Having read Ecky's post, I too have to reveal something that both mr.mck and I have found since the day we set our foot here in Perth. Everywhere we go, everybody who serves us, from the baker, the florist, the staffs at the shops and supermarkets, delivery people, guys at ticket box, the call centre staffs - basically, well, everybody! - is incredibly friendly.
I must say I find it extraordinary because having lived in UK and traveled a bit around Europe, smiles can be as rare as the sunshine. Some shops have friendly and helpful staffs, but the friendliness would stop at 'hello, how are you?' or several other bits of conversations. Most of of the time the staff would mutter a 'hiya' under his breath, followed by forced smile sometimes, before getting busy with the order. There is no necessity to engage a deeper conversation with the customers, unless asked. Both parties feel the need to rush out, to finish the buying-selling process, and to go back for being moody again.
In Indonesia, or Asia in general, on the other hand, the staffs constantly smile up to the point it is either scary or you'd think you have spinach in between your teeth and they try to tell you something. These are smiles without meaning: genuine, but don't reflect what they think or feel and the staffs don't engage in any conversation rather than answering the questions about the products they sell, and unfortunately many of them don't have vast knowledge about them, or have no idea how to handle customers. In many occasions customer would enter a shop to find staffs following them on every step and offering products they sell, or sitting down at the end of the room staring back at customers blankly and only move when someone ask for assistance.
Of course it is not always the case. There are places both in Europe and in Asia which have impeccable service. I recently flew with Garuda Indonesia and noticed the cabin crew and the ground staffs have new way of greetings, with both hands put in front of the chest, accompanied by smiles. Individual shops in Europe tend to be looked after by the owners who normally put extra effort to be friendly with their customers. Back in Aberdeen there was an electrician who spent 5 minutes checking up on our cables and another 45 minutes telling a story about his holiday in Thailand.
However, Perth is somewhat different. It feels like everybody is happy. Maybe it's the sun that shines all year around. Maybe it's the beautiful beaches and warm temperature. Maybe it's the ground, awful taste, tap water. I don't know.
Upon receiving my new ATM card two months a go, I had to call the bank to activate it. The guy on the phone was not just politely asked how I was, but he also chatted a little bit about - no, not about the weather like a standard conversation in Europe - but what brings me to Perth. He sounded interested in my answers, followed by enthusiastic questions about Scotland and Indonesia. All while typing all information I gave him, and suddenly the process was done. He thanked me and wished me good luck and hoped that I would enjoy Perth. I didn't want to end the conversation because I actually enjoyed it!
 The lady at the telephone company where we signed our contract up was another example. Smile never leaves her face and she was sincerely passionate about everything. And it is not only that, she even left me her mobile number, which was totally unnecessary, so I could call her just in case something went terribly wrong. Her bright mood is contagious I always left the shop feeling happy. And it is more than enough to forgive her when she put the wrong date on the column of application that results in a delay in our cable installation, and when I have to go back again to the shop as she has forgotten to ask me to sign the bundle contract. In other words, I - the feisty, impatient girl who wants everything to be correctly done and it has to be done now - didn't mind at all, just because a friendly treatment.
Another girl at the furniture shop also was very helpful and friendly, she alone was responsible for our extra spending. We came just to have a look, and ended up having a huge bill. Staffs at some luxury shop - who are famous for being quite snotty - are also nice. I once ended up chatting with a sales person about his past jobs back in Europe and how we both enjoyed the city of Bath, something that would never happen, say, in London.
Even the bus driver is very friendly. On once occasion a driver stepped down to help a senior citizen finding the right bus to go home and to escort her back to the bus stop. In Aberdeen, on the other hand, a bus driver closed his door and drove off just because the queue was moving too slow!
Of course not all Perthians are happy and cheerful. There is always a person who think he or she is better than anyone else and treats others like dirt. There is always a person who think he or she is more important than others and has to get his or her way, no matter what. But so far our experience in Perth has been very positive. And hopefully it stays like this until the next 3 years.
