Hypocrite
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I was assaulted by the bold and offensive aroma of excessive hairspray, spiky (prickly) hair, skinny jeans, jazz hands, and pointy shoes and I felt nauseated. But then I wonder whether the nausea was due to my repulsion of the shallowness of these people or because I was jealous of their excellent and socially commended appearance. Giving it some further thoughts, I ended up repulsed myself for being jealous of people that I find repulsive. So, today I learn that it is much more fun to be an obtuse hypocrite rather than a hyper-conscious one.
Mango and Fringe
Friday, May 8, 2009
In the past wretched weeks, a persistent unwelcomed problems have decided to visit and play pranks with our telephone lines. The service guy, always the same unlucky fellow, will come, go up to either or both our roof and our fence, and find that yet again, there is a new cable, forever different from the last blasted culprit, that has been ruined by the vile duet of the mighty wind and the fierce force of the limbs of our mango tree.
The mango tree has been a fixed stature on our front yard since my memory permits me to remember. No mango tastes better than our mango, and I have a witness to back up my claim. The parking guy on our street, who, comes the harvest season, always equipped his repeated visits to our yard with a long stick and a burlap bag, will attest the satisfying quality of our mangoes.
And Monday arrived. The poor hated Monday was blessed to receive one less verbal beating and profanity attack than the usual portion it receives. It puzzled me how I didn't grumble and babble and give everyone the anti social look on that day until I finally realized, around mid-day, that it was most probably due to the large amount of gorgeous rays that came forth and enlightened all of the sad gloomy people in our building. On further thoughts, there was probably only one sad gloomy person in the building.
"Mother darling, what a beautiful day we have here! I don't think we've had such bright and shiny day for months! Is it because the rainy season has bid his farewell?" I, for once, initiated a weather conversation with mother. Without turning her eyes from her work, mother replied briskly, "No, silly head, I asked our employees to cut down some of the mango branches last Saturday!"
Obviously, a good worker like me would not go to the office on Saturday. It's a matter of keeping the productivity level high. So, I was a bit shocked by the news. Shocked and feeling quiet stupid for not noticing the ample space that replaced what once was a fraternity of bullying mango branches.
First came sadness, a long standing witness of my life, a mute observant of all my bad judgments and bad decisions since childhood is gone before its natural time. Yet, it really felt as if a layer of fuzzy dark screen that distorts my point of view of the world has been lifted away, and I could finally see the world as a brighter, cheerier and happier place. The mundane activities no longer repulsed me as much, and I felt more positive about life than I ever allow myself to be.
"Bring it on life, here's one person that is ready to milk everything life has to offer!", I said while shaking my right fist up in the air.
Then of course, I started to feel the sting of heat that comes as a package with the gorgeous rays. I realized that without the protection of our mango tree, we've become a greenhouse , a fish in a bowl placed in the middle of the street of a blazing hot tropical city with no sunscreen protection to prevent us from getting agitated and hot headed.
Naturally, I started to complain incessantly about how hot it is, and how the full blast AC directed at me doesn't do its trick, and how things doesn't look as bright and wonderful anymore as it is hot and Hot and HOT!!!
So, the curtain of darkness has been drawn again, and peyo is back to her natural habitat.
Home sweet home.
So, the question now is should I cut my fringe? Maybe it could do the job of holding the curtain withdrawn than a mere few hours. Maybe I should.
The mango tree has been a fixed stature on our front yard since my memory permits me to remember. No mango tastes better than our mango, and I have a witness to back up my claim. The parking guy on our street, who, comes the harvest season, always equipped his repeated visits to our yard with a long stick and a burlap bag, will attest the satisfying quality of our mangoes.
And Monday arrived. The poor hated Monday was blessed to receive one less verbal beating and profanity attack than the usual portion it receives. It puzzled me how I didn't grumble and babble and give everyone the anti social look on that day until I finally realized, around mid-day, that it was most probably due to the large amount of gorgeous rays that came forth and enlightened all of the sad gloomy people in our building. On further thoughts, there was probably only one sad gloomy person in the building.
"Mother darling, what a beautiful day we have here! I don't think we've had such bright and shiny day for months! Is it because the rainy season has bid his farewell?" I, for once, initiated a weather conversation with mother. Without turning her eyes from her work, mother replied briskly, "No, silly head, I asked our employees to cut down some of the mango branches last Saturday!"
