11.21.2008

In The Residence of Dragon

Friday, 21 Nov 08, 12.00pm in office

Hi again, diary..
I was just back from washroom. I met that auntie again, not the auntie who sells siu mai, oww please! I met the auntie who cleans the washroom. Few days ago when I washed my glass and my hands, that auntie was mopping the floor beside me. Accidentally I dropped some water on the floor when I was reaching tissues. And I was so shocked when that auntie suddenly.....

Auntie: “!@#$%^&*()$%^&*!” [pointing at the floor with one hand, holding the mop’s stick on her other hand]
Me: “.....” [Looking at her, looking at the floor, looking at her again, I didn't understand what she was talking about]
Auntie: “#$%&*((^^$#$^&]!!” [getting angrier, she was pointing me by using her mop’s stick]
Me: “.....” [Looking at the floor, smiling at her, nodding my head signaling that I understand, at that time I understood that she was angry because I made the floor wet]
Auntie: “@#%*()*^$%#@!!!!” [I could see her face slowly changed to red and some fire started coming out from her. She thought that I was trying to make a joke of her, I was really not!]
Me: “Diu? Diu… pat? Diu em chui? em chiu?” [with soft voice, trying to remember how to say 'I am sorry' in Cantonese. I know “Dui bu chi” in mandarin means I’m sorry. But in Cantonese, I guess ‘Dui’ in Cantonese should be ‘Diu’, I know ‘Bu’ in Cantonese is ‘Pat’ or “Em”, ‘Chi’ is what? ‘Chiu’? ‘Chui’??]
Auntie: “!@#$%^&*())_!@#$%^&*()!!!!!!!!! [she completely had turned to a female dragon with fire coming out from her nose, buzzzzz...]
Me: “.....” [left the washroom].

Just now, I entered the washroom again by carrying my glass. I was about to wash my glass when that female dragon suddenly entered the washroom in the shape of human. As soon as she saw me, she spoke to me with her dragonly language again, something like "ji shi" or something like that. She still looked upset. I put my glass outside then I went into one of the toilet cubicles in rush, waited inside there till she left. I was scared of her. She didn’t give me chance to repent for my sin, hiks..

-Abbie-

New Meal Style

Friday, 21 Nov 08, 9.22am in office

Good Morning diary,

Usually for breakfast, I bring some bread or cake from home and I have it in office. I like having breakfast and drinking hot coffee slowly in the morning while checking my email or browsing the Internet (or blogging?). I’m having my coffee now and I just had my breakfast, a real heavy breakfast! You know what? Starting yesterday, my breakfast style has been slightly changed. I don’t bring breakfast from home anymore because I want to taste what the real HK breakfast is like. So, I bought breakfast at a shop near my office. Yesterday, I bought Siu Mai and Jeong Fan which made them cost HK$10. The portion was just nice for my morning stomach. Today, the Siu Mai was finished, only left the Jeong Fan. I don’t understand Cantonese but I could at least understand when the auntie said “Siu Mai wan le, wan le”. I was so disappointed because I just had a ‘fun breakfast’ yesterday but there is no more fun breakfast today hiks.. The auntie asked me “Jeong fan, 5 khuai jien? 10 khuai jien?”. So I said, “10 khuai!!” with super confident. I thought $10 portion is my morning stomach portion but it turned out to be sooo much because the price of Jeong Fan is much cheaper than the Siu Mai. Fyi, Jeong fan is the long-white-transparent-skin kind of dimsum but with empty filling, and there are some (at least 4) sauces and sesame seeds on top of it. So, it’s very ‘eneg’ if you have it too much. Next time I’ll buy $5 of jeong fan if there is no more siu mai. It’s a good lesson to learn, don’t be ‘nggeragas’!

