Urgent Meeting

One of the weirdest moments in my life happened yesterday.

It was lunch time. I was taking a dump in the office toilet. While I was ..err....concentrating, I heard someone walking through the toilet door. I somehow recognised the footsteps and so I know who he was (there were not many people around in the office at that time). But I had a weird feeling.

Normally, when someone walk in to the toilet while I was on the throne, I will remain quiet. Not a sound, not a movement. It's a small office, so I don't want those embarassing moments lar. So I tahan.

The sound of the footsteps was going to my left, to the urinal. I heard the sound of the zipper, water trickling, then quiet........

"Papi.........Papi........."
"........errr.....Yes?"
"Eh? you know ah, the network configuration is ring configuration, you know?"
"Yes, a ring backbone."
"But how to configure ah?"
"Err....we need some switches lor."
"How did we configure for the last project ah?"
"That project was different. It was a star configuration."
"Is it? I thought it was the same, no?"
"No lar, different one"
blah blah blah......

WTH? I was having a dump, he was having a leak and we were having a technical discussion in the toilet. I am not sure about you out there, but I felt very uncomfortable. There I was, half naked, stomach rumbling, the place stank to high heaven, and there I was, discussing networks with this guy.

When I told my 'urgent meeting' experience to Mami, she was laughing so hard that she was rolling on the sofa, thus 'ROTSLMAO'.

Minor Changes

I made some minor changes to the side bar (on the right side). It's getting pretty crowded, with some new additions and functionalities.

I have modified the blog links list to a expandable type. Thanks to flooble.com, the site that provides the expandable content script. I was going through the codes of my templates when I realised it's really amazing how web technology has evolve. ICT has been travelling at lightning speed that it would be quite a task for anyone in the ICT field to keep track of its development. It is said that new technologies are being discovered every 3 seconds. Frankly, I couldn't recognised some of the codes in my templates when I first look at it. It took me quite a while to understand the codes.

Imagine, just 6 years ago, we were still using Notepad or DOS editor to program HTML codes. Without a preview function, flipping between Netscape and the editor, just to check out the result of the codes, was a norm. We knew HTML tags just like the back of our hand.

Nowadays, everything is automated. Templates can be downloaded easily from the web. Scripts can be generated according to your preference. With so many helps on the web, anyone can now produce amazing looking web sites.

Looks like I am way behind web technology. I guess I have some catching up to do.... See ya.

Bookworm

Looks like we have another bookworm in the house.


A grab shot in very poor lighting

Yiyi loves books, be it magazines, story books, catalogues, and newspapers. In the picture she was flipping through my Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. I am sure there are no colorful pictures that attracts her in that book, but somehow she likes to pick it up and just flipped through it. She even know when the book she's holding is upside down, and turn it right-side up.

Normally, she would be very happy if she could lay her hand on her colorful story books with pictures of animals, toys, and Disney characters. She can recognised a few animals like elephant, lion, rabbit, tiger, fish, just to name a few.

Other time, she will bug her GrandPa (my dad) to read her the newspaper. She will point to a headline, and GrandPa will read for her. When he finished reading, she will point to another headline, so that GrandPa could read that part to her. Sometime, she would add in her commentary as well, in Baby French of course.

We are buying her many books. We hope to instill a love for books at a very young age. Looks like she's picking up quite well. :)

Who is Papi?

I was reading Sashi post about Googlism, when I decided to try it myself.

So who is Papi? (According to Googlism):

papi is looking for love
papi is raw
papi is based on the notion that human action occurs due to a combination of emotion and organization
papi is alone at home and he's bored
papi is a complex man in some ways
papi is a tall
papi is installed
papi is only a single
papi is now viewed in 110 countries
papi is one cool guy (*ahem*)
papi is under test in other academic networks
papi is quite good
papi is sinner
papi is taking mami from behind in the kitchen (*gasp*!!! HA HA HA ....)
papi is so fine can i get a yum
papi is not so easily overthrown
papi is on its own power source
papi is one of those rare jewels that overwhelm you with their beauty and incredible history
papi is always right

The Killer and The Inspector

I was reading AW post about the card and board games he played with his kid, when I think of a card game we played back in college.

It's call the Killer and the Inspector. It's quite easy and fun. Get a group of your buddies, about 7-8 people, the more the merrier. Now from a dec of cards, get the Ace of Spade and the Jack of Heart out.

