to have worn those panties on without knowing. Painful is a word that comes to mind though.
I give up! I seriously keep the house really nice and clean (because of the ants) but apparently, indonesian ants are not like normal ants. They're not after the sweets and food. They've got altered tastes.
HELP! Someone? Anyone? Shed some light here...
Not too sure what they were trying to do. It was pretty weird. I have this bottle of cooking oil. I put some kitchen towel under it to catch the oil drips. The ants were there, sort of just walking around and they had collected some sort of debris (which I can only guess is from the cement under my cooking hob and sink or the wood from the cupboards). Anyway, it seemed like they were trying to make some sort of nest or something. They were piles of it here and there. It wasn't scattered around; they were in groups. So anyway, cleaned that up.
Next morning, as I was brushing my teeth, felt something bite my ass. Got hubby to check. Was a red bump there. Damn ants!! Looked at the bed, found one or two walking around.
Later, went into the bathroom. We have a packet of cottonbuds by the sink. Bunch of ants in there, just nuzzling in the cotton!! Why? Why? I ask myself? What is it that these ants want? Anyway, washed that off.
Today morning, after my shower, took my panties out of the wardrobe. I usually don't inspect my panties but this time as I was about to wear it, I saw some spots. Thinking it was dirty, decided to take a closer look. Lo and behold! ALOT...seriously ALOT of ants there. Don't even want to imagine what it would be like to have worn those panties on without knowing. Painful is a word that comes to mind though.
I give up! I seriously keep the house really nice and clean (because of the ants) but apparently, indonesian ants are not like normal ants. They're not after the sweets and food. They've got altered tastes.
HELP! Someone? Anyone? Shed some light here...
Friday, November 13, 2009
Weird dreams
When I was in Singapore (at the lousy Bencoolen Hotel, wouldn't recommend it), I had this weird dream.
I dreamt that we found out that our friend, Benjamin, had a secret son that no one knew about. His son was also called Benjamin. So I was telling Jason, "Benjamin told me he had a son called Benjamin". Then Jason was like, "What?". Then I said, "Benjamin just found out he had a son. Benjamin's son is also called Benjamin". Then we started laughing uncontrollably because we found that it was hillarious that that sentence contained so many "Benjamins".
Strange and doesn't have any meaning, I know. Told you it was weird. Anyway, cut scene (yeah, like in hollywood movies). We're sleeping in Bencoolen Hotel (so it seems pretty real). I was awake and Jason was sleeping. I could see his pupils moving, so I knew he was dreaming. I had this cool ability to see what other people were dreaming. So of course, I tapped into his dream. Guess what? He was dreaming about having an affair. There was another lady and everything but I couldn't see her face.
Anyway, I was awoken by some noises. There was this deep voice speaking. My first thought was that Jason was in the bathroom having a secret conversation with his mistress. But then I came to realise that his voice wasn't that deep. I quickly turned to my right to see if he was still in bed. Yes, he was! *phew* sigh of relief.
It was then I realized that the noise was from our neighbors at the hotel (the walls are really wafer thin) and that the noise was real and the dream was a dream (I couldn't differentiate for a while because it was all in the current situation). Then I continued to listen to my neighbors chat about (it's 4am by the way) and brush their teeth and flush the toilet before heading off to bed.
Strange dream, Bencoolen Hotel (not recommended, can't stress this enough), wafer thin walls and Singapore. What a combination!
I dreamt that we found out that our friend, Benjamin, had a secret son that no one knew about. His son was also called Benjamin. So I was telling Jason, "Benjamin told me he had a son called Benjamin". Then Jason was like, "What?". Then I said, "Benjamin just found out he had a son. Benjamin's son is also called Benjamin". Then we started laughing uncontrollably because we found that it was hillarious that that sentence contained so many "Benjamins".
Strange and doesn't have any meaning, I know. Told you it was weird. Anyway, cut scene (yeah, like in hollywood movies). We're sleeping in Bencoolen Hotel (so it seems pretty real). I was awake and Jason was sleeping. I could see his pupils moving, so I knew he was dreaming. I had this cool ability to see what other people were dreaming. So of course, I tapped into his dream. Guess what? He was dreaming about having an affair. There was another lady and everything but I couldn't see her face.
Anyway, I was awoken by some noises. There was this deep voice speaking. My first thought was that Jason was in the bathroom having a secret conversation with his mistress. But then I came to realise that his voice wasn't that deep. I quickly turned to my right to see if he was still in bed. Yes, he was! *phew* sigh of relief.
It was then I realized that the noise was from our neighbors at the hotel (the walls are really wafer thin) and that the noise was real and the dream was a dream (I couldn't differentiate for a while because it was all in the current situation). Then I continued to listen to my neighbors chat about (it's 4am by the way) and brush their teeth and flush the toilet before heading off to bed.
Strange dream, Bencoolen Hotel (not recommended, can't stress this enough), wafer thin walls and Singapore. What a combination!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Oh for the love of airports!
Jakarta International Airport. What can I say? One of the worst International Airports I've been to. Imagine our old Subang Airport. Remember, 20 years ago, the time when Subang Airport was still our International Airport? That's how Jakarta International Airport is like. Seriously, when I stepped out of the plane for the first time, I thought I was brought back in time to our Subang Airport.
We had our full Jakarta International Airport experience when we left for our weekend in Singapore. Check-in was no problem but we had a shock when we discovered that they charged a Rp150,000 airport service charge for International flights. That's pretty steep!
I'd bought a cheap Air Asia ticket back to KL the other day that only cost me RM34 all inclusive. That would mean that I'm paying more for the airport tax (RM50) than I am for my ticket. Now, that's just plain silly!
Anyway, we were early for our flight and decided to have a bite to eat. A walk down the short walkway to the boarding gate proved that they didn't have much to offer in that area. There was a Starbucks, a deserted foodcourt, a quaint little creperie and a curry puff place.
Left without many options, we decided to forgo the meal. We headed to the holding room where we thought we'd just sit and wait. After going through the security checks, we got kicked out because there was already some people there from the flight before us. We were told we should come back later.
Leaving the holding room, we found that Jakarta International Airport didn't believe in providing many seats for it's customers (even with the steep Airport Tax they're charging). Every 500m or so, there were a bunch of 4 chairs or 2 chairs. We decided that we'd probably be more comfortable in a restaurant, seeing as we had so much time on our hands.
Honesly, we didn't bring much Rupiahs with us, as we assumed we wouldn't need much, other than for the taxi fare back home when we got back. After the airport tax, we weren't left with much, if we wanted to make it home from the Airport. So, we decided to take the cheapest option, a curry puff.
The curry puff wasn't too bad, but the shop was steaming hot! Seriously, doesn't anyone believe in a/c's anymore? After gulping down our hot curry puff in the hot restaurant, we quickly proceeded to the sparse sitting area and hoped that there would be some seats.
We found 2 seats, sat down and read our newspaper until it was time to board the plane. Before going into the holding room, I decided to visit the toilet (my most favourite thing to do in Jakarta, seeing as how all the toilets are so clean and never leave any surprises). Went in to one toilet, there was only 1 stall. In an International Airport, only 1 STALL! There were two ladies in there waiting. One was standing, the other was washing her foot in the sink. YES!! Washing her foot in the SINK, ladies and gentleman.
After waiting for what seemed like forever for the lady in the stall to leave, I decided to go find another toilet. This one also had only 1 stall but it was available. Seriously dirty, with tissue paper strewn all over the floor and wet and smelly. Even by Malaysian standards (and we have really dirty toilets), this toilet was an abomination! Held my breath and did my deed and left there as soon as I could. Didn't even stay to wash my hands and resorted to wet wipes that I always keep in my bag.
So, if you're ever in Jakarta, maybe you want to use the toilet in the plane before it lands! Just my advice anyway.
We had our full Jakarta International Airport experience when we left for our weekend in Singapore. Check-in was no problem but we had a shock when we discovered that they charged a Rp150,000 airport service charge for International flights. That's pretty steep!
I'd bought a cheap Air Asia ticket back to KL the other day that only cost me RM34 all inclusive. That would mean that I'm paying more for the airport tax (RM50) than I am for my ticket. Now, that's just plain silly!
Anyway, we were early for our flight and decided to have a bite to eat. A walk down the short walkway to the boarding gate proved that they didn't have much to offer in that area. There was a Starbucks, a deserted foodcourt, a quaint little creperie and a curry puff place.
Left without many options, we decided to forgo the meal. We headed to the holding room where we thought we'd just sit and wait. After going through the security checks, we got kicked out because there was already some people there from the flight before us. We were told we should come back later.
