For some reason I can not sleep long since I arrived to Indonesia. The first night I thought it’s because it is all new. But no.. every morning I wake up 7.30am the latest. Now people who know me,they also know I never wake up that early unless I need to go to work.
As usual, I woke up at around the same time on the first morning in Lastari. Our view is stunning from the porch and since Harry (my guide) was still asleep, I quickly went to have a shower (the bathroom has a little pool of water which you pretty much pour over yourself with a help of a little water scoop) and then enjoyed the waves and the view at that quiet morning from my hammock. It’s unbelievable to feel that you have nothing urgent to do and you sort of emerge together with the sound of the sea and the little noisy bugs on the tree. It was a nice sunny morning and no one was awake yet apart from the owner and his family. As soon as Harry woke we went to have breakfast and our usual cup of tea. Tea is like a ceremony for us. We can have at least 3 cups a day just sitting on the porch or by the beach without saying a word and having a cuppa. Before I left home, a friend of mine gave me a wonderful present for Xmas, a thermos from T2. I bought green tea leaves and that’s what we have been enjoying for since the first day I stepped in Harry’s house. Sometimes Harry just randomly asks, tea? And then he gets the hot water and I set up the filter for the tea leaves. We didn’t have much plan for the day so we stayed around, I had a little sunbath and I could read my book. That’s how the first part of the day went. We had a great lunch, rice and some fish. I still have to get used to the fact that we have a proper breakfast, lunch, dinner scenario. Meals 3 times a day. At home I’m glad if I get 1-2 especially when I’m at work where I somehow never get time… I continued reading my book after lunch while Harry had a little nap. I’m reading a book, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ and if anyone read that book, it’s a very disturbing true story, especially when you read it on such a peaceful place as this is. But it grabs you and I almost didn’t want to put it down but then I had to think of what am I gonna read later if I read it at one go. So I was just sitting by the beach looking at the water with millions of thoughts in my head as usual. That’s one thing I can’t get rid of, the constant thinking, the ideas, the thoughts. They are there and since it’s such a tranquil place, it’s even more than when I’m busy during the day. Harry woke up and joined. We started to talk and I soon realised that there is still a lot he needs to learn about our world. It’s very surprising for me that he has so many friends from all over the world who have been his guests yet there is still so much he doesn’t know. So we talked about food and we started to make plans as what we are going to get when we are in Waikai for our floating house. When I mentioned potato, he said it’s expensive. So I told him that potato is our ‘poor’ food since that’s probably the cheapest food you can buy and you can make so many different type of food out of it. Then he asked about fishing and I said we don’t just tent to go and fish and eat it. If you live in a city, you buy the fish from the market or the shop. We do have lakes but there are regulations as where you can fish, what you can catch and how many. He was very surprised that we can’t just go and fish willy-nilly. He asked if there is anyone in my country who never seen open sea and I said, plenty. Plenty people hasn’t even seen the capital yet if they are from the countryside. So I explained him that we too have lots of poor people but maybe poor means different for him and for us. We talked a lot. Just like in the morning when I told him what we eat for breakfast and what other countries eat from full English to cereals or pancakes. Then he told me once a guest wanted to cook for him and so they went to buy a kg of tomato. When Harry found out how much that cost, he almost didn’t want to eat from the food. So I had to explain him that he needs to understand we are coming from a different environment where eating is more like a hobby. People eat even when they aren’t hungry. I told him that the golf club I work at throws lots of food away for food safety reasons. And he couldn’t believe it. So I tried to explain him with a story of mine. I told him, I work with very rich guests. People who have so much money, even I can’t imagine. People who can spend over £300 on a single lunch without any issue. And to compare to these people I am very poor. But if I’d get annoyed or surprised every time a guest comes and spends that much money, I’d go mental there. So I told him, he needs to let it go when he sees people spending that much. It’s their money and it won’t make Harry or his family poorer. However, every rupiah we spend here, helps the locals so he should be happy since he used to own a shop. He understood. I know it isn’t exactly the same scenario but that’s the closest I could explain him that every time he goes extremely surprised or annoyed some tourists spend shed lots of money, he should just let it go and to be enjoyed cos he will go nuts.
The Dutch guys left today so it was only us and the 4 Germans plus the Austrian. We all had dinner together and I had a chance to have a chat with them. We talked about travelling. That’s a very usual topic when you travel…travelling. So I found out quite a lot about them, where they have been, if they have family or not, what they do, etc. We chatted for a while before we all went to bed. They switch the electricity on at 6pm and turn it off at 11pm which means it’s just us and the stars. Usually we are all in bed by that time. Tomorrow is a new era, we are going to stay in the floating house.