The Ace of Spade is the Inspector. That means whoever gets the Ace of Spade will become the Inspector. The Jack of Heart is the Killer. That means whoever gets the Jack of Heart becomes the Killer. Also you will need other cards to make up the remaining number of people, preferably number cards (2-10, any symbols).

Deal the cards to each person, one each. No one knows what card the other one gets, so no one will know who the Inspector and the Killer is. Then everyone will look at each other and stare into each other's eyes.

The Killer, obviously, will have to kill people. The Killer do this by winking ;) at his 'victim'. Of course he has to do it steathily and cautionly. The victim, when killed, will have to die and show his card, but he cannot reveal the identity of the Killer. To be more fun, the victim can 'die' dramatically, with action, sound effects and all. The Killer can continue to kill people as long as he wants, taking his time from one victim to another, until he is either being caught by the Inspector or until there is no else left except the Inspector. However, the Killer cannot kill the Inspector. If the Killer winked at the Inspector, the Killer identity is blown and the Inspector wins. If the Killer killed everyone except the Inspector, the Killer wins.

The Inspector catches the Killer by observing everyone. If he catched the Killer winking at (killing) a victim or even winking to the Inspector himself, then the Inspector will catch the Killer and announce who the Killer is, the Inspector wins. But if the Inspector made a wrong guess, then the game will continue. However, the real Killer, now knows who the Inspector is, and he will be more careful in 'killing' his victim.

The best part of the game is looking at each other's face and trying to figure out who the Killer is. And best of all, you get to wink at your best buddy's girl. he he he... Like I said, the more the merrier, as the Killer has more victims to kill and it's harder for the Inspector to figure out who the Killer is.

Sounds like fun? It is fun. Try it. :)

Amazing Race 6

Yesterday we watched the Amazing Race 6, the 2-hour premiere. We missed it last week, so when Astro had a re-run last night, we were glued to the TV.

As usual, 11 teams of 2 person from all over America, race around the globe to be the first team to cross the finish line and win 1 million dollars. This time around we have 4 young couples, 2 married couples, a team of married seniors, 2 sisters' team, a father/daughter team and a all-guy/buddies team. But we don't see any Chip-and-Kim material here, our favourite team who won The Amazing Race 5. But alot of young hunks and hot chicks. Like Mami said "Wah! A lot of nen-nen pok".

However, this could be the most intense race of all. It seems like almost all the time, there is one or more teams that is arguing. The father argued with the daughter. The younger sister screamed at the elder sister. The husband shouted profinities to the wife, and even a mention of divorce. And best of all, a husband wrestled with his wife, body-slamming and power-driving, but I think that was for the camera. They are professional wrestlers.

The team I hate the most? The Jonathan the Dictator and his wife, Victoria. This guy admits he's a dictator because he is smart and he knows what he's doing, so everyone MUST listen to him, including his lovely wife. He orders strangers to help him, like kuli or something. He nags and whines and shouts abuses to his wife, which I think is degrading. And it is an irony because one of the reason (apart from winning the 1 mil) is that they hope to use this race to get their relationship back on track. But then, it should be interesting to have them in the race and I am sure they are one of the most interesting team to look out for.

How about my favourite team? Well, still early to say. I was hoping for a Chip-and-Kim-like team to be around and to upport, but I see none. Tonight is the second leg of the race, Astro AXN 8pm. Don't forget!

nen nen pok: Hokkien?? meaning tit. ;)

Mapu?

Mami : Yiyi, how to call Yeh-Yeh? (Yeh Yeh: Cantonese for GrandPa)

Yiyi : Yeye.

Mami : How to call Mar-Mar? (Mar Mar: Cantonese for GrandMa)

Yiyi : Meme.

Mami : Yiyi, how to call Papi?

Yiyi : Paaaa.....phhh....Puuu...

Mami : He he he... how to call Mami?

Yiyi : Maa.......Puuu...

Mami : Hah?? Mapu??

Yiyi : *giggle giggle*

Yup, she still calls me Papu. And she calls Mami, Mapu. He he he...

An incident at the cafe

Well, it actually happened during my business trip to Jakarta last week. My colleague and I was waiting for our Indonesian partner to pick us up for dinner, while we window-shopped at the mall. The guy called and said he will be late, so we decided to go and have some drinks.

