Rebirth 1973 - Chapter 55 Back To The Hotel
On the way to the hotel, the car is silent due to no one speaking. Henry is looking outside the window and observes Jakarta condition along the way. The Jakarta now is very different from his memory as there’s still no various overpass and toll road.
The street is quite deserted as there are still not many private vehicles now. There is only tricycle, public bus and occasionally motorcycles. Very different from the congested road in the future.
Henry realizes this is his opportunity to insert his hand to Indonesia as it not yet rise. Indonesia is 16th largest economy in the world in 2016 where he came from and is expected to enter the top 10 in 2020.
Even though now in 1974 Indonesia is the biggest economy in Southeast Asia, but it’s still very far compared to the future. From what Henry know, Indonesia is in a rapid development phase since 1970-1998. Their GDP per capita and PPP growth at an average of 5% each year.
It means the economy of Indonesia is rapidly increasing each year and people purchasing power growth higher each year. The highest 5 economic miracles in the period of 1970-2000 are China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
The only country he can insert his hand now is Indonesia, so he must do his best. Now that he has contacted Soeharto, it’s like giving a wing to a tiger.
As Henry immersed in his thought, the car finally arrived at the hotel.
“Mr. Henry, we already arrived.” Soetopo reminds Henry who is daydreaming.
“When will you pick up me tomorrow ?” Henry asked Soetopo.
“I don’t know as President has not instructed me yet. But I will inform you personally by tomorrow morning.” Soetopo answered.
Just before Henry got out of the car, he suddenly remembered something.
“Soetopo, who owns this hotel ?” Henry ask.
“It was owned by a company under sir President.”
Then Henry gets out of the car. Initially he want to look around Jakarta, but he has a more interesting thing to do in the hotel. He walked to the front desk and directly say, “I want to see your manager.”
The front desk lady shocked by Henry sudden arrival as she is doing her own thing just now. But her professionalism quickly take over so she quickly replied, “What can I help you, Mr. Henry ?”
Henry sighed, so he repeated again, “I want to see your manager.”
“Wait a minute sir, I will go call him.” The front desk lady immediately runs to seek the manager.
Henry sits on a chair and waiting. After just 2 minutes, the front desk lady came back with a middle-aged man wearing a suit. The man approached him and say politely, “Hello Mr. Henry, my name is Alex and I’m the manager of this hotel. What can I help you ?”
“I just want to ask a question, do you have a waiter named Ella here? The one that served me this morning.” Henry ask.
Alex quickly replied, “Is her service bad this morning? I’m sorry on behalf of our hotel…” Then Alex bowed to Henry who still sitting in his chair.
“No no no, her service is good. I just want to ask her to chat in my room, you know…” Then Henry gives a meaningful smile to Alex.
Alex suddenly realizes something, so he replied, “She will be in your room in 10 minutes.”
Henry gets up from his seat and says, “Also make sure to she bring a lunch for me, bring a bottle of wine if there is any.” Then he walked toward the lift.
Once Henry gets in his room, he releases all his clothes except his short pant. Then he does a warm-up movement as he not yet exercise this morning. He always does exercise every day to keep his body fit and healthy.
As a result of his 1-year continuous exercise, his body now can rival some regular athlete and soldier. He always thought that the body is the capital of the revolution. Without a healthy body, even if you have all the wealth in the world, it’s a waste if you can’t enjoy it.
So he never misses his exercise even if he is busy. At least he will do some basic work out if there is no equipment. As Henry immersed in his exercise, Ella now stands in front of Henry room with a tray. She is feeling mixed right now because of that thing in the morning.
She surprised when suddenly the manager told her to serve Henry again. Initially, she wants to refuse and tell others to do it. But the manager insisted she must the one who serves Henry, so she can’t refuse it.
So now here she is standing in front of the door. She is struggling right now whether to open the door or not. She wants to escape but considering her situation, it nothing but a pipe dream. But Ella quickly thinks an idea, how about she quietly place the food without alerting Henry and immediately go?
The more Ella thinks about it, the more she thinks it’s the best way. So she quietly opens the door and pushes the tray quietly. After going in, she notices there’s no sight of Henry anywhere as there are only his clothes on the floor.
‘Is he in the bathroom ?’ Ella thought. Moreover, she hears a faint sound of water so maybe this is her golden chance! She quickly pushes the tray and placed the food and wine on the table. After it’s done, she quickly runs as she fears Henry may go out of the bathroom soon.
But her face turn into a horror she found the door closed and there is a half-naked man lean on it.
“Why you so hurry to leave, Ms. Ella? And do you know it’s impolite to enter someone room without knocking at it first ?” Henry grinned when he sees Ella expression right now.