No Maid!!!

One of the pros of an Indonesia expatriate include a house maid. Our maid just quit last Tuesday because her mother is sick and required her full attention.

The following are chores that I had to do together with my wife and my visiting mom-in-law while we look for a new maid:

1. Cooking - my mom-in-law has been doing all the cooking temporarily. For once we have some GREAT chinese style food! My wife also does much better cooking than the maid.
2. Doing the dishes - I hated doing this task since young because my parents would always force us to wash up every night. It is also back breaking too because of my height.
3. Sweep and mop the floor - but we managed to find a neighbor's maid who helps clean the house for 1-2 hours/day.
4. Washing and hanging the clothes - we have a washing machine but we still need to hang the clothes manually.
5. Folding & ironing the clothes - the neighbor's maid only helps us on ironing.
6. Baby-sitting my toddler - My wife and I used to have "time without kids" for a relaxing massage or a quiet meal.
7. Washing the grilles and windows - just have to leave it for the time being.
8. Gardening - my mom-in-law, wife & toddler son are all currently taking care of the plants.

Maids are not so easy to find in Palembang because people in the city are more selective. Normally the maids in Palembang come from out of town in the small villages.

Only God knows when we will be relieved of the daily labourious work of a maid (hopefully before my mom-in-law leaves in 2 week's time)!