It hasn’t been too long since I last came back to Indo. While I’m on holiday again now, here’s some memory of the previous one last year, some of which stays true.

Incredible things

Teeth business 🦷

Each time I drove past something that says ‘Ahli Gigi’ (teeth expert), it scares me. It’s even scarier when it says ‘Tukang Gigi’ (teeth handiman). I wonder who first came up with such terms 🤔. It may be my first world problem, but it makes me cringe each time.

Born in a remote village Tanjung Leidong, we had minimal dental care until I left for Singapore. I remember having toothaches so bad but had to wait because the nearest dentist was in the next town Mom had to bring me to by boat 2 hours away. I’m just thankful my teeth are somehow quite alright now (it’s a miracle!🫣).

Mom told me the other day that we’re fortunate to even have occasional visits to the dentist back then. In their days, they lost all their teeth at some point. Why?

‘It aches, so we pluck it out. Aches, so pluck it out.’ By the time they hit 30, they’ve lost them all 😰

My hats off to their generation, so resilient, I can’t imagine living through that! But even now, those Ahli Gigi and Tukang Gigi are still around. I feel very sheltered thinking about that.

Introducing.. miracle oil 💧

I learnt about this amazing oil. At least I was amazed by what it claims to do! It’s from one of the uncles who got it from Singapore long time ago. When Mom and I went to Singapore last year, we tried to find it to no avail (if you find it, do let me know 😄). Apparently it’s proven to work incredibly according to many aunties, so I’ll take their word for it.

As with many things recommended to her, Mom asked me to read and tell her what it actually does. Here’s what I read:

• For use externally & internally
• Dose small effect certain
• Effectual remedy for:
  • Bronchitis, Burns, Bruises, Calarish, Cuts, Catarrh, Coughs Colds, Croup, Corns, Dysentert, Earache, Fever, Lame back, Neuralgia, Piles, Rheumatism, Swellings, Stings of Insects or Reptiles, Sprains, Sore Throat, Toothache (!), and wounds of every description on man and beast.
• 🐎🐂 In horses and cattle it is good for:
  • Anthrax, Bellyache, Bruises, Colic, Curbs, Flesh wounds, Farcy, Gripe, Galls, Grease, Lameness, Mumps, Old Sores, Poll Evil, Sprains, Sand Crach, Scratches.
• It is equally as efficacious for animal as for man.

Impressed? And don’t ask me what some of those things are because I really don’t know, but it is incredible an oil can do all that anyhow.

Family et al

Ayam Baraya

The deliciousness of Ayam Baraya deserves its own sub section!

Nah, just kidding.. Rather it’s my loving older brother’s nice gesture whenever I get to Jakarta that he orders this, knowing it’s my fave chicken. nom nom nom..

Once and only hiking trip

I’m not sure where people get the idea that I love hiking (I don’t, I’d rather chill at the villa pool 😛), but I thought, oh well, when else I’ll get to do this in Indo but due to my cousin-in-law’s craving for the outdoor after being in Jakarta for months (he’s from England and in danger of going crazy being indoor all the time in Indo 🤣). It happened that my cousins (two sisters) were pregnant, so I ended up hiking with my two cousins-in-law while they relaxed at the villa.

Family Bali Trip

Now this was the long awaited trip indeed. My sister-in-law hadn’t been on the plane for 4 years (since covid) – while it was already my 4th time in CGK airport in 2023!

My nephew Ed was so excited that he managed to find his shovels for the beach among the multitudes of his chaotic piles of toys! He also looked forward to meet his cousin again, to whom he’s introduced the horrible Granny and Slendrina in the last family trip to Bali prior to Covid. This time, he told me, ‘Is it not good to show children Granny and Slendrina because it will scare off the children? I will try to control myself not to show Ethan Slendrina this time, ok?’

He cracks me up, a funny kid. When you ask him to try food he hasn’t tried before, he squints with suspicion and sniffed them like a squirrel. One time, we arrived at the golf club and the staff greeted my brother by name, and my niece asked, ‘How does he know Dad’s name?’ Ed said, ‘because he’s a stalker!’ Out of all reasons, that’s what he instantly thought of. 🤨

My sis and her son Ethan joined us at Bali with a direct flight from Melbourne. On landing, Ethan said, ‘Mommy, I’m suffocating, this air is stuffy and polluted.’ 😅 Wait until you get to Jakarta! Hopping into the car, Ethan was trying to fix his seat belt when I told him not to worry about it as we don’t use that here for the back passengers. He replied, ‘but I feel illegal.’ 😂 And he put it on anyhow. Arriving late at night only to be placed in a room with intermittent blackout issues. But once he got into the bath tub, he’s happy (in fact he said that’s his highlight of the Bali trip: the bath bomb in the tub!)

