Get On Board

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Updates every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, happy reading, Author Adi Gm

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The next day Satrio and Mr. Sarmin got up, cleaned themselves, and changed their clothes, they immediately went to the hotel restaurant where they were going to have breakfast, this time the menu presented was quite diverse and the young man chose rice with soup for breakfast, while for Mr. Sarmin he chooses breakfast with boiled cassava and hot tea.

For the record, it is customary for Indonesians to have breakfast with heavy food in the morning, while the types usually, start from nasi uduk, nasi kuning, lontong sayur, chicken porridge, and others.

Of course, these were all normal things that ordinary people ate when Indonesia became independent, but during this colonial era, only large restaurants and hotels served rice, because production was limited and intended for the upper middle class.

As for the lower class people, they usually consume processed cassava called tiwul, which is food made from dried cassava is dried in the sun and then finely ground, after which it is made into small granules by mixing with water, it becomes small round granules then it is steamed and ready to eat.

There is another alternative is sorghum, it's just that as mentioned earlier a farmer cannot plant their land as they please, there is a part where the colonialists order the farmers' land to be planted with certain commodities such as coffee, sugar cane, tea, quinine, cocoa, etc for export purposes.

So that in this case, the land that should be used for food agriculture has changed, to get around this, ordinary residents, especially in this case farmers, planted lots of tubers, cassava, and taro as other alternative ingredients for food, which were considered unhealthy and damaged the soil and do not take up much land.

After the two of them had breakfast later, Satrio asked Mr. Sarmin to take him to the bank where he would exchange currency.

After driving for an hour towards the city center, they finally arrived in front of a large white building that read 'De Javasche Banchet, this is where the young man's goal was, carrying a suitcase then the young man immediately entered the hall of the bank, where after taking the queue he immediately wait in the space provided.

It's just that after the young man entered he immediately put on an ugly face because here in the waiting room there are two classes provided by the bank, one waiting room with comfortable chairs and also friendly service intended for bank customers who are white, and on the other hand a simple area designated for natives and other groups.

This was clear discrimination and he knew he couldn't change this because as a colonial nation he could only obey the colonialists, imagining himself having to be treated like this in his homeland, and on top of the buildings and wealth of his country he felt sick, as a young man who came from future.

Is this the fate of their ancestors, in their land they must be treated like guests, and a guest, is a guest who is considered a servant. Even though he knows this is not his native country, because of the similar fate of this country which is the same as his former country, he feels more attached to it emotionally.

Really sad!!!....

After waiting for a long time it was finally Satrio turn to come to the counter.

" Can I help you, sir?" Who are the bank tellers

"I want to exchange my golden money for dollars," said Satrio.

"Okay, then wait a minute, sir," replied the teller again.

"Sir, for the exchange of golden currency into dollars, the current exchange rate is as follows, one dollar is equal to 45 golden, how much do you want to exchange?" asked the teller.

"Please exchange 1000 dollars for me" replied the young man and then gave him some money.

The teller was a bit surprised by what Satrio did, because basically an employee's salary currently ranges from dozens to tens, and this time the young man exchanged 1000 dollars directly which was clearly a very large number, but she still processed the transaction.

Regardless of where Satrio money comes from, don't forget that he is the son of a landlord, not to mention that the ancestor of Satrio's real identity is a fallen aristocratic family, so it's not difficult to get that nominal, it's just that, as the saying goes, nothing is good when you flaunt your wealth while others are poor, because that will only make you miserable.

So in this case Satrio's family only lives simply and normally, but still compared to most societies he is already one of the best.

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Note: according to the results of existing sources, the exchange rate prevailed in 1935.

1 Euro = 1,916 Dollars

1 Euro = 23.22 Guilders

The author only takes randomly based on the data while the validity of the data the author does not do. Only adjusted to the needs of the author based on existing references.

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Leaving the bank, the young man immediately continued his journey to the port area where he would immediately buy a boat ticket to his destination short story, the two of them arrived and the young man said goodbye to Mr. Sarmin.

"Mr. Sarmin, you can go home now," said Satrio to Mr. Sarmin.

"Okay young master, I'll take my leave and I hope the young master's journey will go smoothly, don't forget to often give letters to the lord and madam," Mr. Sarmin replied and reminded the young man.

"Relax Mr. Sarmin, I will not forget, then Mr. Sarmin can immediately go home and convey my greetings to my parents and the others," said Satrio bidding farewell.

Soon the horse carriage pulled away from the port area, and the young man immediately entered the port lobby area, where he would immediately order a ship ticket for himself.

" Where are you going?" asked the officer.

