Economic crisis hits 'paradise on earth', too

Economic crisis hits 'paradise on earth', too

By Mehru Jaffer

BANDUNG (JP): Even paradise has not been spared by the cruel
krismon (monetary crisis). The vast stretch of highlands around
Bandung have always been the abode of the gods. Wrapped in
mountain mists and cradled in the lap of hissing volcanoes,
thundering waterfalls and steaming sulfurous hot springs, all
visitors like to make sure that they enter the sacred land of the
Sundanese with great caution. But not the krismon. It has simply
barged in, threatening to play havoc with heaven itself.

Until a year ago, the Javana Spa at the foot of Mt. Salak was
a favorite haunt, especially for weary Singaporeans, who liked
nothing better than to drown all their worldly concerns and take
refuge in the bosom of the lush rain forest, thousands of feet
above sea level.

But after the rioting against the country's ethnic Chinese,
Singaporeans have become careful about visiting Indonesia, let
alone the remote Parahyangan region that is home to the staunchly
Muslim Sundanese.

During the combined holidays of the Chinese New Year and Idul
Fitri in the past, the spa played host to 40 guests or more. This
year the guests did not number more than five.

Among the staff of nearly 80 members at the spa, most keep
their fingers crossed that they will never have to pack up and
leave their job in the clouds. Many of the employees are from
coastal towns like Semarang and Surabaya and swear that they love
living by the sea. But to be so close to the sky provides them
with a special kind of high.

Pilgrims have been aware of the healing properties of the Giri
Jaya area since times long gone. The warm sulfur mud of the
crater found here was guarded jealously in the past for the
exclusive skin care of ancient royal families.

Today the magic waters from the still simmering volcano are
piped into a hot spring area at the Javana Spa for everyone's
use. Ever since the acres of tea, coffee and clove plantations
were cleared in 1991 to open an American style health resort
against a very Japanese-Javanese setting with muddy sulfurous
baths, the lives of many a guest have been transformed. But for
the local people employed at the spa, a great satisfaction was to
witness their own standard of living upgraded in just a couple of
years.

"I was only a shopkeeper in Sukabumi some years ago," says
Ela, as she gives a massage in an aroma therapy session.

After she came to the spa, she was trained in Jakarta and then
observed instructors from a Californian one which is reputed to
be the best in the world. Ela feels that her life is perfect at
the moment.

Her husband works here as a house helper and her children are
in the care of her mother at the staff quarters, three kilometers
away. The staff has one meal a day on the spa premises and so far
their old salaries still allow them to afford food, shelter and
education for their children.

When the spa is full, Ela gives up to six massages a day.
These days she seldom gives more than two treatments.

Eko, a Sundanese from Sukabumi, worked in a motor garage
before he came here to be trained in the art of preparing food
and beverages. Away from the grime and filth of repairing cars,
Eko can walk proudly around the spa as elegantly as the swans in
a nearby pond, pouring endless herbal teas and fresh fruit
juices into the glasses and cups of his guests.

After Hadi, 32, graduated from a school of agriculture in
Semarang, he was employed at the spa as a gardener. He is so
grateful to wake up each day and be able to look out upon the
rolling green terraces of the Japanese garden, landscaped by
well-known architects Kazuhisa Fukawa from Japan and Gatot Marsel
from Jakarta.

During the eight years that he has been at the spa he has
graduated to become one of the most popular aerobics instructors
and hiking guides. On the way to one of the seven waterfalls that
cascade down in the vicinity, Hadi will talk nonstop, pointing
out root beer plants in one corner and clove trees in yet
another. He is also in the habit of teasing the touch-me-not
flowers along a path that is carpeted with leaves and blossoms
used in traditional medicine. He will also feed deer across the
fence and pause a while to reply to the call of a rare Javan
gibbon. Ultimately it is also Hadi who takes guests into the deep
pools of the grotto waterfalls for a shower in the tingling
water.

Javana Spa turned nine years old on Saturday (May 8), and is
for those who seek peace, fun and health, and are willing to
spend Rp 900,000 (US$100) a night.

Dr. Rani, who visits the spa at least twice a year, feels that
this is the best one in Asia, if not in the world. She has been
to spas in Switzerland, India and Thailand and loves to return
again and again to this one specifically.

Her Aunt Lalita came all the way from Malaysia. She said, of
course, there are spas in her country but they are not as
beautiful as this one. On this occasion both came to their
favorite hideout inside the ring of fire not only with their
respective kids but also some cousins and nieces. Most
importantly they love to return to the people who run the spa.

Kanti first came here from Jakarta some six years ago to nurse
a broken heart. "Nothing at the spa has changed since then. It is
as efficient as it was then and I feel as pampered as before,"
said the 30-year-old businesswoman.

Indi, an Indonesian expatriate who now lives in Switzerland
was returning home happy with the thought that she had managed to
loose a kilogram in two days. That, she thought, is a major
victory for someone like her who loves to eat, drink and smoke
all the time.

And Subadris, the chief chef at the spa, has made it his
personal mission to bring smiles to his guests. Often he goes
crazy trying to count calories all the time but the thought that
each guest has received the food they deserve makes all the sweat
and toil worth its while.

"When guests return to the spa on their second and third
visits, I spoil them with a special cake. I love to feed my
guests with food that tickles the taste buds but does not harm
the body," explains Subadris, a Sundanese who was born and
brought up in Jakarta.

He has worked at the spa for six years and says that he would
be saddened to return to the capital city. He has been around the
world while cooking on passenger ships and at five-star hotels,
and Subadris feels content at having at last found peace, quiet
and satisfaction here in the mountains.

"I am now an old man. It would be cruel to ask me to start
life all over again, especially in a chaotic city like Jakarta,"
he says.

Try telling that to the krismon, Subadris.