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Piece of Missing Jet Found
in
Indonesia
 A
fisherman found a piece of a jetliner missing for more
than 10 days in northwestern Indonesia, the first hard
evidence that the plane carrying 102 people had crashed, a top
search official said Thursday. The piece of the
tail of Adam Air Flight KI-574 was found some 300km (185
miles) off the Sulawesi coast.(BBC)
Plane riddle
casts doubt on Indonesia air industry
The last co-ordinates of
the Adam Air plane were recorded by Singaporean authorities,
raising questions about Indonesia's ability to monitor its own
air space. Tempo magazine reported that Indonesian
equipment that should have picked up signals recording the
crash had been inoperative for a year and repair requests had
gone unanswered. Seventeen
Adam Air pilots resigned in May 2005, citing unsafe
working conditions. (The Age)
THIS
SATURDAY:
The above event is generously sponsored by
PT Multibintang and Santa Fe
Movers
The
High Risk of Travel in Indonesia Asia
Sentinel
Air
crash highlights perils of travel in Indonesia
Monsters and
Critics.com
Mystery
of the Boeing that simply vanished Sydney Morning Herald
Starting from
now, I will publish every week an old print of Jakarta. The
first one is the juntion between Jalan Hayam Wuruk and Jalan
Juanda in the sixties. Note the clear blue
skies....
Bali bombers one
step closer to death
THE
three death-row Bali bombers have moved one step closer to an
Indonesian firing squad, with a farcical series of court
hearings today in their judicial reviews.
The three men, Amrozi
bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas alias Ali Imron,
failed to have their hearings moved from Denpasar District
Court in Bali to a court in central Java, where they believe
they might get a more sympathetic ear. In angry and
impassioned exchanges with the bench, lawyer Fahmi Bahmid
refused to present the detail of the bombers' appeals but
argued that the Supreme Court in Jakarta must first rule on
where the trio's cases should be heard. (THE
AGE)
US
is pushing for its ambassador to Indonesia to be the
new UN ... International Herald
Tribune
Indonesia experiences 135 ecological
disasters in 2006
A happy customer
in Eastern Promise...
FROM
THE EDITOR:
 Remember the Brit that used to buy smelly
socks from the BuGils waitresses for big bucks? He recently
left Indonesia. But when you think Indonesia is running out of
Bule Gila's, forget it. There are loads of crazy white
people out there! Of course there is the risk that people
become offended by my writing, but the people I write about,
are the people that give color to life. They are heroes!
I meet them every day. In this article, I
let you in to just one day of my (bar) life.
I started the day in the Eastern Promise.
It was 10.30 in the morning. I had a meeting with two ladies
from Malaysia who want to sell our stroopwafels in the rest of
Asia. While talking I saw the shy EP waitress (featured in the
Bar calendar for Dec.) behind the bar, wrestling with a wine
bottle. It was obvious that she was trying to open a Bordeaux,
but her body was crawling in all kind of positions; it looked
as if she was trying to throw herself on the floor. A loud
'plop' and a deep 'sigh' indicated that she had managed to win
the 'battle with the bottle'. A few minutes later the same
scene repeated itself and by now I started to wonder who
ordered bottles of wines so early in the morning. I looked
around and didn't see any other customer. She swept the palm
of her hand over her sweaty forehead. She looked at me and
before I could ask a question, she already gave an answer.
'Susah buka bottle (difficult to open)... I open them
now, so tonight and tomorrow the other staff has an easier
job...'. It was well intended. I tried to explain that it is
not a good idea to have open bottles, but her confused look
made me realise it was better just to say: "leave the bottles
closed".
The two ladies ordered juice. 'What kind of
juice?' the waitress asked. 'Guava juice would be nice'. The
waitress' face turned swiftly from left to right, to quickly
conclude: 'There is no guava juice..'. The two woman shrugged
their shoulders and thought that an orange juice would be just
as fine. Again she moved her head nervously. 'Mmmh..
Sorry. No orange juice. We don't have orange juice anymore....
As a matter of fact, all the juices are finished...'. Why she
asked the women if they wanted a juice is still not clear.
