Orchid Fever

(*^▽^*) I think Mom was bitten by a green-bug.
Look what she got for me last week!!!
While I was chasing for my plane, Mom bought these orchids for me.
She told me that she even emptied her whole wallet to get me these.
So thoughtful of her... *(^O^)*

Don't ask me their names, cos I know nothing about it (yet)
They are so pretty, aren't they?

All pics were taken using SGS3 and was edited using PS. This little thing works wonder, isn't it?

Run Ming Run

It seems like my travelling luck is increasing in this past week.
Again, my flight was delayed. But luckily this time, I didn't miss the connecting flight, I caught just right in time: at the time they about to pull the stair away from the aircraft.
Lucky, I was smart enough to ask a few ground-staff; some of them said I've missed the flight, but some said... "Lari, Mbak, Lari.....Cepatttttt" (= Run, sister, run, quickkkk).

So I ran like a drama scene through the plane parking lot. Passing like 2 planes and a parking spot before I could approach my plane. Breathless ...waving at the ground-staff  "Waittttttt!!!"
When I finally arrived at the stair end, the staff looked at me with a sharp eyes...
I got what he was trying to say, so I told him "On transit (... paused) my previous (... paused) plane (... paused) was delayed." My lung was about to burst..!!!
I don't care what he thinks, all I care is I caught this flight! Wohooooo!!!
Or else, there's a good chance of me staying overnight in that airport. They only fly once a day... >.<~
How cruel is that?

Thanks to my luck and my trusty legs, I was able to arrive at home safely. Even if that's without my luggage.
Hahaha, they didn't manage to transfer my luggage. Too bad, my bag couldn't run as fast as me.
But lucky me, there's nothing important there, just some dirty laundry.
At least they found my luggage and delivered it safely to me the next day.

it's back!!!  \(*o*)/

With my lucks this week, maybe I should get a lotto.
What do you think?

Respect: On a Tip of a Tongue and On a Glimpse of Mirror

I missed my connecting flight today because my earlier flight was delayed for 2 hours. Once I landed, I reported to transit desk, and they printed a new boarding pass for another connecting flight (at 2 pm). 30 mins before schedule, I got a call from L*on Air that the 2pm flight is full, and they couldn't take me, so they suggested me to wait until 4pm. Of course, I couldn't accept that, cos my original flight supposed to be at 11am. I've been delayed for hours!!!

So, I walked to their counter, and asked what the problem is. His answer was uncertain "Mungkin engga bisa, Bu, sepertinya penuh" (= maybe we couldn't take you, mam, seems the flight is full). I don't understand why he kept on using "uncertain" words. Seems like they sold some last minutes tickets and try to waive me.

So, he asked me to wait. I started making phone-calls just to let my bro know that I'll arrive very very late because of stupid delays. Btw, I was (unintentionally) speaking in English. Ehm... Soon after that, I heard the counter guy busy on his walkie talkie, asking a seat for me.

Apparently, he thought I am a foreigner or someone important cos I speak English. This is not the first time...

 A few years ago, my uncle passed away. And I need to take a flight from Jakarta to Medan to attend the funeral. After a series of delays, M*ndala Airlines announced that the flight was CANCELLED. God damn it! Cancelled! 

I went to their counter to talk to the girls there, and they gave me unsympathetic look and asked me to wait. I didn't mind waiting, but they didn't do anything. Just sit, chit chat and laugh. I was so pissed off. I started to yell at them in English until their manager showed up and talk to me. He spoke English to me, and I was pretending to speak broken-Indonesian (just like when foreigner speak Indonesian). And voilà  I was quickly transferred into next flight to Medan in no-time, using another airline. And he also helped me to carry my luggage. Thanks to speaking English!

Things like this don't just happened in Indonesia. 

A few years ago, I went to a China trip with my parents. We were staying in a hotel room, I got an extra bed. But they didn't give us any extra pillow + blanket. Since it's China, my dad who is fluent in Chinese, called up house-keeping to get extra pillow + blanket, he was replied with a monotone "mei you" (= don't have it). My dad explained that we have extra bed, they supposed to provide pillow + blanket with it too. And the answer was still a cold "mei you".

My dad was about to complain to the tour leader, but I tried to call the house keeping again, and this time, I spoke in English. I asked for 2 extra pillows and a blanket. I didn't even need to explain that we actually have extra bed. She answered me "Sure, Madam, right away. Anything else, Madam?" Heheheh...

The above mentioned incident can only happened because the conversation was made on phone. 

Not face to face. 

I believe the whole thing would just failed if they saw my super-Asian look. Hahaha...

When my Asian look is exposed, any language wouldn't be able to help me in racist situation.

Once I was in K*pu-Kupu Barong, Bali because a relative worked there as a chef, I went there with another chef to taste her cookings. We waited for more than 30 mins to get served. Not that the cafe was busy or anything, there were only 3 customers (incl. me). And those 2 came later than me, but they got serve earlier. 

Why?

