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Feel Phenomenal
2008-06-03 09:58:00
Scottish version of the famous Rudyard Kipling's "If" poem:If you can bounce in six inch heels all nightAnd still walk home in your bare feetIf you can keep two passions burning brightAnd see there`s still some romance in defeatIf you can hit a foreign beach without a tanOr brave the howling sleet in just a shirtIf you know you are easily the better manWhen side by side with suits in just a skirtIf you can picnic in the pelting rainWith kamikaze midgies in the mudOr grit your teeth and put up with the painOf seeing in the New Year in the scudIf you can wait and wait for 1p changeThen proudly give the lot to charityAnd know for certain it`s not strangeTo call lunch dinner and your dinner, teaIf you can handle folk who call you jockThen you`ll have really earned your Irn?BruYou?ll thank your Mum for keeping you in stockAnd what is more, you`ll feel phenomenal too.
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Stick To Your Script
2008-05-30 08:43:00
Maybe Sharon Stone thinks she could be another Susan Sarandon. Maybe she thinks she is intelligent enough to write her own script. Maybe she just doesn't realize how powerful China and its market is.clipped from film.guardian.co.ukSharon Stone is facing a ban on the showing of her films in China after suggesting the recent earthquake that killed up to 67,000 people may have been the result of "bad karma" over the country's occupation of Tibet.Stone, 50, who was speaking to reporters at the Cannes film festival, criticised the Chinese government's actions in Tibet and directly linked them to the disaster:"I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine," she said."And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma - when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"The cheeky newspaper thinks that the ban, however, may be something of a bless...
More About: Film , Script , Stick

Blast From the Past
2008-05-28 15:21:00
Social networking websites certainly are on the top of the game, everybody is hooked up and cannot live without it. There has been discussion in many industries about how they could tap into this new trend and get benefits out of it. It is so powerful that HSBC had to cancel their plans to scrap interest-free overdrafts for graduate students, after thousands of them had set up a 'wall' in Facebook, campaigning to boycott the bank. Now mobile phone provider, Orange, try to win their customers by offering free access to Facebook and MySpace - they even air special adverts on TV just to emphasise it.I have posted an article about how Facebook and other social networking websites can be dangerous (I'm so close to become a Scramble addict, but now put much less information on my profile). But one thing I certainly like from social networking websites is how I could find long lost friends. Last week I had a request from someone in Facebook, who, by name, didn't ring a bell first, but ...
More About: Life , Blast from the Past , Past , Friendships , Blast

Summer Theme
2008-05-25 19:54:00
An ex-colleague is coming to pursue his master's degree here, and was quite gutted when I told him to prepare some light layers, even though today is so-called summer. Summer here is not something like in tropical countries or in Australia, where we can walk around with shorts, tank tops, and open-toe sandals, and get some sunburn. Well, Stuart got some sunburn once when he played golf 3 weeks a go, but only the brave ones will be able to pull off such outfits which heavily depend on the weather. I usually push my boundaries by wearing a summer dress with jeweled sandals, but it is always layered with cardigan and a light coat. I am still wearing my Australian winter coat during night outs, outside my skimpy outfits, as it's not warm enough for winter but perfect for spring/autumn. It's hilarious, though, to see stores sellingsummer outfits but then to see people insisting on wearing shorts with tights underneath (girls, if you think it looks cool, ask the guys). And of course, b...
More About: Indonesia , Theme

Mitsubishi is A Scotsman
2008-05-22 20:07:00
Everyone in Indonesia is familiar with Japan and its products, especially in automotive industry. Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi are the three brands which dominate the streets in Indonesia.But surprise, surprise! Do you know that Mitsubishi is founded by a Scotsman? His name is Thomas Blake Glover. He was born in 1838 in Fraserburgh, (the same town where Stuart's father now resides), the largest shellfish port in Europe, 40 miles North of Aberdeen. Glover arrived in Nagasaki when he was 21 and worked for tea merchants (which possibly also did a bit of opium trading too), and two years later set up his own independent business, Glover Trading Co. (Guraba-Shokai). His business was a success, and in 1863 he built Glover House (the oldest Western-style building in Japan) on Minami Yamate, a beautiful hillside overlooking Nagasaki Harbour.clipped from en.wikipedia.orgIn 1863, Glover helped the Ch?sh? Five get to London on Jardine Matheson ships. He also helped send fifteen trainees from...

