Survival in restaurant in Jakarta 2 of 2

... Continued from post on 24 September 2006.

ME: *shaking legs while observing the best sushi plate on the conveyor belt*
~After a few minutes
*still enjoying my ocha panas, sipping away*
(do all old people enjoy hot drinks?)
(or the young passion of cold drinks are not longer passionate?)
(what are you having today? Panas or cold?
~ I keep forgetting the bahasa term for cold… Grrrr…)
~Not long after
STAFF: *serves the salmon sashimi*
“… … … salmon sashimi … ..”
*uses her fingernail to strike off the item on the order chit*
ME: *thinking to myself, YA YA, whatever, I know it’s sashimi laaaaa*
~for a split second
*shocked with mouth closed, brain cells getting wild*
“Huge, thick, yummy, juicy, salmon sashimi that I have ever seen so far…”
(Hey, I just got my arse onto the right seat in the right restaurant… :p)



ME: *looks around for the wasabi*
“DARN, nowhere in sight!”
*SAW IT. Just at the serving counter of the staff*
“erhh.. how to ask for it? … Itu … Itu… Wasabi? Who cares…”
*waiting for the right moment to strike, waves at staff near to the wasabi, point to it and OPEN MY MOUTH to ASK* “WASABI” *ends with a smile*
(It always work, with a smile, didn’t your teacher teach you that? I bet he/she sucks then)
STAFF: *Delightful passes the wasabi over*
ME: (Hey hey hey, I got my wasabi)
*mix 75% wasabi with 25% soya sauce* = YUMMY hot spicy brownish green mud!
*dips fat salmon sashimi into my mud and divides the catch into half for prolonged ecstasy…*
(I guess you won’t be interested in the munching process?)
(Fast forwarding…>>)
…..
(but I will furnish you with some pictures okie? Don’t be sad)
(I know it is a bit dark, compromise will ya?)





…..
ME: Ocha panas not longer panas, left with 10% full. Or you like it as 90% empty.
(how to get refill without opening my mouth?)
*aims for STAFF standing from a distance in order to prevent any conversation attempt. SPOTTED, waves, hold cup to a level where STAFF can see, do the Macarena water pouring dance move*
STAFF: *Acknowledges and gears into action right away*
~after a while
STAFF: *returns with ocha panas*
ME: (Hurray!) *awaits ocha to be filled, and deliver with the most convincing Indonesian accent* “Terima Kasih” *nods head to double up the thank you*
STAFF: *reply with a smile*
(Didn’t I just light up her day? I sure hope so. For those for have not been in the service industry, a smile means a lot. Sometimes bigger than a SGD $50 note when you are not feeling so good on that particular day, Trust me, I have been there before… and back ALIVE!!!)
…..
ME: *continues with delicious yummy food*
…..
THE FINALE
==========
(I believe you know the international sign language to ask for the bill)
(If you don’t, let me know, I’ll send you an animation of it. So that you can save it into your mobile, pda, laptop and show it to the STAFF where ever you go and it works)

ME: *again, spots a STAFF from a distance, displays the MARTIAL ARTS style of asking for bill*
STAFF: *nods with acknowledgement*

The rest, you should know, sign and pay end of the month, yeah?

(Collect the receipt, lift up your chest, push away the chair with elegance, walk as if you are floating, upon passing the front counter, sway your hair and turn back your head to give them a finale greeting: “Terima Kasih”…)

What can I say?
I already did… And a lot!!!

Survival in restaurant in Jakarta 1 of 2

You don't know the place
You don't know the language
You don't know the practice
You are hungry
Yet you have no money
But equipped with a credit card
This is how you survive


Heat is on my arse.
All the way to my head.
My nose is running.
My throat is whining.
It's 6pm on a Saturday.
I had just finish my work for the day.
SUSHI TEI was my venue.
Credit Card is all I can use.
I'm running low on cash.
I still have a week to survive on 250K IDR (Rupiah)
I know a little bahasa.
That's all I can anyHOW ghasa.


Here it goes...
First, the legend (for you to understand the whole process)
ACTIONS are enclosed with *asterisks*
CONVERSATION are enlcosed with "quotes"
(.... in between quotes means I don't understand what the hell they are saying)


When you walk towards the entrace of the restaurant.
Once you catch an eye contact with a front end staff.
You have to use your finger to inform the staff
how many diners are they expecting.