A man in New Zealand is selling what he claims are two troublesome exorcised ghosts on an internet auction website. He claims the ghosts, one of an old man and the other a young girl, were removed from his house by a spiritualist and are now captured in vials of holy water. The seller, known only as Melvin S from Christchurch, says on the www.trademe.co.nz website that the spirits created havoc in his house before the exorcism, switching lights on and off, turning an electric kettle on, and terrifying the dog.
Of course, this is not the first time people try to sell wacky things on the internet. Webupon published an article titled This Is Not Right: The 10 Most Eccentric Items Ever Auctioned Online where it list down extremely strange objects sold by humankind on the internet, from... are you ready for this? ......... a man's soul, an imaginary girlfriend, a haunted rubber duck, until Justin Timberlake 's french toast.
Wait, there's more.
Remember when Britney Spears had supposedly chewed and spat out a piece of bubble gum at the 2000 Wembley Arena concert? It was sold on ebay and the winning bid was $14,000. A tissue used by Scarlett Johansson has only been sold for $5,300 (£3,600) on auction website eBay . The actress was appearing on US talk show Tonight when host Jay Leno handed her a tissue after the star said she had caught a cold. Johansson blew her nose twice, leaving some lipstick and mucus behind, before putting it in a bag and signing it. Although proceeds from the sale are going to hunger charity USA Harvest, the charity of Scarlett Johansson's choice, I still couldn't fathom the fact that someone, somewhere, thinks it's worthy to have someone's snotty tissue, or chewed bubble gum, or half-eaten toast. What would they do with it? Frame it and hang it up on their living room wall?
In August 2008 Reuter reported that an Australian woman has taken revenge on her cheating husband by putting a photograph of his lover's underpants up for sale on the auction site eBay. In the listing the woman says she is selling a picture of a pair of lacy black knickers and an empty condom wrapper "size small" found in her bed after her husband had an affair with another woman. The seller -- identified on eBay only as annastella007 -- provides a rather unflattering description of the knickers: "They are so huge I thought they may make someone a nice shawl or, even better, something for Halloween perhaps".
If those are not interesting enough, how about buying the meaning of life? That?s right, folks. For $3.26 it?s all yours. The answers to everything you could ever ask. But if you live outside of the U.S., that?s just too bad because the seller would only ship within the U.S. The exact nature of this item was not given and the only picture was the rainbow.
If you ever feel lonely, you might want to buy a month of friendship, which thankfully includes two e-mails a week, phone calls and text messaging. It was auctioned on ebay and the final bid reached almost $2,000.
There's also a vampire killing kit, an UFO detector, and of course, several cheetos/doritos/toast that looks like Virgin Mary, Jesus, Pope, penis, a state of Illinois and so on auctioned on the internet (you can laugh all you want, but two sisters from Virginia found a cornflake that appeared to be the same shape of the state of Illinois and sold it for over $1,000!).
So, think hard and look at surround you. You might find something that bizarrely interesting enough to sell on the internet!
On one Sunday mr.mck and I decided to go for a brunch, and since the day before we had a quite successful experience with Boucla Cafe using the book "The Food Lovers' Guide To Perth" as our inspiration, we decided to check another spot listed in the book, and we decided this time to do it alphabetically. So we chose Aubergine Gourmet Foods as a start.
I was the designated driver, and for the first time in Australia we used and tested our tomtom, which just downloaded Australian map into its system. The cafe is located in Fremantle (or Freo, as the locals would call it) and everyone seems to like the area and always speaks about it with a great fondness. Since we had been to Cicerello's and had its fish & chips which tastes alright (no better than Aberdeen fish &chips!) and Little Creatures, which beer mr.mck really likes, we were looking forward to another culinary experience. When we arrived, Fremantle was buzzing. The streets were full of people. All the cafes and restaurants were all busy. I felt we made the right decision, as it seems everybody has chosen Freo for their Sunday brunch.
