I'm on my way to Jepara (the largest center of jungle furniture worldwide, around 2,500 different small, medium and large companies are based there) to visit some factories. The scenery was beautiful, but after a while I realized that I lost in the middle of nowhere. I know very well this area, but as you know, road signs does not seem to be a priority for the Indonesian governors. As I do not have a driver, I have to find the way by myself.
After a while, I'm even more lost, so I decided to call the plant Pak Budi.
Here we are, typically Javanese directions
. Me: "Hallo, ini Pak Sebastien I can not find your gudang (warehouse) I'm lost.. I am in front of the Pak gudang Oto (everyone knows in the furniture industry, its factory is more famous than the Empire State Building in Jepara)
Pak Budi. Oh ya Pak! so you go straight, straight, straight (already, if I followed his otherwise I would have ended up on the beach). Then you will see a mosque, a green-blue (all the fancy mosques there tend tiles blue-green pool applied on the wall). Then you turn left, you go straight straight, go straight until you see a supermarket (name of a mini -Supermarket mini Indonesia has more minimarkets that America diners). Then you go right all right, right, right until the Pertamina Pompa Benzin (petrol station, Indonesia more Pertamina Pompa Benzins that Italy has pizza places). Then you will see the mosque (certainly that of rose-purple tiles form of a giant cake cheese).
Meanwhile, I had already spent more than 25 mosques that could adjust the color and shape with the beautiful castle asleep at Disneyland.
Pak Budi: Then you turn left where you will see a warung Pecel lele (small restaurant selling catfish ... there are more people selling catfish in Indonesia that the people who sell marijuana in Amsterdam). Then everything right, right, right until you see a mosque (no joke there). This mosque is the largest there (meaning the other three were those small). So, so, so, so ...
Pak Budi seemed confused.
Pak Budi :. Sebentar to sebentar (one moment please)
I could hear him asking around how he could explain the directions to me in a better way, but people around him certainly thought his explanations were very clear and precise, so they kept quiet. After a few seconds and a few strange words and sounds, he came back with, "Ooohhhh", "Susssaaa", "Gituuuu", "tauuu Gak" and a BIG, "Ohh PAK tau YA!"
During the time Pak Budi was talking to himself, I had time to look around at all the beautiful small hills and imagine life in this region 80 years ago ... beautiful. Pak Budi suddenly woke up from my thoughts with a brilliant idea.
Pak Budi: THEN YOU ASK OR IS MY GUDANG! Nama saya Pak Budi (meaning, my name is Budi Budi is ... but as Martin France, Germany Muller or John in England. A few million of them are living in this country and hundreds of them have furniture factories in Jepara!).
I was at a point that I thought another brilliant indication as a physical description of himself as "I am wearing a batik shirt, brown pants and I always wear a black kopiah . "
You know what, believe it or not, I found waiting for me Pak Budi in front with a big smile and said:." Easy to find there? "
I still love Indonesia.