After a long hot and humid day and a leisurely dinner at The Beach Club with a brief respite on a chaise lounge on their beach listening to the waves, we returned to Holiday Resort on a Blue Bird ten minutes taxi ride, I found I did not have my cell phone. Immediate thought was I lost it on the beach where we had dinner but a quick call to them and a search proved fruitless. Another call to Blue Bird taxi office had the same result. A call to my number from Nikki’s phone got the recorded message “your phone has been switched off” but I never turn it off and I gave up on ever finding the phone.
I bought the Nokia phone for about $140 a year ago and that is the average monthly salary here. There is no such thing as asking XL the service provider to discontinue the phone.
An American expatriate friend understood the whole issue but suggested I report it to the police. The next day we went to Tanah Beyak to visit the families of two SOTI students and it was another scorching rainy day. By the time we reached Mataram Mall all the four of us were tired but I bought a replacement phone for $130 that took another 90 minutes.
By the time we arrived at the Police Station it was still raining and the three ladies decided to stay in the car. Young the Driver accompanied me to the station and the officers on duty understood why I was there and agreed to take a report. I wrote down the what, when, how etc., on a plain piece of paper. The young officer was polite and took the paper into an office and returned with a preformatted “Laporan Polisi” or Police Report and asked me to sign it under “Reported by”.
Few minutes later he returned and asked me to fill my passport number and I explained my passport was at the hotel but inquired if I can bring the information next day. He said I could do that but I will have to start all over again. I just couldn't imagine going through this all over again.
I then remembered I carry a copy of the passport in my back pack for getting larger amounts of Rupiahs with my credit card at banks. I gave him a copy and he disappeared again. Few minutes later he returned with another form with the passport information and I signed again.
He disappeared and returned again and asked me to follow him into the bowls of the station. I passed by a bench with a man taking a nap (4 pm) who seemed like another officer. I was taken into a room with a plain clothes officer in a crew cut and a chess board on his desk and a cabinet with folders and an organization chart on his wall.
He rattled off and I told him I could do “sedikit sedikit bahasa…” and the young officer in uniform went to get my Driver who did the translation. The crew cut Kepala started telling me that I should now go to the Head Office of Blue Bird with the Police Report and insist they check their log, broadcast a message to all of their Drivers and throw the weight of the report and force the issue with the Driver.
After waiting for me in the car and with mounting tiredness and frustration, my wife was deputed by the other two ladies to ask if I could stay behind and complete the process. When she entered the office, the boss calmed down and I told Nikki I will be done in few minutes. After she left, I got up to leave with a copy of the report.
The young officer told me something and the Driver told me that I had to pay Rp.50,000 (about $5) for “processing charges”. I was perplexed but suddenly I remembered how I get receipts from the students for all their expenses for the record of our nonprofit organization.
I asked politely if they could give me a “Kwitansi” for the amount and there was an embarrassed smile on the face of the young officer and a grin on the face of the boss. “Not possible” they said because they do not have a receipt book. I then asked if the boss could write on my copy “Received Rp.50,000” but his face was tightening. I realized I couldn’t play the game any further, the ladies would give me a bad evening and I quietly gave Rp.50,000, shook hands with them when they smiled with a silly grin and I took off.
When I returned to the car and told the ladies about the episode, two of the first time visitors with my wife were outraged but soon realized after two weeks of travel “…..we are in Indonesia……..”.
I comforted them with a comment “look back" through the rear door - the guy who took off from the Police Station in a motor cycle will return with couple of bottles of bintang.
We ended the day at the Happy Hour pool bar of Holiday Resort and went to bed at 9 p.m. for a trip today to the gillis. I woke up early and here is one of my interesting experiences of several visits to Lombok completed at 4 a.m.
Josi
Tue Nov 02, 2010 4:14 am
