My Grey World

From Jakarta to Singapore, it would be a helluva difference.. So to sum up..

 
In Jakarta,

I eat less

I know, Jakarta for me is heaven of food. Cheap and ubiquitous. And the best thing, sometimes you just don’t need to go out to get food. Because they will come to you.. Literally. They usually sell their food door-to-door, usually on a cart or a bicycle. You won’t have it in Singapore. Who wants to sell door-to-door in an apartment?

The thing is, my parents and siblings and other family members that you can think of have been complaining to me about the drastic increase of my weight. So.. You know the story.

In case you’re wondering, here’s my photo long long ago.. I was 14 or so..

The photo is hung on the wall in my home in Jakarta.

And the next thing is, there’s no damn convenience store that opens 24 hour near your house that gives you a reason to go out at 3 AM because you’re feeling peckish. And no friends living near your home who sometimes can be devilish enough to persuade you to go out for supper with them.

And the next thing… Several days back I got sick. Stomachache and headache. Father said it was because I was not really used to dirty food (read : Jakarta food) anymore. Sigh. Lost 2 kilos instantly because of the damn sickness. Oh I should not curse it. I should yeay for it. (reference : paragraph 2)

I sleep more

Oh the joy of holiday. I feel like paying all of my sleep debt in my holiday. Even though not really exactly… I’ve been too used to my sleep-after-2-AM habit. Plus I’m too addicted to the several TV series. I just can’t stop watching. Don’t blame me. Blame those Emmy-winning series.

I shop more

Forget that overrated Great Singapore Sale. The price in Jakarta is far, far, far better for fancy T-shirts, shoes, and accessories. Ah, the wonder of marketing. If only this thing in Jakarta is advertised as extensively as that of Singapore, I’m sure Jakarta would make a hell lot of money.

Ah, I forget. Who wants to shop in a city that’s full of people ready to snatch things off when you’re happily shopping?

I read more

How can I not. No decent (read : fast) internet connection, no malls within my footsteps, no PS2 (my new housemate in Singapore has PS2), what should I do? Reading is the answer.  Bought many books in Singapore (with “finishing reading it” imprinted on my brain) but never had time to finish them. So I brought home these books (and I doubt I will bring it back there) and planning to finish them. Not bad. Finished 2 out of 5, per June 19^th. And I bought some Indonesian novels and comics too. Speed comparison : several days for those English books, several hours for the Indonesian books. I even finished a novella by my favourite author, Fira Basuki, in 30 minutes or so. It’s not my fault that I read so fast. (unfortunately not that fast for English. Gonna polish this skill soon)

I watch more

This goes with the previous thing. Jakarta = place where films and series roam free. Well, if you know what I mean. *winks* And I don’t care about being couch potato. (or sometimes, bed potato) All I care is to enjoy those films and series with clever plus witty conversations (focus : Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives).

I go out less

People say that coming home to your hometown meaning meeting old friends and reminiscing the good old days ovecr a cup of tea (maybe a portion of lunch in case of Jakarta). I think those people watch too many corny soap operas, which, apparently, are abundantly available in Jakarta via the TV stations. What I like to do in my hometown is to stay at home, watch TV (my TV has Discovery Travel and Living channel. Yeay), listen to CDs (just bought Mika , Regina Spektor, and Lily Allen
. So cheap!). So, I’m sorry my old friends, if you really miss me please just call me or sms me (I’m still using XL, means I can send free sms-es!).

I don’t really like to hang out (read :go to malls. Where else in Jakarta?) here because :

1.         I need a car to go there because there are no public transport near my home except those Bajajs and there’s no way I will go to malls in Bajaj.

2.         I can’t drive.

Which means I must have my driver to take me to those malls, unlike in Singapore where I can just walk/take bus/take MRT. And FYI, this driver is not my personal driver, which means he is often used by my mom to have her goods delivered, have my siblings delivered (to their schools/lessons), and have herself delivered to meetings (she’s not an executive or those work-behind-desk type in case you’re wondering) and personal things. My driver should have a booking system, you know. So in short, it’s very hard for me to get myself to those malls, in case there are people who wanna meet me there. The process :

1. Check the driver’s task list with Mom

1a. Driver is free for certain timeslots, continue to number 2

1b. Driver is not free, continue to number 5

2. Explain the purpose (with who, to where, until when, doing what).
1. Purpose accepted, continue to number 3
2. Purpose rejected, continue to number 5
3. Tell the driver the destination
4. Sit quietly in the car, preferably accompanied by good CDs or Prambors Radio
5. Tell the friends you can’t make it, end of process

(written in my style of writing use case)

Hmmm. Did I hear “My eyes are sore!” screams? Fret not. This is the end of the post. Leave a comment and be merry.

Enjoy your holiday (if you have one), while I’m enjoying mine.

Note : I’m already back in Singapore while posting this