For dinner, this is usually what I do. For simple meal (e.g fried egg, fried instant chicken drumstick, instant noodle), I can cook just after I reach home from work because my husband is still able (read: he has no choice other than) to wait. But for medium-level-of-complicated meal, I usually prepare the necessary ingredients a night before and cook it again on the N-night. My husband is also willing (read: standing in front of my kitchen door with yelling-stomach but he has no choice other than) to wait. For high-level-of-complicated-meal, I usually cook on weekend, put it in the fridge, and reheat it over and over again, and we can have it for the first 2 or 3 days after weekend depending on the “food quality”. My husband is so nice because he will happily eat the same meal for 2-3 days (read: quietly eat with no comment, but his meal portion is getting smaller and smaller from day 1 to day 3). Yea, I agree with you, I also pity him; I’m a very understanding wife, am I not? That’s why I give him these 3 options for his dinner menu “Which level of meal complicatedness do you want me to cook for you?” Again, he’s so sweet by answering my question “Up to you, for me it’s all the same” with no-expression face. Is there any hidden meaning from his answer?

Of course I’m more understanding than that. I also offer him option 4; for instant and fast meal, I ask him to have dinner near his office or take-away some food and eat it at home. But he’s tired of having the oily-pork-Chinese food all the time. So, it’s not my fault, is it?

-Abbie-

11.17.2008

Pictures of HK Apartment

Monday, 17 Nov 08, 10.11am in office

Morning diary,
Finally yesterday I managed to take some pictures of my little cute apartment after doing my weekly cleaning. ^_^





-Abbie-

11.14.2008

Me [x] Bus

Friday, 14 Nov 08, 5.37pm in office

Hello gello bello, my diary..
This is my picture with my colleagues when there was a bday celebration yesterday. Sekarang pertanyaanya adalah, yg manakah mister J?


Today I had lunch outside. When I came back, aku ngliat si dia lagi berdiri sandaran papan penyekat dengan 2 tangan di atas penyekat dan dagunya diletakkan di atas kedua tangannya, sambil senyum2 pula! Dia terus berdiri di situ, menguping pembicaraan 3 cewe di balik papan penyekat sampai 3 cewe itu bubar ke meja mereka masing2. Now I got the answer of the matter I was wondering last time. That is his ‘lunch-discussion’ style!

Enough about his life, now let’s talk about mine. Now I always take the direct bus from my home to office. The reasons are because I’m lazy to transfer to MTR and because I want to save money. The bus takes about 1 hour. What I’m talking about is not about how long it takes to take me to office. Now I’m more concerned about my stomach. My stomach is so uncomfortable recently after riding on the bus. The uncomfortable feeling has not disappeared in the morning and I still have to ride on the bus again. I sat on the lower deck of the bus, I saw people coming in and going out all the time, it made me dizzy. I sat on the upper deck, it gave me feeling like flying. I sat on the front row, I felt like riding a roller coaster because I had to wear my seat belt and it was quite a tense experience since the bus has no “moncong”. I sat on the last row, it was the worst! I think I have turned to be a crab that can only walk to the side, not to the front. I will try to sit “miring” on the bus in the future.

Tonight I will have a BBQ with my colleagues at a ‘Far Far Away’ place. The place is around 1 hour from my office. Yea yea you’re right, my home is 1 hour from office, that means ‘Far Far Away’ place is near my home?? A big NO!! That place is on the opposite direction from my home!! Ok, it’s ok, I’ll just need to be ‘munek-munek’ for another 1 hour. I think this is the only way to get me slimmer. Thanks God for Your creative method!

Have a great weekend, diary! ^_^

-Abbie-

11.12.2008

Si Jay

Wednesday, 12 Nov 08, 1.04pm in office

Hi diary,
Sekarang baru istirahat jam makan siang. Aku baru aja menyelesaikan makan siangku. Dua hari kemarin aku keluar makan bersama temen2 sekantorku tapi hari ini mereka pada memesan makanan dari luar kemudian makan bersama-sama di kantor. Jadi, aku pun memesan makan siangku.

