Porsi bubur itu terlalu besar buat saya, jadi saya makan setengah saja dan sisanya saya bawa pulang.

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• porsi bubur itu = that porridge portion
• rumah itu = that house
• buku ini = this book

This is one of the most noticeable word-order differences from English.

In this sentence, itu can mean that literally, but in natural Indonesian it can also help point to a specific, known item: that/the porridge portion.

Porsi means portion or serving.
Bubur means porridge, often rice porridge in Indonesian contexts.

So porsi bubur means:

• a portion of porridge
• a serving of porridge

Indonesian often puts two nouns together like this, where English would use of.

Other examples:

• gelas kopi = a glass/cup of coffee
• sepiring nasi = a plate of rice
• harga makanan = the price of food

Yes, buat saya and untuk saya can both mean for me here.

In this sentence, terlalu besar buat saya means too big for me.

The difference is mainly register:

• buat = more casual, everyday, conversational
• untuk = more neutral or slightly more formal

So both are correct:

• Porsi bubur itu terlalu besar buat saya.
• Porsi bubur itu terlalu besar untuk saya.

The version with buat sounds very natural in speech.

This is an important difference:

• terlalu besar = too big
• sangat besar = very big

Terlalu expresses excess or more than is suitable/desirable.
So in this sentence, the speaker is not just saying the portion is large; they are saying it is larger than they can comfortably handle.

Compare:

• Porsinya sangat besar. = The portion is very big.
• Porsinya terlalu besar buat saya. = The portion is too big for me.

Here jadi means something like:

• so
• therefore
• as a result

It connects the first idea to the consequence:

• The portion was too big for me,
• so I only ate half and took the rest home.

Be aware that jadi can have other meanings in other contexts, such as to become:

• Dia jadi dokter. = He became a doctor.

But in this sentence, it is a connector: so.

Indonesian often repeats pronouns where English might omit them.

So:

• jadi saya makan setengah saja = so I ate only half
• dan sisanya saya bawa pulang = and the rest I took home

The second saya is not strange or redundant in Indonesian. It helps keep the clause clear and natural.

You could sometimes omit a pronoun in conversation if the subject is obvious, but repeating it is very normal.

Setengah means half.
Saja here means only or just.

So setengah saja means:

• only half
• just half

Without saja, setengah would simply mean half. Adding saja emphasizes that the speaker ate no more than that.

Compare:

• Saya makan setengah. = I ate half.
• Saya makan setengah saja. = I ate only half / just half.

They are often similar, and in many cases both can mean only.

So these are close in meaning:

• Saya makan setengah saja.
• Saya hanya makan setengah.

But they are not always used in exactly the same way.

In this sentence, saja sounds very natural and conversational. It often gives a softer, more idiomatic feeling in everyday Indonesian. Hanya can sound a bit more neutral or slightly more formal depending on context.

A useful rough guide:

• saja = very common in speech, often placed after the word it limits
• hanya = also common, often placed before what it limits

Sisanya means the rest or the remainder.

It comes from:

• sisa = remainder, leftover, what is left
• -nya = a suffix that here makes it mean something like the or the remaining part of it

So sisanya is literally something like:

• the rest of it
• the remainder

In this sentence, sisanya refers to the part of the porridge that was not eaten.

The suffix -nya is very flexible in Indonesian. Depending on context, it can mean:

• his/her/their
• its
• the
• something already understood from context

Here it is best understood as the rest of it.

Both are possible, but they give slightly different emphasis.

• Sisanya saya bawa pulang puts focus on the rest
• Saya bawa pulang sisanya puts focus more on the action I took home

Starting with sisanya is natural because it links nicely to the previous clause:

• I ate half,
• and the rest I took home.

It is a common Indonesian pattern to move the object to the front for topic or emphasis.

Bawa means bring or carry.
Pulang means go home or homeward.

Together, bawa pulang means:

• take home
• bring home

So sisanya saya bawa pulang means I took the rest home.

This is a very common expression.

Examples:

• Saya mau bawa pulang makanan ini. = I want to take this food home.
• Dia bawa pulang oleh-oleh. = He brought home souvenirs/snacks.

Yes. Indonesian does not mark tense the way English does.

The sentence can be understood as past because of the context:

• first the speaker comments on the portion,
• then says they ate half,
• then says they took the rest home.

Indonesian often relies on context, time expressions, or shared situation rather than changing the verb form.

So:

• makan can mean eat, ate, or will eat, depending on context.
• bawa pulang can mean take home, took home, etc.

If needed, Indonesian can add time words such as:

• tadi = earlier
• kemarin = yesterday
• barusan = just now

But they are not required here.

In this sentence, buat saya clearly means for me in the sense of from my point of view / for my capacity / for my appetite.

So terlalu besar buat saya means:

• too big for me
• more than I can handle

It does not mean that the portion was made for the speaker. It is about suitability, not purpose.

English uses for me in the same way:

• This bag is too heavy for me.
• This portion is too big for me.

Yes, it is natural and idiomatic. A native speaker could definitely say this.

Some common alternatives are:

• Porsi bubur itu terlalu besar untuk saya, jadi saya cuma makan setengah dan sisanya saya bawa pulang.
• Porsi buburnya terlalu besar, jadi saya makan setengah saja, sisanya dibawa pulang.
• Buburnya kebanyakan buat saya, jadi saya cuma habisin setengah.

A few notes:

• cuma = only, more colloquial than saja or hanya
• buburnya = the porridge / the porridge portion, depending on context
• kebanyakan can mean too much
• habisin is colloquial for menghabiskan = finish up

Your original sentence is clear, polite, and very usable.

Indonesian often expresses relationships between nouns more directly than English does.

So instead of saying:

• portion of porridge

Indonesian simply says:

• porsi bubur

And instead of always saying something as long as:

• the rest of it

Indonesian can say:

• sisanya

This is normal and efficient in Indonesian. Learners often need time to get used to the fact that Indonesian frequently leaves these relationships to word order and context rather than extra linking words.

Yes, absolutely. In this context, that is the most natural interpretation.

If someone says:

• sisanya saya bawa pulang

it strongly suggests they did not finish the food and took the leftovers home.

In a restaurant, people might also say:

• Sisanya dibungkus saja. = Please pack up the rest.
• Saya mau bawa pulang sisanya. = I want to take the rest home.

So the phrase fits restaurant situations very well.