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Under the
Volcano: Sharks, Snakes and Angry Bats in Indonesia
"We need a bigger boat,'' shouted my friend and traveling
companion Arijit Ghosh, above the roar of the 40-horsepower Yamaha
engine and the bone-crunching thuds each time a fresh wave
battered our tiny fiberglass craft. Forty-five minutes later, we
stumbled gratefully onto the beach at Calabai on the Indonesian
island of Sumbawa, the starting point for a three-day ascent of
Mount
Tambora, the world's most
explosive volcano. (Bloomberg)
Cuban Popularity in
Indonesia
Many of the international aid teams that descended on Indonesia
after the 27 May earthquake in Java have packed up and gone home.
But a medical team from Cuba has proved so popular that locals
have asked it to
stay on for another six months. (BBC)
CAZBAR NEWS:
Saturday August 26 Cazbar Sports Café: The action in Cazbar's new
upstairs Sports Cafe will continue with the 2006 - 2007 English
Premier League Football and Formula 1. Draught beer @happy hour
prices all day & night on Saturday & Sunday. Stay tuned for the
Sports Cafes Grand Opening on the 9th of September! Email
jasper@bugils.com for the
complete program.
BUGILS NEWS:
New every Monday in BuGils: Singles Night & Margarita Monday!
Jakarta’s first weekly event where singles can meet up. Free
margaritas for single Ladies All Night long! For all guests 50%
discount on draught beer 25% off for other drinks. Every Tuesday
Ladies Night! Beer, Wine, mixed drinks and softdrinks for free
till 21.00
Just received a call from Indonesia's Nr 1 Punk Rock band
SUPERMAN IS DEAD that they want to play in BuGils COMING
MONDAY. If you want updates, send an email to
jasper@bugils.com
 THE
ONE TREE BAR NEWS:
Slowly the One Tree is getting shape. A nice little bar, with
SHOARMA (kebab) as the main dish. A place different from the rest
at the Blok. Next to Oscars Pub in Jalan Falatehan, Blok M, The
One Tree is a joint venture between BuGils and Everest. For the
first review,
click here.
OTHER BAR NEWS:
Every Thursday at
Stairway2Heaven on Jalan Kemang Raya: 1 free barrel at
7pm and the hottest Fashion Show in town at 9pm. Check out their
website at:
http://www.stairwaytoheavenjakarta.com
Is Aphrodite moving to Kemang? Or will it be an addition to
the existing Aphrodite? Fez-Kinara is said to be taken over by
Fred and Daniel. Another has it that Maddogs is looking
into the possibilities of taking over Highlander. All
rumors, but there is clearly movement in the bar circuit in
Jakarta. We keep you posted!
FROM A
READER:
Dear Bart,
While I enjoy getting your latest
newsletter I wonder if when you wrote the following...
"But soon after leaving the party, he
would ask me to borrow my mobile to call the farm. 'Has Eelkje 31
recovered? Don't forget to feed Aaltje 48 a bit extra'. I realise,
while dreaming away on this, that I do the same while I am away
from the job. 'How is the new waitress doing? Warn her for the guy
who is always chasing new waitresses. How are Riza and Yenita?
They should stick to the cheap catering food and not eat from the
menu, the are getting too fat. There is not much difference
between running a farm and running a bar."
...you meant to compare your bar staff to
livestock? I wonder if you realise that there a number of women
who take offence to this - as well as to the demeaning and ugly
calendar you produce and some of the content of your book. It's a
shame, both for the young women who work in your bar who are
objectified and possibly naive to start with...but also for the
huge market that you alienate, fun expat and Indonesian women who
have money to spend on nights out but would rather avoid your
sexist establishment on account of some of the things you write.
I am certainly not the only woman who
thinks this. You may also note that in some countries commenting
on the weight of your staff and hiring them on the basis of
physical appearance is inappropriate and can count as
discrimination.
Thanks for taking the time to read my
opinion. I hope all is well.
Joann (not her real name)
Dear Joann – thanks for your email. I am
glad you enjoy receiving our newsletter and hope you will continue
to read it in the future.