ME: *shows index finger* and smile
STAFF: reply with smile and confirms with you on the number of diner.
"...... satu orang ....... .... ....."
ME: *nods head*
STAFF: checks the restaurant and suggested
".... bar ... ... ya?"
ME: *nods head* and follow staff to table.
After I'm seated, the staff passed me the menu and starts to yak:
STAFF: ".... ... ... minuman ... ..."
ME: Identify knowledgable words, but didn't response, cause the yakking was too fast.
STAFF: *assisted me to flip the menu to back page* which displays beverages.
ME: Ahhhh... asking me what would I like to drink?.. "ocha panas"
STAFF: ".... .... .... ...."
ME: "YA."
STAFF: *walks away to prepare my order*
ME: Phew. So far for the initial encounter.
*Continues to browse the menu for cooling stuffs and non-deep fried*
~after 2-4 minutes, the staff returns and stands beside me awaiting my order
ME: *continues to browse menu*
STAFF: "... .... ...." + *points to certain picture*
ME: *pretending to understand and accept the suggestion* + *continue to flip and browse*
STAFF: *getting impatient* ...after a while...
*walks away for other customer's attention*
~2 minutes later, I am ready for the order.
ME: *signals for a staff for my order by showing the menu and some hand gestures*
"ini Salmon Sashimi", *flips page*, "ini Salmon Cha Soba" *flips page*, "Ikura Sushi"
*closes the menu and returns to staff*
STAFF: "... ... ... Salmon Sashimi... ... .. . Salmon Cha Soba ... Ikura Sushi... ...."
ME: *nods heads with a gentle smile*


to be continued...
(Stay tuned to follow the story...)

Vitacimin, nice booster sweet?

Barney barney,

That's what my barney asked me to buy,
VITA-CI-MIN. An equivalent of Vitamin C tablets but in CONDOM packaging...
Hahahahahha

Don't get me wrong...
See to believe...

Luckily the "sweet" is not made up of rubber. ;)

Until the weekend comes, I'll have more pictures on Plaza Senayan...
and more malls...

SIDE TRACKs
Anyone needs DVD? Region = 9
One Movie :: Cheap Cheap, $5 only nia.
Buy more cheap more. Quality good good, 4 types of languages for the subtitle.
English, Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia and Foreign dialect.
Want cheaper, get it yourself, HERE!

My Hawaiian Dinner In Indonesia

Before I start anything...
Happy Anniversary Barney!!!
(I can win here... yeah?)
You will not win here anymore yeah?

Check it out,
American Flavour in Indonesia...
Plaza Senayan, a 5 minutes walk from my Hotel.

LOCO MOCO
Sound Hawaiian, Taste Indonesian...
Hahahhaha



These are some of the advertisment on their food.




This is my favourite drink in Indonesia ever since I set my first foot into the land of Indonesia and their endless islands...

Avocado Juice!
(Their version comes with chocolate fudge being "garnished" in and around the juice...)
Pretty neat!

I have tried Avocado Ice Cream from Tatao Cafe. (Cannot remember the exact name)
All I can say is, first taste = amazing
The rest of it, bitterful sucks!!!!!!! *Poooi*

Tried Avocado juice at Senayan City also...
Sedap siah...
Singapore's one... tak bisa "FIGHT" ya...


And for my main course...

Hawaiian Chicken Noodle.

Accompanied with diced tomato, vegetables, fried shallots, super seasoning and diced chickens with practically LEAN meat or purely SILKY skin. Heheheheheh

That's all for my update...

Will have more eating places in days to come...

Gotta sleep now.

Good night.

Love ya lots...
Cheers...

School Work Love Society

First you talk about school,
Along the way you talk about crushes (love),
Then you talk about work,
Along the way you talk about couples and hideouts,
After which you go on to talk about standards of living,
Along the way you talk about marriage,
Not long after you talk about society
That is where you want to contribute...
(Or start to contribute...)

And this is where you should start:
(If case you don't know how to, I have got a sample for you to follow)

<< Incoming Mail >>
Hi My Dear Ladies & Gentleman,

As you might have heard, another man is going to go down the holy path of
marriage.
He would sincerely like to invite you to his wedding dinner.
But before he can do that, the most important thing is to make sure that
all of you receives his "blessings aka red bomb".
To ensure that, if you have not passed him your address yet,
please do so, if not "Xxx" will be very very sad if he can see you there.

regards
<name has been "screened" to protect the identity>
<< End of Incoming Mail >>

If you have got a recent mail like this,
you should not let "Xxx" be sad and provide him with a reply as follows:

<< Outgoing Reply >>
Dear My Red Bomber,

Let me offer you my most sincere congratulations to you.
Thank you for sharing the bomb with me,
however I will not be available to receive your bomb until I come back
from my trip.

However again, my letter box will be open 24 hours so that you won't be
sad.
The address is as follows:

101 Old Parliament Road,
Parliament House.
Singapore 101101

I look forward to your explosive dining experience... ;)

Cheers,
<name has been "screened" to protect the identity>
<< End of Outgoing Reply >>