They tend to visit bakery every day before work, so it inspires me a lot. In Bread Basket, even though we have other kinds of menu, we are focusing on our bread creation. We made them fresh everyday on the spot and change our menus regularly once every three months. So excited to see Bread Basket keeps on expanding! Will we see another store pops out in near future? We actually planned to open new store every two years on certain areas. That has become our main target. The closest one, on February , we will open a new shop in Padang-Padang area.
There are two methods of branding that we do; through logo and concept, so everything has to be connected; from the social media to printed promotion, it has to come from one main concept.
And why is it more flourish in Bali than other area of Indonesia? Who do you think it caters to local or international market? Sourdough trend started from San Francisco. We are actually following this trend ever since we established Bread Basket as a European-style bakery. We brought starters from these two regions to add to our starter collections.
Breads made using sourdough technique will definitely be healthier. Some people think breads are high in sugar, but with sourdough, we can reduce the sugar level, depending on how far you wish to use the said technique. Then, the texture will be refined as well; crisp on the outside, but soft on the inside. Here in Bread Basket, since we bring European concept, we mixes white and rye sourdough ingredients.
Speaking of trend, commonly people know sour dough only as a part of trend, but only a few that really understand its true meaning. I think sour dough will mostly be enjoyed by expat and Indonesian who have stayed abroad for quite some times. However, more healthy-conscious Indonesian starts to enjoy authentic sourdough bread nowadays. Can you share some practical tips to start a culinary business for our readers? There are three main things as a business owner to focus on; Strategy, People and System.
The second one: people. For me, what make this business successful is the people who runs it. I evaluate them after three months of working. Then, it is very important that we equip our staff not only with working skills, but practical skill to improve their personal life as well. We have to care for the things outside of their work as well, and also their wellbeing, so they can strive in the workplace.
For me, people is very important; their welfare, their training and their personal life; if we can fulfill these aspects, we will have a solid team to run our business. The third one: system. Here, we are talking about creating an operational system. We can have a great strategy and right people, but without a good and effective. What are some of the best lessons in entrepreneurship that you have learned so far? When we first started Bread Basket, we made Asian bread to follow the current market trend at that time; it was a challenging time for us.
And then, we have the opportunity to explore into European bread concept. We believe those opportunity came because we were faithful in making good quality Asian bread in the midst of tough competition. We thrive to build good reputation to our customers and suppliers. Keep moving forward, and stay faithful! Can you share to us about your worst baking-related disaster?
When we first decided to start this bakery business, Bali experience electricity blackout quite often, and it really affect our production process. We only have two or three bakers at that time and it was really hectic when the blackout comes. We have to halt production when the dough is started to overproof, we have to throw away lots of ingredients, and we need to wait until the electricity goes back up. Like it or not, Internet accelerates everything. For example, do you remember cronut that was trending in ?
How many places are still serving such products? Accidentally, Wita, along with her previous workplace, was the one responsible for introducing the fusion of croissant and donut to Jakarta. Please tell us a bit about your initial affair with pastry industry. I always interested in pastry products, from the appealing display, color combination, however, I always failed when I tried to make my own.
One day, my cousin who went to tourism school stayed at my house. He let me to go to tourism school, but he wanted me to master the pastry. I consider my father as the most influential figure in my career. From the beginning, he had already warned me that the job is quite challenging, when other can go home already, we still had to serve the dessert to the guests. After doing it for some time, I realize that pastry changes so fast. When I was working in Hotel Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta, we were the one that responsible for introducing the product.
When we knew cronut was trending in USA, we tried to come up with our own recipe until we succeeded. Not as I remembered. Back then, cronut was selling like crazy, from Now, the process is getting even faster thanks to Instagram. When we created a new product, usually we invite some bloggers and the information will spread like wild fire. I heard you learned directly from Christophe Rhedon and Gaetan Paris?
I took the Christmas course by Christophe Rhedon, meanwhile Gaetan Paris is more to making bread and viennoiserie in traditional way. I heard that in the competition, in addition to making some products, the waste you produce should not exceed certain number.
