Journey to the Past

Raising a kid is an act of juggling between what you're told, what you believe to be true, and making your parents happy. I think.

In Indonesia, this is what happens when you go to a Korean BBQ place. Me : Hi, I'd like a seat in the non-smoking area, please. Waitress : Sorry, we have no non-smoking area. But don't worry, it's all air-conditioned. Me : You don't have the non-smoking area? Why? Waitress : Well, the BBQ cooking generates quite a smoke already. So it won't look worse with additional smoke from the cigarettes. Me : ... You've gotta be kidding me! What kind of logic is that?

Now that my daughter hits 10 month mark, she starts to move more actively around. She doesn't quite walk yet, but she tries. Her feet don't move one in front of the other, but her whole body make a "jump" to compensate. As such, she fell and hit her head. A part of her forehead was swollen. And when we called our family, the single advice that everyone gave us was: Rub oil on it, and then rub a knife on it. This was totally the way we were brought up. I remember seeing an adult rubbing the swollen part of a child's head with knife. It works too! But it makes me wonder... Why does it work? Do we still have to do that nowadays?

When I was in Canada, the norm there is for every house to have an electric stove. Only the rich can afford gas stove. The salesmen pitch their sales saying "Using gas stove, your food will taste better. Cook it the way it's meant to be -- with fire." Now I am in Indonesia, where gas stove is the norm. Electric stove is expensive. And of course, the sales people are saying "Using electric stove is safer. No risk of fire." There is always another side to a point of view. ^_^

This came across my mind today: Places across the ocean are perfect, as long as you are at least an ocean away. I realized that when I was in Canada, I thought Indonesia was perfect. And now that I am in Indonesia, Canada seems better in every aspect. Weird.