There
are two occasions which urged me to think seriously about giving up my
Indonesian passport and becoming a UK citizen. One of my friends asked
if we’re interested in going somewhere on Easter break, and she quite
fancied Switzerland and Austria. While another one immediately said
yes, I had to tell her that it’s not that easy for Indonesian. We can’t
just hope in the plane and fly to European
countries. The other occasion was when Joan and I were talking about an
impulse of spending the weekend, say, somewhere in Portugal, or Italy.
I told her, that of course, for Indonesian, we have to plan in at least
a month in advance. At least.

Being
Indonesian, we are only allowed to set our foot into 11 countries
without visas. For other countries, we have to embark on a long journey
of collecting necessary documents and submit them to embassies, just to
prove that we are worthy human beings who will not become burdens for
them when we land in their precious countries. UK embassy in Indonesia
now requires each applicant to have their finger scanned and
photographs taken at the Visa Application Centre,
as if all the documents we gather to submit are not genuine enough and
they need to see with their own eyes and their own equipment that we’re
not an alien or Imam Samudra descendant.

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My blog is updated today, 29 February 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.

We went to The Prime Cuts
last night with another couple, and the restaurant specialties are
steak and lobster. Nearby the maître d’ stand there was a big tank
parading huge, healthy lobsters (thank God they did not show live cows
too). I asked one of the staffs when we were collecting our coats back,
if the lobster are for a show or they actually use (cook) them. She
said that they do use the lobster in the tank if someone orders it. But the patrons are not allowed to pick the lobster by themselves.

Why?

The
Sunday Times Magazine yesterday featured an article about more and more
Britons are emigrating to Australia. I have found several interesting
facts that I will share with you.

Australia
now becomes the most popular destination for British emigrant, and
British people now make up almost a quarter of foreigners applying for
Australian citizenship. But

Not so long ago the British
and Irish were forced or bribed to go there. From the day the first
white settlers landed in what became Sydney in 1788m through to the
early 19th century, Australia was a huge prison, the bloody and
terrible terminus for thousands of British and Irish convicts, most
transported for petty crimes, such as theft and prostitution.

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My blog is updated today, 25 February 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.

Since
last week I have been following closely the intense debate among expats
in Indonesia about anonymous blogger, an issue raised by Fatih Suyud when he awarded Rob Baiton
as the blogger of the week and praised Rob as one of the few Western
bloggers who reveals his own true identity. Fatih actually has written
a lot of postings about what he calls ghost bloggers - 7 actually
including the Rob Baiton’s posting - but this time he has successfully
attracted many comments and ripostes, perhaps because he specifically
targets ‘foreign expatriates who blog on Indonesia‘ under the pseudonymous.
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My blog is updated today, 21 February 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.

You Know You’re In The UK When…
We never realize that we are influenced so much by American. Not only with their MTV and coca-cola, but also with their language. Then when we’re in the UK, we find out Brits refer to the same thing with a different word.

I was ordering a new wardrobe at John Lewis.
It’s sort of custom made; we could choose size, colour, model, and
additional bits according to the given catalog. After settling all the
major parts, like size and colour, I began adding the elements like
lights, drawers, and tie hangers. The cheery shop assistant happily
took notes and presented the price for each item.

Up to the point where I told the her that I wanted to add the pants hanger.

She looked at be, bewildered.
"Pants hanger?"
"Yes, please."
"I don’t think we have it."
"Oh yes you do." I opened up the catalog and showed it to her. "Here. Pants hanger, for 5 pants."
"OH!" she chuckled. "You mean trousers hanger!"

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Dying to Take The Call?
In Indonesia, we drive cars, motorcycles or vehicles as we please. The
police are more interested in keeping everybody driving straight and
God forbid if you cross the straight white line (although it’s ok to
park underneath the sign ‘no parking’!). There is no awareness about
road safety whatsoever.

I mentioned very briefly about drink and driving, but there is more
important issue that almost car drivers do in Indonesia: taking calls
while driving, and worse, sending and receiving text messages when they
are behind the steering wheel.
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My blog has been updated today, 18 February 2008, with two articles. Click Finally Woken to read the complete stories.

When
the chairman of the West Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Clerics’
Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI), Buya Mas’oed Abidin, urged
people to stop the Valentine’s Day celebration and accused it as a part of capitalist-Jewish conspiracy (see Indonesia Matter’s Jewish Conspiracy), 12,000 km away from  my home country I get to see how Aberdonian people celebrate it: by having one of the most important football matches in Aberdeen football history, Aberdeen vs. Bayern Munich.

Around the city there were several guys walking fast with flower bouquets in their hands, mainly red roses. Clinton Cards, Thorntons, and Ann Summers
were swamped with people who were buying last minute’s cards,
chocolates, and lingeries. But since 3.00 PM they were outnumbered by
guys with red scarves.
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My blog is updated today, 14 February 2008. Click Finally Woken for the complete story.

Isn’t
it funny that we live behind closed doors but our private lives are
wide open to the entire world? We cautiously block the window with
thick curtains so people wouldn’t see what we are doing. We lock the
door so no one could enter without permission. But then we sit
comfortably on the settee and pouring ourselves and everything we have
got out. Our next door neighbor wouldn’t know that I was away for 2
months, back to Indonesia and Vietnam. But the rest of the world can
find out easily.

But we are not aware that information we share can be used against us.

My blog is updated today, 11 February 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.

Yes, people. Scottish food are not particularly, ideally, healthy. I have mentioned about sticky toffee pudding (STP) in my previous post,
a delicious desert which consists of moist sponge cake, dates, and
toffee sauce, usually served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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My blog is updated today, 9 February 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.

Why do we tend to hang out with other Indonesians, and in most of the cases, with only Indonesians, while we’re abroad?

I
didn’t spend a long time overseas. I was only in Sydney for 2 years
doing my master’s degree and grabbing some work experience before
heading back to Indonesia. But those 2 years, combined with what I have
seen here in Scotland makes me wonder.

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My blog is updated today, 7 February 2007. Click FInally Woken to read the complete story.

We live in a bizarre world.
Forget threesome, forget BDSM, forget orgy, sex toys, or even sex with ladyboy. Nothing compares to these two horny guys when it comes to sex. Even pavement and bicycle can be objects of desire.

My blog has been updated today, February 6, 2008. Click Finally Woken to read the complete story.