"Please give me the fastest departure ticket to New York," said the young man again.

"May I see your ID card?" asked the officer again.

And Satrio immediately gave a small piece of paper which is an identity card in this era, the card is a thin card with size 15X10 cm which provides information about the home address of the owner of the identity, while the conditions for making the card are by contacting the nearest local controller and paid 1.5 golden.

After checking the identity card and finding nothing unusual, the officer immediately told the young man, "Well, you can order the ticket, which class do you want?" asked the officer again.

"Is there a VIP ticket?"

"Haaa??" asked the officer in surprise.

"You dream son?" Teasing the officer again

Feeling surprised he asked, "so what?" Asked the young man surprised and confused.

"VIP and first-class tickets are only for the upper class and merchants, while for you only classes 2 and 3 are available" the officer replied again.

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The upper class refers to colonizing citizens as well as foreign envoys from other kingdoms who visit colonized countries, while merchants are those wholesalers who own factories and plantations that are recognized by the colonial government.

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"Ughh....after knowing this Satrio felt angry again, just from the bank he felt discriminated against and this time the same thing happened, but again he couldn't do anything.

"Okay, I ordered second a class 2 ticket," said Satrio.

"Ok but you have to wait for other people," said the officer again.

" What now?" asked the young man angrily.

"Because the second class contains two beds, so only after you get a roommate can you book" the clerk replied with a playful smile.

Feeling annoyed, with the officer's attitude, the young man wanted to scream and curse but he realized, the faces of the guards were fierce and he didn't want to make trouble, swallowing his anger he said, "I ordered two tickets!!!!!!" Said the young man angrily.

"Good, you can pay 100 dollars," said the officer again

"And give me your real name"

Paying $100 for a Ship ticket, Satrio then wrote his name on a piece of paper provided, R. Satrio Wijaya.

After writing he then gave the paper to the clerk again,

"Wait a minute," said the officer.

It's just that the anger of the ssatrio who had just subsided peaked again when he found out that a white man who ordered the same class ticket as himself was only told to pay 25 dollars while he was 50 dollars there was a 2x increase, knowing this he was very angry in his heart.

After receiving the ticket and notification, with an ugly face he immediately left the area and walked away while cursing in his heart, ("You company dog!!!!) Swearing and also insults for the natives who became the dogs of the invaders, as noted in several cases the colonial dogs, the term for traitors to the country, have a much crueler attitude than the colonialists when they face native natives.

And Satrio who knows that is very fed up and hates them sucks the blood of his brother without regret and also sycophants for his benefit to please the invaders.

He felt unforgivable, came to the dock area Satrio immediately rushed to pier 1 where the ship was already docked, after handing over the ticket to the crew, then he was immediately shown to a room on the 3rd floor of the cargo hold.

For the record, there are 6 levels in the large steamship that he is currently on, where the first level is the engine room followed by the cargo room, then the class 3 room, and then the room is class 2, and above it is room 1 and VIP which are in the upper deck area of ​​the ship.

After entering the room he was greeted by the simple decoration of the second-grade room, apart from two beds and a table, and two chairs there was only a small bathroom in the room, feeling content then Satrio lay down on the bed, feeling tired of what he was doing and facing this moment, he felt that too many things were bothering him, so he fell asleep.

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Cut: reference to the ship Satrio boarded

A ship with a length of 105 M and a width of 23 M, weights 1700 tons with a capacity of 700-900 passengers and crew and has a speed of 10-15 knots.

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The distance from the port where Satrio is located to the port in New York City is around 11525 miles or if converted into kilometers it will be more than 21000 km, with a ship speed of 10 Knots the time needed is around 48-50 days of sea ​​voyages.

On the other hand, the route taken is, Tanjung Perak Port - Tanjung Periok Port - Java Sea - Indian Ocean - Arabian Sea - Gulf of Aden - Red Sea - Gulf of Suez - Ismailiyah Canal River - Nile River - Damietta branch river -Mediterranean Sea - Alboran Sea - Gilbraltar Strait - North Atlantic Ocean - New York Harbor.

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"Tet...tet...tet.....the sound of a horn from the ship was heard and slowly the passengers felt the ship starting to move away from the harbor, and those on the deck and the side of the ship began waving to their brothers and friends and residents at the port.

Giving a farewell that swells for everyone, because they know that on current ship voyages sometimes with routes that are so far away it is not uncommon for them to get sick and die on the way, so it can be said that the moment of parting is the moment where they might see the last time of family or people they know.

"Ah... luckily the ship has started moving" Satrio said when he saw the ship starting to leave the harbor, through the round glass in the cabin of the ship.