Yes, the brand Kempinski actually originated from Germany, therefore, we had many German expatriates who work in either the German Embassy, or German companies around Hotel Indonesia. Some customers demand healthy, vegan products with less sugar. From numerous pastry fields, which one is your favorite? As a pastry chef, I need to know everything.
Coincidentally, the number three is frequently mentioned in the article, from the name of the chef, hotel, to the number of flavor in their signature cake. From various pastry fields, which one do you enjoy the most? How do you compare the cake trend back when you started in with the nowadays trend? In , we were more into cream topping and sponge cake.
It is said that Indonesians tend to play safe when it comes to cake flavors? Most of the times, however, our customers understand cakes. They know various classic cakes, and here, we serve it with new technique and presentation. At the moment, we have more request of products that are not too sweet, therefore to substitute the flavor intensity, I often introduces new, unpredictable flavors, such as refreshing sour taste from calamansi or yuzu that are combined with crunchy texture from feuilletine.
The cake was inspired from the combination of vanilla and chocolate that I had back in Dubai, it was really amazing! Here, I made some modifications by switching the vanilla with cheese and add some orange notes. Yes, outside Indonesia, such combination is rarely spotted. However, as most Indonesians are familiar with the combination, I decided to replace the vanilla with cheese.
And then, why orange? To add texture, I added crunchy almond inspired by Magnum ice cream. After I studied it, one of the most sought after feature from the ice cream is its crunchy glazing.
An Asian Chef endorsed by both Valrhona and Sosa!? After some series of beautiful accidents, Justin turned to pastry, and finally opened his own business, JL Dessert Bar, in Seoul, His unique concept of refined plated desserts, petit gateaux and wide selections of drinks to pair, has led 2 of the biggest brands in the industry, Valrhona and Sosa, to appoint Justin as the only Ambassador for both brands.
You started as culinary chef, why did you turn your eyes to pastry? Actually, it was an accident. I was an immigrant in New Zealand, and I really wanted to work in a popular restaurant there Clooney.
The Head Chef Des Harris said that he only had one empty position, in pastry department, and I accepted it. Actually doing it for a year, actually I was in love with pastry. How long have you been working in hot kitchen before switching to pastry?
The country only has 4 million people after all, so I decided to go back to Korea and worked in Park Hyatt Busan, returned back to New Zealand to work in Miann, and then I moved back to Korea for good to do my own thing. However, actually opening my own shop is also an accident. My younger sister was a barista. After opened our own shop, she left, and I decided to make it into my own dessert bar JL Dessert Bar in My concept is very few in Korea, not many places focus to pair food with drinks.
I can handle every ingredient, except fish. My menu is using lots of mushroom, cheese, and vegetables. Most of the times, I went to supermarket to buy fresh, seasonal ingredients. Actually, we consume these ingredients every day without us realizing, such as in sauce, or ice cream. Most of the molecular ingredients are white powders, and I use them to create textures.
One ingredient can even make up to 10 textures. Most of the times, I chose ingredients, and then, for each ingredient, I can create up to textures. With 5 ingredients x 4 textures, I can have up to 20 textures in my products. I also have a list of certain ingredients that pair well with others. It seems like a hassle to prepare all those stuffs laugh!
When I started pastry, I used Valrhona chocolate and I was so impressed, as every chocolate comes from different terroir. Before that, I only knew white, milk, and dark chocolate. From there, I kept using Valrhona, in Korea as well.
Valrhona is a French company and Sosa came from Spain, but they belong in the same company since Valrhona acquired Sosa. How many chefs are privileged to be the Ambassador for both brands? It started with me doing some baking demos in 3 cities in China temporarily for them, and the customers love it! A shop owner even said that their sales increased 10 times by applying the products that I made in the demo.
After that, I was officially signed with both companies last August. We had many chefs that become Ambassador for Valrhona, and some chefs for Sosa, but to become Ambassador for both of them, we never have something like this in Asia. Don Bakeshop shows Jakarta that high quality and affordable croissant is for everybody to enjoy without exception. Driven by skills and passion, Chef Dony Muhadi as the owner, shares a story about his business and the mission for the future of Indonesian pastry world.