Obviously, a good worker like me would not go to the office on Saturday. It's a matter of keeping the productivity level high. So, I was a bit shocked by the news. Shocked and feeling quiet stupid for not noticing the ample space that replaced what once was a fraternity of bullying mango branches.
First came sadness, a long standing witness of my life, a mute observant of all my bad judgments and bad decisions since childhood is gone before its natural time. Yet, it really felt as if a layer of fuzzy dark screen that distorts my point of view of the world has been lifted away, and I could finally see the world as a brighter, cheerier and happier place. The mundane activities no longer repulsed me as much, and I felt more positive about life than I ever allow myself to be.
"Bring it on life, here's one person that is ready to milk everything life has to offer!", I said while shaking my right fist up in the air.
Then of course, I started to feel the sting of heat that comes as a package with the gorgeous rays. I realized that without the protection of our mango tree, we've become a greenhouse , a fish in a bowl placed in the middle of the street of a blazing hot tropical city with no sunscreen protection to prevent us from getting agitated and hot headed.
Naturally, I started to complain incessantly about how hot it is, and how the full blast AC directed at me doesn't do its trick, and how things doesn't look as bright and wonderful anymore as it is hot and Hot and HOT!!!
So, the curtain of darkness has been drawn again, and peyo is back to her natural habitat.
Home sweet home.
So, the question now is should I cut my fringe? Maybe it could do the job of holding the curtain withdrawn than a mere few hours. Maybe I should.
Report on the Battle between Peyo and the fierce Flu-o-Squad
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Greetings internet world.
I have resurrected from my deep long blog hibernation to report on the battle between Peyo and the fierce Flu-o-Squad.
Fear not, since I am happy to report that at this moment, our beloved Peyo has finally gained some important inches at the battle ground and close to finally win this exhausting battle. This mentally and physically consuming battle has been ongoing for more than a week, and both sides have gone back and forth on attacks using their most powerful and advanced weapons. At one point in time, Peyo was badly injured when the Flu-o-Squad has released all of their most powerful weapons, and caused our dear Peyo to suffer from fever, headache, endless cough, runny nose, and extreme tiredness. Thankfully, Peyo has managed to find the potent weapon to make the Flu-o-Squad retreat back to their homeland.
After utilizing various available weapons, Peyo would like to use this blog as a medium to share to the good people of internet on the effectiveness of weapons to attack the Flu-o-Squad:
1) Those traditional tiny Chinese black pills
Comment: Consuming this medication brings the memory of childhood where mother would shove upon us all variation of Chinese herbs and medications. Such sweet memories. That is all I can say about these pills though since they do not provide any effective attacks on the Flu-o-Squad.
Grade: D
2) Cough Suppressant Drops
Comment: I like the taste of the drops, but it will only give you a temporary relief (5 minutes max) before the Flu-o-Squad realizes that it's just a fake attack and come with an even more powerful force to avenge you.
Grade: D
3) Adem Sari - A delicious fruity drink to release the heat from your body (description copied from indonesianfoodmart.com)
Comment: I love Adem Sari. But honey, you're out of your league on this game. Still, I have a sweet spot for the product, so I'm going to be an easy grader this time.
Grade: B
4) A concoction of drugs that contained some form of morphine provided by my family doctor
Comment: I was in cloud 9 accompanied by dancing bears, and would have been a happy camper if that damn cough would stop bothering me.
Grade: C
5) OBHerbal - Some cheap cough syrup drugs that was highly praised by my auntie and cousin
Comment: It tasted and looked like some factory waste. Gave me a pseudo relief for a day, and that's it.
Grade: FAILED - Because taste is also important people.
6) Kaempferia galanga + Honey (a.k.a kencur + madu)
Comment: Giving pity on my mother who seemed exasperated by the sound of my horrible coughs, one of the customers recommended this traditional medicine to combat the Flu-o-Squad. Result: mother is still exasperated.
Grade: D
7) A concoction of drugs that contained some form of morphine provided by my employee's doctor
Comment: Hoping that I have some luck with a different doctor, I visited my employee's doctor. Oddly enough, he has the same first name as my family doctor. Unlucky enough, his prescription is at the same effectiveness level as my family doctor's.
