Lost weekend

A certain gentleman, played Mr.Grumpy all weekend. No, I wasn't the reason behind he being grumpy. It was most certainly a fellow who goes by the name Ang, the so-called renovation expert. The grumpiness(is that a word?) started out with a call to Ang on Saturday morning.


Work on one of the bathrooms started about a month and a half back and since then the family has been using the only other one. Mr.Ang(Hmm, thinking again, I wud skip the 'Mr'. Not since he is a good friend rather because am totally pissed off with that bugger). There is a petrol bunk, that is being built opposite my house which was started when the renovation started. Ang, I wud like you to know that they are almost done. Yes, its a petrol bunk and its almost done. And mine is just a bathroom, and it isn't done. Makes one wonder if its a bathroom like the Queen's to be renovated for close to 2 months. But no, its more like a humble little one and it should hardly take about 10 working days.

So, Mr.Grumpy was grumpy all weekend. Thinking back, I should have thrown him out and locked the doors, or rather,  asked him politely book himself into a hotel and be grumpy as much as he pleases. I did neither. Ha... damn, late realisations.

All the negative energy, made me feel like am running a boarding & lodging house.
Of course, I am the manager.
My maid, the room-boy.
My baby , the little helper
and the special chef roped in from India, my mom.

So, the visitor, Mr.Grumpy, books himself into my lodge and avails all the services
- a neat room with an A/c with clean sheets. (Sorry, about the bathroom though, its under renovation Sir),
- free unlimited home-cooked food (Yes, I am talking about my mom's fish curry & avial)
- the lounge (I mean my TV & Sofa)
- Fresh Lemon Tea (served from a toy Kitchen, morning noon & night with a very big smile by a lovely little waitress)
- in-house DJ (who plays Barney one after another after another...quite a DJ that one)
- Laundry & house keeping services
- and we accept supplementary credit cards, diamond & gold trinkets & cash
- and No, we don't take any other visitors

Lets make things clear and I'll tell you what... Am not running a **#$#^&*^&^%$ motel here. Its our own home!!

Bintan , Indonesia

Day 1 was a bright and sunny day and we ,includes Anto, my mom & dad & my baby, left to Bintan Indonesia from the Tanah Merah ferry terminal. The ferry ride was quite bumpy and Nephy started screaming ka-ka. For once, I was sorry for potty training her. She refused to do her business in her diaper and she wanted to go to the loo, which in that fated-ferry, happened to be outside the cabin at the rear-end. Surprise...Surprise...The most lovely sight awaited us there. The trail left behind by the ferry in the sea. A water trail with huge gushes of water. It was quite a sight to see and it got me thinking 'Nice start'. 

After 2 hours in the ferry, we got down on Indonesian soil at Tanjung Pinang. At the immigration, we were waiting for our visa. Anto started off this story, about how the place is corrupted and how they might even hide one of our passports and demand money in return. The immigration officer promptly asked, Where is the fifth passport? Boy, Oh Boy, Does it have to be mine? We blamed them, they blamed us. After frantic searching by both the parties, dear old Anto digged around and brought out the passport. I was gonna whack his behind then and there, but my mom had brought me up with better manners. I'll save it all for a private moment. A hour's journey from there and Voila! The nostalgic Yasin.

Oh lovely huts built on the beach,sorry on the sea. A small little cottage with a sea view and small little balcony with the blue skies and blue seas. Absolutely lovely setting for a nice romantic movie. 

The Nostalgic Yasin!

Well, we weren't on our honeymoon and the huts with its low railings, scared the living soul out of me for fear of an uncontrollable toddler falling over. I chickened out and chose a villa built on hard land. We settled in for the night, after a light dinner and lazing at the resort's beach. Anto & I & Nephy slept peacefully, oblivious to the fact that we were in the middle of another country and a villa almost at the end of the resort with nothing but the wild flora & fauna for a good distance. My dad hardly slept, keeping gaurd the whole night or so he meant, but my mom assured that he indeed slept well and snored well. 

The Villa where we stayed

Day 2 dawned well & bright. Morning buffet at th Agro beach resort, a couple of metres away. I have absolutely no complaints about the Indonesian morning buffet. Had a good number of items to try and you know what, they even had susiyums. I swear they were. Small sweet dumplings, made from green beans and palm sugar. There was tapioca cooked in sweet sauce and bananas deep fried, like those ones we get in Kerala. The Indonesian items were quite interesting.

We loved the Agro beach resort because it housed a playhouse and lovely gardens and it looked like it would be fun for Nephy. We decided to move in to this resort  and so we did. 

The Bintan Agro Resort

Lazed around in the beach for a while. Nephy refused to set her feet down on the sand. She thinks its dirty. For your information, your highness, we had a ball of a time playing in the sand when we were your age. I would still happily do it, if not for my much-hated inhibitions. Then followed food yet again and a nap.

We decided to have our dinner at the Sun & moon restaurant, which was build a few feet into the sea. It looked absolutely amazing. We tried a few more of the Indonesian cuisine. There were curries that tasted almost like our own chicken curry.

Sun Moon Restaurant

Day 3 dawned and with it came Nephy's fever and rains. No pool no sea. Spent it lazily in the playarea and the restaurant.

The Sea, The Pool & The rain

After the rains

Day 4 , the final day in Bintan. We packed our luggages and left early to explore the town. By explore, I meant shopping. Shopped in a crazy mall with crazy discounts of 90%. How wonderful was it to shop in millions. Nephy's dress for 3 million and with 90% discount, its 30,000. The Indonesian rupiyah is approximately 6500 for 1 Singapore dollar. Where in the world will you ever get an experience of shopping in millions. 

Finally, took the ferry back to SG. We went to the top level in the ferry, out in the open and the views were splendid. The blue sky with the sea and small islands spread across and a lovely trail behind. I loved the ferry ride back home.

......... and am still wishing that its Day 1 and am setting sail just now.

Of As & ABCs

A is hired by ABC to work in a reputed company for a salary X.

A is happy , goes to work and is at peace.

After 7 months, company ABC calls A to say that, they are giving out a hike of Y$(Believe A, Y$ was quite a hike). Company ABC calls again the next day to say, they wud indeed be happy to pay this revised salary for the past 7 months too.That is Y times 7(months) = 7Y$ to be paid as arrears.

A think this is quite fishy and don't you too? A thinks A was indeed entitled to get the X+Y salary from the start, but due to some crook(and he would know when he reads this, if at all he reads this) in ABC , A was being paid less. In plain english, A thinks A has been cheated out of A's rightful money for the first 7 months.

A decides to do some investigation.
A goes asking around. Finds out that a friend B reports the same and exactly the same.
A asks another friend C and the same and exactly the same.

A strongly believes that company ABC has screwed all of its consultants for a good while and A is not able to decide what is it that is rightful that should be done.

No points for guessing A & ABC.