All Time Favorite

According to internet the translation is as follow:
+ Chak de
- Phatte (apparently 'chak de phatte' in Punjabi is like 'Rock on')
+ Where are you from?
- From Pluto
+What are you here for?
- I just came for a stop at the cash and carry
+ It's a wonderful spaceship
- I bought it second hand
+What type of insurance did you get, third party?

my all time fave of BBC's Goodness Gracious Me

My Fave Patient

Years ago, I was doing my own thing when I met the ever sweet Mrs vdP. She was in her 50s, had an overjet and whole baggage of medical problems. Her dentist referred her to our surgery. Soon, she had to decide about getting a braces and an orthognathic surgery. Mrs vdP was hesitant and the doctor told her to talk to me. I discussed with her and her husband about my experience and showed her my pictures. In the end, she agreed to do the whole thing which would take more than one year of her life.

Each time she came by for her check-up, she looked for me. "Girl, let me see you teeth" asked her each time as soon as I showed up in front of her. I smiled. She said "Wonderful", then left. That's our routine.

After about three months, she had much less overjet that she could close her lips. I chatted with her, telling her how good her progress was. She was so happy. She told me some of her friends didnt recognized her and how doctor H is her angel.

After her surgery, due to her medical condition she looked black and blue for the longest time, we joked that her husband has been beating her up. I gave some tips about eating, cleaning wired-shut teeth and reducing the bruises. Her end result was splendid. She couldnt be happier. And her husband, too. She thanked me for encouraging her to take the step, while all I did was sharing my experience.

Today, I just found out that she passed away a couple months ago.

Dag Mevrouw vdP... Rust Zacht.

On Working as a Minority

Most of the time I work with men. At the office. With clients. More than 90% of people I interact with for work are men. The last two weeks were an exception.

I've been working non-stop since last week Monday until this week Friday, including the weekend due to some client-related-events. The best part about it was for once, I worked closely with the fairer gender. It is rather different than interacting with the guys. Then again, it's just my luck,non-Indonesians I work with care more about people they work with.

We talked about in our line of job, most of the time, we are the minority. How when we have to travel we dont venture out on our own as much as our male counterpart because of security reason, or keeping up the image. How sometimes the guys are pretty sexist in this country and would do/say something that could be seen as sexual harassment abroad. How I make sure that I cover up and on my best behavior when I have to meet clients who are mostly foreigner at their hotels. 

I'm very aware how people judge young local ladies with an elderly (foreigner) gent. I'm also aware, that sometimes, due to my gender people are opening up doors. I managed to get a vital information from a Director General at one of our ministries just by conversing with him for almost 1.5 hours. Others confided about policies and other officials, which comes handy for my reference. I'm also aware that most would think that I'd be dispensing money to do my job of which I've never done. 

That being said, I've noticed I have better synergy with foreigners than with fellow Indonesian females. Perhaps because the females Indonesian counterparts I worked with are mostly civil servants. Some of them have the tendency of making things more complicated. I do wish that more female supports other female. However, most often I've experienced and heard that quite often female undermines other female, which is rather sad considering we are in minority. 

Not in Bahasa Indonesia

I do way a lot more tatemae in Indonesia than I ever did in lowland.
It's tiring.

Heading to Another Property Bubble?

I read the other day about the price of property in Jakarta which increasing fast. Really fast. In certain area of Jakarta a land costs USD 7500 per square meter! The weird part is, the more expensive a property is, the more interest of buying it. 

Today I was meeting some folks and heard that in this particular area of Jakarta, eight months ago the land price was about UDS 800 per square meter, nowadays you have to pay USD 2000! A house with less than 1000m² of land at Brawijaya street in Kebayoran, Jakarta was sold for more than USD 7 million last week. 

Indonesia's economy is booming despite world economic problem, but I'm afraid we are heading to another property bubble in Indonesia. Might as well bracing myself.