South East Asia on a Hamstring – January 27

Pagandaran – January 27, 2000

I resolved to do as little as possible for the entire day. I left the hotel only once – to buy postcards and hunt for the Los Angeles guy. I was feeling guilty about having avoided him the first night and genuinely hadn’t been home the second night. It seemed very strange that a man I barely knew would come looking for me twice. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually know what hotel the American guys were in so I’ll just have to live with the mystery.

I spent the rest of the day watching cable, eating a steady traveler’s diet of grease and sugar, and sleeping. It was pouring out and that encouraged me to stick to my resolution. At night, Joanne and I played some pool with the hotel staff. The games cost 1,500 rupiah each (4.67 cents). The hotel kept track of the games by employing a fellow to watch us and count our games. Eventually we tired of his surveillance and brought him into the games. We were rewarded by a multiple-game discount.

I went to the hotel restaurant to order dinner. “Spinach enchiladas, please.”

The man at the nearby table had been served the last of the Spinach.

“Okay, then, how about guacamole and tortilla chips?”

“Sorry,” said the waiter. “We have no apricots today.”

Okay, so avocados were not in season.

“Apple pie?”

No.

“Cake?”

No.

“Hmmm… do you have peanut butter and jelly?”

Finally, an affirmative nod. The waiter went to fetch my sandwich and I stopped him.

“Peanut butter and jelly jaffle, please.”

He looked at me with a plainly confused and slightly grossed-out look. I had ordered a grilled PB&J, slightly squashed. It appealed to no one else, but the warm peanut butter was delicious.

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