Monday, January 29
Been a while since i last posted. 8th of Jan.. and now29th of Jan , near to the end of the month. of coz i couldn't have blogged even if i wanted to before the 21st... but for this one week. i've just been lazy.
the indo trip have been quite a ride... i cant show much photos though.. and when i mean quite a ride.. i mean quite a bad ride.. as a holiday, it certainly didn't satisfy me.. but as a place where u go and get some knowledge... it certainly did fill my cup.
the 1st day was quite tiring.. so was the 2nd.. and most of the rest of the 2 weeks... forget the feeling of a different bed.. forget the weird still weather which almost has no wind.. forget the bad security in indo.. there are other... blah blah blah blah ... u do get what i mean do u..
yes yes the many many many negative things from this trip.. but yet.. i get to see many many many things i didn't get to see, or won't even know it existed. not exactly things u can touch or smell and feel.. but horrible things.. and some sweet experiences too..
Indo's lifestyle news report by Sapphiree
how would i describe indo.. a place where the people are poor.. a place where most malays are lazy.. ( not meant in t racist way ) its just when malays are found in jakarta of indo, it seems that they just want a relaxing life yet not willing to work for it, thats why all the robbery and such actions take place. the minimum wages in indo for any worker is 900k , Rupiah..
5800 Rp = SGD 1
900,000 Rp = SGD 156
Wonder how do they live? there are a lot of roadside food stall etc.. which cost very little but they're in a state of horrible hygiene, one who lives in singapore for a lifetime wouldn't have been able to take a meal from the roadside stall without having to visit the clinic 4 hours or so later..
There are people who live under the bridge of a drain.. who uses the dark gray colored muddy water as a loo, as a laundry place, as a bathing place.. all in the water.. the good and the bads.. their cleanliness are way beyond what we can imagine. they are not people without hands.. they are not handicapped, some have a family, and they are just normal people... whose laziness are not what we can categorize as norms.. and amazingly they rather live that way then work harder to live in a slightly more hygienic manner..
But not all of them are like these of coz.. else the drains of all indo would have been flooded with populations and you won't see people living in buildings anymore..
There are lil kids, boys and girls around on the streets, in the middle of the road without lanes.. yes i mean a road which are suppose to have 4 lanes but without any visible separator. the traffic is of coz terrible enough for people to be able to walk on the streets.. and sell mineral water, toys etc.. from car to car.. knocking at your window... these are at least one of the not so lazy ones..
Some of the older ones.. teenagers etc.. will just play an old fake guitar.. those toy ones.. and play one single note from car to car and hope to get twenty cents out of you. Do you see this in many countries? i bet no..
these are the street life of a normal non working indonesian.. oh no.. wait.. its not a street life..
it IS their life.
Even those who are working.. .. some people just have no morals.. people promoting cigarettes brand would go to the gate of primary schools at off school hours and offer them a sample of their product just so they are able to get them hooked and purchase it from them..and who are from those schools, obviously kids.. under 12 years old.. holding a ciggy in their hands thinking its just an adult sweet. Police helps in drug trafficking.Some would scam, and as far as i am concerned, the only type of scamming which might have been relevant to me up to now is scamming of game items from online games. but by scam in indo i mean business scams.. tricks which looks like treats, polices authority abuse to extort money out of you etc.. all around.. so u got to be a smartarse to be able to do business in indo...
it just seems that if you want to live a well to do life in indo. you have to understand the meaning of friendship in a very different point of view.90% of what friendship means in indo = benefits. also you have to totally understand the meaning of greed and fully utilize it to its full extend in order to be able to survive.
It may have shown the inability of a government in the country.. big big mess.. but it also ironically show the fragility of people living in a healthy country. Just admit it, would you have survived there? I don't think i could. But if anyone got the guts, luck, ambition, rock tough life and willingness to get a whole new idea of survival. I am sure indo is the place to go..
Not very surprisingly. quite a big number of chinese in indonesia are there because of the laziness of their civilians. its a logical theory to them that if other people aren't willing to work, there must be a lot of chances for you do their job in a brainy manner and get a pile of extra benefit out of it. coz you're the special ones.. you can actually work!!! ( reminder again, not against malays just a majority of them are this way in indo..)
woaw thats a long indo lifestyle passage >.<>
My life in indo.