I Love Indonesia, but...
2008-05-21 08:40:00
... I don't really know my country that well, apparently. Stuart's friends are coming for two weeks and even though I've been to Bali a thousand times I haven't explored the island further than Seminyak area. Then the will be spending some time in Jakarta. But except visiting our bars (Eastern Promises and Cazbar), and maybe a soapie, I have absolutely no idea where to take them - I have to ask my friends who, despite trying really hard, couldn't give me satisfactory answers. Where to go in Jakarta except Sunda Kelapa? I might take them to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah but it's damn too far (in terms of time journey, not distance), we might as well spend the night in Bogor. I only know Bandung for it's factory outlets. I know, embarrassing. I am embarrassing.... to some, time is a strange concept. And boy how I forget about it - time is not something to be honored in Indonesia. Prepare to face the worst, those who don't appreciate yours, and those who are familiar with rubber...
More About: Love

Cranachan Is...
2008-05-17 12:15:00
... Another Scottish dessert. Traditionally served during harvest time in summer but now can be found everywhere, it is made from a mixture of whipped cream (lots of it), whiskey, honey and fresh raspberries topped with toasted oatmeal. The dessert is very light, not too sweet, beautiful to serve, easy to make, and a mixture of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries may be used, all to good effect, as you don't necessarily have to stick to raspberries. A traditional way to serve cranachan is to bring dishes of each ingredient to the table, so that each person can assemble their dessert to taste. Tall glasses are also a typical presentation (from Wikipedia).This is the type of dessert that even an amateur can make. If you make a mistake in the mixture, just pour some more whiskey and you'll be fine.I pinched the recipe from Undiscovered Scotland, and here it is:Ingredients (serves two):»Approx 300g/10½oz raspberries (strawberries can also be used).» 280ml/10 floz/...
More About: Kitchen Confidential

Domestic God(dess)
2008-05-14 08:58:00
Cooking is something - I can say this with confident - that many Indonesians don't master. Generally we are spoiled rotten by our family who can afford maids (or sometimes maid and cook), and by the widely available good and cheap food on every corner in Indonesia. Because of this, some people never visit their own kitchen, or have more than one (one for display, one for pantry, and one for the maids who do all the cooking and where the real work presents. Seriously, this is true), or live merely by eating out or deliveries. It makes sense, anyway, that if you only need to pay USD 20.00 for a delicious main course in 5-star hotels, or much less in nice restaurants, why bother to cook?Since Indonesians are spoiled all the way, it's no wonder that few of us understand which knife to use for cutting meat and which one is for veggies. Horrible stories like burned toast or even burned boiled water, lack of kettle usage ability, and so on, becomes a constant joke in the country and abr...
More About: Domestic , Kitchen Confidential

Teenage Sex and Fame
2008-05-12 08:44:00
Last month on our journey back from London, a 7-years-old girl was sitting next to me restlessly, and in between her non-stop chatting to her mum who looked desperately could use some extra hours of sleeping and her tiny fingers which were busy pressing her pink Playstation Portable to kill whatever enemy she fought against, she was singing. Not the Barney purple dinosaur song or any song a normal pre-teens would sing, but Girls Aloud's new single Can't Speak French.Her mum, finally given up sleeping and joined the conversation, said that her beloved daughter wants to be an actress. Not a doctor, a lawyer, or an architect, but an actress. Being a pragmatic lady, mum said it's not going to be easy. A dreamer and a kid, the 7-years-old said it's easy (according to her friend who had scored some gigs in local theater) and believed she's going to make it. This kid is not alone, millions of other (pre)-teenagers have unrealistic expectations of instant stardom. The constant media ex...
More About: Fame , Teenage

Spoiled Local-Expatriates
2008-05-08 09:15:00
The Writer just wrote about spoiled expatriates, "those who come from developed country and get a job in developing country and live like a king/queen". With salary which is unbelievably higher than a local standard - mostly due to ridiculous exchange rates and tax regulations - and lots of allowances, they soon embrace a lavish lifestyle with maids, gardeners, security guards, and so on. I couldn't deny that many expats are living like that. Being expats means they have to sacrifice many things: their life back home, their friends and family, their comfortable surrounding, to go to a foreign place thousands miles away from home with different customs, food, culture, temperature, and work attitudes. Many of them are reluctant to be posted overseas, especially if they have children to think about, or will be posted in a not-so-popular country like Colombia (and I don't think they will jump in joy when they know they will be sent to Indonesia !), and have to be lured to say yes (hen...
More About: Local , Expat