Ada 1 hal yang membuatku terkekeh-kekeh siang ini. Kemarin siang, setelah aku kembali ke kantor lagi dari makan siang dengan temanku, aku bertanya basa-basi kepada 1 teman kantorku, sebut saja Mr. J. Dia orang yg sangat kalem dan pendiam.
Me: "Udah makan siang?"
Mr. J: "Udah"
Me: "Makan apa?"
Mr. J: "Oh, aku bawa makanan dari rumah hari ini karena ada hal yang aku perlu diskusikan dengan teman2 yang laen, jadi kami makan bersama-sama di kantor"
Me: "Oh, ok"

Tidak ada hal yang aneh, kan? Iya, memang itu suatu percakapan biasa. Aku juga tidak mencurigainya sama sekali kemarin sampai siang ini. Hari ini Mr. J juga membawa kotak makan siangnya lagi. Pada saat kami makan bersama-sama, Mr. J membuka kotak makan siangnya yang imut dan kemudian dia duduk di mejanya sendiri. Mejanya terpisahkan oleh sebuah penyekat setinggi kurang lebih 1.5m dari tempat kami makan bersama-sama. Penyekat itu membuat Mr. J (dalam keadaan duduk) tidak bisa melihat ke dalam ruang di mana kami makan.

Satu hal yang membuatku terimpress dengan kegigihan Mr. J untuk turut join dalam conversation kami dengan tenang adalah dia rela untuk mendongakkan kepalanya dan mengangkat kotak makanannya (yang imut) ke dekat dagunya (untuk bisa tetap makan) untuk mengintip apa yang terjadi di ruang makan dengan sesekali 1 tangan berpegang pada penyekat untuk mempermudah acara pengintipannya. Pada saat percakapan kami sedang seru2nya, dia juga tak mau ketinggalan segera berdiri (tak lupa tetap membawa kotak makanannya ke dekat dagunya) untuk tetap menyimak percakapan kami dengan sesekali ikut tersenyum. Sekarang acara makan siang bersama sudah selesai, beberapa orang sudah kembali ke meja mereka masing2 tapi masih ada beberapa orang yang tetap ngobrol di sana. Mau tau apa yg dilakukan Mr. J sekarang? Dia berdiri, dengan satu tangan bersandar pada penyekat, satu tangan memainkan mouse computernya, pandangannya terus beralih-alih dari layar computer ke ruang makan. Dia tetap tidak ingin ketinggalan gosip. Dia benar2 dapat menghayati profesinya sekarang sebagai seorang yang bekerja di bidang marketing.

Sekarang aku bertanya-tanya dalam hati, apakah itu yg terjadi dengan Mr. J kemarin siang? Itukah yang dia maksud dengan "Oh, aku bawa makanan dari rumah hari ini karena ada hal yang aku perlu diskusikan dengan teman2 yang laen, jadi kami makan bersama-sama di kantor"??

Kalau Mulan Jameela adalah makhluk Tuhan paling sexy, Mr. J sungguh makhluk Tuhan paling imut.

-Abbie-

11.11.2008

Mulai Kerja!!

Tuesday, 11 Nov 08, 10.40am in office

Hi Diary,
Hari ini aku terpaksa menulis diary dengan bahasa Indonesia karena ini menyangkut orang2 yang disangkut dan yang tersangkut. Sejak kemarin aku mulai masuk kerja. Teman2 di sini baik2, lokasi tempat dudukku lumayan strategis, nomer 2 dari belakang, dan ada penyekatnya di samping dan di belakangku jadi orang laen tidak bisa melihat kalo aku lagi chatting atau blogging, kerjaanku juga kayaknya bakal exciting. Ah, moga2 aku bisa betah kerja lamaan di sini.

Kemarin aku datang tanpa bawa gelas dan sendok. Ada water dispenser, kulkas, dan microwave di dapur kantor tapi tanpa gelas aku tidak bisa minum. Seandainya itu di rumah, I don't mind minum pake tangan seperti kalo lagi kumur2 sikat gigi. Tapi ini di kantor, aku harus sedikit menjaga image, apalagi di hari pertama kerjaku. Di kantor ini, aku satu2nya orang Indonesia, dan satu2nya orang asing, jadi aku tidak boleh memberi kesan bahwa orang Indonesia suka makan dan minum langsung pake tangan!

