A Break After 3 Months

My work in Palembang only allows me to take 10 days off after working for 3 months. Last week was the time for a break and we decided to spend a few days in Port Dickson.

So we booked ourselves in Avillion Hotel Port Dickson, supposedly a 4 star hotel with over the sea chalets. The environment was pretty nice. All of us liked the place because:

1. We all love the beach & sea
2. We have a seaview room that has a balcony
3. We played in the sand then swam in the pool everyday
4. Loved the open air bathroom/shower
   

But a few minuses of that place were:

1. My wife got bitten by sand flies and they itched for a week!
2. I lost my credit card (partially my fault for not getting it back from the cashier after she swiped it, but if they were professionals they should have handed it back with the receipts)
3. The food is expensive but not up to a 4 star hotel's standard (too salty!)

In summary, we all enjoyed a short break after spending 3 months in Palembang.

Finally A Maid!

We just managed to get a stay-in maid a few days ago after more than a month living without a maid. We had to take her for a medical exam first to get tested for Hepititis B and Tuberculosis before confirming her to work for us.

According to the locals, many maids are afraid of taking blood tests because of the needles and also they believe that only the sick would go to hospitals. Perhaps the word "Rumah Sakit" in Indonesian language is creating the phobia because it literally translates to "House for the Sick".

We just hope that this maid would work diligently and be more polite because our previous one was constantly cutting corners and also a bit arrogant. This one is 18 years old and she used for work for some PUSRI people who mistreated her (they got her to take care of 3 kids and always delay her meal hours). Hopefully she could recognize the positive change in her new work environment and put in her best effort.

Still No Stay-In Maid

We have been living without a maid for one month now. During the first 2 weeks, my mother in law was here to help out but the following 2 weeks we had to do things on our own. So far my wife is still able to cope without a stay-in maid because she did a lot of planning and organizing of the food preparation and cooking upfront. We also benefited from the help of a cleaner lady who comes in 2 hours daily.

Here are some reasons why stay-in maids are so difficult to find in Palembang:

1. People here view a maid's job as less prestigeous
2. Wages are lower, approx USD57/month for stay-in maids (min wage here is USD103/month)
3. Some Muslims do not like to work for people who cook pork
4. Some Muslims do not like to work for people of different religion

We are still optimistic to get a good stay-in maid. So just need a little bit of patience.

Focus, Awareness & Anticipation!

This afternoon when I was bringing my toddler to the bathroom, I accidentally let him slip. He knocked his head on the bathroom floor and cried intensely. Luckily he did not have any cuts or bumps on his head.

I felt very guilty for not keeping an eye on him when he was walking towards the bathroom. I was trying to get his bath towel from a rack from the side of the bathroom.

This is the second time I let this accident happen. My wife was right to point out the 3 important elements that a parent need:

1. Focus
2. Awareness
3. Anticipation

I felt exteremely remorse about the incident because it reminded me of my grandfather who passed away after slipping in the bathroom some 20 years ago. My toddler would have had the same fate if I was not careful.

I need to spend more time to remind myself to be more FOCUSED, to increase my level of AWARENESS and to ANTICIPATE potential disasters!

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)!