To Order A Milk Shake... In Foreigner's Way

I got this story from Mukumoto-san, who suddenly came to me in a small party and asked, “Could you give me a favor?”
I stopped my eating and said, “If I can. What do you want me to do?”
“I will say something in English, and please tell me what do you hear.”
Mukumoto-san was a bit prankster, and actually I was hoping that he planned something funny with it :-), so I said okay. And the words he mouthed was: “Traveler’s check”
“You said 'traveler's check', right?”, I said cautiously, waiting for any trick that he might have set. (Un)fortunately, he was serious that time and didn't set any trick up at all :-). He just disappointedly said, “So you could hear what I said...”
“Just in case you doubt it, I clean my ears regularly, so I don't think I have problem with them...” :-)
“It's not what I meant”, Mukumoto-san replied, and then told me his story.

It was when he and some of his friends went for a vacation to Hawaii. They went into a restaurant, but before making any order, they wanted to make sure whether the restaurant accepted traveler's check or not. After pushing each other to ask the waitress :-), finally one of them stood and boldly asked the question no one was dare to ask :-) “Traveler's check, okay?”
The waitress thought for a while before replied, “okay!”, and disappeared behind the counter. Not long she returned, this time with strawberry milk shake in her hand :-)

“Looked like she mistook 'traveler check' as 'strawberry shake' :-) ... that's why I wanted to know whether my English pronunciation understandable or not. You know, my friend who asked the question went to an English conversation class, and he speaks English way better than me - but still, the waitress couldn't understand him, while you could understand me here...”
Actually I wanted to jokingly say that I have a really good ears that I could even understand his unintelligible mumbling :-), but he looked serious about it, so I quit it.

“Well, I'm not a language expert, but I think you and your friend still left some of your Japanese accent and intonation in your English, just like me still left some of my Indonesian accent and intonation. I won't blame you for that, because unless you learn a language mainly from talking with native speakers, chances that you will still left some of your mother tongue traits in your voice.
“I heard you spoke 'traveler's check' close to the sound of 'torabera- chekku' (Japanese writes traveler`s check as トラベラーチェック (torabera- chekku) in katakana). I've been in Japan for almost 9 years now, and I've already get used to Japanese accented English - so when you said 'torabera-', more or less I could guess that you wanted to say traveler. However, it's not the case with the waitress. I won't blame her for not understanding your friend, since I think she wasn't used to Japanese. Moreover, I think she was expecting that you're gonna make an order, that's why when she heard the sound 'torabera- chekku', she googled the menu in her mind for similar words, and she found strawberry shake in rhyme with it.” :-)
“Looked like I better write the words down and show it next time I have problem with that.”
“I think so. Or you can directly show the traveler's check if you have it. And I think asking in full sentence might also help, like: 'may I pay with traveler's check?' That way, even if she still catch 'traveler's check' as 'strawberry shake', she will know that there's something wrong there, since she'll reckon you for wanting to pay with milk shake... :-) well, it won't be a problem if you go to a country where milk shake is the main currency - I don't know where, though...” :-)

Anyway, if I have the chance again to go to an English speaking country, I think I'd like to make this order: “Can I order 'traveler milk check'? Checken, not stirred, please? :-)

Portkey to My Childhood

Last week I got a Lego from Eden. I think she knew that deep down actually I was - and am - still just a kid :-), and to please a kid, you need to give him a toy :-). Anyway, we went eating afterward, and as you might have guessed, I quickly opened up the Lego and started putting it together (it was a castle). I was so absorbed with the toy that it's the first time in ages when I went to a restaurant and almost completely ignored the foods :-). If Eden didn't help with some parts like the trees and the gate, I might end up not eating at all. (But, just like a normal kid, I still couldn't ignored the desserts :-) ).

About Lego, it was not just 'a toy' for me - it's 'the toy' :-). I touched it for the first time when I was around 2 or 3 years old. I still remember how we (my siblings and I) built together a house, our first Lego project. Well, actually my brother and sisters who built most of the parts, while my role was mainly disturbing them :-) (I was still 3 years old !). And even though 'officially' the Lego belonged to me, it was a family toy - every now and then everybody fiddling with it. Even my mother once asked me to use it for decoration of my birthday cake. That's why it's more than just a toy - it's a memento packed with memories.

