Elliot asked me a question the other day which deserved a proper reply. The picture was at a sumptuous meal we had while waiting for my flight back to Singapore last Sunday. The two “girls” are Martini – serving the soup – and her best friend Tiara, who asked me to invite Elliot to Indonesia!. When I told him he said,"Apart from the girls, why are you in Jakarta?"
Fair question.
Martini and I are an item! Sit down for this next bit. Are you sitting comfortably? She’s 30. In Asia women don’t have the ageist attitude prevalent in the “west,” or northern hemisphere, so the age difference is not an issue at all. She is divorced and has a seven year-old son (Xena) and a five year-old daughter (Tia), who live with Martini’s parents in Solo, near Jogyakarta, in the middle of Java, while Martini works in Jakarta at the north of Java.
So, apart from the girl (singular), there was no reason at all to be in Indonesia.
I met the whole family while I was there – father, mother, brother, sisters, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son, daughter; so it was a major visit. The plan is for Martini to move out to Singapore sometime in the future and get work here but, your me being me, there’s a complication; Martini's religion is Islam which explicitly bans Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men. (It’s OK for Muslim men to marry non-Muslim women, but go figure the logic of that). So, unless I change my name to Ossama Bin-liner or somesuch, Martini will have difficulty getting a work visa here as she will have to come in on a visitor’s visa and leave/re-enter every 30 days. The 30 days is not a problem as she will go back to the kids more often than that anyway (S$78 return flights!!!) but the visa status is a problem we have to solve.
She’s exuberant, vivacious, clever, kind, maternal, considerate, funny, rides a motor-bike, used to be a golf caddy, loves hiking and she likes me!!! She ticks all the boxes!
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