This is the fifth installment of the Bandung Chronicle, sliced up at 500 words a piece.
“My beloved Nathaniel, he who calls me Oom Pea Prit”
… “Shouldn’t you ask him the questions instead?” I blushed. I mean, Nathaniel is like a boss. He who shares the same birthday as mine, he who climbed onto me with eager, watery, and tender eyes of affection while his sister was busy orbitting away, he who writes the letter ‘J’ in the mirrored vertical opposite, he who calls me: Oom Pea Prit instead of Oom Wilfrid (oom means uncle in Bahasa Indonesia). Nathaniel, my two years old nephew, mischievously tried to say my name a few times, each morphed into names that sounded more from an untold fairy tale. Eric, his dad, laughed and said I should take “Pea Prit”. I laughed and gave Nathaniel a goodbye hug before they left Bandung.
Children, they orbit. As they grow older, the orbit gets wider. Some, you hardly see, as they grow up.
9. Porcupines
Indonesian television can be entertaining. There are so many local live shows. One of them is called “Indonesian’s Got Talent”. It is an eye opener to see such diversity of talent. A 14 years old girl who sings exceptionally well performed like a professional opera singer won the show. In front of the national television, in front of millions of I presume Muslim viewers, she thanked Jesus Christ. I am in awe with her courage, more so for the millions of viewers who voted for her.
“Check out 14 year old opera singer Vania Larissa’s rendition on Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life. Especially the ending bit after 1 minute 50 seconds.”
There was another reality show. A guy was caught red-handed in a Karaoke bar, with a female companion, and after some chitchatting, he was about to purchase a condom for I presume an upcoming sexual act. The camera then cut to his wife storming into the KTV room confronting her husband on I presume what the beep this was all about (the entire program was in Bahasa Indonesia sparsely translated and opined by Cynthia). It was quite awkward to see the couple screaming at each other in front of the national television. Why didn’t the guy storm out of the room and – like in the movies – say ‘no comments’? I do not know. But hey, at least he intended to use a condom.
The most bizarre program took place inside a porcupine farm. There was this long hair, attractive, and young female TV anchor who obviously did not think that keeping porcupines as pets is cute. And there was this farm owner who boosted that each porcupine can fetch from a few hundred thousand rupiahs to five million rupiahs. To be honest, porcupines do not look very huggable. They look like hamsters, two to three times as big as a hamster. They mate like hamsters and you can feed them with dry food that is made for cats or dogs. For the pregnant ones, worms and insects are recommended (the TV anchor did not seem to have an issue handling worms, but not the porcupines). Every month, you should brush their backs with a toothbrush and shampoo, …
- Continue to Part 6