A Peculiar Fascination

The first night I arrived in Indonesia, my colleague and I stayed in Jakarta at Atria Hotel and Conference Centre. We arrived late into the evening after a gruelling 15 hour flight to the hotel. Greeted with an amazing drink made of cucumber, lime and sugar (not sure what it was called, but it was AWESOME) we signed in and settled our things. Still my birthday back in Canada, I insisted we celebrate... so we met up for drinks and dinner in the hotel bar.

Upon walking into the bar, I saw my colleague chatting with two energetic local women dressed in red behind the bar. I sat down, and was greeted with enthusiasm and a smile. We talked with them for a while... they had an amazing sense of humour. I eventually told them it was my birthday, and in response one of them asked if I wanted to see what her friend had brought her from Bali. "Sure!" I said. Her friend beside her... covered her eyes... and begged her not to bring it out. "It's embarassing" she said. But the other woman, keen to bring us into her secret pulled out a blanket. As she lifted the blanket onto the bar, the other woman shielded her eyes and emitted a grunt.

The woman then held up the blanket between my colleague and I and, using it almost like a curtain, and signalled to me to look. With a twinkle in her eye she pulled out a long wooden carving from behind. Upon closer inspection, I realised... it was a huge wooden penis. To top it off?! It had a bottle opener on the top.  She dropped the blanket to expose the toy to all, and let out a laugh. We all did. She passed it to me to hold... It was uncomfortably realistic. Needless to say, I passed it back rather quickly.

As I passed it to her, she began to wrap it back up and said, with a smile, "My friend gave it to me, to help me have a good sleep." Laughter followed.

These things are everywhere. The meaning and application behind their popularity is yet to be determined. But for your enjoyment, I have attached a photo from the market... just to give you a taste.