 We passed the street where the cafe was supposed to be, and the tomtom lady has yelled, "You have arrived in your destination" several times. But since on-street parking is prohibited, I had to drive a bit further to park the car, and soon we secured a spot which wasn't far from our lunch destination. It didn't feel far indeed, but we got lost only after hundreds of metres. I tried to follow tomtom's direction - which made mr.mck stood a few feet away from me: men chose to get lost for hours than looking for a help! - but for some reason it took us round around in a big circle. Finally after several unnecessary Victory laps, we arrived in South Terrace, and started looking for this Aubergine Cafe. Every time we passed another cafe we got even more hungry looking at the meals presented on the patrons' tables, and were really looking forward to try the cafe's delicious menu.
 But we couldn't find it! We walked back and forth several times but didn't see it. We consulted with tomtom which indicated it was still 2 km away from where we stood, which can't be right, because we had been back and forth South Terrace and still couldn't find the cafe. Mr.mck's iphone also said the same, although sometimes it put our current position in the middle of the sea. We got more hungry every minute and felt the unforgiving sunshine at the back of our head. After 30 minutes we gave up and chose another one that looks interesting, Madmonk. Their front outdoor terrace was full, and there were 2 big pans of paella being cooked and spreading flirty aroma. The inside part was also busy but we're lucky to get a table. The menu looks interesting, and mr.mck ordered flat bread, goat balls, and 6-hour cooked lamb. I ordered paella, of course. The flat bread and goat balls came first, and while I was nibbling mr.mck's food, I was more convinced that the paella would be really great, as everywhere I look everybody was eating the dish. Even all 6 people in the table in front of me had paella, nobody bothered to have anything else.
 But after the bread and the goat balls were finished, my paella still hadn't turned up. We checked it with the waitstaff, who came back and said that the paella had gone and the chef was cooking a new batch, but it will be another 20 minutes to be ready. I was getting annoyed but even more determined to try it, so I said I'd wait. It must be really popular if it's gone quickly! Mr.mck's lamb came and I tried it a little, but I saved myself for the legendary paella.
 The lamb, which was really, really good, was finished. 20 minutes had passed a long time a go. But my paella's whereabouts is still a mystery. It was 3 PM in the afternoon, and I had been waiting for over an hour. Dammit, I was hungry, fed up, annoyed, disappointed, but most of all, well, hungry!! We canceled the paella and paid our bill. The 2 big pans of paella were right in front of the cashier, and I was glad we decided to cancel the order, because they didn't look ready, even after 40 minutes. I was still hungry, but also lost my appetite altogether. I wanted to eat, but didn't know what I wanted. After walking with pouty lips, sulking, I decided to stop by at another cafe which displays pastries and ice creams and provides Italian coffee. The pastries look delicious, and the ice cream is home made so I was convinced all will taste good. I asked for one profiterole and another pastry, with a cup of cappuccino. We chose to seat outside, and I began to relax, knowing for sure that least my meal will come soon because it doesn't involve cooking at all!
An Italian man approached our table and gave me a cup filled with black water, so I looked at him and said that I ordered cappuccino. He repeated the order, "long black?" in a heavy Italian accent, but I shook my head and insisted I ordered cappuccino. He went to another table next to us, where the lady said she ordered "long mac" (I suspect it's macchiato? Why do Australians like to shorten everything, even though it doesn't take longer time to say it in full?), not black. They guy, defeated, went back to the kitchen.
 I began to wonder if today wasn't my lucky day, as a simple order like cappuccino can go wrong. But when another man appeared with my profiterole, I was happy again. It didn't taste as good as I expected, nothing compares to Patisserie Valerie in London definitely, but since I was hungry, I devoured every single piece of it. However, half way on my attempt to finish the gigantic pastry, I found a fly, lifeless, with its legs sticking out in the air and its wings flat and limped, on the bottom of the plate!
Really, let's just go home, shall we? Before I find a dead cockroach on the bottom of my coffee. Please?
 I was still traumatised and frustrated by the whole unfortunate experience in Fremantle, so at dinner time we rewarded ourselves with a bottle of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (or SSB, naturally, since saying its full term is too tiring for Australians). I only had a glass and a half before we went upstairs to call mr.mck's friends and family in UK, but suddenly I felt so dizzy and nauseous and in a mere minute I found myself in a toilet with my head down. I am not sure what had happened, but I suspect the dead fly in the pastry was something that I could see, and who knows things that I couldn't see in it? Probably the alcohol has accelerated the effect. Whatever it was, it's not a pleasant experience at all.