I studied at NHI, Bandung and specializing myself in pastry since the beginning. I moved around every six months from Florida, Colorado, and Wyoming for work there. I was climbing my way up as a cook, demi chef, chef de partie and lastly as a Pastry Chef. I always have a dream to open my own pastry shop one day.
After two years in Bali, I decided to resign. What my wife and I have been doing for the past five years is instead, expanding our clothing business! From the profit, I was finally able to finance my own pastry business little by little. From purchasing the mixer, oven, proofer, and building a lab. As for the products, Don Bakeshop features a wide variety of baked goods — from croissants, kouign amann, pain au chocolat, and many more.
And for that past five years, I also did all my homework and research. So, by the time the shop opens, I had figured out already the standards for everything - costing, quality, and the market.
With such quality, why did you start your business at a trade center? Several of my colleagues were also surprised with my decision to open up a shop at a trade center, instead as a standalone cafe or at premium shopping malls.
Turns out it sells well, and I have been receiving good feedbacks, even though it all started as a one-man show — from productions, logistics, and even marketing! Aside from your shop there, how about other clienteles?
I realized that many coffee shops in Jakarta are actually looking for decent pastry to accompany their specialty coffee. With my standards and pricing, Don Bakeshop can provide a solution. Up until this point, I have been supporting several coffee shops here, until eventually this attracts bigger client like Djournal Coffee — to where I supply my products fresh, on daily basis. With this movement, what do you wish to accomplish?
True to what I was saying in the beginning, I never compromise about quality in addition to using premium French butter for my baked goods. How is that possible for me? However, I want it to be artisanal and not just using the word as a gimmick. Don Bakeshop started out with a mission — to make people enjoy affordable yet quality croissant.
I would like our products to speak for themselves through the meticulous methods we use in the kitchen and that this is not just about profits. Being realistic with the pricing is also key for to the business. How many baked goods do you produce on daily basis?
We are increasing our productivity gradually in hundreds and now reaching around 1, per day. We recently just acquired a bigger space at ITC where people can casually sit and enjoy coffee. Also, we are really looking forward to finalizing our bigger kitchen and installing the new oven so we can produce more. Opus One is known to offer uncompromising quality, inspired by both traditional values and innovative ideas, in singular wine.
Our second wine is called Overture. Most wineries have some sort of pyramid model. The top of the pyramid is their top wine, the lower the level, the lower the quality and the price. Most wineries tend to enamor the old, classic tradition, do you share the same opinion? Not to change, just to change, but to change when the change actually makes sense.
Maybe 1 out of 15 suggestions can help us to get better. Because, I believe that… do you drive a car? We have 4 different state vineyards, and we have yeast that we isolated from each of the 4 vineyards. We can mix or blend the fruit from the vineyard into a tank. We usually do this with different Cabernets from different areas together.
However, we also blend into the tank Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, we found out that by putting them together as grapes, they make a better wine. When we tried to blend them as wines, they tend to be a liitle harsh, a little rustic. The most obvious ones would be with rain, how much water the plant has access to, the heat, how do we protect the wine from being damaged by the sun, and then fire. There has been a lot more fire in California in the last few years than before.
In fact, we have fire in near Napa Valley, and to the north of Napa. Is it still relevant to compare new world VS old world wines? I think you can compare new world VS old world style, because there are wineries in old world that are making new world wines, and vice versa. Especially, with climate change, we see alcohol increasing in Bordeaux wines, and even in Burgundy wines. On the other hand, we see areas in cooler part of California, that are making wines that are more restrained, more old world.
What kind of legacy are you trying to leave for the new generation of winemakers? We want to have an exchange of ideas. You have to consider their ideas because sometimes interns can give you ideas that, at first glance, seems kind of strange.
Then you think about it, you talk to them and then they actually make sense. These people keep my mind open and accepting new ideas. Okay, how do you want to be remembered then? I want to stress the importance of people to your success. Bermula dari menemani sang nenek ke pasar ketika kecil, Marcel Sumarga menemukan kecintaannya pada dunia memasak dan memutuskan untuk menjadi chef professional kendati tumbuh besar di keluarga pebisnis.