Leaving the holding room, we found that Jakarta International Airport didn't believe in providing many seats for it's customers (even with the steep Airport Tax they're charging). Every 500m or so, there were a bunch of 4 chairs or 2 chairs. We decided that we'd probably be more comfortable in a restaurant, seeing as we had so much time on our hands.
Honesly, we didn't bring much Rupiahs with us, as we assumed we wouldn't need much, other than for the taxi fare back home when we got back. After the airport tax, we weren't left with much, if we wanted to make it home from the Airport. So, we decided to take the cheapest option, a curry puff.
The curry puff wasn't too bad, but the shop was steaming hot! Seriously, doesn't anyone believe in a/c's anymore? After gulping down our hot curry puff in the hot restaurant, we quickly proceeded to the sparse sitting area and hoped that there would be some seats.
We found 2 seats, sat down and read our newspaper until it was time to board the plane. Before going into the holding room, I decided to visit the toilet (my most favourite thing to do in Jakarta, seeing as how all the toilets are so clean and never leave any surprises). Went in to one toilet, there was only 1 stall. In an International Airport, only 1 STALL! There were two ladies in there waiting. One was standing, the other was washing her foot in the sink. YES!! Washing her foot in the SINK, ladies and gentleman.
After waiting for what seemed like forever for the lady in the stall to leave, I decided to go find another toilet. This one also had only 1 stall but it was available. Seriously dirty, with tissue paper strewn all over the floor and wet and smelly. Even by Malaysian standards (and we have really dirty toilets), this toilet was an abomination! Held my breath and did my deed and left there as soon as I could. Didn't even stay to wash my hands and resorted to wet wipes that I always keep in my bag.
So, if you're ever in Jakarta, maybe you want to use the toilet in the plane before it lands! Just my advice anyway.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Indonesian Roadtrip - Part 3
Next morning, hubby had a training session in the morning, so we left Semarang at 1230. Was a short trip to the next town; Kudus. Took about an hour and a half. I didn't need a toilet stop!
We had lunch at this tiny shop by the roadside. It didn't look good from the outside. I imagined all sorts of flies and insects flying about the food but was pleasantly surprised that there were close to none.
We had our delicious Soto Ayam. Excellent food! The best I've had all through the roadtrip. My only complaint was that the shop was so hot!! Really really hot and stuffy. I left with delight in my belly but a headache from the heat.
The last stretch of our roadtrip was from Kudus to Solo. I was told that there were 2 ways there. One way takes 2 1/2 hours but the roads were bad, really bumpy and full of potholes. Another way would take 4 1/2 hours but the roads were better.
MD and hubby both decided that the longer route would be a better choice since I was pregnant. I, personally, would have preferred to brave the bad roads and have a shorter trip but was afraid that it would badly affect the baby. Hubby was worried that all the shaking would shake the baby out as well! =)
We took the longer route and stopped for satay on the way. Very different from our local satay. It was sweet, which I found pretty odd.
We finally arrived Solo and stayed at Best Western. Excellent hotel. Beautiful and great service (but in Indonesia, the service is good almost anywhere). Speed Demon Denny was to drive home the next day. All the way from Solo to Jakarta. He started at 12 in the afternoon and arrived and 2 am!! Poor guy.
We, on the other hand, took a flight back on Lion Air to Jakarta, 1 day after Speed Demon Denny left (hubby and MD had more meetings). It was an old plane and it freaked me out because the engines were so loud. I could distinctly hear them accelerating and decelerating. At one point, I actually didn't hear anything and thought we were going to drop out of the sky!! Landing was scary, was pretty shaky and not too stable. Not sure if that was the pilot's fault of the plane's fault though. Poor hubby had finger nail marks on his hand after we landed!
We had lunch at this tiny shop by the roadside. It didn't look good from the outside. I imagined all sorts of flies and insects flying about the food but was pleasantly surprised that there were close to none.
We had our delicious Soto Ayam. Excellent food! The best I've had all through the roadtrip. My only complaint was that the shop was so hot!! Really really hot and stuffy. I left with delight in my belly but a headache from the heat.
The last stretch of our roadtrip was from Kudus to Solo. I was told that there were 2 ways there. One way takes 2 1/2 hours but the roads were bad, really bumpy and full of potholes. Another way would take 4 1/2 hours but the roads were better.
MD and hubby both decided that the longer route would be a better choice since I was pregnant. I, personally, would have preferred to brave the bad roads and have a shorter trip but was afraid that it would badly affect the baby. Hubby was worried that all the shaking would shake the baby out as well! =)
We took the longer route and stopped for satay on the way. Very different from our local satay. It was sweet, which I found pretty odd.
We finally arrived Solo and stayed at Best Western. Excellent hotel. Beautiful and great service (but in Indonesia, the service is good almost anywhere). Speed Demon Denny was to drive home the next day. All the way from Solo to Jakarta. He started at 12 in the afternoon and arrived and 2 am!! Poor guy.
We, on the other hand, took a flight back on Lion Air to Jakarta, 1 day after Speed Demon Denny left (hubby and MD had more meetings). It was an old plane and it freaked me out because the engines were so loud. I could distinctly hear them accelerating and decelerating. At one point, I actually didn't hear anything and thought we were going to drop out of the sky!! Landing was scary, was pretty shaky and not too stable. Not sure if that was the pilot's fault of the plane's fault though. Poor hubby had finger nail marks on his hand after we landed!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Indonesian Roadtrip - Part 2
We finished at Purwokerto around 1830. We had to continue our journey to Semarang, where we'd booked a hotel room for the night. The trip was SUPPOSED to take 2 1/2 hours, but of course, things are not quite that simple!
The regional manager of that particular insurance company was also heading to Semarang. He apparently knew a shorter way there. Both MD and Speed Demon Denny were unsure of the way, so we tailed his car. The roads were horrible; winding and hilly. I had to sit very very still to keep myself from vomiting!
After travelling for an hour or so, we stopped for dinner. It was a restaurant which I thought looked relatively clean from the outside. We were greeted by a very oily floor, strange insects (that I can only describe as a cross between a fly and a beetle) and mosquitoes.
The first table that we were directed to had plenty of those fly-beetle insects on the seat, so we moved to another. Seated, we were asked what we would like to drink. Looking at the menu, coconut seemed like a good choice. "Es Jus Kelapa Muda", we said. In view of the long trip ahead, we decided to share a drink.
Our Es Jus Kelapa Muda arrived. It was pink in color. PINK!! Hmm..Staring at it suspiciously, I asked hubby to take the first sip. He said, "Don't know what it is, but got coconut bits inside". I decided to take the dive.
Sip number 1.
It was very sweet and cold. There WERE coconut bits floating in there but the drink tasted nothing like coconut water.
*deep breath*
Sip number 2.
This was done both to try and determine what was in that odd looking drink and also to decide if I was going to continue with the drink. There were coconut bits, rose syrup and unmistakably milk. So basically, air bandung with coconut. Yea, not for me!
Dinner was done, time to face my nightmare. Going to the toilet! It was relatively clean but I left the toilet this time, feeling like I'd trapped a mosquito in my panties.
We continue our journey rather incident free and finally arrived at our hotel in Semarang at 2345. Tally: 5 hours and 15 minutes, deducting 30 minutes for dinner, final tally: 4 hours and 45 minutes.
The regional manager of that particular insurance company was also heading to Semarang. He apparently knew a shorter way there. Both MD and Speed Demon Denny were unsure of the way, so we tailed his car. The roads were horrible; winding and hilly. I had to sit very very still to keep myself from vomiting!
After travelling for an hour or so, we stopped for dinner. It was a restaurant which I thought looked relatively clean from the outside. We were greeted by a very oily floor, strange insects (that I can only describe as a cross between a fly and a beetle) and mosquitoes.
The first table that we were directed to had plenty of those fly-beetle insects on the seat, so we moved to another. Seated, we were asked what we would like to drink. Looking at the menu, coconut seemed like a good choice. "Es Jus Kelapa Muda", we said. In view of the long trip ahead, we decided to share a drink.
Our Es Jus Kelapa Muda arrived. It was pink in color. PINK!! Hmm..Staring at it suspiciously, I asked hubby to take the first sip. He said, "Don't know what it is, but got coconut bits inside". I decided to take the dive.
Sip number 1.
It was very sweet and cold. There WERE coconut bits floating in there but the drink tasted nothing like coconut water.
*deep breath*
Sip number 2.
This was done both to try and determine what was in that odd looking drink and also to decide if I was going to continue with the drink. There were coconut bits, rose syrup and unmistakably milk. So basically, air bandung with coconut. Yea, not for me!
Dinner was done, time to face my nightmare. Going to the toilet! It was relatively clean but I left the toilet this time, feeling like I'd trapped a mosquito in my panties.