Maybe it has something to do with global warming, I am not
sure.
After the meeting I continued to Cazbar. An
Indonesian artist named Rudy wanted to show me his paintings.
He had been attracted by the name BuGils (bugils=naked)
and he thought it would be the perfect place to sell his
erotic work. He showed me art of naked women in all kind of
positions. The staff became curious and I had to quickly hide
the paintings under the table. Rudy then showed me his other
work and some photos of him with famous people. Even one with
Nick Faldo, who actually had bought a painting from him. He
then showed me a sketch of the BuGils bar and offered me that
for 5 juta he would make it a surrealistic full color
painting. As I just had heard an advice on a BBC program (if
you like a painting, it is always a good investment), I agreed
to the deal. It will be on the walls of BuGils by tomorrow.
Rudy's other, erotic work, can be viewed on request (ask
Widi).
 My
lonely pub crawl trip continued to BuGils. When I walked in, I
noticed that the staff behind the bar was laughing loudly in
front of a customer. For a moment I thought they were
embarrassing this poor man, but he was clearly enjoying
himself as well! He obvious did not speak a word of
Indonesian, and had not no clue why the girls were laughing.
But because they cried their eyes out, he
started laughing. And, this made the girls laugh: although he
was laughing intensively, he did not make a single
sound! With his hands on his stomach, his shaking body was
silently swinging forwards and backwards on a bar stool.
Tears rolled over of his cheeks. Risa was screaming of joy
while she slammed her hands on the bar in front of the man.
'Loe ketawa, tapi
giginya mana! (you are laughing but where are
your teeth!). The whole bar was in tears by now. It was true.
Every time the man opened his mouth, gasping for air, his
teeth would disappear. I wonder why people still prefer places
like Bats or Cj's. The smiles (and pourings!) there are fake
(and expensive). At least in BuGils they are real, even though
the teeth are not always there...
On the picture: Leila
pouring a beer in One Tree
Later that night, I finished my 'round' in
the One Tree Bar in Blok M. An Eastern Promise regular came up
to me. Without greeting, he pointed at a waitress behind the
bar. 'How old is she?' he wanted to know. 'Twenty two, I
believe', I answered. I wasn't sure, but she had been working
for me for a year already and before that she had spent a year
in Japan. I just guessed. The man was not satisfied with my
answer. His eyes were bulging out and his mouth was hanging
wide open. He run up to the bar. 'HE, YOU!' He pointed at the
shocked waitress. 'How old are you? You are twelve, isn't it?'
The normally calm and quiet guest was now totally hyper! The
manager Erlin pointed at his wine glass and, with a flaw
smile, lifted 7 fingers in my direction. The frightened
waitress whispered that she was 20 years old. The regular lost
it. 'NO! NO! YOU ARE LYING! YOU ARE TWELVE!' He held
his both hands on top of his head in disbelief. For a moment I
thought he was going to cry but suddenly he turned around and
shifted the subject 100 degrees. 'I heard you gonna open
another bar. Is that true?' The sudden change in focus
intrigued me, but not for long.
On the other end of the bar, there was this
very friendly expat again with that little black bag in
front of him. Always with two or three women around him, and
always having the time of his life. The man had never moved
away from the little black bag and the few times I saw him
opening it, he would look in it so secretly, that I was
sure there could be a potential story. The first clue came
from a One Tree regular, who saw me looking in deep thoughts
at the little party and that mysterious bag. 'I tell you what
is in it...', the man said calmly. 'It's the underwear of
those women... And at the moment, these women are wearing
his underwear.' He stopped for a while, deeply inhaled
from his kretek cigarette and looked cool, as if he was to
unveil a clue to solve a murder case. 'He pays them to
wear his underwear!?.' I turned to my informant
in disbelief. 'You will see', the man continued. 'Soon the
girls will go the toilet to change again. When they come back,
he will pay them, they give him his underwear back and they go
home. If you look carefully (the man lowered his voice),
if you look carefully, you will witness the
exchange....'. I couldn't believe it. 'So he is just
paying women for walking around in his underwear for a few
hours and then tells them to go home!?' 'SSSttt...!