Surabaya Johnny
2008-05-05 18:41:00
(Uncle) Nick, who's technically not my uncle but more like uncle-in-law, is a huge opera fan. He could fly to Switzerland or Germany for the weekend just to watch the performance. His and Alison's house is full of opera singers and shows posters from all over the world.One night Alison asked Nick to show me one performance called Surabaya Johnny . The song has been sung in several languages: I have seen it in English, German, and Italian that night. It's also performed by many artists, including Bette Midler.I am most fascinated by the title Surabaya Johnny. Surabaya, as you surely know, is the capital city of East Java, Indonesia. And just like any other cities in Indonesia, it still carries Dutch influence almost in every corner. But the song - a famous song, apparently - is composed by a German Kurt Weill. I couldn't find his relationship with Surabaya, and I couldn't think of a link between German and Surabaya - although strangely several of my aunties and cousins are marri...

Indonesian Expatriates Forum: Progress Update (2)
2008-05-03 19:17:00
Indonesian Expatriates Forum (IEF), created in January 2008, has been doing very good. Bugilsnews puts IEF's widget which shows the list of articles we have published on their website (they also put a link to my personal blog there - big thanks to Bart and the team - perhaps because I constantly promote Bugil's, Cazbar and EP!), and with their perpetually growing number of readers and loyal fans, having IEF's link on their site will certainly boost IEF's popularity! Several bloggers also have IEF link on their blogs, like Jakartass (the most popular English blog according to Indonesia Matters), and my blogbuddies like Rima and Therry.IEF also has gathered almost 50 blogs of Indonesian expats and returned expats around the world. (I will elaborate the term 'returned expat' later in a different posting). And the number is growing, slowly, but sure. To me, personally, just by looking at the countries that Indonesians live in, is a proof that we would be able to find Indonesians p...
More About: Indonesian , Indonesia , Update , Progress

Greedy Green
2008-04-30 16:51:00
I read in Tasa's that Whole Food Market encourages its customers to bring their own bags by taking 5 cents to 10 cents off the bill for each. The same policy will be applied to Marks & Spencer's customers soon.clipped from news.bbc.co.ukMarks and Spencer is to begin charging its food shoppers for carrier bags.Customers will have to pay 5p for plastic bags, with the money raised going to an environmental charity.Chief executive Sir Stuart Rose said the company wanted to "make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment".Campaigners say plastic bags damage the environment. Some 13bn are given free to UK shoppers every year, and they take an estimated 1,000 years to decay.As much as I support the being green spirit, I don't think that these supermarkets are playing fair. If 13 billions shopping bags are made for M&S each year, and now they stop producing them, imagine how much money the company saves?Let's say the cost per bag is 5 pence (or 5 cents), ...
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Train Ramblings: How Well do You Actually Know About Your Own Country?
2008-04-28 12:04:00
I'm writing this in a moving train that is taking us back to Aberdeen. Yes, the train provides a free wi-fi service, which helps me to endure the 7 hours journey back from London. To think that most shopping malls in Jakarta still charge their customers for providing wi-fi service is ridiculous, especially when you have to buy different wi-fi cards on different shops. Sitting down in Coffee Club might not guarantee that the wi-fi cards I buy from Starbucks would work although they are in the same mall. Starbucks Plaza Indonesia 's wi-fi card wouldn't work at the one on Plaza Senayan. Go to Cazbar or Eastern Promise for a free wi-fi. No frills. You just have to buy a glass of beer and smile at the gorgeous barmaids to obtain the password, and they will let you sit with your computer on. London weather had been nice with a little bit rain here and there. Definitely warmer than Aberdeen, definitely much more busier which took me a split second to get used to see a lot of people in Lo...
More About: Travel , Country , Train

Frustrating
2008-04-27 12:46:00
A combination of a scheduler who pays a great attention to details and a natural worrier would be the worst. It's me. Me. Me. I am such a pain in the butt to those who think that birds are chirping and the world is smiling and everything is perfect even though your life is not planned. I would stand by their door and tell them that it's going to rain and they're better to take the umbrella and next time read the weather forecast before taking too many tank tops.And if it's my event, it's double worry and double attention to details. It's frustrating to see everyone takes everything very easy, while I'm sitting down and drafting schedule for everybody on hour basis. Only to a reply that they haven't even booked the flight, or they don't know what to do - but as long as beer and girls are involved, they're happy.Geez.So what I'm going to do, is stop caring about things which are not related to me directly. To hell with everything, I'll just take care of myself and others w...

