Two hours of hellish and relentless perseverance, I'm starting to feel the headache from the lack of sleep.
There's still one more hour before the school finally ends.
Thankfully the last class was Miss Fitri's class, I can relax a bit when it's her class.
She only has the teaching experience of merely two years, from the first day till now she was never the type that scolds students.
...
...
...
Ding Dong.
The sounds of the bell ringing, the sound that I've been wanted to hear.
After the class representative commanded the rest to greet, we're finally dismissed from the school.
"Andy, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Yawn*
"You know what, today you should go home early. I'll visit your new house next time."
"Thanks... I'll do that then."
"Bye~"
"See you tomorrow."
-----
Upon reaching my bedroom, it felt like heaven.
After walking over two hundred meters, with my current condition, I feel like I about to die.
Thankfully I reached home in one piece.
Old Man wanted to ask me to watch the store for him but looking at my terrible complexion, he let me off for the day and watch the store by himself.
At least he now has something to enjoy while watching the store.
He's playing Hero as we watch the store.
Ah... The moment I laid down, my consciousness fade.
Snore*
-----
[James' POV]
Where should I go?
Arriving at outside Tanjung Karimun Harbour's arrival entrance, not even the exit yet. I was swarmed with a bunch of people.
They're not here to meet me or anything, these people persistently asking whether I needed a taxi or not.
"Taxi?"
"Need a Taxi?"
"Taxi?"
I thought because I was a foreigner they were persistent.
Nope, everyone was treated the same. They were surrounded by a group of taxi drivers.
Since I needed one anyway, I decided to choose one out of ten. Only after that, the other nine left me alone since I got my driver already.
"How much?"
Without wasting time, I talked to the taxi driver asking for the price first.
I was resolved on getting the lowest price.
I'm not sure the price they usually charge, so as long as it's not above the average cost I'll be fine with it.
With my vast traveling experience, I won't get scam by them. I was wary of it because I was scammed before.
Some places do charge foreigners double the normal price.
So, as an experienced traveler, my experience told me to negotiate the price with the driver first.
Only when I'm satisfied with the price, I'll follow him.
"How much to bring me around the area?"
I spoke English with the taxi driver, hoping that he could understand me.
Hearing my foreign language he tilted the head, he then used hand gestures trying his best to communicate with me.
"Taxi, five-ten. Hotel."
Five ten?
Did he mean to say fifty?
I handed him fifty thousand rupiahs to confirm it.
"Yes, yes! Terima Kasih!"
The man smiled and waved his hand signaling me to follow him.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Looks like, this guy is honest.
Fifty thousand rupiahs is very cheap if it was compared to Australia's taxi fares standard.
"Okay, take me to the Hotel, I want the 'best' hotel in Balai."
"Best Hotel? ok ok."
Following him, we exit from the harbor.
"Tunggu disini!"
I don't understand but it looks like he wanted me to stay still.
While that person left for whatever reason, I was looking around at the area.
The more I look at this place, the more I was suspicious of whether that person really is here.
Did that person really live in this kind of place? How can a talented game developer live on this small island instead of a big city?
If it's Jakarta I would understand... but a small island that barely shows in the map...
After a while... a shady looking car honking at me.
Don't tell me this is my ride...
When the window was open, showing the face of the taxi driver that I made a deal with just now, I cursed myself.
'F**k me mate...'
'No wonder it costs less than five dollars.'
Just as I expected, the inside was as worst as its outside appearance, it has a heavy odor that makes you feel nausea and headache just from breathing the odor.
How far is the hotel?
I definitely don't want to stay here for too long.
I opened the window to get fresh air, else I'll get carsick.
Not long later the taxi stopped.
"Hotel."
The driver helps me carry my stuff and thanked me.
At least the service is good.
Bleurgh...
After I finished doing my business, I became much more refreshed.
The taxi driver seems worried when he saw me vomit, asking me questions but I don't understand what he's saying.
I simply paid him the money and went into the hotel.
Hotel Maximillian was the hotel name.
It looks decent from outside, I hope the service in this hotel is good.
Oh? Already a person opening the door for me, this place should be nice.
A man who wears a formal uniform opened the door for me. It smiled at me, so I smiled back politely.
Afterward, I went to the counter to book a room.
Please... speak English.
"I would like to book a room please."
"Welcome, sir~"
"Which room would you like? These are the choice available."
Hearing the receptionist spoke English, even though it's only okay but it's understandable.
More importantly, she understood what I'm saying.
I didn't know that I would feel like this but, for the first time, I feel very grateful toward her just because she understood and speak English.
When I travel, I usually have a tour guide accompanying me, but on this small island, I can't find any tour guide available.
"Thank god, you can speak English."