Yes...', the informant quickly took another sip from his
beer. Whatever the strange hobby of this man was, it was
innocent, but for some reason I wanted to see the exchange to
believe it. I waited and waited and kept a close eye on that
bag on the other of the bar. Suddenly the man from Eastern
Promise jumped up again next to me: 'She is
twelve! She is lying! She is a kid! TWELVE! ELEVEN
MAYBE!' I tried to calm him down. Then the man who I
met earlier in BuGils walked in, clearly tipsy. I introduced
him to the EP regular who immediately looked for support in
th e 'under-aged worker case'. The BuGils guest
started laughing. The EP regular had another mood swing, when
he suddenly looked serious again. 'Where are you teeth?'
he asked. In the meanwhile, the man with the
little black bag had paid his bill. The girls were gone
already. I had missed the transaction. Driving home through
the dark streets of Blok M, I wondered why the girls on the
street were so scarcely clad. After all, it was after
midnight. I blamed it on global warming.....
Sorry dear Reader. It was a
long story. But, hey, it had been a long day... All the
best for 2007. I am absolutely sure that its going to be a
great year. Life is getting better every day... Hope to
see you all in BuGils this coming Saturday. -
Bartele
PS. not everybody received the previous
edition. In the lower part of this edition you can find a copy
of the previous editorial and an interesting reaction from a
reader...
LIVE IN BUGILS on Jan
19th:
IVAN NESTORMAN
!
(for more info
on Ivan, click here)
========================
In EASTERN
PROMISE THIS FRIDAY (in the music garden):
Songs for the Deaf & The
Megawatts
On
Saturday: The Rolling Stones
(on
the picture: Eny, EP waitress, still going strong after 30
years in the business...)
========================
ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD:
Urinal thief
comes clean
A British man caught on
camera stealing
a urinal from a pub gave himself up to police after
media reports of his antics attracted global attention,
detectives said Tuesday.
 Buy your own nation:
$975MLONDON A tiny
nation, complete with its own flag, stamps and passport, is up
for sale. But buyer beware: It's really a wartime fort perched
on two concrete towers in the North Sea. Sale price for the
glorified rig, which includes accommodations, offices, a power
generator and a chapel: $975 million. The Bates family made
and enforced the laws of Sealand, a 5,920-square-foot platform
about 8 miles off England's eastern coast. The Bates' claim of
sovereignty later was upheld by the courts. Sealand, which has
its own national anthem and coins, has been given de facto
recognition by some European countries, though not Britain.
Asked to describe life on what he described as a cross between
a house and a ship, he told the BBC: "The neighbors are very
quiet. There is a good sea view." Story
Wallet
returns after 62 years
MEXICO, Mo. Ray
Heilwagen has his wallet back, 62 years after he lost it in
France during World War II. Late last year, Heilwagen received
a call from Stephen Breitenstein of Palatine, Ill. Story
|
|
Ups
and downs for Indonesian airlines
Cutthroat
cost competition, overcrowded airports and perennial safety
concerns - highlighted by Monday's fatal crash of a commercial
jetliner - characterize Indonesia's air industry. But
opportunities exist for the
bold-hearted. (Asia Times)
A Disappearance at 35,000 Feet
AN
Adam Air Boeing 747-400 serving the Surabaya-Manado route
vanished without trace, as if swallowed up by the earth.
Critics put the blame on competing low-cost airfares
compromising passenger safety. Last weekend, Transportation
Minister Hatta Rajasa revealed a new finding that needs
further investigation: The plane changed course after the
pilot reported encountering very heavy crosswinds. Follow
Tempos extensive
report on the possible scenarios on the missing
flight.
It is that time
again for our annual HOGFEST 2007 which
will be held again
at the Mangala Wanahbakti Complex on
February 03, 2007.
Tickets are now on sale and going fast, so
Our ticket prices
are the same as last year and all SPE
events.
website: yayasanhogindonesia.org
Widi, trying to turn a Spanish visitor into a
BuGils regular...
LIVE ON BIG SCREEN IN CAZBAR THIS
WEEKEND:
Friday 12
Jan.