We sat down at a Coffee-Bean-wannabe cafe in the mall and ordered few drinks and puffs. At the small round table, my colleague was seated directly in front of me. I noticed there were a family of 3, sitting at a table opposite our table, directly in front of me (with my colleague in between). The young mother was holding a baby in her arm, while a 4 year old boy was sitting next to her. The young mother was facing my direction.

While I was enjoying my Iced Cappuccino, I was looking at the baby and I realised she has an adourable baby. So once in a while, I would look at the cute baby, in the mother's direction, as she was holding the baby. The baby was resting on her chest. But I couldn't see very clearly what she was doing, because my colleague was blocking my view. He was sitting in between us.

Then at one point, I happened to look at the young mother, and she looked back and I was quite surprised because she looked uncomfortable and seems to be a bit unhappy. Angry, to be exact. I didn't think much at that time, so I didn't pay much attention to it.

Then, suddenly, it crossed my mind!

"Could it be....."
"No lar, cannot be, not in public lar"
"But this is Jakarta, you know"
"...."

My mind argued.

I bowed my head low. Using my colleague as a shield, I stole a few quick glances towards the young mother. And I don't have to really see in details to find out what was she doing. She was wearing a shirt and the top 3 buttons were undone.

She was breastfeeding her baby. In public!

And we are not in a hidden corner, or a dim-light cafe. We are sitting directly in front of the main entrance of the shopping mall! Then I realised that everyone who passed by the cafe will look at her direction. Even the 3 hamsap guys sitting behind me, was whispering and chuckling.

She must have thought I'm a pervert or something. Trying to peek at her tits while she was breastfeeding her baby. Oh, well, nothing I can do to stop her from making that assumption.

I am not against breastfeeding. But I think breastfeeding in public is not appropriate. Yes, the baby has the priority and when he's hungry, he's hungry. But if she has to do it in public, why not use a piece of cloth or something, to cover herself. Or maybe sit somewhere that is more secluded and hidden, so it is not that obvious. This way, you will be more comfortable, the public will be more comfortable.

Well, I never encountered this in KL, have you? :)

Jet Li's Essays

Yesterday I came upon Jet Li's official website and a 'naive' email to Jet Li.

In his website, he actually wrote a few essays on stories of his life, his work, his martial art (wushu) etc. But a set of stories caught my attention. His life growing up in China and his childhood.

It was difficult for me to believe in my heart what the adults (Papi: Chinese government official) had been teaching us: that all Americans were class enemies who couldn't be trusted.

By the time we got to New York, I started to wonder if it was even true that all of our hotel rooms had been bugged with secret listening devices by the American government. Was it really necessary for us to watch everything we said?

One day, feeling silly, I faced the telephone (without picking it up) and said, "Hey, I want chocolate, I want chocolate, I want chocolate." Then I turned to the mirror and said: "I want ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, ice cream." Lastly, I ran over to the flower vase and said: "I want banana, I want banana, I want banana." I was having lots of fun. Then somebody came to tell us to get ready for that night's performance, and I forgot about the whole thing.

Later that night, when we returned to the hotel, I pushed open the door-and nearly died of fright. My bodyguard was horrified as well.

There on the desk was chocolate, ice cream, and bananas. [...]

Check it out. There is another story on how he tries to write a will when the plane he was in was going down!

Dear Jet Li..

I was surfing aimlessly when I stumbled upon Jet Li's official website.

In the Q&A section (of the Work(Projects) section), someone named Karen wrote to Jet Li:

Dear Jet Li,
I would like to comment about the movies ( RMD and KOD ). Both these movies have explicit scenes in the beginning. I was wondering , if you've wanted the scenes ( like in those movies) to be editted in the movies.

It was quite embarassing to watch especially since I'm still under-aged . You know how the Asians feel about these kind of scenes especially the Chinese. And I want to hear your side of view.

Thank you.
Karen
Malaysia

Jet's Response:
I am not sure about the policy in all countries, but for most there is a movie rating system that tells you by what audience the movie can be seen. In the United States both of those movies were rated R so it is very clear which people should watch it -- no one under 17 without a parent or guardian.

Also, the director wanted to shoot that scene and situation as a part of the story. It was the director and writer's decision to express the story with this scene. Probably the best thing to do, if you do not like that type of situation, is to not watch the film. Different people have different levels of sensitivity to different types of things. It is important to understand where your own feelings lie and make a decision to watch, or not watch, based on those feelings.

And, if you're watching it on video or DVD, I suppose you could fast forward through that part too.

