We explained the situation all over again, whereupon he nodded, said, “Moment,” and disappeared again. When, after a longish while had passed, we asked where he was, we were told that he had gone to visit his mother in Jakarta because he hadn’t seen her in three years. Had he taken our tickets with him? we enquired. No, they were here somewhere, we were told. Did we want them? Yes, we did, we explained. We were trying to get to Labuan Bajo. This news seemed to cause considerable consternation, and within minutes everyone in the office had gone to lunch.