We continue our journey rather incident free and finally arrived at our hotel in Semarang at 2345. Tally: 5 hours and 15 minutes, deducting 30 minutes for dinner, final tally: 4 hours and 45 minutes.
Friday, November 6, 2009
My Indonesian Roadtrip - Part 1
My hubby and his MD were conducting several training sessions in Central Java. To my knowledge, they were driving through a few towns and conducting those sessions and we would continue on until our last stop, where we would fly back to jakarta.
Little did i know that it was a LONG trip. In my mind, it was like: drive for 2 or 3 hours to the first town, stop for training, stay a night and continue on the next day. Was i mistaken!
We started our trip from the office in Jakarta at 0730. Fought through the jam and finally got on the highway. Relatively easy traffic on the highway, so we stopped at one of the rest stops for breakfast.
After breakfast, we continued on our journey. That's when it got "interesting". Leaving the highway for tiny two-laned village roads, traffic was heavy with lorries, trucks and motorcycles, but with two-lanes, it was still possible to get by the heavy vehicles easily.
Being 5 months pregnant meant that the toilet was my best friend. Travelling through tiny villages and not on the highway with nice rest stops every few kilometers was more than unnerving. But my loving hubby was very considerate, asking me every now and then if i needed to use the washroom.
My washroom experience
Stop 1 was at a Pertamina petrol station (it's their local petrol company, like our petronas). Not too bad. Of course not 5-star hotel standard but wasn't as stinky and dirty as i expected. Mildly pleased!
Stop 2 was at another petrol station but this one was a tiny one. Wasn't even Pertamina. Walked in, there were several stalls. Looked in, there were plenty of flies swarming around the toilet. SWARMING! That's how many there were. So many that they could be considered a swarm! At least fifty I estimated.
Having no choice (and not wanting to be a spoiled brat and requesting another stop at a better petrol station), I closed the door behind me while trying to device a plan to prevent the flies from landing on important parts of my body that would soon be exposed!
My ingenious plan (though not so, after going through with it) was to flap my hands continuosly around my "important body parts" as i squatted and tried my best to pee. The toilet wasn't very wide: just enough for one to squat.
Imagine a 5 month pregnant woman (whose waist is now 33 inches in size). Well, 5 month pregnant woman can be interchanged easily with the phrases humpty dumpty, giant ball or clumsy fat lady! So anyway, imagine me trying to squat (difficult enough), then trying to maintain my balance while flapping my hands around wildly and trying to keep a calm mind so that i would be able to pee.
Lost my balance more than a few times, with one of them with my naked butt hitting the wall behind me. While imagining the horror of the amount of bacteria that were now on my butt from touching the spot where swarms of flies were gathered, I temporarily lost my concentration and nearly fell face down into the little puddle of water in front of me (which I can only imagine is a mixture of pee, dirty Indonesian tap water and many other horrible things). Thankfully, i regained my concentration soon enough and didn't fall.
Trying my best to expel as much urine as i could and as fast as i could in such a stressful situation, i got out there as soon as i could, with this horrible feeling that I'd trapped a fly in my panties right where my "important body part" was. In fact, i could still feel it flying around in my panties 10 minutes away from the petrol station!
After that last stop, i decided that it would be in my best interest to hold it in as best as i could before resorting to anymore toilet stops as the villages we were passing by were getting smaller and smaller.
We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. Walking in i saw that it was "chap fan" style (mixed rice, where there were plenty of dishes for you to choose from to go with your rice). It was in a glass cabinet together with my good friends, the flies. Having no choice, i selected my dishes while praying that I didn't get a nice bout of diarrhea that my husband is so prone to.
After my lunch, made a visit to the washroom again. My review: after stop number 2, any washroom is acceptable. I spent an extra long amount of time in the toilet, trying to empty my bladder as best I could.
Back on the road, it had turned to single lanes! Not only single lanes, but windy, narrow lanes. Imagine the lanes in the housing area in usj, it's half that! We were running late and our driver (who shall henceforth be known as speed demon Denny) was trying his level best to get us there on time.
Fate wasn't on his side as he was faced with heavy traffic on both our lane and the oncoming traffic lane. Weaving in and out of oncoming traffic, i tried not to look so that i wouldn't get a panic attack. Instead, i turned my gaze to the scenery on my left and right.
Scenery was nice. Plenty of green paddy fields on my left and right. After the millionth paddy field, it seemed to have a lulling effect on me and i drifted off to sleep.
I awoke to Speed Demon Denny still weaving in and out of oncoming traffic. We still weren't there yet! Non one knew how long it was going to take, not even my hubby's MD nor Speed Demon Denny. Apparently, they weren't sure of the way.
Anyway, long story short, we finally arrived at our intended destination at 1615. That would make it 8 hours and 45 minutes. Well, in all fairness, we did stop for breakfast and lunch. So let's deduct, say, an hour and a hlaf, so that makes our trip from Jakarta to the tiny town of Purwokerto around 7 hours and 15 minutes!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Knocked down again
After I posted the whole "Dejeweled Housewife" thing, I continued on my quest to get on the leader boards of bejeweled. I finally had a fluke good game of 230k and was sooo happy. I topped the score of my brother and sister-in-law.
Yesterday, checked the scores again, "Ahhh...still there!".
Today morning, I have 3 notices on Facebook. Not only did my brother and sister-in-law top my score, another friend did too! So from No. 1, I have been bumped down to No.4!
Well, I blame my poor performance on the Internet connection here. It's so slow that sometimes, it hangs a little, and by the time it comes back, I've already lost 10 seconds. OK, OK, we all know that's just an excuse, but I have to put the blame on someone right?
So I choose to believe that it's not my skill but the lousy internet connection that I have! Let me repeat again, it's the INTERNET CONNECTION! NOT ME! INTERNET CONNECTION!
Yesterday, checked the scores again, "Ahhh...still there!".
Today morning, I have 3 notices on Facebook. Not only did my brother and sister-in-law top my score, another friend did too! So from No. 1, I have been bumped down to No.4!
Well, I blame my poor performance on the Internet connection here. It's so slow that sometimes, it hangs a little, and by the time it comes back, I've already lost 10 seconds. OK, OK, we all know that's just an excuse, but I have to put the blame on someone right?
So I choose to believe that it's not my skill but the lousy internet connection that I have! Let me repeat again, it's the INTERNET CONNECTION! NOT ME! INTERNET CONNECTION!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Ah! The bane of ants - Part II
As you all know, we've been having some problems with the weird half-black half-red ants here, that don't attack sweet things, but instead love wooden spoons and towels.
I was actually having a good week. Every morning, when I come out, they seemed to be steadily decreasing in numbers. I thought I was doing a pretty good job by crushing them with my fingers. We don't use insecticide, simply because it's the food preparation area. We're getting enough digestion problems from the food here. Wouldn't want to add poisoning to the list.
There was this one day I noticed that there were some ants on the floor near the dustbin. A quick check and I found that there weren't any ants in the dustbin or any trails leading up to the mouth of the bin. "No worries then", I thought. Just crushed the ones that I saw.
So, on a Saturday, I was about to boil some rice for dinner. We just keep the rice in it's original packaging in the bottom shelf of the cupboard. It's of course sealed with those plastic clip thingamajig. Take the bag of rice out and it's flooded with ants. Hundreds of them at least. I don't know if they were trying to make their little nest there or what...
We were dumb founded! Just sat there and looked at it. What do you do? How do you separate out the ants from the rice? You can't sift it, cause the rice is too big and the ants obviously are not stationary. It's late, we're hungry, so we just take out the amount of rice we need and decide to leave the whole bag of rice outside on the balcony.
The next day, we go to the supermarket and buy this chalk thingamajig. I've never seen such a thing before, but my hubby has. He said they used to use it when he was younger and that this was pretty effective. All you need to do is draw a line and the ants cannot cross it. Sounded good. Was also very cheap. So, we buy a pack to try.
We come home and test it out on the many ants running wild on our balcony. It does work. Well, eventually the ant walks across the chalk, but eventually, he dies anyway. So, we decide to sun the rice on plastic sheets, hoping the ants will leave and get killed by the chalk. Upon closer inspection, we realize that the whole bag of rice is damp! Oh crap! Then I remember that it did rain yesterday.
Well, since the rice is already damp, we decide to wash the rice and try to get all the ants drowned. After we did the whole drowning thingy, we decide that we should dry it inside the house since the weather is a little unpredictable. It's actually supposed to be rainy season here but it just rains whenever it wants and not necessarily every day like in KL. So we spread it on plastic sheets as thinly as possible. The only place that have free space in this whole apartment is our bedroom. So we put it there by the window (well, wouldn't call it a window since it doesn't open, but that's a whole other blog topic).
