Here are some types of Indonesian food which Sing Hau and I ate in Jakarta. I did not take much photos of the food so I will only explain the food in brief details.

Mee Bakso

It looks the same as our noodle mee we get a restaurant or hawker stalls with meatballs. It costs around Rp 3000 to Rp 4000 per bowl. You can add some spices to spice it up but I don’t take spicy stuffs so I leave it as it is. The funny things about this food is that there are meatballs from the size of normal meatballs we take daily to the size of a basketball. I did not see that big but I managed to get see the size about Honeydew. Surprisingly, they could not answer me what meat it was made of so I also decided to stop eating it.

Ayam Bakar

This fills my stomach almost everyday. The chicken is spice with herbs and gravy and later put to grilled. I wanted to take photos but did not go to dine there. The price for a thigh with some raw veggies goes around Rp 9000 while the whole chicken cost Rp 18000. Every month I was there the size of chicken shrinks. I am wondering if I am eating birds during my last month there. Due to cheap labor, you have 3 boys fanning your chicken and make sure it cooks right.

Ketoprah

This will look like mee hoon in peanut sauce with some bean sprouts and tauhu. It costs around Rp 3000 per plate and if you are not use to it … time to run to the toilet soon.

Tong Seng (I know it sounds like someone but it is the name of the food)

This will be our favorite food there. The man sits on stool and slowly cooks the basic ingredient by frying. Then he inserts the mutton / chicken and slowly stir fry them to medium rare. The meats are prepared in satay sticks form and later removed once it is cooked. He then pours gulai soup with salt, sugar and black sesame oil (sweet) into the wok and slowly stir it. It costs RP 9000 with rice.

 Pizzas at Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut here is fascinating. They always have new menus and new pizzas. Talk about creativity. It is very much cheaper than Malaysia and 8 pizzas for 4 persons including garlic bread and coke costs around Rp 90, 000 to RP 100, 000, which is around Rm 30.00. My favorite of all should be the Egg pizza. It looks cheap and simple but it tastes good.

Those are some of the foods that we tasted which are quite different. Those normal stuffs I will not bother to write. We did not try many types of food due to hygiene precautious and Vincent who just came back from Jakarta two days ago is down with food poisoning. I wonder what he ate … you get what I mean now?

Since I came back from Indonesia realized back culture is part of our daily life whether you like it or not. Despite being injected so heavily with culture, I still manage to fail and blend it. Then I my mentors struck in my mind for all their valuable lessons which I obtained for free through hard work.

Before I introduced them (more than 1), I will explained my previous experiences with other people’s culture which I failed to notice at the time I was there, right in front of my eyes. At Thailand, I managed to blend in perfectly as the people there are so down to earth. Yet after the project, I realized that I was too harsh and demanding to have things go my way despite the person who is investing is not me. So I believed I failed, lesson learned and moved on.

While in Indonesia, what was a mistake in Thailand was avoided but something else happened. Blending in with Indonesians is not easy as they do not like our race in the first place. Secondly, they are two-faced. I had quite a difficult time there and I still provide my services to them whether they like it or not. It was what I was supposed to do anyway. The final decision lies in their hands.

After wandering about my mistakes, my mentors flashed across my mind. They are:

• Datuk Thomas Khung Fan En (My Ex- Managing Director)
• Mr. Tony Tee Boon Chai (My Ex-Deputy Managing Director)
• Mr. Tan Boon Kiat (My Boss, he is the Business Development Director)

Thank you very much!!

I started working for them as a fresh graduate in Accounting as a clerk (don’t remember exact department). Within 9 months, I got promoted to Operations Executive. Despite being so fresh with no experiences and with a low pay, I waited patiently trying to learn as much as I can because I know I will have great use in the later years.

My patients with some attitude setbacks, paid off. My mentors took me under their wings as a bright shinning star. It was harsh and vigorous training. When the paging system started blaring out names, I started praying and hope that my name is not mentioned. Haha … it is either you did something wrong and is up for lecturing or you are due with some projects with limited time. The projects or assignments given to me were where I picked up most of my skills and till today I treasured them very much.