Let me give you an advice, Karen. I think you should stop sneaking into your dad's room and stop going through and watching his hidden collection of VCDs and DVDs when your parents are not around. :)

Erectile dysfunction

What?! More than 50% of Malaysian men, aged 60 and above suffers from erectile dysfunction! That's mati pucuk, if you don't know what it is. 50%?!! Is this correct ah? *wiping sweat from forehead*

From NST:

80pc of aging men want good sex life
SUBANG JAYA, Nov 16:
Erectile dysfunction affects more than 50 per cent of Malaysian men aged 60 and above. But, as the facts stand, only a very small number (eight per cent) seek medical help.

The rest suffer in silence, seek advice from religious leaders, use herbal medicine or risk extra marital affairs to boost flagging spirits.Interestingly, even though half in this age group may be plagued by erectile dysfunction, 80 per cent still want a good sex life.
[....]

Here's what you do, guys. Get one of your best male friend. So if the statistic is correct, if your friend is not ED, then you are!

Yiyi's First Trip to KL Bird Park

Last Monday, we brought Yiyi to the KL Bird Park located in Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur.

Being a public holiday, the traffic was awesome in KL, which is why I love to go to the city centre during long public holidays. The journey took us only about less than 30 minutes from home to Lake Gardens, which I imagine would easily take 1 and 1/2 hours on a normal working day.

The Bird park opens daily from 9am to 7.30pm. There are various activities and programmes through out the day, such as bird shows, hornbill feeding, eagles feeding, stork feeding etc. It is the world's largest covered bird park covering an area of 20.9 acres. Very impressive.

We arrived at about 10am. Not many people at that time, just nice. Ample parking space. The ticket cost us RM24 for 2 adults (RM12 for adult and RM6 for children). At the ticket counter I saw a paper board at the ticket counter that shows the ticket price for adult is RM24 and RM12 for children, and I was about to complain how expensive when the operator told me "RM24 for two adults". I kept quiet and paid the fees, and the operator handed me two blue paper wrist band. Later, we realised some foreigners were wearing a different colored wrist band: brown. Are they charging a different rate to foreigners? Well, I don't know, but I am not complaining. he hehe...



Inside, the park is basically a huge bird-cage, and it is divided into different zones. Each zone is separated by a dual-pair of metal gates. Why a dual-pair? Because to prevent the bird from flying from one zone to another, or to escape from the park. The place is huge, and the map is a bit dissapointing. You don't really know where you are.

There are many species of birds in the park, about 200 species, with more than 3000 birds. Birds are flying freely, perching on trees, as close as you can get.

Mami : Yiyi, that's a peacock.

Yiyi : mmmm.....kerr.....

Mami : Yiyi, look at that bird over there. Papi, what species is that?

Papi : emmmm.....errrrr...... bird lor. Yiyi, can you say 'bird'?

Yiyi : brrr...brrr.....


Don King bird


The birds can get quite close.


The peacock was having an Hari Raya open house.

There is also a petting area, where you can have fun with some chicken, rabbits, a big emu, peacocks. But when we were there, there were only 2 sleeping rabbits, a peacock and a big emu. We didn't stayed, as Mami was afraid that the emu will attack us. After we left, we saw some workers carrying 2 cages of rabbits to the petting area.


Flamingo. They sleep, standing on one leg.


Pelican.


The environment looks like a rain forest.


Would you believe a jungle like this exists in KL?


A man-made water fall.

If you are planning to go there, few things you will need to prepare. Bring and drink lots of water. And bring an umbrella. It can be very hot in the park, especially with the hot scorching sun shining. We even saw a kid being carried out by his father, and the kid was all pale. I think the kid had a heat-stroke. Another kid had a nose-bleed because of the heat. We offered them some tissues and water to clean up.

Also bring some anti mosquito repellant, not pesticide, but the one you applied on your body. There are lots of mosquito in there, as big as house fly. I was worried for Yiyi, so we have to keep moving so that mosquitoes couldn't bite her - but it did :(

One thing I found disturbing is the attitude of some visitors. They leave their rubbish everywhere. Brochures, sweet wrappers, tissues, mineral water bottles. They just throw it everywhere and polutes the beautiful environment. Some people never learn.

It was tiring, and hot, but it was worth it. We walked through the park in about 2 hours, but we just kept moving because of the mosquitoes. We also didn't go for the various bird show because it was too hot for Yiyi. But all in all, it was a good and fun trip.

Emmk...mmmk!