Grade: C
Editorial Note: Seriously, how long is this list going to be????
Peyo: Hang in there, it's almost done!
8) Lemon Juice + Salt + Sweet Soy Sauce + Hot Water
Comment: Undeterred by the failure of kencur + honey mixture, I finally agreed to swallow this traditional medication. It tasted funky, but in a Peyo approved way, and it did resulted in some productive coughs (I could get rid some of those yucky phlegm, ewww ..) but not as much as I would risk a heartburn by consuming this very acid mixture again.
Grade: B
9) Rhinos - some colorful capsules that are pleasing for the eyes
Comment: I had runny nose, I popped one capsule of Rhinos, runny nose problem disappears. It's the modern day version of miracle.
Grade: A
10) Decolsin - some ordinary unassuming cough medicine
Comment: Play the soundtrack of victory, here's the winning medicine. It's a cheap medicine and it does the job.
Grade: A + (it causes drowsiness, so I have an excuse to doze off while at work, hoorah!)
Note: In order to reduce the length of the list, I have not included the variation of antibiotics that I've taken.
Some alternative medications that I have not tried:
- Going to Ponari
- Eating a gallon of ice cream
I hope this list is useful for all of you, the good people of internet.
Now excuse me while I take a nap during my work hour using the excuse that Decolsin has conveniently provided for me.
I have resurrected from my deep long blog hibernation to report on the battle between Peyo and the fierce Flu-o-Squad.
Fear not, since I am happy to report that at this moment, our beloved Peyo has finally gained some important inches at the battle ground and close to finally win this exhausting battle. This mentally and physically consuming battle has been ongoing for more than a week, and both sides have gone back and forth on attacks using their most powerful and advanced weapons. At one point in time, Peyo was badly injured when the Flu-o-Squad has released all of their most powerful weapons, and caused our dear Peyo to suffer from fever, headache, endless cough, runny nose, and extreme tiredness. Thankfully, Peyo has managed to find the potent weapon to make the Flu-o-Squad retreat back to their homeland.
After utilizing various available weapons, Peyo would like to use this blog as a medium to share to the good people of internet on the effectiveness of weapons to attack the Flu-o-Squad:
1) Those traditional tiny Chinese black pills
Comment: Consuming this medication brings the memory of childhood where mother would shove upon us all variation of Chinese herbs and medications. Such sweet memories. That is all I can say about these pills though since they do not provide any effective attacks on the Flu-o-Squad.
Grade: D
2) Cough Suppressant Drops
Comment: I like the taste of the drops, but it will only give you a temporary relief (5 minutes max) before the Flu-o-Squad realizes that it's just a fake attack and come with an even more powerful force to avenge you.
Grade: D
3) Adem Sari - A delicious fruity drink to release the heat from your body (description copied from indonesianfoodmart.com)
Comment: I love Adem Sari. But honey, you're out of your league on this game. Still, I have a sweet spot for the product, so I'm going to be an easy grader this time.
Grade: B
4) A concoction of drugs that contained some form of morphine provided by my family doctor
Comment: I was in cloud 9 accompanied by dancing bears, and would have been a happy camper if that damn cough would stop bothering me.
Grade: C
5) OBHerbal - Some cheap cough syrup drugs that was highly praised by my auntie and cousin
Comment: It tasted and looked like some factory waste. Gave me a pseudo relief for a day, and that's it.
Grade: FAILED - Because taste is also important people.
6) Kaempferia galanga + Honey (a.k.a kencur + madu)
Comment: Giving pity on my mother who seemed exasperated by the sound of my horrible coughs, one of the customers recommended this traditional medicine to combat the Flu-o-Squad. Result: mother is still exasperated.
Grade: D
7) A concoction of drugs that contained some form of morphine provided by my employee's doctor
Comment: Hoping that I have some luck with a different doctor, I visited my employee's doctor. Oddly enough, he has the same first name as my family doctor. Unlucky enough, his prescription is at the same effectiveness level as my family doctor's.
Grade: C
Editorial Note: Seriously, how long is this list going to be????
Peyo: Hang in there, it's almost done!
