Meeting Howard in Seminyak Bali

Wedneday afternoon I met Howard from England, in Warung Mimpi in Seminyak. Walking down Jl. Seminyak around 4pm with my camera, I got a call, inviting me to join him for a drink. A while later we met and got acquainted. Both coming from London, we chatted about how locals there live in a famous city, but often don’t know where the landmarks are. Maybe its the same the world over, Balinese people often don’t visit other parts of Bali, if they don’t have a job or family pulling them. Howard is married to an Indonesian in England, and has a furniture business based in Semarang Central Java. His computer controlled cutting machines, can be monitored online from anywhere in the world, and the cuts are so accurate, he doesn’t need to use glue. We laughed about some of the things you have to go through living in Indonesia and Howard offered a bit of wisdom. “Never ask a local a question that can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, instead, ask them how they are going to do something.” he said. That’s great advice and I will have to remember that.

Howard said that doing business in Indonesia was a steep learning curve, (he has to watch his staff to make sure they don’t run off items of funiture when he’s not around, he has security cameras all over the factory, but has to keep them ‘low-key’ otherwise outsiders would know there is something worth stealing). The discrepancy between the local economy, and what foreigners are investing, means a person flashing too much ‘success’ in wahtever form that is, can attract unwanted attention. Its not unknown for local groups, to offer ‘fire insurance’ against a fire they heard that might happen.

Anyway, we agreed that focusing on the good stuff is where its at, and hell, sitting in a wrng drinking a cold Bintang beats a lots of things I can think of, or rather, that I prefer not to think of.

Howard’s wife sms’d him asking for spices (kunci and kencure). Not knowing what they were, I asked Ika, who said they are available at Bintang supermarket. I think its tumeric and stuff like that.

We talked about living in the UK, versus living in Bali. Howard said he likes both and after a few weeks is happy to go home. Regarding Bali expats, he observed there are 2 main groups. The first are the people who choose Bali as an ideal location for a business, and move here. These people are usually successful. The second group, are the people who move to Bali, then think of something to do, these people are often unsuccessful. There are of course other factors, but I can see what he means.

Howard will be in town a while longer and I hope to meet up with him again. I tell you, talking with people who do business in Indonesia, will give you a more accurate picture of how things are than reading a guide book.