Cos they were bule 

(bule = Indonesian slang for any "white" people, could be Americans, Germans, Australians, French, etc; the term doesn't carry any negative racist sense)

We tried to call the waiter (she's a Balinese), wave at her, calling her, etc. Not that she didn't notice us, she just said "tunggu ya" (= wait). My chef friend was about to give the waiter a punch on her face if I didn't stop her. Hahaha... The waiter finally "notice" us when a janitor saw me kept on waving (the waiter just stand lazily as if I was invisible). And later, the waiter walked toward us and rudely throw us a menu.  

I didn't wanna make a scene there. If my relatives didn't work there, I think I would called up the manager and complain. 

Seriously, not like me or other Asians couldn't afford the food there. We could. In fact, those bule just order little things. Bule can be kere (poor) too, you know.

If Asian themselves look down on other Asian, How would bule see us? 

Well, sadly, they look down on us too. (though not all)

In Europe, some aunties who dressed casually often ignored by boutique attendants. No matter what goods you wanna buy, they kept on saying "no stock", but in fact, another bule customer could get the goods in question and they even get to choose. How rude!!! 

Hello? Don't you know hardly any bule able to buy those luxuries? They are on crisis. The one that have abilities to buy are Asians! Just look at those faithful crazy queues at Champs-Élysées or Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. 

I hardly see any bule in those luxury boutiques, even if they were, they took forever just to buy a small wallet. Asians can easily pinpoint a few bags in 5 minutes and pay with HARD CASH! Yes! Those aunties' bags are full with bricks of 500 euros! 

I have to admit, I think these shopaholic aunties are crazy, not because they are Asian, but because they are just slaves for luxury brands. Just for ever-hungry pride!

I just don't understand why Asians look down on other Asians? 

Why bule look down on Asians or any other race? 

And why do Asians idolize bule so much?

Well, maybe I am exaggerating about this racist things, but it happens... a lot.

Babies' First Bloom

Playing match-maker for plants is so rewarding when you finally see the result.
On my last post Crossing Waterlilies, I have shown you those tiny sprouts... the result of waterlilies kama-sutra. Hehehehe...
Here is the picture of those babies growing up.

babies taking up their mommy's space in the pot

There were so many of them that I have them re-potted in smaller container and give bigger ones away.
I am willing to give them for free, all you need to do is to prepare a pot for them, k?

babies waterlilies for giveaway 

the first flower 

There's one baby that I separated for a couple of months and has a whole pot for itself. And this is its first flower.
I have to admit that when I mate those water lilies, I didn't label them. I never thought I would succeed on first attempt.

Looking at the fact that the baby bear a pink flower same as its mother. But it somehow have smaller bloom than its mommy's.
Maybe I mate pink flower with another pink flower.
Ooopss.... Waterlilies' infidelity, nobody knows who the daddy flower is. FYI, I mated pink one vs. pink, white and red.



Isn't it pretty? I cut it off and placed in the altar. The cut flower lasted for 4 days.

(wild?) Orchid

Look what I found today in the forest: a kind of orchid growing on the ground.
Lucky of me to spot this tiny beauty.
Pretty pink and yellow hue over its white petals. Beautiful, isn't it?
It has some seed pods too. I doubt I'll be able to manage those seeds.
Btw, I took some of the plants home, wanna cultivate them :)
Anyone knows its proper Latin name?

Searching for Binlang Princesses

Driving across the island, I saw many many glass booths with lots of neon light. I was expecting near-naked ladies sitting inside, but I couldn't see any, only decently-dressed girls. If you search Mr.Google with the keyword “BinLang XiShi”, you’ll find a lot of pictures of girls in bikinis or skimpy dress and heavy make-up. I think Taiwan TV just exaggerating about their raunchy dressed Binlang Princesses (檳榔西施). Either they are just overrated marketing, rumours, or my radar is lame in finding ladies. Hahahhaa

To feed my curiosity  we finally to stop at random BinLang booth. Did I see any sexy ladies? No! In fact, there were a fat older lady and a fat uncle serving me. I couldn't be bothered to take their picture. I bought 2 available types. Each cost me NTD50 per pack.

I tried chewing them, here is my report:

When eaten individually, binlang is awful, the texture is just like the husk of young coconut (they are cousins). Imagine trying to pierce your teeth into coconut husk, no matter how immature the nut is, it is still very hard to chew. Plus with my braces, it was an almost impossible thing to do. Binlang tastes dry and astringent; I couldn't taste any sweetness or sourness, just super dry astringent. Don’t like at all щ(゜ロ゜щ)

 The betel piper leaves. I have no problem with this, I think it taste a little minty with heavy herbal fragrance. OK with me!

Sexy girls you said? This is as far as I got - on a box of sandwiched binlang

See the above picture? The thing sandwiched between sliced binlang? I thought it’s a kind of root or something. I found out this is the flower vine of betel piper. No wonder it tastes so nice. Imagine putting minty toothpaste in your mouth. This is what it tastes like, freshen your breath （*＾3＾）/～☆

I tried eating them whole too. Again, I couldn’t really chew the binlang. It’s just too hard. Those people who were addicted to binlang must have over-worked jaws.

