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