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!
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C'mon ...that was so obvious. Guy from jinjang probably says it the same way here.. "2 dosin plis." ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like "dozen" wen I read the lines except the complication comes when the word "losin" comes in. Don't worry - by the time you get back to KL for your break, you would sound more like an Indonesian than a local here!!
ReplyDeletedidnt she mention that she took a while to pay the cashier as the Rp100k and Rp10k looked pretty similar, so she wanted to double and triple check to ensure she wasnt overpayin
ReplyDeleteYuong:
ReplyDeleteYou had to be there! It was pronounced more like doe-zin. =P
Dad:
Yea, hopefully we'll start picking up on some of their indonesian. Most of the time though they just stare at me as if I'm speaking a foreign language (well I guess I am).
Kid-j:
Like you said, Rp100k and Rp10k looked similar. Be happy that I actually bothered to double and triple check. =P
LOL! Mary, it's hilarious. Well, my Bahasa Indonesia is great but I still don't get what the Malays here talk about sometimes. Here are some English-Indonesia translation that might come in handy for you:
ReplyDeleteSpoon=Sendok
Toilet=WC (pronounced "wese")
Shirt=Kemeja
Skirt=Rok
Towel=Handuk
Dozen=Lusin
Chair=Kursi
Turn left/right=Belok kiri/kanan
Cinema=Bioskop
Watching movie=Nonton film
I once asked for a 'sendok' and the girl just looked at me blankly, so i know how you must have felt. :-)
Kenny
Thanks for the translations Kenny. =)
ReplyDeleteIt's so confusing. It's like almost the same language but it's so different.
better learn the word 'emergency' or 'baby coming out' or else cab driver or hosp operator won't understand... is it also bersalin in indonesian?
ReplyDeletehaha.. have checked my dictionary. It's bersalin also. But sometimes they have their own slang and don't necessarily use those words. Will have to check with kenny.
ReplyDelete