Working with Dad…

So, I’ve quit my job as a software engineer to help my dad in the factory. My current position… well, I’m not exactly sure, it’s not really clear what I’m supposed to do. Basically I do what my dad tells me to do, just like yesterday….

I came to the office rather “early” – well, it was actually 1 pm in the afternoon (got something to take care of in the morning), but my dad wasn’t there yet; he was still in the other office. I brought my cousin’s Telkom Flash modem to check whether the wireless connection in the area was good. It was perfect. Great, now I can go online at work.

Then, I started dilligently working. Seriously, I was so dilligent, I surprised myself… meeting with the staff, checking important documents, analysing this new system that my dad wants me to build (I know, I’m not supposed to do it myself… this inexperienced programmer, but… “Good experience for you, right? We’re not in a rush anyway,” said my dad -_-). Busy, busy, busy… until my dad came.

Me:	Hei, Dad, check this out. I’m using Telkom Flash, now I can go online at work.
Dad:	It’s yours? You’re online now?
Me:	Nope, it’s Ko Yung-Yung’s (my cousin). And, yes, I’m online now.
Dad:	Wow, now show me the website you told me about; the one where you can find Mandarin songs. Find me the “aaa” song.
Me:	Oke… searching for the song… found it… downloading… Here you go. Is this it?
Dad:	Listening to the song…Yeap! How could you find it? Can you find ANY songs? Find me “bbb.”

I went explaining a bit about how a search engine works. Then, every time I found the song that he wanted, he asked me for another one. An hour, two hours passed… an admin staff came in with some documents that my dad needed to check, or should I say, I needed to check. The mundane task has been my responsibility since the past two weeks; the task that my dad happily passed on to me. But yesterday, he thought differently: “I’ll do the checking, you keep searching for the song,” my dad said happily.

So, yesterday I ended up spending most of my working hours searching and downloading songs for my dad. I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad about my job description. -_-

Bali ≠ Indonesia … ref: Popoh

My grandmother – I called her: “Popoh” – is a sweet and simple lady. She’s going to be 85 next year (I think). I really really love her very much, but … I think she needs to watch more news or read something other than her music books (yeap, she loves to sing and she has piles of song lyrics in her house, mostly in Chinese).

This is the kind of conversation that we have every time I go back to Bandung ever since I started working in Bali: (she’s a bit forgetful now)

 

Popoh: “How is Bali? Is it fun?”

Me:      “Well, it’s okay. It’s hot and it’s a bit boring, but it’s … okay.”

Popoh: “Do you eat rice there?”

Me:      “Err … yeah, most of the times. But sometimes I buy some bread.”

Popoh: “Do they speak Bahasa Indonesia there?”

Me:      (a bit confused) “The locals speak Balinese, and my bosses speak English because they are Australians, but I mostly speak Bahasa with my friends.”

Popoh: “Oh, there are a lot of Australians there …. Are you paid with Australian Dollars?”

Me:      “Unfortunately, no.”

Popoh: “How many rupiahs is Balinese currency?”

Me:      “….. Poh, Bali is part of Indonesia.”

Popoh: “Oh, really? I didn’t know that …. Well, it’s good to have you back.”

Me:      “….”

 

It’s been ages since she’s been to Bali, so I think I should bring her here some time.

 

- Luv you very much, Poh!!! -