Great Scottish Castles (1)
2008-04-19 21:13:00
Scotland's turbulent history has left an enduring mark on the landscape in shape of the many castles, fortresses and tower houses that pepper the countryside. Some - such as Edinburgh or Stirling - rank amongst Europe's most impressive structures while other less grand examples provide a stark insight into darker times. The first time I landed in Scotland, one of my goals was to visit every single castle. That until I found a book that lists them all. There are thousands castles scattered in Scotland! Even to visit all castles in Aberdeen and Grampian area will take years, unless if I do it every day. Maybe.In the mean time, I set my goal to be a simpler one: visit all famous castles first. Here are 5 of them: Edinburgh Castle, EdinburghScotland's most important and famous castle. I can't remember how many times I have been there, maybe 4 times, and counting. It is officially suggested to allocate 2-3 hours to wander around the complex. Each century has seen changes and additio...
More About: Travel , Great , Castles , Scottish

Without Prejudice
2008-04-16 08:38:00
For the past two days I attended a settlement course in a very gorgeous hotel. It's rather late, considering I have been here since last June and know most of the absolute essentials, but it's still worth to attend, and I got to see new people and had free lunches, yay! The course is done to help people settling nicely in a host country. Unsettling employees and partners could jeopardize their posting, their unhappiness threaten their productivities because they are worried about other matters rather than their jobs, and the company could loose their valuable resources. So 2 days course in a very nice hotel with free lunches is worth spent.For those who just come to a new place, or even those who repatriate back after spending years in other countries, this course is very helpful. In fact there were two Scots in our course and even they found many things they didn't know, and lots of things have changed since they left.The abovementioned absolute essentials topic covers subjects ...
More About: Life , Prejudice , Expat

On Fitna, Bloggers vs. Hackers, and Computer Illiterate MPs
2008-04-12 09:17:00
Fitna is a short film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, which explores Qur'anic motivation for terrorism and Islam in the Netherlands (explanatory stolen from Wikipedia). On April 7, Indonesia has blocked access to YouTube and a couple of other websites such as MySpace and Multiply. The Minister of Information and Communications Muhammad Nuh has passed a bill that forces 146 ISP's in Indonesia to block access to YouTube. Kompas has confirmed that the reason for the block is Youtube's refusal to remove Fitna from their servers.After a week of public debates and overwhelming protests, Nuh has apologised for ordering the blocking of Youtube, Multiply and a few other sites which host the video Fitna, and the virtual community in Indonesia can relax, sit back, and exhale for a while. There is still one thing to be dealt with, though. A guy who is dubbed as a telemathics expert (and I just found out that telemathics is a science of communicating over long distances, from here), a...
More About: Film , Computer , Bloggers

Shannon Matthews: Bizarre Case
2008-04-11 11:54:00
Shannon Matthews is only 9 years old when she failed to return home from swimming trip on February 19. Her disappearance didn't hit the news as big as Madeline McCann. Missing Madeline gets full coverages from media and attracts celebrities ' attention (on her 100th day missing, both Sunderland and Tottehnham Hotspur teams walked on to the pitch in white T-shirts bearing Madeleine's photograph and the words "Don't You Forget About Me", and the energetic campaign mounted by the McCanns to find their daughter has raised millions in donations and reward money and involved celebrities like David Beckham and Richard Branson). But the news of Shannon's disappearance could be found somewhere on the tiny corner of the newspapers. No celebrity jumped to help. No football team players wear the picture of Shannon's. The media was accused to pay a greater attention to Madeline's case because she was beautiful, her parents are glamorous (mother is GP and father is cardiologist), and she w...
More About: Bizarre , Case , Shannon

Haggis, Black Pudding, White Pudding
2008-04-08 09:34:00
Haggis, a traditional Scottish dish, is - according to Wikipedia - made of the following ingredients: sheep's heart, liver and lungs, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for about three hours. Today the dish is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach. MacSween (picture, right) sells cooked haggis, and we only need to remove it from the outer plastic bag, wrap in foil and re-heat it.Traditionally served with neeps and tatties (cooked turnips and potatoes), haggis is always present on Burns Supper, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, is commemorated. In Jakarta, you can find it in St. Andrews Ball. I can't remember seeing it in Highland Gathering, but check the chief's tent, probably they have it. Or try to make it using BBC recipe. We had our haggis at Marriott Dalmahoy last weekend for breakfast (!) and it was superb.Black pudding is a sausage made by cooking blood (usually fro...
More About: White , Pudding , Haggis , Kitchen Confidential