Last night, Yiyi was having problem passing motion. It had been two days she did not 'output'.

So, when she pushed yesterday, we knew it was a hard, big one. She was clearly in pain and she cried. We quickly undressed her, and carried her to the toilet. She was still crying, loudly.

We examined her and found that some faeces got stuck in her anus! But grandma was the hero. She attempted to pull it out using her bare hand. But she only managed to get the poo that was sticking out. The rest was too big and hard for her to push. But a moment later, the big one was sucked back in. (??)

We calmed her down, she was no longer in pain. We mixed some brown sugar with warm water and gave it to her. It was recommended by a paediatrician if your baby is having constipation. Then I went to find some bananas, the natural laxative. After rounding the neighbourhood for 1/2 hour, I managed to find one.

We gave a couple of bananas to her, and she loves banana. An hour later, we tried again. We get her to push by going: "Emmm.....Mmmmmkk.....emmmmkk.....". She understand and started to push. My whole family was left on the edge. Everyone was waiting eagerly, watching her pushing hard, trying hard not to laugh because Yiyi normally makes a funny face whenever she is having bowel motion. She did cried, but she was determined to get it out. So she pushed, and pushed, and cried, and pushed. And all the while, we were like "Go, Yiyi, Go!, cheering her on".

And finally it was out! What a relieve! According to Mami, it was like Mike Tyson fist! .....ha ha a bit exaggerated there, but you get the idea.

Bodoh

Yesterday....

Papi : Wanna see some of the pictures I took in Jakarta?

Dad : Sure..

Papi : That's the hotel we stayed in.

Dad : What's the name of the hotel?

Papi : Borobudur Hotel.

Dad : Huh?? Boloh ... Boloh Hotel?

Papi : Hahaha ...no, it's Borobudur Hotel.

Dad : Bodoh Bodoh Hotel.... what a funny name. So, only orang bodoh stays there, is it?

Papi : *pengsan*

Bodoh : Malay meaning stupid.

Blogging in Jakarta - Day 3

Well, not exactly in Jakarta, I am back in Malaysia. Hmmm...home sweet home.

Anyway, yesterday was my last day in Jakarta. We tried to extend our stay for another day, but the flight back on Thursday is fully booked. Maybe because of the long holidays.

I was informed by my colleague that the presentation was successful and the clients were happy with it. Maybe because of my *ahem* ...presentation skills, or my in-depth knowledge of the topic, or maybe it was the Selangor Pewter keychain and mug we gave to each attendees. But as long as they are happy, we are happy. :)

As always we went makan makan. Nasi Padang at a restaurant named Ratu Sari in Sogo shopping complex/Hyatt Hotel. It was a very unusual dining experience, they actually served all the dishes on the menu on our table. So many dishes that they actually have to stack the plates on top of one another. Which is good, because you get to see all the dishes before you take your pick.


Nasi Padang

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to pack. Again, on the way, we were stuck in the horrible Jakarta traffic jam. Took us almost an hour to reach the hotel, which normally took us 15 minutes. On the way, we saw some Jakarta's version of Tuk-Tuk: Bajai.


Bajai
Judging from the traffic, we decided to leave extra early for the airport. And lucky we did. There was a downpour earlier on the highway, few accidents, and it was chaos! Took us almost 2.5 hours to reach the airport.

So my impression of Jakarta? It's rich but yet it's poor. The gap between the rich and the poor are huge! Here we have people driving big cars, having meals in big, lavish, grand hotels, and still there are some poor people and children with barely any proper cloths on, sleeping on the street, trying to make a living by selling souvenirs and bottled mineral water on the highway. It was a big contrast.

And the bombing did changed their daily life. Everywhere we go, there are security officers. Driving in to a shopping complex, hotels, even private buildings, your car will be searched and scanned. Walking, and you will body-search and questioned. However, I felt quite safe in Jakarta. The people are friendly and nice.

Too bad we were rushing to come back. I was hoping to see more of Jakarta. Let's hope that our trip and presentation bears some fruit. :)

Some of the pictures I took in Jakarta:


The nice pond behind the hotel






The hotel has a replica of the Borobudur temple


This is a famous monument/water feature/fountain in the city centre, but I don't know what it's called.

Too all Malaysian, Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri, err..I mean Aidil Fitri.

Note: In Indonesia, it's Selamat Idul Fitri. :)

Blogging in Jakarta Day 2

We stayed at the five star Borobudur Hotel. Nice, grand place, with excellent rooms.