The ants are still there, but they seemed dead. They didn't move. Decided to leave it there for say 30 minutes and come back and check-up on it. Closed the door.
Come back 30 minutes later, the whole room smells of pandan (cause we bought pandan rice). Look at the rice and there are ants ALL OVER!! Those stationary ants were just unconscious. They weren't dead. So, apparently, it's not that easy to drown an ant.
Hubby brings in the chalk and draws lines around the plastic sheets. We can't do anything else. All we wanted to do was prevent the ants from roaming to our cupboards, where they would no doubt have the time of their lives burrowing in our freshly laundered clothes.
At night, when we were preparing to sleep, we decided to move the rice out to the living room and draw lines there as well. Come out in the morning to a beautiful sight! Ant corpses strewn all across the floor. I think most of the ants tried to venture out from the chalk lines at night and as a result suffered what I could only hope was a painful death! =P
Ah...peace from ants for almost two days now. Could this be forever or is there a Part III coming up? I hope it's the former.
I was actually having a good week. Every morning, when I come out, they seemed to be steadily decreasing in numbers. I thought I was doing a pretty good job by crushing them with my fingers. We don't use insecticide, simply because it's the food preparation area. We're getting enough digestion problems from the food here. Wouldn't want to add poisoning to the list.
There was this one day I noticed that there were some ants on the floor near the dustbin. A quick check and I found that there weren't any ants in the dustbin or any trails leading up to the mouth of the bin. "No worries then", I thought. Just crushed the ones that I saw.
So, on a Saturday, I was about to boil some rice for dinner. We just keep the rice in it's original packaging in the bottom shelf of the cupboard. It's of course sealed with those plastic clip thingamajig. Take the bag of rice out and it's flooded with ants. Hundreds of them at least. I don't know if they were trying to make their little nest there or what...
We were dumb founded! Just sat there and looked at it. What do you do? How do you separate out the ants from the rice? You can't sift it, cause the rice is too big and the ants obviously are not stationary. It's late, we're hungry, so we just take out the amount of rice we need and decide to leave the whole bag of rice outside on the balcony.
The next day, we go to the supermarket and buy this chalk thingamajig. I've never seen such a thing before, but my hubby has. He said they used to use it when he was younger and that this was pretty effective. All you need to do is draw a line and the ants cannot cross it. Sounded good. Was also very cheap. So, we buy a pack to try.
We come home and test it out on the many ants running wild on our balcony. It does work. Well, eventually the ant walks across the chalk, but eventually, he dies anyway. So, we decide to sun the rice on plastic sheets, hoping the ants will leave and get killed by the chalk. Upon closer inspection, we realize that the whole bag of rice is damp! Oh crap! Then I remember that it did rain yesterday.
Well, since the rice is already damp, we decide to wash the rice and try to get all the ants drowned. After we did the whole drowning thingy, we decide that we should dry it inside the house since the weather is a little unpredictable. It's actually supposed to be rainy season here but it just rains whenever it wants and not necessarily every day like in KL. So we spread it on plastic sheets as thinly as possible. The only place that have free space in this whole apartment is our bedroom. So we put it there by the window (well, wouldn't call it a window since it doesn't open, but that's a whole other blog topic).
The ants are still there, but they seemed dead. They didn't move. Decided to leave it there for say 30 minutes and come back and check-up on it. Closed the door.
Come back 30 minutes later, the whole room smells of pandan (cause we bought pandan rice). Look at the rice and there are ants ALL OVER!! Those stationary ants were just unconscious. They weren't dead. So, apparently, it's not that easy to drown an ant.
Hubby brings in the chalk and draws lines around the plastic sheets. We can't do anything else. All we wanted to do was prevent the ants from roaming to our cupboards, where they would no doubt have the time of their lives burrowing in our freshly laundered clothes.
At night, when we were preparing to sleep, we decided to move the rice out to the living room and draw lines there as well. Come out in the morning to a beautiful sight! Ant corpses strewn all across the floor. I think most of the ants tried to venture out from the chalk lines at night and as a result suffered what I could only hope was a painful death! =P
Ah...peace from ants for almost two days now. Could this be forever or is there a Part III coming up? I hope it's the former.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Dejeweled Housewife
There's this current craze for the game Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. Yes, you've probably tried it once or twice if you're not currently having it running in your background waiting for it to load as you are reading this.
I have, of course, also bought into this craze and you can be sure that it is loaded on one of my tabs for as long as the computer is turned on.
Almost everyone plays it. But can everyone do it well? Nope! I can attest to that fact. Getting say the 25k, 50k or even 75k Badge is a simple enough feat. But then you see these ridiculous scores of 200k or 300k. What in the ..? How are people even managing that?
One of the many people that are whopping my ass at this game is unfortunately my second brother. Me and my brother have always been pretty competitive when it comes to games. Although he's 5 years my senior, we get along very well and I have been trying to beat him at all sorts of games since I was young. I remember when we were younger, we used to play in the backseat of the car. Daddy was driving, so of course he didn't have any view of what was really happening. So sometimes, when I got sick of losing, I would cry and claim that "Richard beat me!". My brother would get a nice scolding and I would be satisfied! Haha.. =)
My sister-in-law is like the Queen Bee of Bejeweled. She gets scores that are totally ridiculous! How in the world people manage that is beyond my comprehension. I have yet to get a chance to stand behind her as she plays to see what she's doing so differently than I am.
So here I sit, everyday, wasting hours of my life, just trying to get a high score on Bejeweled. One minute is too short when you've got too many matches and too long when you can't seem to find any matches. Someone, please throw me a bone, put me out of my misery, and tell me how to beat this silly game!
I have, of course, also bought into this craze and you can be sure that it is loaded on one of my tabs for as long as the computer is turned on.
Almost everyone plays it. But can everyone do it well? Nope! I can attest to that fact. Getting say the 25k, 50k or even 75k Badge is a simple enough feat. But then you see these ridiculous scores of 200k or 300k. What in the ..? How are people even managing that?
One of the many people that are whopping my ass at this game is unfortunately my second brother. Me and my brother have always been pretty competitive when it comes to games. Although he's 5 years my senior, we get along very well and I have been trying to beat him at all sorts of games since I was young. I remember when we were younger, we used to play in the backseat of the car. Daddy was driving, so of course he didn't have any view of what was really happening. So sometimes, when I got sick of losing, I would cry and claim that "Richard beat me!". My brother would get a nice scolding and I would be satisfied! Haha.. =)
My sister-in-law is like the Queen Bee of Bejeweled. She gets scores that are totally ridiculous! How in the world people manage that is beyond my comprehension. I have yet to get a chance to stand behind her as she plays to see what she's doing so differently than I am.
So here I sit, everyday, wasting hours of my life, just trying to get a high score on Bejeweled. One minute is too short when you've got too many matches and too long when you can't seem to find any matches. Someone, please throw me a bone, put me out of my misery, and tell me how to beat this silly game!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ragunan Zoo through my eyes
We went to the Jakarta Zoo last Saturday. It's called Ragunan Zoo. I heard from a Malaysian friend staying here in Jakarta that it's pretty popular with the locals. To quote her, "everyone and their uncles go there during the weekends". Well, I wish I knew this little morsel of information before I went there.
Anyway, that wouldn't have stopped us. Me and my hubby are Zoo people. We go to the Zoo of most countries or cities that we visit. So, that being said, I'm fairly certain that I have enough exposure to review this beloved Zoo that the Jakarta people love so much.
To begin with, we took forever to get to the Zoo because of the traffic. Jammed on this road, a long row of cars parked on the side of that road, a gazillion motorcycles taking over a lane on the other road. You get the picture.
After enduring the jams, we finally got to the entrance of the Zoo. Nice big arch with the name inscribed on it. Pretty impressive I thought. Then I looked to the left. Holy Crap! Another gazillion motorcycles parked there. OK. So parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunties and probably long lost relatives flock to the Zoo here on weekends. I asked my driver, "Alot of people like to come to the Zoo on weekends?". "Ya, ya!" was his reply. That doesn't sound good.
The only thing I could possibly not like about Zoo's (cause I LOVE ZOO'S) is the poor condition of the animals and all the screaming children running around the animal enclosures. Little did I know that I wouldn't have to worry about that here. The children in the Zoo couldn't be bothered much about the animals. Most families go there to picnic and play at the playgrounds.
We pay the entrance fee, Rp4000 for adults.That's only about RM1.40. Parking on the other hand, cost us Rp5000, RM1.80. What?!? Parking is more expensive than the entrance fee? That's so absurd. Not that I'm complaining that it's costly or anything, cause it's dirt cheap, but it's weird. Then they hand us this bunch of tickets and receipts.