And even though you might think that it contributed to my immaturity (since I played it way up to my high school, even my undergrad days :-) ), I don't bother much about it. I'm doing it because it's fun - as always. And if being mature suppose to mean that I can't have fun anymore, I don't mind being immature for the whole of my life :-). Anyway, so far I chose the way I live by myself, and I almost never blamed other for the hard time that I got due to my decision - so even though I'm still 'a kid', at least I am a responsible kid :-). And I think it's much more better being that way, rather that being an adult who don't want to take the responsibility of what he has done :-P

And Eden: thanks for adding another amusing memory for my Lego :-)

Birthday Platitude

When I was a kid - and also during my teenage years - I like to write on my birthday. I think most of you have ever done it, too - writing about the passing years and whether everything had gone as you previously hoped or not. In my case, the content didn't change a lot from year to year, so cliché that it would make a remarkable bedtime story (i.e. it was so boring that you'd fall asleep half-way thru' it :-) ). Well, it's been years since the last time I did that, so I think it would be fun to write something like that again this year ('fun to write' wouldn't mean that it would be 'fun to read', so be prepared to fall asleep while you read :-) )

Anyway, what's new with my birthday this year was the questions that came along with all the greetings and wishes. Besides the regular 'question of the decade' (read here and here if you don't know what I meant with that :-) ), a new question also arose. It was “when will you go home?” Well, it was my 9th birthday abroad, and it's almost 4 years that I didn't set my foot on Sidoarjo's soil (left alone its mud :-) ), so no wonder why everybody started asking. And when I asked myself, “did I plan to stay this long when I first came here?”, the answer was no.

I remembered on my departure day, Ari - my undergrad pal - gave me a note saying “knock 'em dead and get back to us a.s.a.p.” (I don't know whether he still remember that or not :-) ). Well, it was my intention, too - actually I was just planning to emulate what Indy Jones had done (what I mean by emulating him was to get a Ph.D., not to find the holy grail :-). Let's just leave the search of holy grail to Robert Langdon, shall we? :-) ), and then go back to Indonesia. According to 'the plan', by this time, I would have already settled in Indonesia, get married and having three kids (I even had prepared names for them :-) ). I was picturing myself being a lecturer in one of the universities in Indonesia, living a normal live: not rich, but happy. And when I see myself now, it looks like I only managed to accomplish one thing: being not rich :-) (well, I'm happy too, and I think that's good enough :-) ).

I really wanted to get back to Indonesia a.s.a.p., but lots of thing happened on the way. I'd like to say that it was my destiny to stay here this long, but it would be irresponsible to say this all just because of fate. God gives us series of options during our life, and it's our own choices that pave the path we step onto, and shape the character of the man (or woman) we are growing into. Like, it was my series of choices that brought me to the place where I am now, and by my choices I grew and gain during the course (not gaining weight, though :-) ). Well, I'm still not in the place where I wanted to be, but I'm not regretting it - it's part of my choices that I'm here now - because I think it's the place that I'm supposed to be right now. I believe this path would help me grow into a better person before I arrive to the place that I wanted to be. (Well, it won't turn me into Superman, but it would be enough to do the role of the Batman... :-) ).

And back to the question about going back to Indonesia: I think I will return someday. I still don't know when, but I believe the options will keep on coming, and I hope options that I choose will lead me back there. I'm not saying that I don't like it here, I really enjoyed my stay. I think it would be 'great' if I could stay here long, but it would be 'fun' if I can go back to Indonesia, having normal live: not rich, but happy and all the stuff :-). Whichever is fine with me, but I'd prefer the 'fun' thing over the 'great' one :-). Well, until the day...

PS: Karin, Rana, Erika (if you wonder who they are, that's the names that I prepared for my kids :-) ): please be patient and wait for a while, won't you? Your mother and I still need to fix something up, like... finding each other? :-) Well, may be we already met each other, it just that we haven't realized it yet...

Will You Eat Your Pet?