My room, equiped with a PC for internet.


Nice....


A decor in the hotel.

Well, the meetings and presentation went quite smoothly, not to mention tiring. The traffic in Jakarta didn't help either. It seems like it is jam packed all the time! Travelling from one place to another is a nightmare. A 2-lane road became 6 lanes. The 'mobil' (car in Bahasa Indonesia) squeezed through every inches they have got on the road, honking others to give space, passing hi-lights to tell the front to keep moving. Changing lanes is a gamble, you just do it, and hope the other guy stopped in time. Stuck in Jakarta's traffic was really an experience by itself. You get to see the daily lives of the people of Jakarta; the stress, the rush, the ugly side.

So what's worst than being stuck in a jam for 2 hours on a hot day, and you are late for your meeting with the client?
Answer: Being stuck in a jam, and you heard an alarm beeping somewhere and suddenly you realised that you are in the middle of a railway track, and the alarm that you heard is to warn you of an incoming train!! And the cars in front are not moving!!! Suddenly, a scene from the "The Most Shocking Incident Caught On Tape" show was playing on my mind. Yeah, the scene where a fast moving train caused a major destruction when a truck thought it could beat the train and went through the red light. Fortunately, the traffic ease up, and we could move forward. *phew*

After the meetings, we went jalan jalan at a nearby shopping. Believe it or not, we have to be checked and scanned by security before entering the shopping complex. WTH? All because of the bombing. Nothing special about the shopping complex though. It looks just like our Kotaraya, with lots of mobile phone shops, fast food and RM4 DVD. ;)


Plaza Atrium

Dinner was excellent!! If you want to have Sundanese food, look for Pondok Laguna. Where is it located? I don't know. It seems to be a popular place, judging on the crowd. We had to wait for few minutes before a table was available.


The crowd at Pondok Laguna


We had Kangkung Goreng (top most), Grilled Cumi Cumi (squid), some sort of soup, Indonesian style, Seafood beancurd (the ball-like dish, just above the fish), Fried fish (excellent!! a popular dish here), and Indonesian Salad.


Sambal Belacan - My colleague had 4 plates of these. Super Hot!

At the end of the meal, I was so full, I could barely move! ha ha ha...

Hmmm....looking forward to Nasi Padang tomorrow!! ;)

Blogging in Jakarta Day 1

We arrived early at KLIA for our afternoon flight to Jakarta. It was a good call, because security at the Gate was unusually tight. Maybe it was only that particular flight. All passengers were scanned and body-search. Our bags and luggage were open and examined. It took quite a while before we could pass through the Gate and board the plane.

Because of the security, and with only one counter (WTH??), the queue was unusually long. We joined the queue behinds a group of monkeys 14-year-olds with American accent. They were jumping, climbing, screaming, running, whining, as if they were in a zoo. I think the security had a hard time with them. There was a kid who had to pass the metal sensor for 6 times, because the alarm keeps beeping on him. And each time, he dug deeper into his pocket and produced something.

The loooonnnng queue, with the security gate slightly to the right center.

But the best thing was, queuing behind me was Marina Mahathir. Yup, that's right. Right behind me were Marina and her family (her husband and kids). No VIP treatment, no special lane, they queued up like everybody else. :) Being a shy Malaysian, I 'buat tak tahu', but I was screaming inside "MARINA MAHATHIR IS BEHIND ME!!".

The flight was smooth, and arrived on time. The in-flight meal was nice. I had the super spicy, super hot Beef Rendang with Rice. And I am not refering to Mat Salleh's standard. Super hot Malaysian standard. But I kesian the Indonesian who sat next to me, because i was slurping and yuuummmm-ing, and he sat there trying hard to ignore me. He was fasting. But I was hungry. :) Sorry...

So, my first impression of Jakarta? It was chaotic. Maybe it wasn't the right time we arrived. It was rush hour. The trafic jam was so bad that it took us more than 2 hours to reach our hotel from the airport. That's like flying back to KLIA from Jakarta! The Indonesian says "Laluan Tersendat". On the way we saw a few interesting things. A huge bus trying to squeeze thru a bridge meant only for small vehicle. The obviously huge bus tried to pass through a barrier, causing a tremendous jam. Also, there are these street peddlers selling their stuff on the highway: bottled mineral water, sweets, newspapers, cigarettes. In the middle of the highway!! Most are young teens, even small children.