One of them is an Insurance Premium receipt! It says:
Dengan membayar premi sebesar Rp. 500,- setiap orangnya pengelola mengansuransikan pengunjungnya terhadap risiko kecelakaan diri kepada Ansuransi Kerugian PT. Ansuransi bangun Askrida dengan nilai pertanggungan untuk:
Meninggal Dunia : Rp 16.0000.000,-
Cacat Tetap : Rp 10.000.000,-
Biaya Perawatan : Rp 1.000.000,-
To be honest, I only noticed it after we got home and my hubby showed it to me. If I had known earlier, I probably would have been freaked out and not gone inside. What in the world did they expect could happen in the Zoo? Do the animals regularly escape and wreak havoc with the visitors? Are there monkeys jumping around freely in the Zoo? Such thoughts would have been running wild in my head. But thankfully, I didn't know as hubby was keeping all the tickets and documents and we continued into the Zoo after we found a parking spot.
The first thing we saw when we got inside was ALOT of people gathered at a rather big field and really loud music blaring. Is that people I see playing games? Yes!! After conferring with my driver, I found out that the Zoo regularly rents out this place for company family days or gatherings. OK. I'm thinking all that noise can't be too calming for the animals.
Next thing we see is a bunch of street vendors littering the streets of the zoo. ALOT of vendors!! Selling snacks and drinks. One thing people in Jakarta are, are industrious. They sell snacks even on the roads, while you're stopped at the traffic lights or during traffic jams.
Ah! And there's a playground there. Nothing strange about that though. Alot of European Zoo's have playgrounds to entertain the children. Oh, but wait! Towards the end of our trip to the Zoo, we come across an amusement park! Seriously, an amusement park filled with rides and games etc. Now, that's weird.
Now, we've been walking quite a bit now and we haven't seen a single animal yet. Notice anything wrong with this scenario. I'm starting to think this Zoo doesn't have much animals. Still, giving it the benefit of the doubt, I just figured that this was a really really big Zoo. That fact was true. It's really big (space wise). It has three exits; north, south and main. That's how big it is.
Their collection of animals we notice are not too great. Just the more common ones like flamingoes, storks, bats, reptiles etc.
An interesting exhibit is always the lion exhibit. We find a lion all right. A balding male! BALDING. I wish I could upload the pictures for you but my laptop is not here yet. Be sure to keep an eye on this space cause when I get it I'm going to upload it for sure. This is not a sight to be missed. I'm not sure if it's because of old age or the stress of all the noise, but that lion sure was balding. *insert pic*
They had Komodo Dragons there. That was interesting as we hadn't seen one real life before. Four full exhibits. You could have your pick. Giant, small, fat or thin.They probably have so many because it's native to them I suppose. It's like seeing kerbaus, sang kancils and cows in our Malaysian Zoo! There was this really fat (maybe he's just giant but he does look fat) Komodo there as well. *insert pic*
We moved on to the Orang Utans. Always entertaining. They had both types there, the Sumatran and the Bornean.
Other than that, nothing much more to mention about the zoo. They had some bears. I saw an Elephant (yes one!). We were walking round and round and round searching for the Gorilla they supposedly have (I think they do la, just that we couldn't find it).
After an hour or so, we gave up and left the Zoo. Even searching for the correct exit proved to be a problem. There was the exit sign that brought us in circles around the zoo. When we finally found one, that exit was apparently only for cars. Continue on our search and found an exit, but not the one we came in from. Took it anyway. Got a little disorientated when we got out but found our car.
In a nutshell, if you were going to the Zoo to see animals, I wouldn't recommend the Ragunan Zoo. If you were on the other hand looking for rides for kids, that's probably the place to go. There is also no KFC, I repeat, NO KFC at this Zoo. I found this hard to believe, as from young I was taught that the Zoo had a lot of things to do and the food was finger-licking good. That totally destroyed my illusion. It's like being told Santa Claus is not real (children, if you are reading this, HE IS REAL! Continue being good and writing your letters to him).
Anyway, that wouldn't have stopped us. Me and my hubby are Zoo people. We go to the Zoo of most countries or cities that we visit. So, that being said, I'm fairly certain that I have enough exposure to review this beloved Zoo that the Jakarta people love so much.
To begin with, we took forever to get to the Zoo because of the traffic. Jammed on this road, a long row of cars parked on the side of that road, a gazillion motorcycles taking over a lane on the other road. You get the picture.
After enduring the jams, we finally got to the entrance of the Zoo. Nice big arch with the name inscribed on it. Pretty impressive I thought. Then I looked to the left. Holy Crap! Another gazillion motorcycles parked there. OK. So parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunties and probably long lost relatives flock to the Zoo here on weekends. I asked my driver, "Alot of people like to come to the Zoo on weekends?". "Ya, ya!" was his reply. That doesn't sound good.
The only thing I could possibly not like about Zoo's (cause I LOVE ZOO'S) is the poor condition of the animals and all the screaming children running around the animal enclosures. Little did I know that I wouldn't have to worry about that here. The children in the Zoo couldn't be bothered much about the animals. Most families go there to picnic and play at the playgrounds.
We pay the entrance fee, Rp4000 for adults.That's only about RM1.40. Parking on the other hand, cost us Rp5000, RM1.80. What?!? Parking is more expensive than the entrance fee? That's so absurd. Not that I'm complaining that it's costly or anything, cause it's dirt cheap, but it's weird. Then they hand us this bunch of tickets and receipts.
One of them is an Insurance Premium receipt! It says:
Dengan membayar premi sebesar Rp. 500,- setiap orangnya pengelola mengansuransikan pengunjungnya terhadap risiko kecelakaan diri kepada Ansuransi Kerugian PT. Ansuransi bangun Askrida dengan nilai pertanggungan untuk:
Meninggal Dunia : Rp 16.0000.000,-
Cacat Tetap : Rp 10.000.000,-
Biaya Perawatan : Rp 1.000.000,-
To be honest, I only noticed it after we got home and my hubby showed it to me. If I had known earlier, I probably would have been freaked out and not gone inside. What in the world did they expect could happen in the Zoo? Do the animals regularly escape and wreak havoc with the visitors? Are there monkeys jumping around freely in the Zoo? Such thoughts would have been running wild in my head. But thankfully, I didn't know as hubby was keeping all the tickets and documents and we continued into the Zoo after we found a parking spot.
The first thing we saw when we got inside was ALOT of people gathered at a rather big field and really loud music blaring. Is that people I see playing games? Yes!! After conferring with my driver, I found out that the Zoo regularly rents out this place for company family days or gatherings. OK. I'm thinking all that noise can't be too calming for the animals.
Next thing we see is a bunch of street vendors littering the streets of the zoo. ALOT of vendors!! Selling snacks and drinks. One thing people in Jakarta are, are industrious. They sell snacks even on the roads, while you're stopped at the traffic lights or during traffic jams.
Ah! And there's a playground there. Nothing strange about that though. Alot of European Zoo's have playgrounds to entertain the children. Oh, but wait! Towards the end of our trip to the Zoo, we come across an amusement park! Seriously, an amusement park filled with rides and games etc. Now, that's weird.
Now, we've been walking quite a bit now and we haven't seen a single animal yet. Notice anything wrong with this scenario. I'm starting to think this Zoo doesn't have much animals. Still, giving it the benefit of the doubt, I just figured that this was a really really big Zoo. That fact was true. It's really big (space wise). It has three exits; north, south and main. That's how big it is.
Their collection of animals we notice are not too great. Just the more common ones like flamingoes, storks, bats, reptiles etc.
An interesting exhibit is always the lion exhibit. We find a lion all right. A balding male! BALDING. I wish I could upload the pictures for you but my laptop is not here yet. Be sure to keep an eye on this space cause when I get it I'm going to upload it for sure. This is not a sight to be missed. I'm not sure if it's because of old age or the stress of all the noise, but that lion sure was balding. *insert pic*
They had Komodo Dragons there. That was interesting as we hadn't seen one real life before. Four full exhibits. You could have your pick. Giant, small, fat or thin.They probably have so many because it's native to them I suppose. It's like seeing kerbaus, sang kancils and cows in our Malaysian Zoo! There was this really fat (maybe he's just giant but he does look fat) Komodo there as well. *insert pic*
We moved on to the Orang Utans. Always entertaining. They had both types there, the Sumatran and the Bornean.
Other than that, nothing much more to mention about the zoo. They had some bears. I saw an Elephant (yes one!). We were walking round and round and round searching for the Gorilla they supposedly have (I think they do la, just that we couldn't find it).