"Grumbling" the sound of a hungry stomach immediately told Satrio that he needed to eat.

"Well... time to fill the stomach" rushed to tidy up his clothes and take some of his personal items, Satrio then came out of his room not forgetting he locked his room because he would not believe in the security provided by the ship's crew.

Except he is in class 1 and also VIP class where there are security personnel guarding the cabin against the passengers, whereas here the beer is in class 2 even though it looks much better and also organized but Who knows if criminals are hiding among them?

So that instead of having to suffer losses due to his carelessness, Satrio prefers to be careful.

Out of his room then Satrio asked the crew of the ship, and got the answer that the restaurant for class 2 meals was in the middle of the ship, without delay he immediately went to the restaurant, and when he got there Satrio then saw that the dishes served in the second class were something that has a buffet concept.

Where food has been provided by the ship's crew on a long table, and then the passengers of the ship will line up to take the food independently, this is, of course, different compared to those in class 1 and also the VIP room where they will be served by a crew who served as waiters.

And they only need to order food like a normal restaurant where after ordering they will immediately be served food according to the menu they ordered.

Satrio who saw the menu in front of him nodded quite satisfied, because for him now the menu in front of him is food that meets his taste, as a person who lives in Southeast Asia he also has a habit of eating with rice, if he is required to eat with the bread, of course, he won't mind but basically, psychologically he will always feel not full when eating bread in large portions he will only feel full when he wants to eat rice.

So when he saw the menu in front of him, which currently consisted of white rice with a side dish of grilled fish, added with stir-fried vegetables and soup, along with crackers and fresh fruit, he felt quite good.

It was not in vain that he spent 100 dollars to enjoy accommodation like this, especially after he learned that the trip would take almost 2 months, so if he couldn't adjust the food properly, he could be sure that this trip would be torture for him.

After taking the food then Satrio chose a random dining table, while looking at the wide blue sky Satrio felt that the combination of the sea and the blue sky was something very beautiful, he felt a feeling of freedom and also released as if all his burdens and complaints during which he was on land now vanished swallowed up by the depth of the ocean and also the vastness of the sky.

"Excuse me may I sit here" a voice instructed Satrio's eating moment, looking towards the source of the sound literary looked at a beautiful, well-dressed young woman with a gentle smile, She had short wavy hair at the bottom see this Satrio knew that the young women who were in front of him were currently quite fashionable in his era.

"Oh...yes please" Satrio replied with a smile.

"Sorry to disturb you, first introduce my name as Bella," said the young woman introducing herself.

"It's okay, this is a public place, so it's natural to share, nice to meet you. My name is Satrio," Satrio replied shaking Bella's hand.

"Satrio you choose a good place to eat," Bella said continuing their conversation while then sat down and put her plate of food on the table.

"Ahh...is that so!!.. I just chose it randomly" Satrio replied normally.

"No, the dining table you chose today is very good in my opinion" Bella replied again.

"May I know what makes you feel that the setting of this dining table is very good?" Satrio asked again.

"Fine I'll answer your question, but let me eat a few mouthfuls of my food first" Bella replied cheerfully then saw Bella taking a few mouthfuls of food on her plate.

It's just that Satrio, who saw Bella's plate, was quite surprised by what he saw because Bella's portion of food was 2 times the portion of his food, he didn't realize this at first because his attention was diverted to the conversation Bella started, only when she asked permission to eat her food, only then did he realize that Bella's portion of food was 2 times the portion of his food.

On Bella's plate was white rice shaped like a small hill, with three big pieces of grilled fish plus lots of stir-fried vegetables, not forgetting some crackers and 2 bananas for dessert.

"You're hungry!!" Satrio asked jokingly.

"Ahhh....sorry my portion is like this" Bella replied with a shy smile but in Satrio's eyes this looked ridiculous but cute.

"It's rare to see a woman having a meal as big as you," said Satrio jokingly.

"Well you saw one this time" Bella replied again.

"Hahahah...let's eat first," Satrio said to Bella and continued his meal which had been delayed.

Until a few moments later Satrio and Bella finished their meal.

"I'm full," Bella said with a satisfied face and leaned back in the chair.

"Ahhh...there are still bananas for dessert," Bella said when she realized that she hadn't eaten her bananas for dessert yet.

"Hahaha" Satrio laughed at Bella's behavior which Satrio thought was funny.

"Bella!!!!...

A voice interrupted the two, and looking in the direction of the voice, a thin youth with a fierce face stared at the two.

"Who are you!!!" The young man snapped at Satrio.

"-"