Putting aside all the normal lifestyle majority of the indonesians have. Mine in indo has been quite closed up one. because of the security in indo. its kinda not a good idea to be walking around on a streets alone as a chinese female. no taking a stroll in the night when the wind is blowing, no nice seaside view .. etc.. all the place are full of dust and dirt.. so most of the time i am in an indoor.. enclosed area.. house.. dad's office.. supermarket.. shopping center.. and CAR. the only transport for chinese are personal cars.. if you're a chinese, try taking a public transport. who knows where you will end up.. and i really mean WHO knows.. thats the kind of place it is. i can safely say i am out in the sun for less then 5 hours in all the 2 weeks i am in indo..
can u imagine how it feels like? i'll tell u. after 2 weeks in indo. i have headache and dizziness non stop. it might not even be the sun factor.. it might just be the 70% traffic jamming out of all the time i was in the car, and it could take hours to travel a 15km distance on the road. I haven't met such a bad jam YET and thank god i haven't .
Goods
There are some good things which happens there though. shopping , got a couple of things.. batiks.. etc.. good food.. went out for dinner everynight.. sashimi , shabu shabu.. etc etc.. fantastic.. and knowledge about how people can live so differently almost as if in another world..
also a lil skin and hair knowledge about how hard it is to set up a business there. i always believe its good to know more... thats part of the main reason for my trip there anyway.. a lil of an eye opening trip.
Incidents
there are of coz incidents i don't think i will ever forget. before i talk about it.
---lets refresh our memories on traffic rules..
watch the traffic lights..
let the vehicle on the right pass 1st..
keep in the lane unless blah blah
blah blah blah
---now.. lets refresh the traffic rules in indo.
watch out for the cars all around you which is about 4 cm next to your car.
do NOT crash.
- End -
ok so i was riding on my dad's car on our way back from dinner.. my sis my dad his gf and me..
that makes 4 person.. on that rainy night where the road is obviously wet.. and i thought what a beautiful night since there is no dust in the air due to the rain, and we're kinda in town and there are beautiful building lights a bit here and a bit there.. mostly on the left side of the car. and the car wasn't really moving at all ... well talk about jams.. but at the corner of my right eye.. i see a fast moving vehicle directly at the right side of our car. i turn around to have a clearer look wondering how is it that at such a traffic a big big truck can move so fast.. with a slow motion head turn and a question mark in my head. i see the truck moving slower all together with a few firework-like sound in front of the truck.. *pok pak pok* it wasn't serious and to my knowledge , no one was hurt. but 4 or 5 cars in front got involved, and i would have thought if i've seen any kind of such accidents happen in front of me i would be shock and wow and WAOW and u know.. but i just look at the truck.. the way it knocked seems so soft and cottonish i totally felt nothing.. only after 5 mins of trying to guess how many cars for crashed in front i realised if the truck have turned left instead of right, we would be in trouble.. i gave a "hhhmmm" * lift both eyebrow* expression to myself and wow.. i didn't sense the danger at all beforehand.. how careless i was..
phew!!
its already 3 am now.. can't think of other things from my trip anymore.. and i have to wake up early to make breakfast for my "moo" who is going to work.. think so far this is the 1st time in my life i ever did make breakfast for anyone rather constantly. surprisingly i am quite enjoying it. the only worries i have in my head now is my supply of vitamin M and how tasty can the breakfast i make turn out tml. wish my luck ^^
Monday, January 8
The Frog Incident
Been quite bored lately.. from my last entry.. my vitamin.M supply is getting lesser and lesser.. had to stay at home and rot most of the time. It was kinda hard to do it this way... but since i am not working now, guess i don't really have a choice.. so time to think about how to save up. i have a mini organizer with me, which now i use to calculate how much money i have left every other day. keeping track of the $ i have left let me feel the pinch of spending them. i've never known doing a lil bit of failed accounts can help me save a a lot more. or maybe its just that i don have any to spend thats y i am not spending. oh well..
Suddenly had to mention this. bout 2 years ago , i went on a china trip with my dad and his girlfriend, to her hometown and to some other cities in china.. or u can also call that village. some places hasn't been developed so u see those dark toilets made of straws.. with no lights, mud floor and a hole somewhere in the middle u can't see coz its way too dark to see.. the only advice before i go into the toilet is "don't step into the gold mine" well, luckily enough i didn't need to stay there for a night, or even a day, just a few hours dropping by to see some relative of hers. but the toilet visit was enough for me. ok skip the disgusting part and go over to the not so disgusting part. wondering why i mentioned the china trip out of the blue? it has something to do with the title i put for my post today. "the frog incident"
There is a chinese dessert called Xue Har, normally served with almond paste or walnut paste or whatever u've seen before. a whitish gelly stuff having the same nutritious level as bird nest but not costing so much, not as rare i suppose. I luv luv luv Xue Har with almond paste served cold. It was my favourite dessert in melbourne and it is still my favourite dessert now. But 2 years ago during my trip to china, i found out the source of those tastety lil treats. As you know, a picture says a thousand words.