8) Lemon Juice + Salt + Sweet Soy Sauce + Hot Water
Comment: Undeterred by the failure of kencur + honey mixture, I finally agreed to swallow this traditional medication. It tasted funky, but in a Peyo approved way, and it did resulted in some productive coughs (I could get rid some of those yucky phlegm, ewww ..) but not as much as I would risk a heartburn by consuming this very acid mixture again.
Grade: B
9) Rhinos - some colorful capsules that are pleasing for the eyes
Comment: I had runny nose, I popped one capsule of Rhinos, runny nose problem disappears. It's the modern day version of miracle.
Grade: A
10) Decolsin - some ordinary unassuming cough medicine
Comment: Play the soundtrack of victory, here's the winning medicine. It's a cheap medicine and it does the job.
Grade: A + (it causes drowsiness, so I have an excuse to doze off while at work, hoorah!)
Note: In order to reduce the length of the list, I have not included the variation of antibiotics that I've taken.
Some alternative medications that I have not tried:
- Going to Ponari
- Eating a gallon of ice cream
I hope this list is useful for all of you, the good people of internet.
Now excuse me while I take a nap during my work hour using the excuse that Decolsin has conveniently provided for me.
Pawned!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
In our line of business, and I assume just like in other line of business in Indonesia, our clients usually have duration of payments ranging from 1 week - 2 months.
Well, one of our smaller client showed up today to pay his debt. We teased him a bit for being late with the payment. We stopped immediately though after he informed us that he paid us using the money he got from the pawnshop. He used his motorbike as the collateral.
Apparently, his wife had to go to the hospital for 5 days and he had to pay 2.5 millions for the hospital bill. This completely affected his financial situation. You see, he has no savings. I bet most of the lower class people in Indonesia don't have any savings for the rainy days.
How much is the interest?, I asked. It's 50.000 per month per 1 million borrowed. That's 5 percent per month and 60% per year, assuming it's not using the compound interest system, and gosh, I really hope not.
The current interest rate in Indonesia is, if I'm not mistaken, 8.75% per year. Banks don't touch micro loan though, and I'm sure the complicated bureaucracy doesn't motivate the small loaners. I believe most lower class people either go to pawnshop or loan sharks for their cash needs. If they're lucky, they have a wealthy enough relative to go to. Hopefully, the relative won't be too greedy and charge them with high interest.
We lend money for our employees with no interest. Most of them would borrow money when it is time to renew the contract of their house, to pay for the school admission, to pay the hospital bill for their parents, the list goes on and on. They always break even or run negative with their balance book, never a surplus.
Aside from the civil employees, I don't think there is any retirement plan in Indonesia. Not for the lower class for sure. I think they would work until they die, or they would hope that their children would be able to support them at the old age. Is that why they have many children even if they are not economically well off?
How many times do I see a husband, a wife, and their 2 children traveling on one motorbike? Sometimes it's even 3 children. What would happen if their children grow bigger and they still can't afford a car? How would they go for leisure? Could they afford to pay their school tuition? Could they afford college? I heard education costs a fortune nowadays.
What a life.
Well, one of our smaller client showed up today to pay his debt. We teased him a bit for being late with the payment. We stopped immediately though after he informed us that he paid us using the money he got from the pawnshop. He used his motorbike as the collateral.
Apparently, his wife had to go to the hospital for 5 days and he had to pay 2.5 millions for the hospital bill. This completely affected his financial situation. You see, he has no savings. I bet most of the lower class people in Indonesia don't have any savings for the rainy days.
How much is the interest?, I asked. It's 50.000 per month per 1 million borrowed. That's 5 percent per month and 60% per year, assuming it's not using the compound interest system, and gosh, I really hope not.
The current interest rate in Indonesia is, if I'm not mistaken, 8.75% per year. Banks don't touch micro loan though, and I'm sure the complicated bureaucracy doesn't motivate the small loaners. I believe most lower class people either go to pawnshop or loan sharks for their cash needs. If they're lucky, they have a wealthy enough relative to go to. Hopefully, the relative won't be too greedy and charge them with high interest.
We lend money for our employees with no interest. Most of them would borrow money when it is time to renew the contract of their house, to pay for the school admission, to pay the hospital bill for their parents, the list goes on and on. They always break even or run negative with their balance book, never a surplus.