After an hour or so, we gave up and left the Zoo. Even searching for the correct exit proved to be a problem. There was the exit sign that brought us in circles around the zoo. When we finally found one, that exit was apparently only for cars. Continue on our search and found an exit, but not the one we came in from. Took it anyway. Got a little disorientated when we got out but found our car.
In a nutshell, if you were going to the Zoo to see animals, I wouldn't recommend the Ragunan Zoo. If you were on the other hand looking for rides for kids, that's probably the place to go. There is also no KFC, I repeat, NO KFC at this Zoo. I found this hard to believe, as from young I was taught that the Zoo had a lot of things to do and the food was finger-licking good. That totally destroyed my illusion. It's like being told Santa Claus is not real (children, if you are reading this, HE IS REAL! Continue being good and writing your letters to him).
Friday, October 16, 2009
My plethora of sounds
Noise pollution is something that's not lacking where I am. You see, I stay in an area that's still being developed. It's like MidValley City in KL, you have condo's, malls, shop lots etc. All within a relatively close radius. They're still building a mall, another condo and finishing up on the shop lots.
Construction here goes on 24 hours. Yup! 24 hours. Although, they're kind enough to keep the less noisy work for the nights.
Here's my dictionary of sounds:
*woosh-woosh-woosh*
I am greeted in the morning by the sound of my VERY loud fan in the bedroom. I haven't decided if it's just very strong or plain faulty.
*hummm...hummm...hummm..*
Ah! That would be the sound of my trusty water dispenser. Again, very powerful or badly engineered? Eh...no comment.
*vooohhh...vooohhh...vooohhh*
As I take my morning leak, the toilet ventilator takes it as his duty to fully awaken me.
*kring-krang-kring-krang*
That would be the people sorting rubbish right below my balcony (yes, they sort rubbish manually here). You know those giant bins that all the rubbish from all units gets thrown into? Conveniently position below my balcony. Lucky me!
*ding-dong*
Like the announcements you hear at the airport! Except here, it's for the construction site (no seriously!) and it comes on like...oh...every 5 minutes or so.
*branng-krong-bang*
Contributed from our trusty construction site nearby. I just thank God that it's not opposite my balcony. In this case, I would really rather choose the rubbish dump over the construction site. There's barely any smell from it and the sound of glass banging together is rather soothing compared to the sound of drilling throughout the day.
*vrooom-vrooom-honk-honk*
Another thing Jakarta doesn't lack is motorcycles and motorists that love to honk their horns. They honk when they're passing by, they honk when you move too slow, they honk when the light turns green and you don't immediately step on the gas and sometimes they probably honk just for the sake of honking.
*wee-ooh-wee-ooh*
No, not the sound of ambulances but police escorts accompanying some big shot in traffic. Guess it is a necessity seeing as Jakarta roads are stuck in a stand still most of the time. We hear this occasionally, not everyday. Oh...I should elaborate a little. By occasionally, I mean about twice a week!
*kraaak-kraaak-kraaak*
That would be the sound of my a/c telling me that it's time for a service. So I go to sleep to this sound and in the middle of the night, when it gets too cold, me or my hubby turn the a/c off and turn the fan on. And in the morning, the beautiful sound of swoosh-swoosh.
*bang*
One of my many neighbours leaving/entering their unit. Either the walls are too thin or they're just too lazy to shut the door properly.
*wah-wah-hee-hee*
Children running around & babies doing what they do best; cry and wail (my absolute most favorite thing in the world, by the way!); outside on the corridors. Well, I guess the walls are really too thin.
I know, I know, someone's gonna comment that I'm pregnant and that I myself am going to experience the wailing baby 24-7 blah blah blah. Well, my plan is to fully soundproof the baby's room with egg cartons that I collect from the local supermarket. Then all I need is a baby monitor. If the baby cries for no reason, turn the baby monitor off for about 5 minutes or so and check if he/she is still crying. Repeat as desired. Ingenious don't you think!?
All I can say is, with my kid growing up in such an environment, he/she is going to grow up to be the soundest sleeper in the world. I also have a suspicion that I've lost 10% of my hearing already! =)
Construction here goes on 24 hours. Yup! 24 hours. Although, they're kind enough to keep the less noisy work for the nights.
Here's my dictionary of sounds:
*woosh-woosh-woosh*
I am greeted in the morning by the sound of my VERY loud fan in the bedroom. I haven't decided if it's just very strong or plain faulty.
*hummm...hummm...hummm..*
Ah! That would be the sound of my trusty water dispenser. Again, very powerful or badly engineered? Eh...no comment.
*vooohhh...vooohhh...vooohhh*
As I take my morning leak, the toilet ventilator takes it as his duty to fully awaken me.
*kring-krang-kring-krang*
That would be the people sorting rubbish right below my balcony (yes, they sort rubbish manually here). You know those giant bins that all the rubbish from all units gets thrown into? Conveniently position below my balcony. Lucky me!
*ding-dong*
Like the announcements you hear at the airport! Except here, it's for the construction site (no seriously!) and it comes on like...oh...every 5 minutes or so.
*branng-krong-bang*
Contributed from our trusty construction site nearby. I just thank God that it's not opposite my balcony. In this case, I would really rather choose the rubbish dump over the construction site. There's barely any smell from it and the sound of glass banging together is rather soothing compared to the sound of drilling throughout the day.
*vrooom-vrooom-honk-honk*
Another thing Jakarta doesn't lack is motorcycles and motorists that love to honk their horns. They honk when they're passing by, they honk when you move too slow, they honk when the light turns green and you don't immediately step on the gas and sometimes they probably honk just for the sake of honking.
*wee-ooh-wee-ooh*
No, not the sound of ambulances but police escorts accompanying some big shot in traffic. Guess it is a necessity seeing as Jakarta roads are stuck in a stand still most of the time. We hear this occasionally, not everyday. Oh...I should elaborate a little. By occasionally, I mean about twice a week!
*kraaak-kraaak-kraaak*
That would be the sound of my a/c telling me that it's time for a service. So I go to sleep to this sound and in the middle of the night, when it gets too cold, me or my hubby turn the a/c off and turn the fan on. And in the morning, the beautiful sound of swoosh-swoosh.
*bang*
One of my many neighbours leaving/entering their unit. Either the walls are too thin or they're just too lazy to shut the door properly.
*wah-wah-hee-hee*
Children running around & babies doing what they do best; cry and wail (my absolute most favorite thing in the world, by the way!); outside on the corridors. Well, I guess the walls are really too thin.
I know, I know, someone's gonna comment that I'm pregnant and that I myself am going to experience the wailing baby 24-7 blah blah blah. Well, my plan is to fully soundproof the baby's room with egg cartons that I collect from the local supermarket. Then all I need is a baby monitor. If the baby cries for no reason, turn the baby monitor off for about 5 minutes or so and check if he/she is still crying. Repeat as desired. Ingenious don't you think!?
All I can say is, with my kid growing up in such an environment, he/she is going to grow up to be the soundest sleeper in the world. I also have a suspicion that I've lost 10% of my hearing already! =)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Bird's nest drama
I've only ever eaten bird's nest in those tiny glass containers that you buy from the supermarket. You know, the ones with more sugar water than actual bird's nest. So now, being pregnant and all, thought I would milk it and ask my hubby to buy me some REAL bird's nest.
We went to the shops and got bombarded by this array of bird's nests with different colors and in different packaging with different grades etc etc. So, we asked a friend who regularly eats bird's nest to help us get some since we had zero knowledge on the subject. She recommended that we get the unprocessed ones, those with the feathers still in them, as it's better. We agreed.
When the bird's nests arrived, it was of course a costly affair. We expected it to be expensive but not THAT expensive but that's market price and well... we're just plain stingy! =)
So I heard from a friend that when you're pregnant and eat/drink nutritious stuff during the first and second trimester, it's the mother that gets most of the nutrition. But, if you do it during your third trimester, the baby gets most of it. Being a good wife (and a stinge), I decided to save my hubby some money and only start consuming the bird's nests in my third trimester. We brought some to Jakarta with us (not the whole lot in case it got confiscated by the customs).
Well, I'm not in my third trimester yet (far from it actually), but lately I have been feeling very tired and thought "Mommy needs to have some goodness of the bird's nest before I become an old hag!".
All excited, I open my tupperware of bird's nests that I brought here. The pieces are not of standard size, like those cleaned ones you see in the shops. Some are thinner and some are broader. I took a piece out (keep in mind that I planned to consume this in one go) then took another half piece out (haha..greedy). "Looks like it's very little but I guess it should be enough", I thought.
So to backtrack a little, my friend did ask me, "Do you know how to remove the feathers from the bird's nests? Do you need my mom to teach you". I told her it was OK. I should be able to handle it, thinking to myself, "How hard can it be? It's just removing some feathers, right?". She was a little worried (and with good reason, you'll soon discover) and proceeded describing to me roughly how her mom does it. Well, the gist of it was that her mom uses tweezers and plucks the feathers out under running water. "Cheh! So easy!", I thought.
