Harry Potter’s Internet Cafe

Today is Wednesday 21st March and today I checked out of the Kelayang Beach Cottages. The plan was to go back to Tanjung Pandan, find a barbers for a haircut and an Internet Cafe to upload all of the blogs I’ve been writing.

Paying my bill at Kelayang, two days including pulsa, food, beers and room came to a million Rupiah but I didn’t mind as the setting was just perfect. The nights sleep on the two nights had been somewhat marred by stormy weather but I really didn’t know how bad until I arrived in TP. The beachfront looked like a tornado had hit. Trees were strewn over the road and even lamp posts had been bent over, I think they had it worse here than Kelayang.

Checking back into the Harlika and coincidentally the same room, I asked the receptionist where I could get a hair cut. Her glance at my balding dome followed by a quickly hidden smirk wasn’t lost on me and I wondered if she thought I’d be better with a spit and polish instead. Regardless, she pointed out the general area where I could find a hair cut although if her directions were correct I’d be being snipped and shaved by a catterpillar as she seemed to have directed me to a mound of grass...maybe a travelling barber frequents this mound and that’s what she meant.

Forgoing the leprechaun barber for now, I continued riding into town in hopes of finding an internet cafe. Parking the bikein the main town square I became immediately aware that as I moved away from the moped, a bystander started moving towards it.To test this sudden paranoia I thought I’d walk on and then double back to see what happened to the moped.So it waas that a couple of minutes later I came back to find the bike neatly parked exactly where I’d left it, but now facing the opposite direction, all ready to drive off. The guy who had done it was still there and he gave me a thumbs-up salute which I returned with a perplexed smile.

Walking up the side of the road, keeping my eyes open for a suitable restaurant for lunch, I spotted an internet cafe on the other side. On entering, I was directed to Harry Potters room beneath the stairs (see photos for proof). All that was missing was a door. The fact that this was A) at the farthest end of the shop and B) insanely small in terms of space to sit, I wondered if the shop assistant had something against tourists.

Anyway, i eventually completed all of the blog uploading that I’d planned to do (Nina will be pleased) and headed back to the beach for some food. It’s only as I sit here writing this that I’ve realised, I haven’t had a hair cut yet.