A lady selling souvenirs on the highway.

A kid trying to earn a few extra bucks by selling mineral water.

But the most interesting of all, is the traffic in Jakarta. But that's another entry...

Jakarta! Aku datang!

Here I am, sitting in front of my computer in the office, typing this entry, I am 3 hours away from my flight to Jakarta.

Yup, I am flying to Jakarta this afternoon on a business trip to give presentation to a bunch of engineers tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to blog from the hotel. I was told that the rooms that we booked has internet facility, and it's not free. Let's hope they have broadband.

The trip is a 3 days 2 nights trip, if there is no change of plan. Hopefully I will be able to make it back for the holidays, before Deepavali.

So what's good in Jakarta? My colleague commented that their Sup (Soup) Buntut is nice. "Sup Buntut?" I asked to confirm. I thot I heard Sup Bunjut. "Ya, Sup Buntuut" he said, imitating an Indon slang. It's actually Sup Ekor. OK, so buntut in Indonesia is actually ekor in Malaysia. Mami later added that buntut in Malaysia is pantat in Indonesia. And perlu in Malaysia is butuh in Indonesia. For eg. "Saya butuhkan mu". hahaha... So now, i have to switch to my Malay/Indonesia mode.

Baik, Sup Buntut, ini saya mari!! (OK, Sup Buntut, here I come!!)

Buntut : Malay meaning your ass.
Ekor : Malay meaning tail.
Perlu : Malay meaning need.
pantat : A vulgar Malay word refering to female genitalia. But in Indonesia, it means backside.
Butuh : Another Malay vulgarity refering to male genitalia. But in Indonesia, it means need.

Deepa Raya

Today the company declared that Friday, 12th of November, is an off day. So basically, we will be off on Thursday, Deepavali, then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday for Hari Raya! Wohoo!!

So 6 days off, where to go ah?

GrandPa said : Go Genting lor.

GrandMa said : Anywhere also can.

Yiyi said : Go Disneyland Tokyo!!

Mami said : Sleep....zzzz

Papi said : ...errr...got gaji ah? :(

Flu

Looks like a lot of people are sick.

Yiyi had fever for the last couple of days. Slight fever, running nose, sneezing and coughing. We bought her to see her pediatrician the day before yesterday. Only a minor infection on her throat, and also flu. She was given some liquid paracetamol, some medication for her flu and cough. But she was still very active, running around, dancing, singing, kicking, playing 'cak' with us. The doc said normally the flu will be around for 2-3 days, before the body natural antibody takes care of it. She was already feeling better yesterday. No more running nose.

I saw a lot of sick people. At lunch, people are coughing and sneezing. My colleague took time off to send 3 of her children to the clinic. Another collague's son was hospitalised because of viral infection.

It could be the weather. The weather is really bad these few days. 'Bad' in the Malaysian sense. Very very hot in the morning, and heavy rain in the afternoon or evening.

Looks like I need to store up some Vitamin C!

Cak : It is actually a game where you hide yourself, or you cover your baby with a cloth or something, so that your baby cannot see you. Then you show yourself, or you removed the cloth, and say "Cak" or "Chak". When I do that to Yiyi, I will also say, "I am coming to catch you!" and she will frantically run away from me, laughing all the way.

A Diary Entry of a New IC Applicant

1. Woke up early at 5 am.

2. Reach the goverment office at 5.30am. Joined the queue. Got to be in 5th place.

3. Chit chat with others to kill time.

4. Joined the other queue, at a different building when realised that it was the wrong queue at the first place. Joined the queue at number 13.

5. Rushed back home to look for great great grandfather's birth certificate, when the 'Pak Guard' remarked that it was required to prove one's nationality.

6. Reached the goverment office at 7.00 am. Re-joined the queue at number 29.

7. Regretted eating the tomyam buffet the previous night. Had to go to the toilet.

8. Rejoined the queue at number 41. They were people hanging around the office door: Bloody queue jumpers.

9. Office open at 7.30!

10. Everyone rushed in, pushing and shoving. It was chaos. Managed to get through.

11. Got number 9. :)

12. Number was called. An officer checked through the necessary documents and forms. Problem with photocopy of old IC. Both sides of the IC has to be photocopied onto the same A4 page.

13. Paid RM1 for the photocopy at a nearby shop.

14. Approached the officer again. Problem with photo. Both ears were not visible and covered by hair. Have to retake the photo at a nearby stall.

