Work, and Eggs

My neck aches. I've spent a good part of the last three days staring at a computer screen. I've got deadlines stacked up to here and right now I'm feeling their weight on my shoulders. Work, too much work.

But in truth, and relatively speaking, not much work at all. This is work, real work, the sort of back-breaking labor you don't see much of in parts of the world where most everything is mechanized.

These guys are loading cargo at Sunda Kelapa, a Jakarta port that dates back hundreds of years. It's the docking spot for mammoth wooden cargo boats known as Bugis pinisi schooners (after Sulawesi's Bugis, who still craft them by hand) the likes of which have been plying South East Asian waters for centuries. We're not mariner types, but these beautiful craft left our jaws hanging.

Back in the day -  way back in the day - they might have carried tons of nutmeg, cloves, and peppercorns bound for Jakarta (or Batavia, as the Dutch named it in the early 17th century) and, eventually, Europe. Now they carry less romantic cargo: building supplies like cement, boxes and boxes of crackers. Most of the boats here were bound for Kalimantan, on Borneo.

As awed as we were by these boats, their crews left the strongest impression. While a small number of boats are loaded and unloaded by forklift, the majority still depend on manpower - the arm and shoulder and leg muscles of men who've already spent hard days at sea - to move cargo. We spent two mornings at Sunda Kelapa talking to and photographing these guys. They come from all over Indonesia; we met Sumatrans and Kalimantanese and Sundanese and Javanese. Most sail, repair the boats they work, and move cargo for five straight months before returning home for a few days. And they feel it's good work - hard, but good, in that it pays well enough to support their families back home.

Sunda Kelapa is like a little village, with one-person businesses geared to the crews' needs (there are also aggressive guides and a few laid-back kitsch sellers who attempt to waylay the few tourists that wander through). Beverages, obviously, are big sellers; one vendor was particularly pleased when we depleted her stock of everything liquid to thank these guys for their patience with the photographer.

Raw eggs - duck eggs in particular - are also in high demand.

They strengthen shoulders and knees, this man told us. While his fellow laborers limited themselves to one, he downed two at one go.

Duck eggs aren't delicious, he said, so a candy or gum chaser is essential. And then it's back to work.

There may be something to it. This guy loaded one and a half bags of cement to every one bag his colleagues brought onto the boat. We hung around this crew for about two hours under a ferocious late-morning sun and none showed the slightest bit of fatigue. Dave figures together they carried about two tons of cement onto the boat between them.

As we were leaving another cement bag-packed truck pulled up to the gangplank.

Comments

[Katie]

What an interesting post! I could never down a raw egg - I just couldn't get past the texture (and I don't like them cooked anyway, let alone raw!) so I found the photo where he is pouring it into his mouth quite ... eugh! lol! But the smile on his face is just so contageous.

[Kitt]

Wow. That's awesome. As in awe-inspiring.

I suddenly feel very comfortable sitting here at my work desk in my ergonomic chair.

[Geng]

I have been following this blog but have never left a comment. Until now. Wow, I am in awe.

[Ron]

I really enjoy your site. I check in often to get my fix of what's happening far far away from me. I have done no traveling to speak of other than around the US. Your posts and photos really get my desire to see the world stirred up. I am always loving to see what you are eating but this post was just amazing. These fellows do more work in one morning than most people do in a week or month or even longer. I have great respect for what they do.

[ELE]

Robyn and Dave,

Go to the top of the class! This last post was brilliant. Simply and utterly brilliant. The photographs are beyond-words-marvellous. The tone of the writing is pitched just right - these folks are indeed to be admired.

Thank you!

[Mila]

Wow, duck eggs! And looking at those muscles on those men, I kept thinking that the weight lifters in the Olympics have nothing on those guys. That kind of work also makes me think of the people who climb mountains practically everyday to bring equipment and supplies for hikers and tourists. Amazing stamina!

[shiewie]

Hmmm, Egg & Shoulders (like the shampoo, Head & Shoulders) comes to mind when reading this :).

[Robyn]

Thanks, everyone, for 'getting' this post. It's definately one of our favorites.

Shiewie - good one! Wish I'd thought of that....

[Saida]

Hi Robyn,

I was in Malaysia last June. One think that struck me is that people, regular folks, in general, never really complain, of hardships or stress. They all work extremely hard from the ones on the streets to the ones in air condition offices. They are content with what they have. Here in the States I sense people often times are not happy. I maybe wrong.

[Rasa Malaysia]

Robyn - this is a great post. I love it.

BTW, I also love your new header and design. Where did you take that picture? There is a place across from Traders Hotel in Penang that is exactly like that. Am wondering...

[Robyn]

Hi Saida - I think we've found that can be said for much of Asia. I don't think you're wrong. Polls have shown that Americans are among the most 'unhappy' people on earth.

Rasa - yes, we took that photo at that very place across from Traders. I think Dave took it the day we met you (and ate alot) in Penang. :-)

[Rasa Malaysia]

Robyn - the squating eating place is gone. Drove by Trader's last week when I was in Penang and it was gone. SAD!!!

[Michael Vong]

Eating Asia is amazing!!! I just want say awesome site! Being Asian-American, not that it even matters...I enjoy your blog very much it has inspired me to become a photographer, cook, dream, learn, and experience differents foods of all the countries I find so interesting and hope to visit and experience in person. Thank you very much for awesome pictures and literature explaining of pictures and customs or just whats going on in the picture, lol! Thank you again, keep up the hard work and eating! :)

[Robyn]

Michael - we appreciate the kind words. Thank you. And good luck with your own photography and cooking.

[vicong]

I am Indonesian but I can't eat raw egg, even half cooked egg (you can find in Warung Bubur Kacang ijo & Indomie).

I was try eat raw chicken egg with bubur ayam, the seller in Cikini Jakarta put it in the bottom of the bowl so make it half cooked with the hot bubur, sadly still can't eat that egg :d