Tuesday, 16Jan07
Highlights: ticket to Vietnam, pics to Eli, dinner with Syaehu
After running to the airport, I picked up my tickets to Vietnam (my next planned FAO trip beginning next week). I’m excited to go!
My travel agent (pak Reshy) found a way to cut the ticket cost from $590 to $512, in addition to finding me a round-trip ticket back to the States for $890 next month! That guy is worth his weight in gold.
Taking the pics of Dufan over to Eli and the neighbors was a gratifying experience. 2 days out, and it already feels like a dream I had. Did that really happen? Was all that laughter and enthusiasm a figment of my imagination?
I’m sure some of Eli’s neighbors were having similar thoughts- but with the pictures right there to refresh everyone’s collective memory, the adventure felt real again. Broad smiles poured over all the faces as they laughed and pointed out funny moments,,, and the kids scurried to find themselves in the photos, and point out to their friends which rides they liked the most. Pictures have a great way of keeping certain memories fresh. Even the ones we think will never fade, but do somehow. Since one other family among the 18 that came had a camera, I was happy to share the pics I took and leave them with Eli so they all could see and enjoy for a long time to come.
It just reminds me how great it was to take them out of their typical surroundings for a day and inject a rare adventure full of fun,,, together as a group. I’m sure they won’t need the photos to remember, but having them keeps the experience real in their minds, as opposed to a dream they collectively had.
Moving on to a stranger part of the evening, pak Syaehu, the Dufan manager who had relayed to me news of my 50% discount over the phone, expressed an interest in meeting me. Sure! How am I going to refuse the guy who I thought was responsible for OK’ing the group discount?
We met at Indonesia Plaza (a ritzy mall downtown under the Hyatt Hotel), where I brought my laptop & offered to show him pics of our day at the park. Turns out Syaehu is 30, and is the secretary for the boss man who approved my request. No worries! I’m still greatly appreciative & thankful.
About 10 mintues into a casual dinner, conversation is running on empty, and I get this weird feeling that something is off. Very quickly after all my thank-you’s were said, there was almost nothing left to talk about. Huh,,, trying to not look bored, I pressed vainly on, looking to stir friendly conversation.
I didn’t put the awkwardness together until he started asking questions about gay culture in America, and how it’s so much more socially accepted there,,, right?
Wanting to give the benefit of the doubt, in the spirit of being a sport, I offered a few comparisons to some changing cultural norms in America these days, as evidenced by popular TV shows like Will n Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which are still relatively new phenomenon in the states, and probably wouldn’t be readily accepted by majority Muslim Javanese viewers here.
After he kept coming back to the subject of gay culture in America, and then wanted to continue hanging out after dinner and what already felt like a painfully long time of having nothing left to talk about, I suddenly felt very tired & needed to go home. =/
Wtf?
Barking up the wrong tree my friend.
Highlights: ticket to Vietnam, pics to Eli, dinner with Syaehu
After running to the airport, I picked up my tickets to Vietnam (my next planned FAO trip beginning next week). I’m excited to go!
My travel agent (pak Reshy) found a way to cut the ticket cost from $590 to $512, in addition to finding me a round-trip ticket back to the States for $890 next month! That guy is worth his weight in gold.
Taking the pics of Dufan over to Eli and the neighbors was a gratifying experience. 2 days out, and it already feels like a dream I had. Did that really happen? Was all that laughter and enthusiasm a figment of my imagination?
I’m sure some of Eli’s neighbors were having similar thoughts- but with the pictures right there to refresh everyone’s collective memory, the adventure felt real again. Broad smiles poured over all the faces as they laughed and pointed out funny moments,,, and the kids scurried to find themselves in the photos, and point out to their friends which rides they liked the most. Pictures have a great way of keeping certain memories fresh. Even the ones we think will never fade, but do somehow. Since one other family among the 18 that came had a camera, I was happy to share the pics I took and leave them with Eli so they all could see and enjoy for a long time to come.
It just reminds me how great it was to take them out of their typical surroundings for a day and inject a rare adventure full of fun,,, together as a group. I’m sure they won’t need the photos to remember, but having them keeps the experience real in their minds, as opposed to a dream they collectively had.
Moving on to a stranger part of the evening, pak Syaehu, the Dufan manager who had relayed to me news of my 50% discount over the phone, expressed an interest in meeting me. Sure! How am I going to refuse the guy who I thought was responsible for OK’ing the group discount?
We met at Indonesia Plaza (a ritzy mall downtown under the Hyatt Hotel), where I brought my laptop & offered to show him pics of our day at the park. Turns out Syaehu is 30, and is the secretary for the boss man who approved my request. No worries! I’m still greatly appreciative & thankful.
About 10 mintues into a casual dinner, conversation is running on empty, and I get this weird feeling that something is off. Very quickly after all my thank-you’s were said, there was almost nothing left to talk about. Huh,,, trying to not look bored, I pressed vainly on, looking to stir friendly conversation.
I didn’t put the awkwardness together until he started asking questions about gay culture in America, and how it’s so much more socially accepted there,,, right?
Wanting to give the benefit of the doubt, in the spirit of being a sport, I offered a few comparisons to some changing cultural norms in America these days, as evidenced by popular TV shows like Will n Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which are still relatively new phenomenon in the states, and probably wouldn’t be readily accepted by majority Muslim Javanese viewers here.
After he kept coming back to the subject of gay culture in America, and then wanted to continue hanging out after dinner and what already felt like a painfully long time of having nothing left to talk about, I suddenly felt very tired & needed to go home. =/
Wtf?
Barking up the wrong tree my friend.
posted by jonathan adventures at 5:53 AM
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