Aside from the civil employees, I don't think there is any retirement plan in Indonesia. Not for the lower class for sure. I think they would work until they die, or they would hope that their children would be able to support them at the old age. Is that why they have many children even if they are not economically well off?
How many times do I see a husband, a wife, and their 2 children traveling on one motorbike? Sometimes it's even 3 children. What would happen if their children grow bigger and they still can't afford a car? How would they go for leisure? Could they afford to pay their school tuition? Could they afford college? I heard education costs a fortune nowadays.
What a life.
On how my day got ruined, zombie, and Aretha
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
What on earth possessed me to sleep at 1 last night? I'm just not cut out for late night activities. I should have slept at 9, just like how my grandma taught me to. After a jolt of hyperness this morning - provided by the late night dessert intake, I am now having the appearance of a drunken zombie. The more I think of it, my current state is not that much of a difference from those Chinese mummy that was once the famous subject of 90s Hongkong films.
A tragedy beset upon me this morning. As I tried to lock the car's door, I was damned enough to have my breakfast box (as opposed to lunch box) slipped from my grip. It was surprisingly didn't go directly to the ground. Instead, it was on the air for a while, moving in approximately 60-degree trajectory and performed a 360-degree spin at the peak before finally landing on the ground.
OK, so, maybe I did some exaggeration, but I remember it was on air long enough to give me time to scream a loud "Nooooooooo!" for the amusement of everyone in the neighborhood. Gravity force finally descended my breakfast box and destiny deemed it to be appropriate to sprinkle some condiments called dirt on my breakfast and stamped my whole day as "RUINED".
Anyway, I listened to the music of Aretha Franklin last night, and I was floored ... again. I have the same reaction every time I listen to her music after some vacuum period.
It's very unfortunate that her talent is being overshadowed by the many repulsive karaoke renditions of her famous songs (Respect, Chain of Fools, etc) and also her weight problems. People should give a chance to her music and listen to it without some preconceived idea (preferably on her 60s-70s repertoire). Not only that she has amazing technical chops, what's more important is the raw emotion that exudes in her singing.
Check Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Aretha, together with Otis Redding and Sam Cooke helped positioned Soul as the respected music genre, and she totally deserved the title Queen of Soul.
Before I end this post, let me do a bit more complaining. The client that always calls me "Meme" is back, and he managed to blurted out "Meme" about 10 times or more during the 5 minutes that he was here. Gahhh ...
*end of post*
A tragedy beset upon me this morning. As I tried to lock the car's door, I was damned enough to have my breakfast box (as opposed to lunch box) slipped from my grip. It was surprisingly didn't go directly to the ground. Instead, it was on the air for a while, moving in approximately 60-degree trajectory and performed a 360-degree spin at the peak before finally landing on the ground.
OK, so, maybe I did some exaggeration, but I remember it was on air long enough to give me time to scream a loud "Nooooooooo!" for the amusement of everyone in the neighborhood. Gravity force finally descended my breakfast box and destiny deemed it to be appropriate to sprinkle some condiments called dirt on my breakfast and stamped my whole day as "RUINED".
Anyway, I listened to the music of Aretha Franklin last night, and I was floored ... again. I have the same reaction every time I listen to her music after some vacuum period.
It's very unfortunate that her talent is being overshadowed by the many repulsive karaoke renditions of her famous songs (Respect, Chain of Fools, etc) and also her weight problems. People should give a chance to her music and listen to it without some preconceived idea (preferably on her 60s-70s repertoire). Not only that she has amazing technical chops, what's more important is the raw emotion that exudes in her singing.
Check Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Aretha, together with Otis Redding and Sam Cooke helped positioned Soul as the respected music genre, and she totally deserved the title Queen of Soul.
Before I end this post, let me do a bit more complaining. The client that always calls me "Meme" is back, and he managed to blurted out "Meme" about 10 times or more during the 5 minutes that he was here. Gahhh ...
*end of post*
A Complete Rambling of Mind
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I found out that I'm just not capable to do a coherent post nowadays. I would start something, lost interest in the topic halfway, and abandoned the writing I felt passionate about 1/2 hour ago.
So instead, I'm going to write a list of things I have had in my mind yesterday and today:
* I eat therefore I am
Statement is written while eating bread, knowing very well that lunch is 1 1/2 hour away.
