This year's visits

One thing that most urbanites like me suffer from in times like these is the very fact that our housemaids have gone back to their various hometowns... Gee, we miss them!!

Our homes get so messy during the Eid festivities without our maids, such as mine with the piling laundries (we had no time to do the laundry for two full days); or my cousins' homes who had a number of 'rotating visitors from all around of Jakarta' coming in for a snack or two.



Scene 1
Location: Miscellany

adult 1: Ah Toshi... You look so tall now!
me: *smiles*
adult 2: So umm.... Where do you go for college?
me: *glanced at my Mom with a You-Should-Answer-This-For-Me-Because-I'm-Tired-of-This-Question kind of look*
mom: *sighs and prepares for a well-rehearsed answer*


Scene 2
Location: Grandpa Mansjur's residence at Jl. Langsat, Kebayoran Baru

The parents were discussing all range of topics starting from my Dad's Eid experience in Pakistan to the health of various family members nowadays.

Among all the feasts and drinks, they served Coke.

Out of boredom, I stared at my glass of Coke and said to myself, Hey, this reminds me of something.

Then I asked sis Melody and Carl to accompany me out for a while to buy Mentos at Circle K across the street.

Coming back, I told both of them how the experiment would work, because that's what I saw on Youtube.

We plonked a Mentos to a glass of Coke and waited for a reaction to happen. There was a 'whizz' for 30 seconds, but that's all. Nothing like what I saw on Youtube.

We waited for a minute, until Melody finally asked, "are you sure this was the way the experiment worked?"

"I think... perhaps we should try with a bottle of Coke later instead of a glass like this"


Scene 3
Location: Some far uncle's house in Bumi Kelapa Dua, Serpong Gading

Nayla received a small bar of chocolate while Melody, Carl and I got none.

I teased her loudly, "Teteh ati-ati lo coklatnya mengandung melamin... Dari Cina tuh"

That tease of mine aroused some laughter in the living room, which by then I continued with some racist-infused punch line, "Makanya ati-ati jangan deket orang Cina, ntar ketuleran melamin loh"

"Kayak penyakit aja", Melody sneered at me.


Scene 4
Location: The entrance to Villa Pamulang

Uncle Ferry was on the steer while Melody, Carl, Nayla and I were in the back seat.

This reminds me of a drive I had with three newcomers to Vila Pamulang last Monday (the Depok folks), and I repeated the story to them, "You know, in this dark of night... Imagine there is a woman in white and long hair, suddenly appeared in the middle of the street and the car bumps onto her!"

None reacted, so I went on, "Then after we bumped onto her, she got thrown onto the back of the car and when we glanced back, she's gone..."

Nayla started whining, "Eeehh... scaryy.."

Carl emitted the same reaction of fear, "Noooo.... Please stop, this is gettin freaking scary.. Will you be responsible if I get nightmares tonight?"

My own sis Melody was quite used to this, similarly with Uncle Ferry and Aunt Vivie, together with the toddler Farsa on her lap.

I proceeded, "Papa (read: Uncle Ferry) halted the car and we all panicked to look for anyone who might have been hit. Then, all of a sudden a there was a knocking sound on the window"

And I made that low knocks together with my dramatisation of a ghastly voice "Excuse mee... Could I join the ride?"

Nayla and Carl screamed out loud, and Uncle Ferry only commented, "Aah, that woman would most likely appear at Toshi's room, guys... Don't worry, he'll get the knock first"

I just grinned at this.