I got too excited and grabbed the receptionist's shoulder without her permission, things got awkward for her as it's not polite to touch someone without the person's permission, especially when it's a woman.
"Um, which room do you want sir?"
Seeing her bitter smile, James thought that, she was nervous.
I quickly answered without hesitation with a big smile on my face, trying to be friendly as I could after sensing her uncomfortable feeling.
'There's no need to be nervous, your English is good enough.'
I misunderstood the whole thing.
"Give me the best room in this hotel."
Only after I said that I lifted my arms away from her shoulder.
"Ehem, How long will you stay?"
"For now, I'll book two nights. It's possible to extend my stay right?"
"Yes. So, you want a suite for two nights, is that correct?"
"I guess, yeah."
"That'll be 2.600.000 Rupiah."
Wow, that's quite cheap for a suite, right?
I happily gave her the money and afterward I was given the key to my room.
A bellman then escorted me to my room personally, since there's no elevator, he also helped me carry my luggage to my room.
As I arrived in the suite room, I immediately open my laptop to email LEE123, notifying him that I have arrived here.
Usually, a normal person would be impressed by the suite room but seeing James instantly dropped his things and open his laptop, the bellman knew that James is someone rich.
"Enjoy your stay, sir."
Well, James wasn't particularly interested because there wasn't anything special with the suite room.
In fact, he was disappointed.
The suite is not that spacious.
The furniture was okay.
If it doesn't have wine, James would've complained immediately.
[I have arrived at Tanjung Balai Karimun, I'm staying at Hotel Maximillian]
Now that I can only wait for his reply, I should go and take a bath, afterward I'll go walk around and find some food.
I haven't eaten anything for the last five hours.
-----
[Andy's POV]
AfterI slept for a while, I finally felt much better.
If not because my stomach is grumbling, I wouldn't have woke up.
Right now it's about 4 P.M.
I should go and find my own food.
I haven't anything except for the fried bread which I ate in the morning.
Arriving downstairs, I found the Old Man was playing the computer at the counter, he must be playing Hero.
Meanwhile, there's a customer in front of him and he didn't even notice it. The customer wanted to call him but he hesitated to do so.
"Old Man, a customer."
"Oh? you've done resting? Since you're back I'll let you take care of the store then."
The Old Man immediately left the store. I'm guessing he's at the stage of need to let it idle to get to the next area.
Since he can't do anything much, Old Man wanted to return to his internet cafe.
Now, it's me and the shy customer.
I quickly took care of the customer items.
Beep*
"That'll be 12000 Rupiah."
"Thank you for coming."
Now that there are no more customers in the store.
I went across the street to grab a quick snack.
Vegetable fritter, aka bakwan in Indonesia.
After that, I returned to the store, while munching on the piping hot fritters.
I should check my email.
James should have arrived already.
Since there's no customer, I used the computer for personal use.
Inside my inbox, I received many new letters, more than a hundred this time.
Sadly, I have no interest in them anymore, they're too late. I've found a perfect guy already.
Skimming through my inbox I found James' letter, it was recently sent by him.
[I have arrived at Tanjung Balai Karimun, I'm staying at Hotel Maximillian]
Seeing that, I replied to him casually.
[A person will meet you at your hotel, 4 P.M sharp. Make sure that you are at your hotel at that time.]
4 P.M should be the perfect time to meet him. At that time, Micheal should have gone home already.
Now that I replied to James, let's see how much money we made today.
Checking my balance, there's whooping five grand of US dollar inside, converting them to rupiah it's over seventy million rupiahs.
Seeing the amount of money, I was proud of myself.
This rate of income won't last long though. It will gradually decrease as time passes.
If I want to stabilize the rate of income I'll have to constantly add content to attract more audiences.
Other than that, I'll also need to promote my games.
Anyway, that amount is enough to repay Old Man.
He'll be shocked when he sees the number of money that was transferred into his bank account.'
[Would you like to withdraw?]
Yes.
-----
[James' POV]
I took a bath and ate at a place called Rumah Makan Pak Cokro.
At that place, I ordered Nasi Padang. I heard it was an Indonesian dish.
It's basically with plain steamed rice, with various pre-cooked dishes to choose from, cooked in Indonesian style
It's cheap alright, twenty thousand and I was given a large serving with various side dishes.
They're surprisingly good, especially the chilies.
After eating, I quickly went back to the hotel to see that person have replied or not
'Why he's not replying yet.'
...
...
Ding*
Just in time!
[A person will meet you at your hotel, 4 P.M sharp. Make sure that you are at your hotel at that time.]
Reading the reply, I was disappointed that I can't meet him today.
Truthfully, James was curious about what kind of person he would be.
Sigh*
Then I'll just go for another round of eating.
This time, I'll go to a seafood restaurant!