10.00 18.30
CRICKET: Australia England 1st ODI
(SS5)
Saturday 13
Jan
09.15 17.00
CRICKET: Ashes Series, Australia England 3rd test
day3 (SS6)
17.30 19.30
FOOTBALL: Asian Football Championship, Indonesia Laos
(STAR)
19.45 EPL: Watford
Liverpool (SS3, ESPN)
22.00 EPL: Chelsea
Wigan Athletic (SS3, ESPN)
22.00 EPL:
Manchester United Aston Villa (SS6, STAR)
Sunday 14
Jan.
00.15 EPL:
Blackburn Rovers Arsenal (SS3, STAR)
05.45 15.15
CRICKET: Australia England 2nd ODI
(SS2)
20.45 EPL: Everton
Reading (SS3, ESPN)
23.00 EPL:
Tottenham Hotspurs - Newcastle (SS3,
STAR)
Not all girls: the men behind the
scenes. Rocky and Bardi. They can cook with one
hand.
FOR
RENT: Grand Penthouse in Slipi area. 385m2,
fully furnished, two floors, etc. US.2500 per month. For more
info email bartele.santema@gmail.com
Roberts Furniture
at Jalan Wijaya Kusuma No. D.4,
Jakarta 12430. Tel. 021-7512223. A great selection of both
original and reproduction furniture at the best
prices.
--------------------------------
RECENT EDITIONS:
Not everybody received the latest newsletter.
Find below the editorial of the previous newsletter:
The Editorial of the previous
edition:
Lens is managing Eastern Promise and
he is going to the same experiences
when I started BuGils
seven years ago. In this newsletter just a few
fragments
of one week 'running a bar in Indonesia'.
It was two
O'clock and the last customer had left. At least, Lens and his
late night staff thought they had left. There was one more
guest who had a
few drinks too much and murmbled something
about a friend he had lost. It
was difficult to understand
him and the staff tried to move him out.
However, he kept
pointing at the toilet door. It was locked. Knocking on
the door did not give any response, but through the small
opening they
could see somebody lying on the ground in
front of the bowel. The bounced
the door, loud, but no
response. They were forced to break the door open,
but
even then it was not easy because this colossol body was
blocking it.
Together with security guys Lens managed to
push to door open, just enough
to slip in. It was an
unusual and disgusting sight. This guy was not big,
he was
huge! It looked as if he was dead. His was lying flat
with his
pants down. His body was covered in vomit. They
tried everything to get
this man up on his feet, but
nothing worked. He was out of this world and
not planning
to come back anytime soon. In a one hour struggle they managed
to drag his giant body to a car that drove him off.
In a seperate case, a day later, the Eastern Promise
received a call from
Lens his maid (pembantu), who
informed the office staff that one of the EP
employees was
stealing. Apparantly our technical guy, responsible for the
sound and light, had been taking bottles of Jack D and Jim
Beam home on a
regular basis. A bottle a day, at least.
She did not have hard proof, but
the guy was living close
from Lens his house and she suggested that maybe
he could
check with the ojek (motor taxi's) guys in his street.
Why she
called the office and did not tell Lens directly
makes sense. If the guy
was guilty and wanted revenge, he
would do it to the people who had
informed Lens, in this
case the office people. If she had told Lens about
it
personally, she would have risked a bottle on her head. Lens
immediately
realised he had been blind. He had wondered
already why the street guys
were often drunk lately. For
the last weeks they had been singing on
guitars in front
of his house and cheering at Lens when he would come home
late at night. He even did not have to pay for his ojek
rides to the front
of the street anymore! It al become to
clear. His own employee had been
selling the bottles in
his own backyard....
It reminded me of Yudi, a guy who
worked for me in BuGils in the early
years. This little
innocent looking was doing purchasing. He was clever but
became stupid. He started using drugs and soon after that
he started
stealing. He was caught. I felt sorry for
Yudi's wife. They had married
some 6 months earlier and
she had just delivered a baby. I still can see
this crying
lady in front of me. What do you do? I invited Yudi to come to
my house and without looking at him and saying anything, I
let him do the
talking. He cried and shivered and kept on
apologising. When he stopped
snobbing I handed him a few
old ties and told him he would get a second
change. But he
should stop using drugs and wear a tie every day. One day
without tie and he would be fired. He looked confused but
accepted the
ties. And then, he kneeled down and started
kissing my feet. A weird scene.
