Elfin Halls
Sat 11 Nov
Cornflakes and Java coffee, sitting out on the balcony in the shade and the cool of the morning life doesn’t seem so bad and a txt from son Mike adds to the pleasure. Pak Biwa now has the receipt for the million rupiah needed by local boss-man (dukuh) for my residency certificate so I can pay Biwa from my reserve monies and inform Priyo of vso so that I can be reimbursed next time I am in Bali. For some reason though no connection to hotmail today – or is it the cheapo internet caff by the railway crossing? After cashing the million from the tech college ATM I notice that the balance doesn’t match the income and expenditure (or does it? Must keep a watch on the receipts!)
In the afternoon Thomas takes me to visit Tembi, which I missed on Wednesday (he wouldn’t let me try the busses “you could be mugged as a rich westerner”). Boss man Australian Warwick Purser was not at home for the weekend but one of his aides, Pak Kano, and later on aided by an American team member was happy to show us round. Warick’s own house, he has been here for many years helping to build up the village furniture making business, is a palatial timber structure. An exterior colonnade, shading the bikes leads into a maze (some would say a warren) of elfin halls like, spacious, dark halls in timber with high-pitched ceilings lined with bamboo matting. The furniture is heavy and dark (or is it the lighting?) and the floors are dark tiled. Painted wooden sculptures (of hopefully mythical creatures) and traditional paintings add to the theatrical atmosphere and through openings are glimpsed other rooms, kitchens, landscaped courtyards and aviaries. Towards the rear of the complex, surrounded by a high bamboo grove is a swimming pool and guest house (?) – this is surely where visiting American importers must be entertained? Then the village itself, much of it very badly damaged by the earthquake now being rebuilt at a rate of knots using a variety of designs and employing 200 people (mostly from outside the village) – all paid for by the HSBC and a myriad of American charities with no Indonesian government money (or building controls) being involved – partly explaining the head start that they have achieved. Everything puts my operation in Mandungan village well into the shade before I even start but an inspiration at the same time!
Back at the hostel I try to recall a fraction of what we’ve been told and download all the photos Thomas has helpfully taken so that the camera is ready for the arrival of their daughter and his in-laws late in the night...
problem uploading pics today - watch this space....
Cornflakes and Java coffee, sitting out on the balcony in the shade and the cool of the morning life doesn’t seem so bad and a txt from son Mike adds to the pleasure. Pak Biwa now has the receipt for the million rupiah needed by local boss-man (dukuh) for my residency certificate so I can pay Biwa from my reserve monies and inform Priyo of vso so that I can be reimbursed next time I am in Bali. For some reason though no connection to hotmail today – or is it the cheapo internet caff by the railway crossing? After cashing the million from the tech college ATM I notice that the balance doesn’t match the income and expenditure (or does it? Must keep a watch on the receipts!)
In the afternoon Thomas takes me to visit Tembi, which I missed on Wednesday (he wouldn’t let me try the busses “you could be mugged as a rich westerner”). Boss man Australian Warwick Purser was not at home for the weekend but one of his aides, Pak Kano, and later on aided by an American team member was happy to show us round. Warick’s own house, he has been here for many years helping to build up the village furniture making business, is a palatial timber structure. An exterior colonnade, shading the bikes leads into a maze (some would say a warren) of elfin halls like, spacious, dark halls in timber with high-pitched ceilings lined with bamboo matting. The furniture is heavy and dark (or is it the lighting?) and the floors are dark tiled. Painted wooden sculptures (of hopefully mythical creatures) and traditional paintings add to the theatrical atmosphere and through openings are glimpsed other rooms, kitchens, landscaped courtyards and aviaries. Towards the rear of the complex, surrounded by a high bamboo grove is a swimming pool and guest house (?) – this is surely where visiting American importers must be entertained? Then the village itself, much of it very badly damaged by the earthquake now being rebuilt at a rate of knots using a variety of designs and employing 200 people (mostly from outside the village) – all paid for by the HSBC and a myriad of American charities with no Indonesian government money (or building controls) being involved – partly explaining the head start that they have achieved. Everything puts my operation in Mandungan village well into the shade before I even start but an inspiration at the same time!
Back at the hostel I try to recall a fraction of what we’ve been told and download all the photos Thomas has helpfully taken so that the camera is ready for the arrival of their daughter and his in-laws late in the night...
problem uploading pics today - watch this space....
posted by bairuide | 2:26 am
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