* One is the loneliest number, but two is too crowded and gives me a headache.
I'm a damn hermit.
* What is the most universal human characteristic? Fear or laziness?
This is one of the questions asked in Waking Life, a superb film that gives the viewers a buffet of various idea of life, its meaning and its purposes. Surprisingly, instead of getting depressed after watching the show, I felt rejuvenated by the quality of the conversation. As for the answer to the question, mine are at an equal proportion and at an alarming level.
* Open canal/sewer system sucks!
I live in a pretty good neighborhood, yet it still stinks when I'm at outside my house. Not to mention the damn rodents running around the street. At least in India, the ones who are taking leisure walks along the city are monkeys or elephants. They are interesting and photogenic. What benefits do I get from the multitude of gigantic rodents who believe that the streets are their properties? Oh, the humanity!
* I love peanut butter!
Need I say more?
* Is it wrong to wash your hands more than 30 times within 8 hours period of time?
Don't blame me. Blame the yucky smelling and extremely crumpled looking qualities of Indonesian's cash.
* I was at the doctor's waiting room, and I saw a news coverage at TV regarding the increase occurrence of fights between female gangs. This already tickled my nose a bit with its hilariousness, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud when they inserted a caption: "Perbuatan Tidak Terpuji, Jangan Ditiru!" (A Not Commended Action, Do Not Imitate!).
Below is a coverage from a different channel with the caption: "Jangan Meniru Adegan Ini!" (Do Not Imitate This Activity!) in it.
So, for me, it's hilarious, because they do not put any warnings in any other news coverage: be it the Israel-Palestine war, the anarchist demonstration that has killed a politic figure or even the mass surge of desperation to a 'dukun cilik' (little healer) that has killed several people. But for this news, they feel the need to specifically tell the viewers that these activities are not to be imitated. Right on!
* Why do I write my blog only when I'm at work?
Well, d'uh!
* Last point: Hooray on a new post!
Finally, Nit2 can stop complaining about having to see the damn scale picture every time she checks out my blog :P
So instead, I'm going to write a list of things I have had in my mind yesterday and today:
* I eat therefore I am
Statement is written while eating bread, knowing very well that lunch is 1 1/2 hour away.
* One is the loneliest number, but two is too crowded and gives me a headache.
I'm a damn hermit.
* What is the most universal human characteristic? Fear or laziness?
This is one of the questions asked in Waking Life, a superb film that gives the viewers a buffet of various idea of life, its meaning and its purposes. Surprisingly, instead of getting depressed after watching the show, I felt rejuvenated by the quality of the conversation. As for the answer to the question, mine are at an equal proportion and at an alarming level.
* Open canal/sewer system sucks!
I live in a pretty good neighborhood, yet it still stinks when I'm at outside my house. Not to mention the damn rodents running around the street. At least in India, the ones who are taking leisure walks along the city are monkeys or elephants. They are interesting and photogenic. What benefits do I get from the multitude of gigantic rodents who believe that the streets are their properties? Oh, the humanity!
* I love peanut butter!
Need I say more?
* Is it wrong to wash your hands more than 30 times within 8 hours period of time?
Don't blame me. Blame the yucky smelling and extremely crumpled looking qualities of Indonesian's cash.
* I was at the doctor's waiting room, and I saw a news coverage at TV regarding the increase occurrence of fights between female gangs. This already tickled my nose a bit with its hilariousness, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud when they inserted a caption: "Perbuatan Tidak Terpuji, Jangan Ditiru!" (A Not Commended Action, Do Not Imitate!).
Below is a coverage from a different channel with the caption: "Jangan Meniru Adegan Ini!" (Do Not Imitate This Activity!) in it.
So, for me, it's hilarious, because they do not put any warnings in any other news coverage: be it the Israel-Palestine war, the anarchist demonstration that has killed a politic figure or even the mass surge of desperation to a 'dukun cilik' (little healer) that has killed several people. But for this news, they feel the need to specifically tell the viewers that these activities are not to be imitated. Right on!
* Why do I write my blog only when I'm at work?
Well, d'uh!
* Last point: Hooray on a new post!
Finally, Nit2 can stop complaining about having to see the damn scale picture every time she checks out my blog :P
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