one time Guide

I’m not much of a guide, methink, in particular for new people and/or visitors from out of town. I know my way around, both in Jakarta and Bali, but I don’t care enough to make a mental list the ‘must see’ places or ‘must do’ activities in both locations.

A friend came to Bali a week ago for business meeting and had only 1 day before getting serious. Luckily she’s more interested in the hip Bali lifestyle, so that went ok. Wouldn’t have a clue where to go if she wanted to see barong dance, cuz I don’t watch them myself.

Then more recently I offered to show a friend from the office around Jakarta. I never really sure what to show, so always start with ‘what do you want to see?’ This time was easier as his time was limited, then he’s focused on artsy stuff. So I went with Mr. Director from the dinner on the previous day to show him around Jalan Surabaya.

Right on target. He was crazy about the stuff. At first I wasn’t sure what stuff he’d be interested in. Handicraft? Antique? Old plates? Definitely not the suitcases offered there. He went right on interesting objects that usually I wouldn’t notice. There was this high lighting object what the vendor claimed to be crystal, but him working in design doubt but didn’t bother to argue. “I just love this kind of sh*t”.

Then there were the old (really old) cameras. One from the 20s, but he was really interested in the one from Germany, back to 1910. The standing box type where you see things upside-down and cover your head when taking pictures. The quality of this antique camera was great, he was so tempted to get it but decided to rethink as the price was rather high. He settled for an 8mm movie recorder. The click-click effect during recording is just very classic. He knew exactly it will be a big project finding the film, but with the price bargained, it sure worth it.

It’s just interesting listening to someone explaining items that are completely foreign to me. I’m still clueless, yet still interesting.