Tekad dan kegigihannya pun mengantarkan pria kelahiran Bandung tersebut untuk menjuarai ajang Chef Muda bergengsi serta mewakili Asia ke Eropa. Kini,di usia yang masih terhitung belia, Chef Marcel telah menjadi pemilik sebuah restoran tenar di daerah Sanur, Canvas Bali. Bersama Passion, ia pun berkisah perihal latar belakang karirnya, serta pandangannya terhadap generasi milenial nan kreatif….
Before becoming a bartender, I was a barista, so the concept of the place fits me perfectly. Tell us about your experience of joining Diageo World Class competition! I joined my first Diageo World Class in and managed to get into the final top 8.
Then in , I joined again and luckily won. To me, luck, competition is all about luck. I made simple cocktails, like my character. In competition, they gave us 10 minutes, and in the first 5 minutes, I just chatted with the judges. There are better competitors, be it in term of methods, skills, techniques, and experience, after all, I just started in They see me as representative of Indonesian hospitality, especially for overseas tourists who visit Indonesia.
From the simple attitude, such as offering a refill when their glass were half empty, to offering whether they want to enjoy the drink with ice or no ice. It was joined by 55 competitiors all over the world, and the winner was a female Singaporean bartender Bannie Kang. I prefer to make something simple.
The question is, does the cocktail worth the wait? If you can get get similar taste complexity within 2 minutes, why not? And then, my character is that the cocktail I made should be able to be made by other bartenders all around the world, the ingredients are accessible and the taste should accommodate everyone. Of course, the use of local ingredients is trending nowadays, like the use of vetiver. In some rounds, I just do some stirring and mixing, no other methods.
In finals, we have other competitors who use some citric acid, malic acid, and then bringing their own charcoal, on the other hand, I try to go back to the basic. For example, in the Johnnie Walker Black Label Challenge, to complement its smokiness, I mixed 2 brands of sweet vermouth, smoke it, and keep it in the refrigerator to make the classic cocktail, Rob Roy.
If traditionally Rob Roy is made of aromatic bitters, I used 2 bitters: coffee and chocolate. Then I put homemade cookies as garnish. Simple, by putting dry ice! The drink was smoky, and it tasted smoky. Since you have background as barista, how do you compare the coffee and cocktail scene? When I switched from barista to bartender, I felt I was living in a small can, therefore, I no longer wish to make any boundaries, the most important thing is the drink is good, and the guest is happy.
The idea to get drunk no longer belongs to cocktail bars, but in nightclubs. Conversely, we make cocktails so people can enjoy alcohol. If mojito traditionally uses 45 ml alcohol, we use 30 ml. While working in Djournal House, I have to admit I have hard time to convert people into drinking cocktails. If Jakartans can have coffee at night, why not try our coffee cocktails?
You want black coffee cocktail? We can make it! Whisky Espresso Martini vanilla infused scotch, djournal coffee liqeur, Djakarta roast house blend. In general, how do you tell the quality of a cocktail bar? From the bartenders, how welcome are they? In Indonesia, the welcoming bartenders are quite rare. The problem is, are they willing to initiate the conversation? What do you usually drink? What sort of sports do you like? In fact, this kind of simplicity is difficult.
Compare it to when you visit an unknown coffee shop. The bar is not just a place to get drunk, in fact, I hate to get drunk. For example, when I returned from Scotland, I had 7 shots, from rhum, vodka. If you think cocktail as some drinks served by flair bartenders to get you drunk on nightclubs, you might be a decade behind. The man has entered various bartending competitions, including one of the most prestigious ones like Diageo World Class and managed to become semi finalist for 3 times, and finalist for 2 times already.
And then, we have Junior Bartender who started to make cocktails, but still within very limited exploration space, then we have Bartender, Captain, Supervisor, and then we have Mixologist or Bar Manager. Actually, Mixologist and Bar Manager is quite similar, but in Union Group, we put it into 2 categories: generalist and specialist. Actually, our roles are pretty much interchangeable, to some extent. The main challenge is how we can make something extra ordinary from ordinary ingredients.
At the time, the trend is about sustainability, zero waste, recycle, and using modern equipments such as immersion circulator for sous vide and rotary evaporator. As opposed to older style cocktails, which has more complicated production process because of some techniques, like layering. I was in an era where nightclubs were trending, and we had to make 10 pieces of B52 or Rainbow.
