I have met quite some people who told me that they had read
this blog before they came to Krui, and this Japanese guy is only one of them.
Masao told me that he had got nearly all information about
Krui from this blog. And he followed the info to guide him to Krui. He took a
bus from Jakarta to Krui following the instructions in this blog. And thanks God, all the
info that I wrote was still valid. He took the bus that I mentioned and arrived in Krui without fail. No hassle.
Masao has a flair for language. He could speak English and
Indonesian just as well. His English was very good because he had stayed in
Australia for two years. And his Indonesian was so good because he had come to
Indonesia many many times, and besides, he learned Indonesian from some text
books that he bought in Japan. Before he came to Krui, he called a hotel in
Krui that I mentioned in this blog from Japan speaking Indonesian.
“The surfs in Krui are different from other parts of
Indonesia that I have been to,” he said when I asked his opinion about Krui
surfs. “I’ve never seen such good beach breaks other than in here. Krui is the
best for beach breaks,” he added.
Masao was so friendly with everyone he met in Krui, and I think
friendly was just his nature. He seemed to have enjoyed his stay very much.
Every time I met him, he looked so happy with his radiant smiles, and he liked
talking and talking, and talking.
And as a tourist who stayed in a hotel in town, Masao had to
look for his own meals everyday since the hotel where he stayed didn't prepare meals, three times a day. He asked me what the best
place to eat and I referred to one restaurant that I usually went to. That was
always my answer when someone asked my recommendation for a restaurant. I didn’t
know much about restaurants in Krui.
“Do you know … restaurant?” he asked me, mentioning one name.
I had no idea about this restaurant. I never heard.
“It’s very good. I always have my meals at this restaurant
now,” he added.
“It’s close from here. I’ll show later on our way home.”
Then he took me to a place where the restaurant was located.
It was in a local neighborhood, away from the traffic, in almost a hiding place. Nobody
would know this restaurant if they never knocked around the town.
Thank you Masao, you came from the other part of the world
and you showed me this restaurant in my very hometown.
Masao came to Krui with two boards, but he only used one of
his boards to surf.
“Only this one is suitable for the surfs in Krui,” he said. So
he used the same board whenever he surfed in Krui.
One day he got his board snapped into two pieces and had it
repaired by a local ding repairman. But he wasn’t satisfied with the result.
“It repaired like shit,” he said.
“It wasn’t smooth flat. It has angles appear from the breaklines. It’s not comfortable
anymore. You know if you have angles on your board, you won’t be easy riding the
wave. When I stand up on the board and push the front down with my front leg, it won’t
go fast like before.” He added.
“I surfed Way Jambu many times using this board. But if I use
it again to surf Way Jambu now, I will be killed,” he concluded.
I am sorry Masao.
I am sorry Masao.
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