 I went to bed with stomach pain, severe nauseous and dizziness altogether. I couldn't move because my head was spinning, but I had to go back to toilet again when my stomach screamed, which caused another headache and dizziness. It went on forever until I was finally tired and fell asleep.
So much for quite Sunday brunch. So, Fremantle again? Hmmm... Maybe not now....
Recession? What recession?
Some people are literally showered with money, and if you and your mega-rich friends have an extra million or two to spend, British newspaper's The Sun's has some ideas about the most opulent and OTT presents for Christmas this year:
Iphone 3GS Supreme, contains 271g of 22-carat gold and almost 200 diamonds. The navigation button is from 7.1 carat rare diamonds. Only for £ 1.92 million. Contact stuarthughes.com to order. Every lady needs a perfect handbag. This one is definitely going to guarantee the compliment from everyone. Made from pure platinum and set with over 2,000 diamonds, for only £1 million, it is cheaper than the above gold-diamond iphone Looking for something practical? This is great gift idea for your loved one for only £65,000. This 2010 Jaguar XJL has massage seats, heating steering wheel (perfect for winter!), and voice activated heating control. No information about colour choices, but I am sure you could pick one. Your girlfriend might appreciate this little bottle of perfume adorned with white diamonds. From clive.com, it's for £2,700. Such a bargain, especially if you need to buy 11 pressies for all of your girlfriends! Read the complete story here.
Click
to connect with other Indonesians around the world 
Finally, after several months delay, we proudly announce the launch of Indonesian Expat site, which mission is to inspire your success living in a foreign country by providing you this website to share stories, network globally, and find the best resources which hopefully will help your journey overseas.
Mind you we are still in the soft launching phase, there are lots of to add, fix, repair, and change, so please bear with us. However please do not hesitate to contact me at finallywoken@finally-woken.com if you have any ideas, comments, suggestions, or complains.
Hope to see you there!
Christmas is coming, and it means it's a gift time! I am sure most of us have been in and out shops to find out the perfect gifts for our loved ones, but usually, we either forget one important person, or the purple scarf we have bought for Mrs Boss suddenly look to cheap or you overheard her say she hates the colour. Or like my dear husband, you couldn't bear to go into overcrowded shop where the guests are elbowing you and the assistants pretend to be too busy to serve you.
With so little time and so much to do, especially in this chilly winter, online shopping comes to the rescue! But having to open the virtual world suddenly we are usually overwhelmed by so many websites offer so many things. Before we know it we'd spend hours on the net trying to find the best deal on perfume or Barbie doll.
That's why the website like Savebuckets and its extensive range of gift ideas is perfect for us. The site is a price comparison site which allows you to compare prices on a wide range of products through hundreds of different shops.
Check out its Christmas Gifts section, listing products from shops like House of Frasers and I Want One of Those. If you are looking for gift particularly for children, you could click here. Your girl deserves the best perfume so find the best one for her in the perfume section. You want to send a hamper for your boss? Savebuckets has food hamper section you could look into. Need a cool gadget like laptop for your men? Try to find it here. Or if you fancy an ipod touch (I know I do!), the website offers the product that starts from £221.70 to £409.00.
Isn't cool? It's like going from Harrods to House of Frasers to Harvey Nichols with your jammies and slippers, by sipping a big cup of coco! No snotty shop assistant, no rude customers, no frozen toes for standing too long outside the shop, and no wasted time to find perfect gifts!
Good luck!
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Blog Directory ID: 1202
Blog URL: http://anitacarmencita.blogspot.com
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Blog Description: A tale about culture shock. An Indonesian stranded in Scotland and has to deal with Scottish people, accent, weather (most of the time), food, and football. If you think eating chips with vinegar is normal, think again!
Blog Tags: Indonesia - Scotland - Expat - Culture Shock - Current Affairs 
Blog Category: Personal Blogs
Blog Owner: anita
Blog Added: December 05, 2007 11:56:42 AM
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