Now, back to present day, armed with my tweezers, I was ready to conquer this bird's nest. The moment I gazed properly at the bird's nest, I was greeted by the thought, "Whoa! That's alot of feathers!!". Well, that didn't dampen my spirit (yet). Still, with my initial gung-ho attitude, I proceeded to try to pull the feathers out.
"Wah! I think it's stuck"
The feather's were stuck like glue to the bird's nest. So I thought I'd soak them a little, but just a little because I didn't want them to all fall apart and accidentally miss out on a few strands that floated down into the sink (a tiny strand of bird's nest prob cost me a few ringgit you know? ya, ya..i'm a stinge).
"Aiyar! Soak also still cannot. Maybe must soak longer"
So I continue half soaking, half trying to pull out the feathers. The bigger ones weren't a problem. It was those stray ones that pissed me off. I took a chair to the sink and continued my job.
"Eh! Getting a bit dark already. Can't see clearly. Need to turn on the lights. What time is it anyway? Ha?!? 2 hours already ar?"
Yup! I started at 4 and when i checked the clock it's was already 6 (it gets dark early in Jakarta). So like the chinese say "Do until the sky also dark already". That's when I said to myself, "I think sacrificing a few ringgit worth of bird's nests is not that bad!". I let those few strands with the super glued feathers go and finished off with the rest of the bird's nests. I put the "cleaned" (yes, in parentheses, you'll see why) bird's nests in a pot with water to boil.
"Aiyor! Still got feathers one? Nevermind la, eat little bit of feathers won't die one la....kua?"
After all my hard work. I wasted 2 hours of my life. STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! WHAT THE *#$@! After uttering a number of expletives, I soon calmed down. There must be an easier way to do this. I decided to go online and do some research.
"Ha?!? Have to soak one is it?"
Turns out you're supposed to soak the bird's nest for 3 hours before starting with the pulling of the feathers. Oh well, lesson learned. There's another twist to the story...wait for it....wait for it...
Scene: Mary checks on the currently boiling bird's nests.
"Wah!! So much one? I thought I only put in 1 1/2 tiny pieces? So "tai" one meh?
Back to my trusty internet I go. Oh...turns out it expands to 3 times it's dry size.
We learn something new everyday don't we?
We went to the shops and got bombarded by this array of bird's nests with different colors and in different packaging with different grades etc etc. So, we asked a friend who regularly eats bird's nest to help us get some since we had zero knowledge on the subject. She recommended that we get the unprocessed ones, those with the feathers still in them, as it's better. We agreed.
When the bird's nests arrived, it was of course a costly affair. We expected it to be expensive but not THAT expensive but that's market price and well... we're just plain stingy! =)
So I heard from a friend that when you're pregnant and eat/drink nutritious stuff during the first and second trimester, it's the mother that gets most of the nutrition. But, if you do it during your third trimester, the baby gets most of it. Being a good wife (and a stinge), I decided to save my hubby some money and only start consuming the bird's nests in my third trimester. We brought some to Jakarta with us (not the whole lot in case it got confiscated by the customs).
Well, I'm not in my third trimester yet (far from it actually), but lately I have been feeling very tired and thought "Mommy needs to have some goodness of the bird's nest before I become an old hag!".
All excited, I open my tupperware of bird's nests that I brought here. The pieces are not of standard size, like those cleaned ones you see in the shops. Some are thinner and some are broader. I took a piece out (keep in mind that I planned to consume this in one go) then took another half piece out (haha..greedy). "Looks like it's very little but I guess it should be enough", I thought.
So to backtrack a little, my friend did ask me, "Do you know how to remove the feathers from the bird's nests? Do you need my mom to teach you". I told her it was OK. I should be able to handle it, thinking to myself, "How hard can it be? It's just removing some feathers, right?". She was a little worried (and with good reason, you'll soon discover) and proceeded describing to me roughly how her mom does it. Well, the gist of it was that her mom uses tweezers and plucks the feathers out under running water. "Cheh! So easy!", I thought.
Now, back to present day, armed with my tweezers, I was ready to conquer this bird's nest. The moment I gazed properly at the bird's nest, I was greeted by the thought, "Whoa! That's alot of feathers!!". Well, that didn't dampen my spirit (yet). Still, with my initial gung-ho attitude, I proceeded to try to pull the feathers out.
"Wah! I think it's stuck"
The feather's were stuck like glue to the bird's nest. So I thought I'd soak them a little, but just a little because I didn't want them to all fall apart and accidentally miss out on a few strands that floated down into the sink (a tiny strand of bird's nest prob cost me a few ringgit you know? ya, ya..i'm a stinge).
"Aiyar! Soak also still cannot. Maybe must soak longer"
So I continue half soaking, half trying to pull out the feathers. The bigger ones weren't a problem. It was those stray ones that pissed me off. I took a chair to the sink and continued my job.
"Eh! Getting a bit dark already. Can't see clearly. Need to turn on the lights. What time is it anyway? Ha?!? 2 hours already ar?"
Yup! I started at 4 and when i checked the clock it's was already 6 (it gets dark early in Jakarta). So like the chinese say "Do until the sky also dark already". That's when I said to myself, "I think sacrificing a few ringgit worth of bird's nests is not that bad!". I let those few strands with the super glued feathers go and finished off with the rest of the bird's nests. I put the "cleaned" (yes, in parentheses, you'll see why) bird's nests in a pot with water to boil.
"Aiyor! Still got feathers one? Nevermind la, eat little bit of feathers won't die one la....kua?"
After all my hard work. I wasted 2 hours of my life. STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! STILL GOT FEATHERS?!?! WHAT THE *#$@! After uttering a number of expletives, I soon calmed down. There must be an easier way to do this. I decided to go online and do some research.
"Ha?!? Have to soak one is it?"
Turns out you're supposed to soak the bird's nest for 3 hours before starting with the pulling of the feathers. Oh well, lesson learned. There's another twist to the story...wait for it....wait for it...
Scene: Mary checks on the currently boiling bird's nests.
"Wah!! So much one? I thought I only put in 1 1/2 tiny pieces? So "tai" one meh?
Back to my trusty internet I go. Oh...turns out it expands to 3 times it's dry size.
We learn something new everyday don't we?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Ah! The bane of ants...
Everyday I wake up and the first thing I do is walk to the kitchen sink to check for ants. Then I crush each and every one of them with my finger until they are all DEAD. I'm not too sure if that's bad karma, seeing as I'm pregnant and all, but it's not like I have a choice.
The ants here are a little different from those in KL. It seems strange I know but at least that's how I see it. The ones that are currently making my life a nightmare are those half black half red tiny ones (please await pictures patiently as I'm using a dinasour age computer that doesn't have a card reader).
Now, let me tell you about these ants:
The ants here are a little different from those in KL. It seems strange I know but at least that's how I see it. The ones that are currently making my life a nightmare are those half black half red tiny ones (please await pictures patiently as I'm using a dinasour age computer that doesn't have a card reader).
Now, let me tell you about these ants:
- They seem to attack in small groups so you cannot find any trail leading back to their home base.
- They not only attack food (which honestly there aren't any lying around here, I'm very particular about that) but they like towels! Be it kitchen towels or bath towels, there they are. Just burrowing in the fuzziness that is towels.
- They like freshly washed wooden spoons. Yum yum! That's one of their favorites. Leave those wooden spoons drying out too long and there they are.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Horrible laundry service!!
We live in a rather small apartment with a tiny balcony, so all the space is really taken up by the necessary furniture like sofa, tv, etc. The balcony, being as tiny as it is fits some brooms and mops plus our two a/c condensers and some space to walk. As such, we barely have space to fit a washing machine, much less have enough space to dry our clothes (seriously, it's like choose one or the other!)
We were advised to use one of the AMPLE laundry services that are available around the apartment block. A rough look at the prices and they seemed VERY VERY cheap. Only Rp7000 to wash and iron 1 kg of clothes. There was another laundry service advertising Rp5000 per kg even.
We closed our eyes and picked one of the laundry services from the MANY MANY brochures we had. Obviously from the title, you know we picked wrong!!
Oh, the initial round we called them, they were excellent. All my husbands working shirts came back ironed crisply and on hangers (of course right? otherwise it wouldn't make sense ironing it if you were going to fold it back). We, of course, being laundry service virgins assumed that our OWN clothes would be returned to us and therefore didn't take inventory of our clothes going out to the laundry service.
The second time we called them to come pick up our clothes, husband's working shirts came back folded! Hmm..maybe it was a one time mistake or maybe they didn't have enough hangers that day.
