Ipoeng was a good driver. Punctual, reliable and presentable, he had only a flagrant foul and was his memory. It could drive the same route 20 times while losing his way on the 21 st . Email the market to pick up more than one item for giving him a written list and hope he has not forgotten where he put it. Time and again I would like to impress on him to follow my instructions, written or otherwise, implicitly, and do nothing else. I made him repeat at least once a day until I was absolutely certain that there would never misunderstandings.
The project was located in East Java on the main road from Surabaya to Banyuwangi, the ferry terminal to cross to Bali. The road was usually about three hours, depending on weather and time of year. Our trips Bali project up to this point was in the big group outings, or at least a minimum of four people in a minibus. I had several days of replacement due and administration manager suggested that I use them or lose them, so I decided on a drive in a quiet midweek in Bali using my own vehicle and Ipoeng.
Tuesday afternoon, I called the office and gave him the good news. He had to go home and pack enough clothes for holidays five days on Bali. I organize accommodation and give him a food allowance. He followed with rapt attention, everything was sinking in, and he was full of excitement barely repressed as he had never been to the Island of Gods before. Suddenly he thought of something, a frown creased his face. What about the road? What about directions? I assured him that there was only one main road between the project and the ferry terminal, it was quite simple. I was about to develop when my attention was drawn elsewhere. Some small crisis had arisen, and as I tried to give Ipoeng instructions, I was constantly interrupted by radio or phone calls. I gave him some money and told him to fill the car, check the oil and the AC coolant, make sure that the spare tire was OK, and on the road by six the next day morning.
I'm stuck in a late meeting and ended up eating dinner with a vendor, then get a lift home with his driver, so I had no chance to confirm Ipoeng that everything was ready for the next morning, but I guess as he did not call me, everything was clear and understood.
My wife, Alia, was already packed and ready to go, it was just a case of up to five thirty, six on the road and stop somewhere for breakfast.
Six hours, no Ipoeng. Very unusual, as it was normally very punctual. Six fifteen, I called him on his mobile, "no signal". Six thirty, Alia called his wife; he left home at five thirty hours good timing. More calls to his mobile unanswered.
In seven years, I left my bike and drove the entire route from our home in Ipoeng of waiting to find him somewhere along the road with a flat tire or on the side of the road with the cap and an engine problem. No sign of him or the car, anything!
I returned to the house to discuss what to do and Alia was barely in the door when my phone rang. Ipoeng!
"Where the hell are you?"
It seemed that someone consults and ultimately gave me the name of a place that meant nothing to me.
"And where exactly is that?"
"Road to Bali, boss, very easy. Ipoeng not lost. Stop for coffee, view your missed calls."
I handed the phone to Alia, this was too confusing to me. She spoke too fast for me to follow with great hmmms and ahhhhs in conversation.
"Ipoeng followed your instructions to the letter. He has his bag of clothes for five days, checked the fuel, radiator and the spare wheel and was on the road by six."
"What we look for?"
Alia spoke on the phone again.
"He says you just said."
I racked my brain and, of course, he was right. He had followed my instructions to the letter. I said Alia to tell her to stay exactly where he was until we joined him. Alia assured me she knew exactly where he was and I asked him to arrange transport for us to meet with him. She did, but made me very funny.
we were heldOne hour later and with alternative transportation and on our way to meet Ipoeng. We caught Ipoeng transferred our luggage and now, although a few hours late, were back to Plan A, at least my Plan A anyway. Neither Alia nor Ipoeng provided comments and I do not bother to offer an explanation, thinking it was better to add an air of mystery to the tour, or try not to look too stupid, one of two.
The ferry was the first idea all might not be as it should. The vehicles were packed four abreast on a ship roll-off roll on a single bridge. Negotiate ramps and parking in the limited space was difficult, but not too much. Ipoeng but could not get the vehicle properly aligned despite using four agents, which ended up taking the wheel. It turned out that Ipoeng had never been on a car ferry before and had no experience of leverage. He was probably nervous too.
down was easier being a player immediately directly in a one-way system. Great, except that everyone is going in the opposite direction to us. Amid blaring [19459031Klaxons] we turned around and almost hit a police car, which was happily content with waving frantically at us to get out of the way.
We stopped at a cafe in the terminal to allow Ipoeng to calm down. After he assured me that it was OK, we continued. Exit the ferry area proved to be a stream of missed turns and another trip around the one way system, and again, the wrong way. Ipoeng was ly confused. Then it occurred to me, not only had he never seen a system to sense before, he had never led to the "city traffic" either. He was well outside his comfort zone and it was just a minor coastal city. How could manage Kuta? Busy, narrow, one-way streets crammed with tourist buses, street vendors, tourists and Australian surfers on motorcycles, weaving through the chaos.
The answer was of course, we could not risk so Ipoeng was a great horse festival around the back of the car while I was driving.
The return to the project that was duly noted, and I was flooded with requests asking the team when it was their turn to stay in Bali, and why not? After all, we tubules 'were renowned for our ly irrational behavior, are not we?