Spring? What Spring? (2)
2008-04-07 09:36:00
It's mid April. It's supposed to be spring. Summer should be around the corner. With a high spirit we headed down to Edinburgh. We planned to visit several places. The sun was glowing even with the dark cloud above us. But then God thought it would be funny to blow some cold.Back in Aberdeen, where snow wasn't present, I was dropped off to do some shopping. After two hours it was started to rain so I was ready to go home. I found out they changed the bus route, I didn't know which bus I should take, no warning whatsoever. Number 11 was just off. I waited for another bus, but it's Sunday and they turned up every 30 minutes and I already was soaking wet. I decided to walk home with two big bags, and after 5 minutes the rain turned into windy snow. The wet brown bag was torn apart and I had to carry a heavy box on my shoulder. Very un-lady-like. I only had two layers of clothes and wore my light jacket and all were wet. My hair was in crazy state after wind-rain-snow combo, but I ...
More About: Life , Spring

Friends Abroad
2008-04-02 01:01:00
Last night I found out that Bugilsnews displays Indonesian Expatriates Forum (IEF) link and its widget on their site. With a few thousands of subscribers (I was told they had 10,000 readers a couple of years a go and it was when Bugils Group hasn't been crazily expanding - to how many bars now, five, six? - like nowadays, so the number might be bigger now), having the link there will hopefully spread the news about IEF. Despite what people think - especially our Indonesian friends and family back home - that life is glorious, the future is bright, and everything is nothing but sweet love if we live abroad, being away from home is always a lonely (and most of the times, shocking) journey. Only people who are in our shoes, or have experienced the same thing would understand what we are going through. Like eating live squid in Korea, for example. Or wondering why they invent a very cold fridge in Norway that freezes the veggies right away. Or finding new friends.Andrea Martins, the la...
More About: Life , Friends , Friendships

Spring? What Spring?
2008-04-01 22:15:00
On Sunday we had to adjust our clock back to 6 hours behind Indonesia. Spring has come, apparently. Everybody's mood has lifted when the week has started with a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the sky was blue, the flowers have been starting to reappear, and the sale has begun. Today when I looked outside the window, I saw what I have seen yesterday, so I bravely put on a short-sleeves top - the first time in 5 months, probably - and a jacket. I was so looking forward to put my normal (read: tank top, jeans, and jeweled sandals) clothes back on, rather than having to think about the whole colour arrangement against gloves, scarf, coat, and boots. But the digital thermometer showed 14.5 degree (Celsius). That wasn't convincing, so I changed my jacket with a slightly thicker one. When I stepped outside, I was glad because it was indeed rather chilly, and I had to walk about 15 minutes to the city center. Only then precisely after 7 minutes I was sweating...

The Mighty Boosh
2008-03-31 22:10:00
Billy came and stayed with us on Friday night a few weeks a go. He brought two rucksacks, one contained his laptop, and the other contained his stuffs for the night. Inside his laptop, he had a DVD of The Mighty Boosh. On Saturday morning he made us sit down and watch the show. I mean shows, plural, since one DVD contains at least 10 episodes. After a moment that felt like eternity, I was practically and literally hypnotized. The Mighty Boosh might be the weirdest TV series. Ever. It's not funny ha-ha. It's funny but something stops me from laughing. It makes me uneasy, like rather than laughing at them, it's the other way around happening. It's a surreal dark comedy that plays around with what you might have dreamed in your sleep. The characters are equally bizarre. If you see the picture (courtesy of Wikipedia), from left to right, there's Howard Moon, who thinks he's somewhat music genius and talented artist, Bollo the gorilla, which is a pet of Naboo (who is a tiny wee s...

Tunnock's Teacake and Tablet
2008-03-28 21:45:00
I blame Scotland for my weight gain. This country seems to have endless collection of sweets and savouries, and none of them are healthy! It seems that all sin ingredients are mixed together to create devilish, high calorie deserts. I thought STP and deep fried Mars bar are the only bad sweets, but everyday I find new things. I met my first Tunnock's Teacake on last Good Friday. Without a shame, I scoffed down 3 pieces in front of everyone. The teacake, which is made by the company which has been around since 1890 (!), consists of a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a half-dome of a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow. This is then encased in a thin layer of milk or plain chocolate and wrapped in a distinctive red and silver foil paper for the more popular milk chocolate variety, with blue and gold wrapping for the plain. It's crunchy on the outside, and very soft on the inside. A perfect companion for afternoon tea, especially like last week when the ...
More About: Tablet , Kitchen Confidential