Hari ini hari keduaku, aku sudah membawa gelas sendiri dari rumah, plus sendok plastik. Aku tidak boleh mengaduk gelasku dengan "sendok naturalku" yaitu jari telunjukku. I told you, aku tidak ingin memberi kesan bahwa orang Indonesia suka kemproh2an pake tangan! Pagi ini, aku bawa gelasku warna hijau terang ke dapur kantor, aku membuat kopi. Aku masukkan 1 sendok kopi, 1/4 sendok krim, dan mana gulanya?? Aku tidak bisa menemukan gula dimana-mana! Pada saat yg sama, teman sekerjaku masuk ke dapur dan menyapaku. Dia juga membawa gelas putihnya yang bertuliskan "Coffee", mengisinya dengan air putih kemudian mengajakku ngobrol. Aku tidak bisa memperlihatkan gelasku yang tanpa gula. Aku pura2 hendak mengisi gelasku dengan air panas dari water dispenser dengan harapan dia segera beranjak pergi. Namun, dia masih dengan asyiknya mengajakku ketawa-ketiwi tidak mau pergi. Jadi, aku benar2 mengisi gelasku dengan air! Setelah gelasku penuh, aku baru sadar bahwa air yang kutuangkan itu air dingin! Bubuk kopi dan bubuk krimku mengapung tak karuan di dalam gelas hijau terangku. Aku berusaha keras untuk menyembunyikan apungan bubuk2 tersebut dengan sendok plastikku sambil tetap melayani obrolan temanku. Dan, pada saat yang bersamaan, pertanyaan yang paling kutakutkan terdengar dari mulut temanku "What are you making? Is that coffee?". Yea yea, aku harus mengakuinya bahwa itu kopi, aku tidak bisa mengelak bahwa itu adalah lemon tea atau jus jeruk dengan apungan bubuk2 itu. And I said "Yes!", pada saat bersamaan aku minum kopiku untuk menghilangkan apungan bubuk2 tadi, juga dengan harapan supaya gayaku ngobrol tampak lebih luwes. Kopiku rasanya benar2 "spectacular!" tapi aku harus tetap tersenyum di depannya. Dan kami beriringan berjalan menuju ke meja kami masing-masing dengan ayunan kaki yang kubuat selincah-lincahnya.

-Abbie-

11.09.2008

First Night (INA)

Sunday, 9 Nov 08, 10.35am at home

Good Sunday, diary!
From what I remember, this is the first time I write diary on Sunday this year. I seldom write diary on Sunday because usually my hubby was the one who used the computer and the Internet. My shift of using Intenet was only Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm. That was my working hours, there was no service on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the time was my husband's. But now, I can use Internet anytime for as long as I want! You know why? Because I've moved to my new apartment last nite! *So what??* Oh, I mean, my new apartment has a wireless network coverage so two laptops can have access to the Internet at the same time. I've become addicted to the Internet now.

Diary, I've shifted to my new apartment now! Yoohoo! Last nite was our first night in this new apartment. We slept so soundly last nite since we finally could sleep on our own precious bed and pillows. The last couple of days were really tiring days for me. Although the mover company helped to settle the things, I still had to unpack my personal items and put them nicely on the wardrobe. The only things I haven't done are ironing all the clothes, washing all the dishes, and buying some groceries.

My parents had gone back home now. And tomorrow I will start my first day of working in HK. There is an exciting as well as a nervous feeling. My home now is so much more comfortable than my Japan's home with all the Internet broadband and cable TV facilities but now I have to give up my occupation as a housewife. *What do you want?? You had been crying so hard to get a job, now you've found a job and you regret it??* NO!! I mean.. I mean.. ahh, you know what I mean, rite?

I can feel my lifestyle is starting to change. I don't know if I still have time to experience cooking for dinner. I don't know how to get food for breakfast. I don't know if Friday is still my groceries shopping day. I don't know if Wednesday is still my home cleaning day.

-Abbie-

p.s INA = In New Apartment