15. Paid RM50 for the new photo which looks exactly the same as the old photo.

16. Approached the officer again. No problem this time. Was given another queue number. 182.

17. Was asked to go back home and return in the afternoon, as the number will probably be served in the afternoon.

18. Call back office to apply for another half day leave.

19. Return home.

20. Return back at 2.30pm, after lunch time.

21. Number 210 was being called.

22. Enquired at the counter about number 182.

23. Got scolded by another officer because not present when the number was called in the morning. Will only be served when everybody else has been served.

24. Wait.

25. Wait.

26. Wait some more.

27. Waaaaiiiiitttt.....

28. 182!!

29. Sit at the counter while the officer was going through the documentations.

30. Learnt that the officer was having fried chicken for dinner, and her husband was outstation for two weeks. Overheard her conversation with her colleague.

31. Sign a few forms, thumb-printed a few documents, asked to return in 1 month to get the new IC.

32. Asked the officer what were the procedures for getting the new IC. "You datang bulan depan lah, ambik nombor queue lah, kalau mau cepat, mesti datang awal lah, pukul 6 ka, 5 ka."


Note added (3 November 2004 3.54pm):
Based on the comments received from the readers, most readers thought that the above was my experience when applying for my new MyKad yesterday. Actually we didn't get to apply for MyKad yesterday at the Putrajaya branch. We were late, and all the numbers have been snapped up by 8.30am. The above is actually a collection of experience I had over the years in dealing with official documentation applications with governmental bodies, particularly IC and passport application. And it was meant to poke fun at our 'system'. :)

MyKad

Pop quiz: What do you call a public holiday in one state but a working day in another state (or federal territory)??

A MyKad application day!! aka Passport application day!

Yesterday was a public holiday for me (I worked in the Public-Holiday Heaven). But it was a working day for the federal territories and some other states. So, off I went to JPN to apply for my MyKad.

So being a public holiday, we woke up a bit late and prepared to go to Putrajaya. I heard the application was quite fast in Putrajaya, less crowd too.

Mami : Do you think we need to go there early, queue up to get our queue numbers?

Papi : Aiya, that was ages ago lar, I am sure they have improved their process. They should be able to serve anyone who go to their counters during office hours.

Mami : You sure ah?

Papi : Yalar, last time I read in the paper mah, they will serve everyone who comes during office hour.

I was wrong. When we reached there, there was already a crowd gathered at the lobby. I saw a sign "Those who are waiting to collect their MyKad, please wait at the lobby". When I walked in to the office, I understood why such a sign was necessary. Here we are, the spanking new Goverment's Administration Center, and the JPN MyKad application office is as big as my toilet!

In the office, it was like sardine can. There were a 2-3 manned counters, a few rows of chairs, and a place to 'solek menyolek'. There was a couple in front of us, wanted to apply as well. We were looking for the queue number dispensing machine, or the cheapskate DIY kotak with hand-written queue numbers on it. But being unable to move, I decided to ask a gentlemen sitting next to me. He was holding a queue ticket "550".

Papi : Bang, ambik nombor kat mane? (Yo, bro, where can I get the queue number?)

Bang : *mumble* bbrr...da...de....Nombor dah habis. (There is no more.)

Papi : Ah? Dah habis? (Finished?)

Bang : Ya. Untuk hari ini dah habis. (Yes, all the numbers for today has been taken up.)

Papi : ....

In an instance, the couple in front of us left without saying a word. Then I saw an officer coming out from the counters.

Papi : Encik, pemohonan baru untuk MyKad? (Sir, MyKad application?)

Officer : Nombor hari ni dah habis, kene datang besok. (The queue number has finished for today, you have to come back tomorrow)

Papi : Ohhh...dah habis. (ohhh...already finished)

Officer : Ya, 8.30 dah habis. (yes, by 8.30am, it was all snapped up)

Papi : 8.30?!! berapa banyak nombor untuk satu hari? (8.30!! how many numbers were distributed?)

Officer : biasa 140, tapi hari ni kite keluar 160. (normally, 140, but today we gave out 160)

Papi : ohhh... tima kasih ya.. (Ohh...thanks)

We didn't get to apply for our MyKad. Well, no problem lar, still got a lot of time what! Next year only expired. kekeke...Malaysian mentality.

So next, we did what a typical Chinese would do....jalan jalan cari makan!! We went to Sri Petaling for Dim Sum!! Yam yam!!