As bartenders, we really hate making them as they were quite time consuming. So, the process requires quite a long time. Yes, my first one is Finlandia Vodka Cup in What usually works is when you have extra ordinary concept, but presents it in ordinary way.
There are many points in competition, but most of the times, the biggest one is the personality. Look, most Indonesians judge people bartenders from their appearance. The next biggest factors would be the taste. Here, I got the calamansi from Bengkulu. With sustainability concept in mind, I made citrus stock to minimize waste.
When we are to buy lime, most of the times we just take the juice, how about the skin and the other part? From the kitchen, I was inspired to make stock. I boiled the leftover lime that still leave some citrus aroma, and then I did some balancing using sugar and citric acid afterward. The fun part lies in the Gin Butterfly Pea that exploit some sous vide technique.
In bar, we usually do the infusion technique by putting the drinks on top of hot espresso machine. Normally, we ignore 2 things: alcohol will evaporate in 78oC, and we have some space in the glass for evaporation, as a result the alcohol content will be reduced. With sous vide technique that uses vacuum plastic, the alcohol will have nowhere to go, and I put it in 50oC for 2 hours. What are the main benefits of this sustainability stuff? Along with zero waste, of course our cost will be greatly reduced.
Another example is our Watermelon Candy, normally, we throw away the watermelon skin, but I use it for pickle. And for other leftover ingredients, I usually dry them using dehydrator, and served them as garnish. Generally, how do you describe your mixology style?
I love to play around with Indonesian flavor. What impressed me was, it seems like Will understood more about our local ingredients than the locals, like me. I realized that Indonesia is very rich. For example, in tonic, the main ingredient is quinine. And then we have some gins that has Indonesian ingredients as well.
This way, I can get extra ordinary result from common ingredients. How do you compare our local mixology scene with other overseas scenes? At the time, the biggest cocktail scene in South East Asia is still in Singapore. The problem is, our government tends to over complicate things, from various taxes, paying here and there, to the necessity of maintaining personal relationship with government officials. As a result, finding 1 spirit is quite a challenge.
At the moment, I work along with the local government to produce a local spirit called Sophia, which was made of distilled molasses water. However, the local government opposed my idea, they said it will kill the local industry. Sophia is actually a classic, home style spirit, they use distillation using clay and bamboo that will give unique characteristic.
A fun personality with brilliant talent and imposing appearance to match, Yudhistira a. Cool piercings! Could you tell us which one is the most memorable? Is there any fascinating backstory behind it? I run a tattoo and piercing company. One of the most memorable piercing for me is on my backside; I done body suspension before. Another one is the third from the left side of my lower lip, because it was my first ever piercing. Basically, I was scared with needles so it needs more time for me to do this first piercing than the rest.
But after that, I become addicted to it laugh. I have a total of 50 piercings in my entire body. We heard that you are also an avid metalhead. Could you name us one each of your most favorite bands from Indonesian and abroad. Basically I grew up in a rock music scene back in Java. Since I was a child, my family and friends has been listening to rock, metal and any kinds of hard music.
One of my favourite band from Indonesia is Deadsquad, because they are technical death metal. I love any kinds of metal music! I also play in a band as guitarist. Tell us a bit about the beginning of your career.
When did it start; and how did you usually find inspiration for your cocktail creation? So, at first, I always dream to become a chef, but then I met some friends who are flair bartenders and started doing it myself as a hobby. Every time we gather, we would show each other juggling and mixing skills, and participating in competitions together. Then I become more interested in doing it as a profession.
At first, I become so cocky and think I was the best bartender in the world just because I can do juggling and flair very well, then after entering the real industry, I realized that I was really nothing, not even a zero!
From that moment, I started to study deeper and gain more understanding to become a true professional bartender. My inspiration right now often comes from food; especially Indonesian dishes, which I twist accordingly into my own cocktail creation. I made drinks, not food in forms of liquid. The drinks of Romeos are inspired by the daily life around this area, including Indonesian traditional food.