Table Manners - Eating Without Prejudice (?)
2008-03-25 15:42:00
In Indonesia, when we go to restaurants, there are no other way to grab waiter's attention but calling {this can go from mbak (sister) or ibu (ma'am), to unnecessary flirtatious remarks like sayang (darling) or cantik (gorgeous)}, waving (hand or napkin), or - these are extremely rude manners - whistling, clapping and flicking your fingers.I am told that in UK you should not do anything but engaging eye contacts (and souls, perhaps), until they realize that your plate is empty and you are ready for your second course. Rather than eye movements, any gestures will be considered rude. No calling "xcuse me!", no frantic waving, and don't you dare to whistle, clap or flick your fingers if you want to be ignored for the rest of the night, or worse, have your soup tasted like feet because probably someone dropped his shoes accidentally into it. So imagine that you're extremely thirsty and longing to have your glassed refilled, and you desperately are staring to those busy waiters, hop...
More About: Table , Eating , Manners , Prejudice , Kitchen Confidential

Caucasian vs. Indonesian Men (2)
2008-03-22 17:35:00
My previous post sparked lots of heavy comments. First came Oigal, who said I was nasty and too personal. He asked me to remove my reference regarding his family from my blog.I did reply to his comment, saying that I was in rush to go to funeral (and it was Good Friday for goodness sake), I will come back with a proper response after I have time reading all the comments from him and Rob at Unspun, and after reading Rob and his posts altogether. They are lots of them, and I should take time to read them all, otherwise I would be accused to having quoted them wrongly, again. After lots of engagements since yesterday, I came back home and found out Unspun has clipped my last posting, and yes, Oigal and Rob have posted new articles respectively. Without giving me a chance to rephrase my previous sentences which they found offensive and are too close to home.Shame. I do not mind at all to remove the personal reference as they wish. And no, I don't mean to have my posting labeled as nas...
More About: Indonesian , Indonesia

Caucasian vs. Indonesian Men
2008-03-20 12:53:00
I read Unspun's clipped article, originally from BaliBlog, regarding what (tourist? foreigners? cheap?) men perceive about Javanese girls. At first I didn't jump into the discussion, since what Baliblog described about Javanese women was beyond degrading and not worthy to entitle my opinions.But then the discussion was turned into how women (in general, not only Javanese) are treated by men in Indonesia. Two of the participants, Oigal and Rob, pointed out that their wives sometimes are verbally abused by local men. Mostly because those women are seen with bule (Caucasian) men, and therefore are labeled as whores.clipped from theunspunblog.com12 OigalSo what are the Indonesian men getting so upset about ? It?s exactly the way a significant portion of men (Majority?) treat women in Indonesia. The snide comments, winks and whispers. I was out yesterday with my wife (Indonesian) and we had the misfortune to be at place where a herd of government types turned up in their shiny new car...

American I-Dull
2008-03-19 17:02:00
I am embarrassingly watching American Idol now. I have never been a fan, and only saw the show on and off, if it happens to be on telly, but since a few weeks a go I decided to tape it so I wouldn't miss it (people in Indonesia would not be familiar with Sky TV; but in short, I could program the telly to record the show or the series, and I could pause the live show if I need a toilet break, it's like Tivo in the US). I don't really follow the whole show history. I only know Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry. I certainly don't remember who won the contest last year, let alone 2 years a go. I rarely watch the show up until the Top 12 anyway.And then yesterday when I was watching the show, I got so annoyed with Ryan Seacrest, the host. Few years a go I thought he was ok, very confident and commanding the stage and the show which is watched by millions of people. It's not an easy job (my mum was a local TV presenter gazillion years a go and she was criticized on daily basis, from the si...

When Indonesian Goes Shopping
2008-03-16 17:44:00
I have landed on a blog written by an Malaysian expat who now lives in Jakarta. Some of her articles tickled me and I just realized that is how people see us, Indonesia n s. One that makes me smile is to read her amazement to see the ladies who go to shopping malls with big hair and dangerously high heels, and they look like they are ready to go to a gala dinner rather than buying detergent or having coffee with friends.I couldn't agree more. God forbid if Indonesian matrons turn up with unwashed hair, or a pair of flip-flops - unless they are a bejeweled pair - or without make-up, even on weekends or at the shop's closing time. It's better if they are accessorized with designer handbags and shoes, at least one nanny for each kid (one to push the trolley, one to to carry all the shopping bags, and one to hold the kid), and sometimes dutiful husbands who sit down patiently, while the matrons are trying on the just-in-for-summer shoes at Jimmy Choo.Don't think that having big hair ...
More About: Shopping