Third time we called them, husband's working shirts still folded plus we got a little bonus. We were handed back a t-shirt that wasn't ours. "Oh, poor sucker who owns this t-shirt. Probably wondering where his t-shirt went. Nevermind, we'll return it to them when they next come to collect our laundry" we thought.
Fourth time we called them, husband's working shirts still folded (notice a pattern here?). Now my husband is getting really ticked off and has already decided not to use their service anymore (guess it's not too much fun going into work with wrinkly shirts).
This morning, when my husband tried to put on his working pants, guess what happened? Well, you would have guessed it already. The pants weren't his!! Surprise, surprise.
So at 7:30 am, he's already ticked off (seriously, I didn't even get a kiss goodbye this morning). Calls the laundry service looking for his pants. They actually do pick up. So my husband goes "Semalam, hantar seluar salah. Bukan seluar saya". Then I hear him say repeatedly "seluar...bukan seluar...seluar.." (you get where I'm going). Then I remember, from my vast TV watching (don't say you don't learn anything from TV), that here they call it CELANA. Anyway, I shout from the bedroom "I think they call it celana here". At that point in time he had already been handed over to someone else, who I assume understood what seluar meant, and had said "ok, ok". Well, how they're going to manage to find the right pair of pants that belong to my husband is beyond me.
Then I get a "ding" moment (imagine light bulb going on above my head). Oh...that means we're missing a t-shirt as well since we got someone else's t-shirt. Now THAT is going to be a problem, because I have no recollection whatsoever, of the missing t-shirt.
If we were in KL, they would be getting an earful about how lousy and undependable they are. But here, people only probably understand 30% of what I'm trying to say. They usually just stare at me like I'm speaking some foreign language (which to them is probably true). So I'm thinking, save my breath and move on bravely to the next laundry service.
My theory is that they are secretly siphoning out our nicer clothes and replacing them with lousy ones so that they can sell it by the streets! If only I were in KL, I would probably be able to find them back by going to the Pasar Malam. Here, well, for safety reasons, we only hang out in shopping malls.
Well, I guess lesson learned. Cheap things aren't always good quality things. Now we have to make a choice, to buy a washing machine or to continue using the laundry service. Personally, I would vote for the washing machine and hang my clothes to dry in the house (yes, sad I know but that's our only choice). I believe that the only way you can get things done right is by doing it yourself (how optimistic of me ya?).
P/S: Some clothes even came back with mysterious red spots on them!!
We were advised to use one of the AMPLE laundry services that are available around the apartment block. A rough look at the prices and they seemed VERY VERY cheap. Only Rp7000 to wash and iron 1 kg of clothes. There was another laundry service advertising Rp5000 per kg even.
We closed our eyes and picked one of the laundry services from the MANY MANY brochures we had. Obviously from the title, you know we picked wrong!!
Oh, the initial round we called them, they were excellent. All my husbands working shirts came back ironed crisply and on hangers (of course right? otherwise it wouldn't make sense ironing it if you were going to fold it back). We, of course, being laundry service virgins assumed that our OWN clothes would be returned to us and therefore didn't take inventory of our clothes going out to the laundry service.
The second time we called them to come pick up our clothes, husband's working shirts came back folded! Hmm..maybe it was a one time mistake or maybe they didn't have enough hangers that day.
Third time we called them, husband's working shirts still folded plus we got a little bonus. We were handed back a t-shirt that wasn't ours. "Oh, poor sucker who owns this t-shirt. Probably wondering where his t-shirt went. Nevermind, we'll return it to them when they next come to collect our laundry" we thought.
Fourth time we called them, husband's working shirts still folded (notice a pattern here?). Now my husband is getting really ticked off and has already decided not to use their service anymore (guess it's not too much fun going into work with wrinkly shirts).
This morning, when my husband tried to put on his working pants, guess what happened? Well, you would have guessed it already. The pants weren't his!! Surprise, surprise.
So at 7:30 am, he's already ticked off (seriously, I didn't even get a kiss goodbye this morning). Calls the laundry service looking for his pants. They actually do pick up. So my husband goes "Semalam, hantar seluar salah. Bukan seluar saya". Then I hear him say repeatedly "seluar...bukan seluar...seluar.." (you get where I'm going). Then I remember, from my vast TV watching (don't say you don't learn anything from TV), that here they call it CELANA. Anyway, I shout from the bedroom "I think they call it celana here". At that point in time he had already been handed over to someone else, who I assume understood what seluar meant, and had said "ok, ok". Well, how they're going to manage to find the right pair of pants that belong to my husband is beyond me.
Then I get a "ding" moment (imagine light bulb going on above my head). Oh...that means we're missing a t-shirt as well since we got someone else's t-shirt. Now THAT is going to be a problem, because I have no recollection whatsoever, of the missing t-shirt.
If we were in KL, they would be getting an earful about how lousy and undependable they are. But here, people only probably understand 30% of what I'm trying to say. They usually just stare at me like I'm speaking some foreign language (which to them is probably true). So I'm thinking, save my breath and move on bravely to the next laundry service.
My theory is that they are secretly siphoning out our nicer clothes and replacing them with lousy ones so that they can sell it by the streets! If only I were in KL, I would probably be able to find them back by going to the Pasar Malam. Here, well, for safety reasons, we only hang out in shopping malls.
Well, I guess lesson learned. Cheap things aren't always good quality things. Now we have to make a choice, to buy a washing machine or to continue using the laundry service. Personally, I would vote for the washing machine and hang my clothes to dry in the house (yes, sad I know but that's our only choice). I believe that the only way you can get things done right is by doing it yourself (how optimistic of me ya?).
P/S: Some clothes even came back with mysterious red spots on them!!
Friday, October 9, 2009
dosin?? losin?? what??
We went for dinner at Anggrek Mall yesterday. Decided to do a little shopping for some pants (I'm 4 months pregnant and getting bigger by the day, so not surprisingly, most of my shorts cannot be zipped up anymore) and groceries. After that decided to treat myself to some J.Co Donuts for breakfast the next morning.
Stood in line waiting for my turn. Then comes the staff and asks me "Berapa dosin?". I say "Apa?". Then it sounded to me like he said "Berapa losin?". I'm thinking "Holy crap! what is this guy talking about?". So I'm thinking I wanna buy two pieces of donuts. Ok! I'll just try my luck and say "2". Maybe dosin or losin means pieces in Indonesia.
Guy squats down behind the counter and takes quite a while. Digging and digging under the counter. I'm thinking "This can't be good!". I console myself my telling myself that they probably don't get too many people coming in asking for only 2 pieces. The boxes are probably right in the back.
Up he comes with two GIANT boxes. "Oh...no no!", I say, "Hanya 2". Then he gets it!! "Oh...2 pieces", he replies. Then of course I get this look like "Oh..where is this girl from? she doesn't even know the difference between pieces and dozen?".
Anyway, being nice and friendly, as all service staff here are, he continues packing my choice of 2 measly donuts and sends me on my embarrassed way with a nice smile.
I have to say, my Bahasa Malaysia is pretty decent but the people here can't seem to understand me and I can barely make out what they're saying.
After coming back and consulting my dictionary (yes! I have an English-Indonesian dictionary that my father-in-law gave us when we came here) losin or dosin means dozen!! So guys, remember that!! This will prevent you walking away from a J.Co red-faced!
Stood in line waiting for my turn. Then comes the staff and asks me "Berapa dosin?". I say "Apa?". Then it sounded to me like he said "Berapa losin?". I'm thinking "Holy crap! what is this guy talking about?". So I'm thinking I wanna buy two pieces of donuts. Ok! I'll just try my luck and say "2". Maybe dosin or losin means pieces in Indonesia.
Guy squats down behind the counter and takes quite a while. Digging and digging under the counter. I'm thinking "This can't be good!". I console myself my telling myself that they probably don't get too many people coming in asking for only 2 pieces. The boxes are probably right in the back.
Up he comes with two GIANT boxes. "Oh...no no!", I say, "Hanya 2". Then he gets it!! "Oh...2 pieces", he replies. Then of course I get this look like "Oh..where is this girl from? she doesn't even know the difference between pieces and dozen?".
Anyway, being nice and friendly, as all service staff here are, he continues packing my choice of 2 measly donuts and sends me on my embarrassed way with a nice smile.
I have to say, my Bahasa Malaysia is pretty decent but the people here can't seem to understand me and I can barely make out what they're saying.
After coming back and consulting my dictionary (yes! I have an English-Indonesian dictionary that my father-in-law gave us when we came here) losin or dosin means dozen!! So guys, remember that!! This will prevent you walking away from a J.Co red-faced!
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