Almost every time I sit down in a restaurant, or simply ordering food at hawker centres, the server/hawker will only ask “Yes, order?”. Sometimes there is not even a question. They will only take out their order pads, or the best one – raising their eyebrows at me. It’s as if we have a telepathy going on.

Whatever happened to “Good morning/afternoon/evening, may I take your order?”?

That's not food, by the way

Pardon me for being particular. But I come from the land of smiles and I mean that literally. Doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant, a fast food joint, or an undignified “WarTeg” (small diners providing basic food, usually for lower class citizens), people always greet me with a smile and chirpy voice. Ok, not always, but most of the time.

Perhaps it’s the tips thing? It’s always customary to give tips to service staff in Indonesia, when it’s not a common practice here in Singapore. Already included in the bill, they say.

Small fact: I pay 21% service charge in Indonesia, and I still tip anyway. (we are all expected to)

Does tips really make the difference in service level?

Does service matter in the first place anyway?

For me it matters, a damn lot. I don’t care if the food is gourmet, if the service is bad the food will taste bland. I stopped going to MOS Burger at Novena Square because there is this super annoying auntie who doesn’t even speak when I’m ordering, or even look at me for that matter. That is despite my unrequited LOVE for MOS Burger. At the food court/hawker centre near home, I only buy sugarcane juice from 1 stall, just because the owners are nice, smiley, and always remembers me.

How about you? Does good service matter in your choice of where to eat?

Photo by remittancegirl, under Creative Commons NC-SA 2.0

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There are a lot of things people use to call me and similar people : a person of Chinese descent/ancestry who was born and raised in Indonesia.

But in English-speaking world, I always choose to call myself “Indonesian Chinese”.

Sometimes I don’t use it at all, fearing discrimination or sorts. But most of the time, I’m proud of using it. Really.

Never mind about the grammatical rule or anything. Perhaps it should have been Chinese Indonesian, since an adjective should be placed in front of a noun, yes? But then both Chinese and Indonesian can be both adjectives or nouns so.. I don’t know. I’ve found at least two books in SMU Li Ka Shing Library about people like me using different terms : Chinese Indonesian or Indonesian Chinese.

But I chose to use Indonesian Chinese because of this : I’m always an Indonesian first, then a Chinese. Chinese is merely my ancestry, my heritage. Granted, I grew up in a Chinese culture too, being always pushed for the best and punished for being ordinary. But above all, I consider myself an Indonesian. Always. And will always be. (okay honestly I should see in some years’ time, that if they continue to make it difficult for me to travel overseas just because of my citizenship, i’ll seriously consider changing citizenship for practical reasons)

I know May 1998 incidents might have supposedly made me against my country and the so-called indigenous people (how can you say I’m not indigenous too when I was born on the same land as you?). But I didn’t. I don’t know why. I can list a lot of cheesy reasons like how Indonesian nature captivates me, how I love Indonesian food, how Indonesian people are so friendly, and the blah. But no. I love my country, and just like any other type of love, does it really need a reason?

So to so-called native/indigenous Indonesians that refuse to recognize me and others as Indonesians, remember. Indonesia is a melting pot. Living in a melting pot is not the same with, say, a cupboard? In a cupboard you sit and live together with other things, but in a melting pot, we become one. OK I know cupboard is a silly analogy but you get what I mean (I hope).

Whatever happened to Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, man.

Oh and, no, not all of us are rich. Believe it or not, at my very first room in Singapore, the maid employed in the apartment is an Indonesian Chinese.

And where else did you think your “mi ayam” and “siomay” come from?

photo by Midori

photo by Chandra

I know. Yum.

And to people who think that I’m not Chinese because I can’t speak or read Mandarin or because I don’t do things in a Chinese way, this post is my answer. I’m always an Indonesian first then a Chinese. After all I don’t wanna be a Chinese that demeans and teases other people like you.

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24th of May, the last day of our competition

It was the folk music category.. Songs that we sang:

• Sohran Bushi (Japanese)
• Xiao Huang Li Niao/小黄鹂鸟 (Mongolian folk song, sung in Mandarin)
• Mamayog Akun (Philippines)
• Dayung Sampan (Singapore, with melody adapted from a Chinese song)
• Now I Walk in Beauty (Navajo traditional prayer, sung in English)

Pieroghi (dumplings)

Yummmmmmmmmmm

pieroghi!

Okay if you’re wondering.. I did eat two portions of pieroghi!

me and honey vodka

Hehe.. The first “gloomy” photo is my favourite photo of the lot! He even used it for his profile picture once

 

Mwahahahaha. Please don’t kill me, please. It’s just a joke

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My relationship turned 2 months at 25 January and so we decided to get together and.. just be merry =D

Actually we already talked about this since we were still in holiday at Jakarta. We should buy a cake and eat together, celebrating Christmas, New Year, and our 1st monthversary (that time).

Actually that’s just a lame reason for us to eat a cake together XD

So yeah… This post will have many photos! So please read more to continue..

Following my friend Yanice’s advise, I went to Takashimaya foodcourt to buy the cake from this particular patisserie.

Dear came to home and brought me my favourite fried dumplings!

It’s available in a hawker centre near his house.

A closer look to the dumpling..

Annnnnd here’s the cake!

Dear opening the box..

Peek-a-boo~ What’s inside?

Ta-dah~!

Well if you have been a reader of mine for quite some time.. You might recognize the cake..

Yeah, it’s the same birthday cake that my friend gave me at my 18th birthday!

I remember how delicious it was so I decided to buy it again =P

So it’s time to eat the cake!

First we take the chocolate…

It’s a very delicious white chocolate~

Random close up of my boyfriend =P

Then we take the fruits..

First the strawberry..

the close up of the strawberry (it’s yummy too~)

This is what happened to the kiwi..

Coz I don’t like the skin…. =P

Finally cut the cake! This is the one I gave to my boyfriend.. I know, I know, not neat –;

My boyfriend happy with the cake…

Hehehe. <3 u, darling =D

And this is the one cut by my boyfriend for me..

Ugh. It’s neater….

However, when he tried to cut it again..

It fell apart!

Mwahahahahaha. I feel neater =P

So in short,
I’m happy to last 2 months with you darling.
Looking forward for the coming months, and even years…. =)

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