Extravagance among rich normal in garish Jakarta

Extravagance among rich normal in garish Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): My friend Nora has a great affinity for hotels. Every time a new five star hotel is opened in Jakarta -- and there have been lots of them in the last decade -- she has to try it out.

She may be the only person in the world who has stayed in all the hotels of Jakarta. She always finds hundreds of reasons to move into a hotel, besides it being new. She may check in because her house is being renovated or because she just feels like it.

Staying in a hotel room can be very lonesome so she always asks a relative or friend to accompany her for the night. I was the lucky one recently.

I would rather sleep in my own bed than toss around trying to fall asleep in a strange one. But I obliged anyway. Being with Nora is usually a unique experience.

The hotel lobby was very crowded. All types of people were checking-in and meeting for lunch. I heard strange languages and strange accents and felt like I was in a foreign country.

There were many people waiting for the elevator, mostly children. Once inside, they fought to press the button. I remembered my friend telling me that he often brought his children to hotels so they could get used to the environment.

"To prevent them from suffering from culture shock when they have to stay in a hotel or go to a foreign country," he explained.

Judging by the behavior of these children, culture shock was long past.

I also remembered as I ascended in the elevator how years ago I had sent my driver to a high-rise office building. I told him to take the elevator to the eight floor, but I didn't explain to him how the elevator worked. He entered the elevator and waited for the magic to happen. Somebody came in and went to the fourth floor and he thought he had arrived. He decided to climb the stairs instead.

I went straight to my friend's room and found her lounging on her bed watching TV.

"It's so nice," she said, "I can see all the old movies here. Isn't it fun?"

"No big deal," I thought, but kept on watching anyway. It was a 1950s movie, one of those without bedroom scenes, but very entertaining. Halfway through, she asked me what I wanted to eat and explained what we could order room service.

"They have a good choice here," she commented. "You know, the room service menu is the key to making guests feel at home."

The meal was finished by the time the movie ended and we soon dozed off.

When I woke up, I went for a walk in the garden. Nora said she would do some work. When I returned, she was watching another movie. We ordered room service again for dinner.

Before it arrived Nora's maid delivered food from home. It all looked so delicious that we decided to cancel the room-service but the waiter showed up at the same time.

A solution was quickly found: we packed the hotel food into the containers from home and we enjoyed the home cooking.

Bedtime came but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned and tried to read but to no avail. It was almost morning when I finally fell asleep.

Nora was up bright and early talking on the phone and inviting other friends over. She knew that I wouldn't enjoy staying another night. Her friends arrived immediately and we were soon engrossed in the latest gossip.

We ate leftovers warmed on a stove the maid had brought along the night before.

I packed and left. As I waited for my car, three cars pulled up and out trooped a few families: children, seven or eight of them with a nanny for each child. That wasn't a shock, the one child to one nanny ratio was not new to me. Extravagance among rich Indonesians is normal. What shocked me was the luggage that was unloaded. Amongst them were a pile of guling (bolsters). Seeing my stunned face, one of the nannies giggled and said: "They all bring their own guling to make them feel at home. Without it they can't fall asleep."

So that is the trick. Bring your guling so you don't toss and turn all night. I read that some celebrities like to bring their favorite things with them when they travel. The late Audrey Hepburn brought her own salt and pepper shakers.

I will be more of a sensation when Nora next invites me to keep her company. I will be there, guling and all.

-- Myra Sidharta