After I received your email and I re-read
what I wrote. The point I was trying to get across is that my
father is continually concerned about his staff (who happen to be
cows) and I am continually concerned about my staff (who happen to
be people). In no way was I trying to compare my staff to
livestock, but I understand how a reader could think I was. This
is a English language issue more than anything else (it isn’t my
mother tongue) and I apologize if you were offended. In the future
I will try to make my points clearer.
About the calendar, I am not sure what
your objections are. Racy, yes. Demeaning, I don’t think so. Can
you clarify? Are there certain photos you think are demeaning or
the entire calendar in general?
About the book, I tried hard to tell the
stories as I see them with little embellishment. The main purpose
of the book is to give readers a glimpse of what happens behind
the scenes in a bar. Most of the stories are making fun of the
expats themselves – and how they can’t adjust to living in
Indonesia and therefore have many problems. There are some stories
about women, but you are the first of hundreds of readers who have
told me some are offensive. I guess I can’t please everyone all
the time – like my publisher Mark who recently had a book banned
in Thailand. Someone in the cultural monitoring department didn’t
like one of the photos in the book which showed a girl on the lap
of a white guy in Patpong. So she decided to look beyond the big
picture of the book and decide as this photo is not representative
of Thailand and sexist she would ban it. Of course that photo
isn’t representative of Thailand, but it is mistake to think that
that kind of stuff doesn’t happen at all and to ignore it would
not be honest.
Again, Joann, I hope you accept my apology
if you were offended. Perhaps you will let me invite you for a
drink in the bar and we can talk further.
Kind regards ,
Bartele (my real name)
Hi Joann, After almost two weeks, I have
not received a response from you. May I therefore conclude that
you are not interested in the discussion at all? But because of
your email, I have become intrigued by the reasons why somebody -
finally, after sending my stories for the last 5 years to almost
10.000 readers - has a negative view. One of my hobbies is
analyzing people’s minds. That might sound scary, but it is
basically trying to find out who the person is based on his or her
actions or, in this case, writings (tip: read John Douglas: The
Mindhunter). So I tried to analyze your email and came to the
following conclusions:
The comparison between my father’s cows
and my staff was purely intended to show the similarities in
managing two totally different businesses, and was certainly not
focused on the comparison of people with animals. This is not only
a language issue but also compels a difference between western and
Asian culture in humor. Therefore my first conclusion is that you
are an Indonesian - obviously female - of around 40 years old.
Because you refer to 'the young women that work in your bar' I
conclude that you are older than 35 but not older than 45, as at
this age no woman would make the effort to comment on a bar
related issue. Your vocabulary does not hide that you have been
living and probably studied abroad.
I furthermore analyze that in the past you
have often been criticized for articles or stories that you wrote
yourself. That's why you start with the reference (or quote) from
my story and then start to comment. (I strongly feel you
have some experience with people criticizing, so you know how to
back up yourself already). To put the critic close to the source
basically means that you are not open for further discussion. You
fire a shot, and without being open for reasonable explanation,
you dig your head again. (I can hear you shouting from behind your
cover: 'but you said it! you said it!’) Your first and last line
are friendly, so I conclude that you are moving around in higher
circles and that you have followed a good education. The harsh and
almost cynical words in the body part of your email however, force
me to conclude that there is a lot of frustration, almost anger.
It could be because of relation problems, but then you would not
put your energy in an email on this subject. So I conclude it
basically means that you did (or wrote) things in your life that
never gave you the recognition you had hoped for. Could it be a
writing career?
'Hiring them on the basis of physical
appearance is inappropriate and can count as discrimination.' This
almost sounds like a threat and I wonder if you ever have sent
similar comments in the past to - for example - Singapore
Airlines, who seems to have preference for slimmer employees. In
my business it is a proven fact that good looking girls add to the
success of a bar. Having said that, you are more focusing on the
physical appearance aspect instead of the quality of service.
Looks like looks are important for you. I am pretty sure you are
in a related business after a failed writing career. Fashion,
health products, decoration, interior design. One of these words
mentioned is your current business. 'I am certainly not the only
woman who thinks this'. I am not sure how to analyze this phrase.