Secondly, we are observing our target market. Personally, I threw away all my idealism and willing to adjust with our guest, making a specialty drinks just for them. When a chef makes a food creation, we as the bartender can make a good pairing for that said dishes, using the collaboration between kitchen and bar ingredients.
Through this, we are making an eye-catching gimmick to appeal our guest more. First, because I live in musical environment; my dad, mom, siblings and wife are musicians as well.
Being a musician is my lifelong passion, but in industry, I am a professional bartender. That was unforgettable. So a true bartender must be able to do both. Why did I look up to him that much, because he is one of few Indonesian bartenders who have influence in international scene.
If I met him, I would like him to try one of my creations, Lux Luxury. For me, Agung Prabowo represents luxury itself, and also because the drink was inspired by Indonesian Balinese sweet treats, laklak.
Other reason why I choose this drink because I have a dream that one day, my cocktail will be displayed in the menu of bars worldwide. If I can collaborate with Mr. Agung and see my cocktail served on one of his bar in Hongkong; that would be awesome! Sebastien began his career in bakery when he was He took a diploma for 2 years to learn bakery and pastry.
After graduated, Sebastien worked in some artisan bakeries before he decided to pursue higher education and became a Professor who focus on teaching. The title MOF is actually the highest appreciation for a profession for French artist. To get the title, a person is required to enter a competition with very high standards.
In the world of competition, Sebastien won the Vice Champion de France de Boulangerie with his team on , however, personally, he won The Best Bread Showpiece award. In the next year, he won the same competition and in , Sebastien finally got the title MOF. After MOF, Sebastien thinks the next challenge would be to keep making new product variants. Mengawali karir di Bali dan menaklukkan kompetisi bergengsi, Melvern Nathaniel mengasah bakatnya di waktu dan tempat yang tepat.
Kepada Passion, bartender muda andalan W Bali - Seminyak ini membagikan sejumlah pemikiran cemerlangnya. Muda, bertalenta dan memiliki mental juara, Melvern Nathaniel memiliki segalanya untuk meraih kesuksesan. Sempat menyabet gelar juara kedua di salah satu kompetisi bartender bergengsi, pria kelahiran Jakarta tersebut kini tengah meniti karir sebagai bartender di W Lounge milik W Bali - Seminyak yang prestisius.
Passion berbincang dengan Melvern di sela kesibukannya dan membahas sejumlah hal tentang karirnya yang gemilang…. However, Ingo is no stranger to Indonesia.
In , he opened the revamped Pullman Thamrin and stayed there for a year before moving to Phillipines. Do you consider yourself as generalist or specialist? But to answer your question, I would say generalist, but of course I have many interest in other cuisines as well.
Currently, do you have any special interest in specific cuisines? I always try to learn more. When I found something interesting I want to know more around it. Actually, my grandma ran a bake shop back then, but I was born too late to see it. Does German people love seafood? We have lots of seafood, we have sweet water fish from area like Berlin, which is famous for Eel in Green Sauce. And then we have the Baltic Sea and North Sea where we have herring, cod, and salmon.
I would say seafood is a bit regional item in Germany. The nice thing here is that you can get the fish all fresh. One day they were caught, the next day they were delivered. Any hard time in adapting with the local supplies? Back in Germany, it was quite limited, we only had fish on the menu. Perhaps ,the only place I had nice fish was London. All this runs smoothly, with full support for all the standards you would expect. The package works this magic by running as a background process which is largely accessed from a browser-based interface.
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Reasons to avoid - No software-only purchase option. Reasons to avoid - Windows-only. Mike Williams. AWS went down hard, yet again - here's what happened. It might be time to consider running Ubuntu on your smartphone. Microsoft Teams update will level the playing field for all users.
It was a land of erect blue volcanoes, exotic mosques, dark tropical skies and beautiful, uninhibited people; it was just the place for a not totally young, unattached chap like me who was tired of London and severely sick of some of his students.
I have taught difficult children both in a slummy Glasgow ghetto and in a wealthy London ghetto; I know that by the time British boys reach puberty, their vices have deepened and their parents have usually divorced, several times. To teach bolshy Britons, as opposed to respectful Asians, you need an unreasonable amount of stamina and tea.