Actually I was planning to write something related to birthday, but there were two interesting movies on the TV, so I just put down my pen and started watching :-). The movies were ブタのいた教室 (English title: Schooldays with a Pig) and ブルータスの心臓 (Brutus' Heart - a mystery drama based on Higashino Keigo's work). Since both movies were shown in the same time, I had to choose one, and the pig won over the mystery... :-)

About the movie: the story revolved around six-grade elementary school kids, whose teacher brought them a pig, and tell them to raise her and eat her by the end of the academic year. You might think it was cruel, but the teacher wanted to teach them the importance of food, and life that comes with it. The kids gladly took the assignment, named the pig 'P-chan' and took care of her as if she was their pet. Even though some problems arose (like some parents who thought that the pig caused troubles), the kids spent a year full of good memories with her, and when it looked like they would live happily ever after, the day when they have to eat P-chan was coming.

As you could already have guessed, days spent with P-chan nurtured emotional bonding between them, it was so strong that some of the kids said that they didn't want to slaughter and eat her. However, they didn't know what to do with her if they graduate and leave the school - P-chan couldn't be left like that without no one to take care of her. The teacher let the kids decide for themselves, and despite there were other alternatives such as giving P-chan to third graders to look after (the third graders already said that they wanted to have P-chan), arguments still stood between them. Some thought that they shouldn't give away P-chan to the third graders ("We're the one who started this out, so we're the one who have to take care of P-chan till the end - even if it means that we have to eat her now" or "Leaving P-chan to the third graders will eventually put them in our position by the time they have to graduate. Are you saying that you're gonna run away from your responsibility and let the third graders decide for you what should be done with P-chan ?"), while others said that they should not slaughter and eat P-chan ("Is the purpose of P-chan's life just to be eaten?" or "I don't think that it is our right to decide when will she has to die").

It was a good story about life, and since the kids were only given partial script for what they had to say in the movie - which made most of their lines were originally theirs - it was interesting to see how they thought about the issues.

I won't spoil you the fun by telling you how did the movie end, but like the teacher said to the kids, there's no right or wrong in their decision - and it also applies to you. Either you decide to become vegetarian after seeing the movie, or whether you think that human was created as omnivore and should live the way it is, it's up to you to choose. The movie just wanted to tell you that there were life in our everyday foods - so it's better to be grateful and not waste it for nothing.

There's More Than Just A Lyric in A Song

A post after a long hiatus... :-)

Well, actually I just want to post the song below for Eden, who will take her flight today (or tomorrow?) to start a new chapter in her life (oops, I make it sound so dramatic :-) ).

Anyway, if you happen to know Japanese (or can find a good translator out there to translate the lyrics to your language :-) ), you will wonder what's the lyrics got to do with embracing a new journey. Well, actually there's no relation, since the song was about a wife who found her husband cheating on her :-). However, I post this song for two reasons:

First, this is one of the theme songs of 魔女の宅急便 (Kiki's Delivery Service), and I know Eden like the movie.

Second, the song was played when Kiki, the heroine of the movie, took her flight to begin her witch training, completely in the same shoes as Eden right now.

So, I think it was a perfect song for her... :-)

By the way, the song was also featured in おっぱいバレー, and was played when the boys started their hard training to win the volleyball tournament (well, actually there's other reason for them to start training, but I'll let you see it yourself in the movie :-) ). That's why even though it's just a song, I like to listen to it when I was about to face a daunting task in front of me, since it helps lift my spirit up when I was feeling down. And now, when everything around me (including me) started to rebuild after the disaster, I think I could use it again to cheer me up...

You can listen to the song in youtube.

PS. about the おっぱいバレー movie, even though the title suggests otherwise (consult your translator if you don't know the meaning :-) ), it was basically a good and clean movie - like, there's only one kiss scene in the movie, and it was not shown directly - recommended movie if you haven't seen it yet.

あの人のママに会うために

今一人列車に乗ったの

たそがれ迫る街並みや車の流れ

横目で追い越して

あの人はもう気付く頃よ

バスルームにルージュの伝言

浮気な恋を早くあきらめない限り

家には帰らない

不安な気持ちを残したまま

街はディンドーン遠ざかってゆくわ

明日の朝ママから電話で

叱ってもらうわマイダーリン

あの人はあわててる頃よ

バスルームにルージュの伝言

手当たりしだい友達にたずねるかしら

私の行く先を

不安な気持ちを残したまま

街はディンドーン遠ざかってゆくわ

明日の朝ママから電話で

叱ってもらうわマイダーリン

(ルージュの伝言by荒井由実)