.jpg)
And This ! is my thousand words
A bowl of cooked disgusting lil things..
one would call them "snow frogs" although
they're not exactly white in color.
I guess color don't matter. My dad got it from
his recent china trip and "da bao" 2 boxes back to
singapore.
.jpg)
My Second Thousand Words
2 frogs, gender unknown. just decided to put
it in a bowl to emphasize the gross-ness of this
edibles.. one flipped one non. Would u eat it? It contains the tasty Xue Har and the frog eggs which is so rare it cost a BOMB in japan. and yes i mean a BOMB that u wouldn't imagine.
BUT
the bottom line is ...
Dare you eat it?
I am flying over to Indonesia tomorrow. 8th of Jan 2007, early morning. 2 weeks trip. comes back on 21st.. a trip to company my sis for her decision to work in indo.. a trip to shop , a trip to find out more bout thier work n stuff... hope i have internet access there. else u won be seeing me for 2 bloody weeks...
Adioz
Wednesday, January 3
Haven't been updating my blog often. Been lazy recently, indulgde in the company of a certain someone. Sigh.. This sinful indulgence added inches to my waistline... its time to stop >.<
Xmas is an unexpected night. That goes without saying, how can Xmas be a night full of predictable things and such.. it must have been fun and exciting and presents opening and this that... but but but to all my disappointment, it hasn't been a totally fun night. well yeah of coz, we do meet our friends, not being able to decide where to go, sitting in TCC and spent a lot in there, watched a movie called cursed of the golden flower before the TCC and head over to another cinema to watch eragon after TCC section. yes 2 movies in a row, how exciting... -_- mark my sarcarsm. we paid $9 to find out curse of the golden flower is good to kill time but not worth the money to watch it in a cinema. and another $9 to find out , eragon is gooooooood! go watch it. another movie worth watching will be night at the museum . forgot when i watch it, but anyway. its lame funny and lame and funny and lame and even funnier. so yeah , bottom line... watch it.But luckily me and a couple of friends went clubbing 2 days before Xmas eve and i thought its our lil early celebration so i treated it as it is. Location :
in Powerhouse of St James Power Station
On new year eve.. this time, its a half expected night. friend suggested going to st james power station again for the count down , well since i've never celebrated any type of countdown in a club before, i decided maybe its time i try it once.
expected the crowd,
expected the high chance of being stuck outside the club during the main countdown.
expected to sweat in disappointment
expected to see something nice at least
expected to have a fantastic buffet dinner at some well known hotel..
turns out..
buffet, heart aching expensive. but food ... omg... u should go try it.. teribble buffet for $63/person. i really mean TERRIBLE.
club , yes stuck outside.
sweat in disappointment , of coz a lil..
see something nice. my friend's face of disapointment and it looks as if she nearly cried.
crowd.. Definitely.
went over K.box with a disapointed mood.. hoping to have at least something on new year eve. somehow we manage to have a fun time in k box. luffing around.. fooling around... cheered my friend up somehow. and everyone seems to enjoy themselves until late into the night. at least when people ask what i did last new year eve, i can skip all the bad stories in front and just say my K box story. amen.
The Multi Role Person
As fortunate as i feel lately, everything has been quite a smooth ride, well other then running out on my vitamins M. After working for sometime and spending quite an amount of $ each month , i got used to spending this amount, and even after not working , I am still spending this amount which ends up making me the pauper of the the month. I could have survived but had to spend some money on my bed which will collaspe anytime soon if I don't fix it. So there u go, stable bed to sleep on, a hole in the purse to fill.
I've come to realise something recently.. and thats the source of my feeling fortunate. Never once i had a someone who i can love as a lover, talk like a friend when needed, helps with heavy hand work, whine and get doted on, and share the time killing session when we run out of V.M to go out with. a lil pain on the last part but still.. for all the rest above + a lot others which i've failed to mention out of my laziness. its more then worth it.
.jpg)
.jpg)