For the holiday, we are nowhere near Club Med as we learnt our lesson from our previous Bali trip, but we also hardly go anywhere at all. First day out at 10am to Bali Safari, stayed there for less than 3 hours including lunch and everyone wanted to go back to the hotel because of the heat. The kids prefer to play at the pool or timezone and just have fun with each other in the air conditioned hotel. So that’s what we did for most of the remaining stay! Perhaps also partly because the driver we had was terrible at following instructions. He always replied, ‘Siap! Siap!’ (=Roger! Ready!) but he never was. When you don’t need him, he’s always there uninvited, when you need him, he’s unreachable. He seemed to always end up doing the opposite / against your very instructions, and to make it worse, he kept hinting for tips (when that’s already included in the pay). I was annoyed at him by the second day enough to decide to discontinue using him for another day. My cousin’s family who live in Bali kindly hosted us and drove us around anyway, we didn’t need to get the driver in the first place.

My cousin’s kids were very well behaved. They have been hospitable to so many people I think they’ve been taught how to be too when the parents open their home and lives to others that way. I also had a really nice chat to them at the cafe the first evening, while strolling along the beach in the morning, and at their home another evening, with praying too. It was sweet to enjoy the goodness of being in God’s family in addition to being related by blood too ❤️

Family reunion in Jakarta

When we get to Jakarta from Bali, Ethan said to Ed, ‘Why is this place so pooping hot, my skin is burning! 🔥🔥🔥 This is like Iraq!’

Ed asked, ‘Is Iraq the hottest place in the world?’

Ethan replied, ‘no, but it’s a desert!’ and he continued, ‘Melbourne air is refreshing you know.’

It’s really funny to hear some of his comments, but this trip made him realise how fortunate he is to be born and raised in Melbourne. You only know the air isn’t clean if you are used to breathing in fresh air.

This is the first time Ethan visited Jakarta and they were only here for about a day. My sis hadn’t been back home for about a decade and wouldn’t have a clue how to get around, so I drove them around for the day.

Misc

It’s good to see Mom enjoying her routine a lot more now. Every morning she joined her morning workout group in a nearby park, and every Tues she managed the tofu distribution (like the middle person between the tofu seller and the buyers who are our relatives and many of her workout group friends too). BTW, she didn’t even know the name of the tofu seller, she had him as ‘tauhu’ (=tofu) on her phone contact list 😂.

Likewise, my brother called this reflexologist who is really good. When I asked for his name, my brother said he has no clue, although he’s been coming to our home regularly for the last few years!😆 My brother showed me his contact list, ‘look, see: he is called ‘gojek refleksi number xx..” When he booked for a time, he just asked something like, ‘today 7pm ok?’ That’s it. But I asked for his name when I first met him, so now everyone knows his name hahaa.

Lastly, I brought Mom to Singapore too last year. We got to visit the uncle and auntie who had taken care of us in their homestay for a few years when I was a student there. How things have changed..

There are a lot more to say that I remember. Being in Indo gives a mixed feelings, a lot of mismatches. Sure many things are nice and we enjoy them rightly and thankfully. But it’s so rampant to see the condition of people in the wet market, slums, men selling flybat on the streets, kids dressed up in cartoon characters begging for change, severely handicapped people dragging themselves along besides the traffic🚦

Then there’s the talks about cosmetic surgery, laser, injection, botox, liposuction (even suggested by a husband), and going under the knife like an everyday occurrence (it’s a trend among the weathly. Or more the silly?). You think you’re in the midst of the better off people, yet you also hear one of them has a husband who is a junkie. But they call her ‘a lucky girl’ because she doesn’t seem to care. Isn’t your logic disturbed?

You also have such delicious goodies, but sold in a shop saturated with smokes 🚬🚬🚬, I would have skip that trip if I knew it. But it didn’t bother anyone else. Just like Ethan could smell something right away on landing in Indo, but you won’t be able to tell if that’s the daily air you inhale. Then the classic complaining about home maids that’s endless. I would expect a different core of a conversation if you haven’t met for a long time, but I guess if that’s what fill your mind, day and life, it makes sense for it to come out that way. I am nonetheless quite baffled at how people keep up when their minds are filled with such. There are options, either live with it or do away with maids. Any of those seem better than endless complaints. Having said that, I’m glad I haven’t heard any maid complaints so far in this current trip!