Monday, March 21, 2005
Selamat Pagi
That's good morning in Indonesian, though I'm not feeling terribly perky. I'm still sick, glands a-swollen, ears a-plugged, and throat a-scratchy.. I've 'paid my dues' with 10 hours sleep a night for the past week, Tylenol cold, indolence, and menthol candies. To no avail. This thing will end when it feels like it.. How's that for perky? : - )
This is Indonesia's first family. Even I'm a giant in Indonesia, where the average male height seems to be 5'0"... Swarms of people, mostly men, mostly smoking kreteks - clove cigarettes...
My first Indonesian trip was to visit Sampoerna, which makes "Dji Sam Soe", the Chivas Regal of clove cigarettes, out near Surabaya in eastern Java, to a hangar where thousands of uniformed women hand-rolled the crackling little sticks...
Indonesians buy their ciagrettes one stick at a time, so every man (mostly men smoke) can buy one luxury cigarette per day... Anyway, Sampoerna was just bought up by Altria, aka Philip Morris... And here's a pack of Dji Sam Soe (left)..
Cartoon:
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