I was a bit overwhelmed by
this reaction and for a second I did not know
what to do.
I looked at the pembantu who was standing in the kitchen
nearby, but she was just as much in a shock as I was.
'That's it, Yudi. No
go back to work!' Why the ties?
I wanted him to feel important, to feel
responsible and
respected. It was my own little 'anti drugs' program. It
worked for three months. Then he lost it again. He was
caught trying to
roll a barrel of beer on a public bis.
When I called the police station in
Tanah Abang I still
did not know it was him. But when the confused police
officer told me the captured suspect was wearing a tie, I
knew enough. My
project had failed. Maybe he got bored of
the same three ties he had to
wear every day, I don't
know. Or maybe he hoped for a change to kiss my
feet
again, I don't know. He went to jail and have no idea where he
is now
or if he is still alive...
Back to Lens his
struggles. Two expats were trying to sell themselves to
Lens in the bar. Both claiming they were the best Santa
Claus he could
imagine. 'I have done this for years! Kids
love me!' said one. 'My outfit
is original from Europe. I
have already been hired by the Hyatt and the
Sogo
department store!' shouted the other over the bar. 'I speak
English
AND Dutch!' said the biggest of the two. 'I speak
Australian and my beard
is for real!' replied the other.
And Lens did not even want a Santa Clause.
Even a few days
after this little row, I received a few SMS messages from
the Dutch Santa. CC to Lens: 'The kids will not be
dissappointed. I am the
best. Good for your business.
Parents will appreciate it and while they
consume at the
bar, their kids can sit on my knee...'.
I know you
think I am making these stories up. I heard it so many times.
'Come on Bart, tell us, which one is really true?'
Please dear readers,
stop asking this. They are all true.
Only the people living long enough in
Indonesia and people
managing a bar know they are true. I was not there
when
this huge guy was blocking the toilet but I did see the shoes
that he
had left behind: seize 48. If you experience more
sound or light problems
in EP in the coming days, it is
because there is a vacancy. The two Fathers
Christmas
competiting to have the EP kids on their laps? It is all true.
Go
shopping to mall Semanggi or mall Indonesia and you
will see them. The one
with the real beard but shrill
voice is an Ozzy, the fake beard with heavy
voice is
Dutch. Are we all going nuts in this world? Kiss my feet and
tell
me I am dreaming.....
POSTSCRIPT: This email I received from W.Reed,
one day later, with some interesting background info on the
doors in toilets:
Bartele
Your story of
the large unconscious man stuck in the EP toilet struck
a
chord.
Back in the early 1980's in Queensland
Australia a government minister by
the name of Vince Lester
started a campaign to have all toilet doors hinged
so that
they open outwards. His reasoning was that people who have a
heart
attack or are otherwise incapacitated are difficult
to remove from any
toilet that has the normal inwards
opening door - as Lens found out.
Vince Lester was
criticised by the media for his comments. However, one
of
our Rotary Cliub members in Mackay at the time was a
well known and
respected doctor of many years' standing,
and at one of our Rotary meetings
he made his opinion clear
to us. He endorsed Vince Lester's comments in
spades. The
doctor told us that a significant percentage of people,
mostly
men, do in fact have heart attacks in toilets and as
a result they
inadvertently jam the door shut from the
inside. Besides the unnecessary
gymnastics needed by the
rescuers to physically get to these heart attack
victims
being a decidedly unpleasant operation (as Lens found
discovered)
there is the time factor too. The doctor also
stated that the time wasted in
trying to open an
inwards-opening toilet door to physically access a
heart
attack victim was often the difference between life
and death - literally.
W.
Reed
Jakarta
More previous editions:
http://www.bartele.com/Dec01nl2006.htm
http://www.bartele.com/Dec07nl2006.htm
|
The pressure Siti
had to go through as the third wife