There are, in theory, hours and hours of preparation and each and every lesson you are supposed to enthuse these prickly, gum-chewing, pubescent and prepubescent boys.
Teaching is like appearing live on television seven times a day, with a different script each time. I had fallen out of love with some of my audience or vice versa , had secret self-doubts, and needed to appear on a different stage. I needed something to cure my neurosis.
There was an advert in the Times Educational Supplement for a teacher of English and Humanities at a school in Jakarta. I would not, under normal circumstances, have thought of applying. There would be hundreds of applicants and they would all be fantastically beautiful twenty-something-year-olds with doctorates from Cambridge. But I was desperate to get out of Britain. I applied and in some mysterious way I knew I was going to get to Indonesia; it was somehow ordained; maybe it was something to do with the fact that my interview was at 9 am on the ninth day of the month and it was Bogor, near Jakarta.
I remembered a garden party in Rio de Janeiro when I had asked a vicar how I might help some of the poor people of the favelas.
I could be a highly nervous, windy character. Near Jakarta. Rubbish everywhere. A horrible police state. And I had a teaching contract that promised me free medical insurance, a rent-free house, free electricity, a maid, a car, and even a driver. I was to be met at Soekarno-Hata by my colleague-to-be Fergus, who had been teaching abroad for most of his twenty year career.
Sure enough there he was in the midst of the airport throng, tall and smartly dressed in a Sean Connery way, holding up a piece of card bearing the words: "Welcome Kent.
My, these Jumbos are good at getting above air turbulence, most of the time. How do you like the heat? I love it. And the smell of flowers. No, wait, there were smaller streets suggesting an East of mysterious dreams and exotic possibilities; two dark eyed girls hopped into a battered orange three wheeled taxi; barefoot newsboys plunged into the traffic to sell their wares; men with pirate mouth-coverings hung from the doors of an overcrowded bus.
Under a flyover a homeless family was settling down for the night; at ramshackle wooden stalls teenagers were hawking steaming noodles and hairy fruit; kerosene lanterns were being lit outside a shop selling bottles of weird liquids; a green and white prayer house was filling up with white-robed figures; pedicabs were being repaired in an oily tumbledown workshop; grinning little boys with sarongs around their waists were enjoying a wrestling match in the grounds of a mosque.
After a journey of enchantment we finally reached the two-storey, three bedroom house I was going to be renting in a posh, middle class part of a district called Kebayoran Lama. We walked through a dark front garden and entered a huge dimly lit but well furnished lounge-dining room where my servants awaited me. The room had a large dining table of dark wood, a three-piece suite in dark leather, a tiled floor, a picture of a mountain in Bali, and a broad staircase that led to the upper floor.
I wondered what the folks back home would think when they heard I could sit in the garden sipping gin and tonic while my servants scurried around doing all the work! Rachmat retired to the front porch; Ami retired to her quarters, a room I discovered some weeks later, while Ami was out shopping, that was the size of a broom cupboard. I sat at the stylish table and began to tuck-in to spicy fried rice. Fergus, sitting on the leather settee, refrained from eating.
I began to ask some of the many questions circulating in my jet-lagged brain. I had read that Indonesians smilingly put up with a certain amount of exploitation, and then they run amok. I was in Australia before this," explained Fergus. Spoiled and lazy. I prefer the Asians. That was beautiful but there was hostility from the local people. I was in Oman. An attractive country. I started in the UK but only lasted a few months.
That worry you? Did his eyes suggest someone who carried some secret burden; or was it Scottish gloom, loneliness or simply temporary tiredness?
But the locals are very friendly and there are lots of bars. A few books. Most of my teaching materials will be on the ship. I sold my London flat," I said "and most of the things in it.
Do you miss Britain? She was homesick within weeks. Missed the English way of life. Missed her friends. She had a boyfriend back in England. Fergus and I picked up our beers and began touring the house. Fergus seemed easy to get on with. He spoke highly of life in Jakarta.
I was feeling tired but happy. Apart from the pre-recorded call of the muezzin, coming from a distant mosque. I should mention that Ami had typhoid last year.
I would keep an eye on her to make sure she washes her hands occasionally. At home I do most of my own cooking. And what about security?
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