Despite considered low class, judging from hundreds (thousand?) neon-booths on streetside, Binlang is somewhat popular in Taiwan. Usually consumed by drivers to get alertness during their work, just like cigarettes and coffee (since they are mostly males, girls in skimpy dress must made them super alert and manly. Who wouldn’t?) It is also addictive. The side effect is reddish black spit, stained teeth or losing your teeth too. Recent studies concluded that chewing binlang can cause oral cancer!!! 

A question mark! as binlang is not a new thing, why people in past centuries don’t get these side effects? Even in Indonesia, binlang and betel piper considered to strengthen your teeth rather than ruining them (they still stains). I guess it depends on how much you chew. Unlike Taiwanese who chew non-stop, people in the past chew occasionally – usually on religious/traditional ceremonies.

山重重水重重

Main entrance of FGS Buddha Memorial Centre

Have you heard of Fo Guang Shan? It's a big Buddhist organization in Taiwan, they have branches everywhere around the world. On my last visit to Taiwan, we went to Kaoshiung to visit FGS's Buddha Memorial Centre.
It's enormous!Looks like a palace rather than a religious site (@_@;)
Ow, they also have statues of respectable Arhats, my fave is Rahula's statue. He was pictured to have 2 dimples on his cheek. Cute. (top right on the pic below)

Arhat statues + their brief descriptions 

Anyway, there's a room inside the Buddha Memorial Center, where you will be asked to pick a little ball from a bucket of balls. (I wasn't allowed to take pic here)
OK, since I didn't really listen to what the volunteer said, I just followed what my friends did.
So, we all kneel down, prayed, bowed, and picked a ball.
Inside the ball there is a paper with a poem inside! I was so surprised that it's a new kind of Tiu-Ciam! ~(>_<~)

One volunteer then ushered me to a nun, to explain what is written on that paper.
     Nun:What's your problem?
     Me: Huh? What problem?
     Nun: When you pick the ball? What problem did you ask?
     Me (turning to my friend): I didn't ask anything, I just pick a ball... for fun
     Friend: (looking at the nun) She asked about her future

Basically the nun said that my life involved with a lot of roads and sea, many many path to go. And through my journeys I will find my real heart (真心) then, I will settle down.

I have no words against it. She's right, I think I travel quite a bit in my life. As for my real heart, I assume the nun talked about Dharma. She can't be talking about my future spouse, right? It would be very odd to discuss about spouse and marriages to nun (or monk).

Anyway, I think the reading doesn't mean anything in particular, bad or good. I think it depends on how you see and interpret it.
There were like 6 people (apart from the nun) try to interpret my paper. Some said it's a bad omen: many paths means many problems and obstacles. WTF!!! Or some said you have to find a spouse to stop all the wandering  (✖╭╮✖)
What's wrong about lots travelling and being single?
Am I the only person in the world that think I am a lucky person??? I know I am.
Well...As long as I am happy with myself, that's good enough, isn't it?
------------

My paper reads: 山重重又水重重。透出重重重见功。重重妙义重重意。不管东南西北风。
Google translate it as: Numerous mountain numerous water. Revealed a numerous to see result. Numerous wonderful righteousness numerous meaning. Regardless of the wind of East South West North.

it's me

I think I look quite good in this pic, need to immortalise it on my blog * big grin*

Emergency Laundry

A friend asked how do I manage washing during my travelling. I usually only wash little things like underwear and socks, sometimes I wash my scarf too, that’s when I accidently spill something on it.

Here is a trick how to have your little laundry to dry up within a night
1. Prepare your washed laundry (in this case: my little socks) On top of a towel, lay the socks. Place it on the edge of the towel.
2. Pull the other edge of the towel to sandwich the socks
3. Flatten the sandwiched towel
4. Roll the towel
5. Roll the towel
6. Wring the rolled towel, wring as tight as you can. All the excess moisture is transferred to the towel.
7. Un-wring the towel.
8. Now you can grab the socks, they’ll be quite damp now.
9. Hang it in open air area. I promise they’ll be dry by tomorrow

Update about Robi. Part 3

The project was done a couple of month ago. I was just lazy to write. Hahaha

But I guess I owe you a report. Here are the before-after pictures of the house make-over.

the bathroom

the front yard

the new room

The project was running well, but just like other mercy-project, there were some obstacles. I even doubt that the new room will be given to Robi.

Mostly because of greed, Robi's family member asked for more and more, kept on complaining that they needed more which none has anything to do with Robi. Of course, not all their wishes are fulfilled, we insisted to focus on Robi's welfare, rather than the whole extended family.

The leftover fund for Robi is not fully handed-over. I still wait for Robi's legal ID, so he can open a bank account under his personal name, rather than borrowing name from others (I even doubt his relatives)

But that's just me, I know I am abit way over-reacted about his relatives' attitudes. But one can't be too careful about money, right? Especially when it involves needy people.

Previous Posts: Part 1, Part 2