Again, it is looking for cover, for back up. You preferably would
have written your comment signed by 100 women with similar views.
Did you do charity work in the past? If you did, I am sure you did
not do it anonymously. But maybe you handed out food yourself on
the HI roundabout to poor people. A picture on the front cover of
the Jakarta Post would have been a highlight in your life. I do no
know you, but I am confident that you only open an Indonesian
Taddler Magazine to see if you are pictured in it. You have been
more than once, haven't you?
I will probably never find out if my
findings or correct or not, but I do know that you are reading
this and that your blood pressure is peaking at the moment. My
advice to you is to get rid of the continuous drive to get
recognition for your work, whatever it is. There are so many
things you could complain or criticize in Indonesia and the rest
of the world, but you take the effort to do it on that little
story about my father and his cows. It’s appreciated (final some
negative feed back and thus a discussion - I love it) and I would
have loved the opportunity to introduce you to my - according to
you - naïve staff who I use as marketing tools. (I cannot fully
deny this, but it is with their approval and don't forget the
benefits they receive! For example: My father never took his cows
out for an outing to Singapore or Malaysia, the stingy old man).
I had a drive in the past (actually the
first 30 years of my life) to make lots of money and quickly. When
I was 32 and I was still moving from kos to kos with
my belongings in just one plastic bag, I finally came to the point
to stop chasing my financial goals. I decided to do just something
that I would enjoy doing. Since I stopped worrying about making
money, I became more creative and started to enjoy life more.
Indonesia is a country where opportunities are enormous for
creative people, like you. Don't let the frustration take too much
energy out of you. If you don't like a place, don't go there. If
you don't like a writer, don't read his work. But what happens far
too often is that people judge in hypocritical terms (religion
survives on it) without losing the facts. BuGils is not a sexy
place. I am sure you are quality woman who probably prefers a
5-star hotel bar (like BATS or CJ's) for a night of fun. Next time
you go there, just sit at the bar and look around you and tell me
your findings. Is it quality? Is it pure? Maybe service is better,
but hey, you pay a hefty fee for just getting in and another X
amount for a drink so they can make their 500 percent margin on
your lemon tea or beer! Have a good look at the people while you
are there. In BuGils you don't see men standing in front of
mirrors doing their hair. In BuGils you don't see girls going to
room 511 and two hours later to room 674. Our style does not
appeal to everybody, but for us, BuGils regulars and staff, we are
fine down there. Really... Just fine....
Bartele
PS. Feel free to come to the opening of
Eastern Promise in Kemang. We do free flow of beer the whole night
and I would be happy to meet you and see if my analysis was
correct. I also want to introduce you to Eni, who has been
working in Eastern Promise for 30 years and who will be featured
in next years' calendar. Sexy, but respectable. Cheers.
 FOR
SALE: BMW528i - triptonic; 1997
black;
interior black, 123,000 km; 18" Bregyton Imagine 8.5 wheel rims;
new Michelin tires; & STNK valid for 1 year. Fast and in excellent
condition as 2 expat owners only. Price Rp155 million o.n.o. for
quick sale. Call Mike on 0812-9080114.
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.
--------------------------------
SILADEN RESORT & SPA
Located in a lush tropical setting in the
Bunaken Marine Park, Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Siladen
Resort and Spa is the ideal location for your vacation.
info@siladen.com /
www.siladen.com
RECENT EDITIONS:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug09nl2006.htm
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Jun30nl2006.htm
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Jun23nl2006.htm
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Jun15nl2006.htm
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But
the organiser explained that my main task will be to hand out
water to the cyclists and to inform them with general tour info
(in BuGils terms: how far they are behind). What the cyclists also
don't know, is that I am still in a 'detox' month, drinking not
much else than water and apple juice. But somewhere between
Glenmore and Banyuwanggi this detox month will come to a end and I
am not sure what will happen then. Oh, for sure it will give
enough material for a few new stories. And more (negative?)
readers opinions... Hehehe....
The
wages of corruption