The way my bosses work is like this – I do not care how you do it but I want it done! -_-” Anyway, I learned much from it. They will also not scold us for our mistakes unless we did a very terrible job instead he will called the team for a meeting and teach us how to improve it better. We were also given a little treat by my boss later as we work through the functions. Hmm .. I learned many things from there such as organizing banquet, annual dinner, annual meetings, wedding dinners, parties, meetings, exhibition, field day, staff trips and many more. I still remember on Damian’s wedding day, he suddenly asked me to become his MC to offer toast. I was dumbfounded and unprepared but I had no choice but to do it in English. I looked stupid as I did partially in English and Cantonese but the audience manages to blend in thankfully with some laughter.

I know my mentors will be reading this as I will dedicate it to them. (Mr. Tee will be receiving my phone call and SMS him soon). I also believe they will also share it will their fellow Galaxians.

Here are some advices for my fellow Galaxians:

Times are tough and tougher when there is no one to guide you. Galaxy may not be your dream job but take it as a learning curve and your stepping stone. No one can guarantee that your next job will be better. Datuk Thomas never like grasshoppers … people jumping from one job to another as they will not succeed but only trying to get as much money as they can.

Learning something for free endure certain hardship. Nothing is free in this world. I have worked 24 hours before as most of you will never experience it now. We use to rushed Mr. Tee’s presentation charts for meetings overnight and not forgetting his Dictionary thick MBA assignments. I enjoyed it actually and I learned many things from his assignments. Appreciate what is being taught and sometimes it might be sad that you never get to enjoy the events and stuffs but the experience you gain is much more valuable. You will be rewarded during functions, I did! I have also been to many places despite earning such a low income and I enjoyed it very much and I still recalled most of them in my mind. I conquered Mt. Kinabalu at 5+ a.m., I travelled all over Malaysia, I been to China and Bali, I organized a family trip and Management Training in N. Sembilan reserve dam where Damian got stung by a scorpion and got 8 injections. I organized banquet with royalties in the guest list. I can have the opportunity to do all these without being given a chance. When you do, grab it without hesitation.

Here are some brief explanations of my mentors for most who do not know them. Sing Hau saw them once as we attended Mr. Tee’s open house. He heard lots about them as I always talked about them to him while injecting some culture into him.

Datuk Thomas Khung

He may be boiling faster than a volcano but he is a very kind and generous man. If you have the chance to talk to him and he can teach you many things. The minute he has a plan, I am almost guaranteed involve but I learned many stuffs from him. Never tell him you cannot do things or else you can start hanging yourself at the ceiling. Approach and seek guidance … that is the chance everyone is waiting. He appreciates good work and will reward people when the time comes. I met many new people and get to know lots of variety of industry people through his connections.

Mr. Tony Tee Boon Chai

His birthday always comes to my mind because my birthday is one day before him. So I wonder if he noticed it why every year I only text him birthday messages instead of sending him gift . Mr. Tee like things straight forward and no hanky panky stuffs. He will guide and guide and if you do it wrongly he will scold a while then explain it to you. He taught me many stuff in the world of business and I might still need to find him for advice soon. He is a workaholic and has many interesting stuffs to share. I was even brought to meet some of our Ministers during their meeting, unfortunately no meeting with the PM. Psstt … Mr. Tee change the specs, you look kinda old at it, I am sure you can get one with a younger image. No chance to tell you about that yet.

Mr. Tan Boon Kiat

My good o’boss with lots of fun and laughter! Comical at play, serious at work. Although he do not looked that serious. I only saw him fired up once but I do not remember when during my 5 years there. I admire the way he worked, slow and neat. Staffs working under him will enjoy it as he share fun and laughter with you and sometimes he brings us to a nice place for sumptuous food. Advice will be slow toned and hopefully word by word go inside your brain and get stuck there!

I am grateful to what was being nurture in me but sadly I left them for a new challenge. My time in Galaxy was repetitive and income was not enough to sustain the needs of my family. Anyway, I still visit them sometimes and even being invited to their functions. I have failed recently but I believe I will stand up stronger with their words of wisdom facing the challenging ahead.  

Once again,