Malang was an escape. There’s not much to do here. It’s just a pleasant, cheap place to recharge, relax, drink some good coffee and plan out the rest of my trip though Indonesia. The city itself is substantial – almost a million people, but the downtown is nice and slow paced compared to the otherwise hectic and congested Java. The most action I saw - or so I thought - was at the local bird market.
On my last day, I rented a motorbike to explore some minor-league temples in the area. Funny, in the US, a 100 year old building is considered historic. Here, smaller 1200 year old temples are considered minor league. This one caught my eye.
OK, thanks for indulging my inner tourist. On to the ladyboys.
As I’m riding home by the local sports stadium, the traffic thickens quite a bit. I’m a bit annoyed. I realize people are watching some sort of sporting event. Cool – I always think seeing people at sports events are one of the great ways to experience local culture. So I pull over to check out the scene.
Things looked innocent enough. A few people playing tennis. Some kids playing fusbal (football, soccer). The crowd that had stopped traffic looked benign.
Just then, I saw this rather buxom looking woman who appeared to be eyeing me, trying to get my attention. While Indo women are more curvy than other asians, “she” seemed quite exaggerated (note: I will use the term “she” for ladyboys to respects their preference, although some, as I would learn, seem to earn it more than others). Like O’Hare airport every Tuesday, My ladyboy radar was placed on orange alert.
My attempts to avoid her gazes and increasingly overt flirtations were becoming futile. It was obvious I saw her, and either I was gonna have to move, or chat her up. Figuring this might be fun, I’m about to giver her a smile when what seems like an entire platoon of similarly odd looking people appear. Now, as a veteran asian traveler, I’ve seen my share of ladyboys. Usually, they’re almost conspicuous in how feminine they make their appearance. Like this one I saw at the Lao National Games in Pakse (the one of the right, btw).
These girls, on the other hand, were dressed, well, like a volleyball team. Actually, more like fraternity brothers in wigs playing volleyball. Moments later, they began playing volleyball and the fraternity analogy looked prescient. Funnier yet, they were GOOD. I mean, like, really good. The original girl eyeing me transformed from wannabe beauty queen to wannabe Karch Kiraly.
Did I say they were dressed for volleyball? Well, the setter seemed to stretch that definition a bit. Not to mention perhaps stretching the concept of a ladyboy, and definitely stretching that outfit.
Speaking of outfits, one girl seems unprepared to play. I also filed her picture under my “funny use of the English language album” (blog post on that forthcoming). Read carefully. I think its a joke, but I hope its not!
Overall, I’m impressed. Not just with the level of play, but with the lifestyle. Perhaps the ladyboys of Indonesia live a more honest, healthy lifestyle than the drinking, smoking and farang seeking Thai ladyboys who accost, rob, cheat and otherwise harass tourists – gay, straight and everywhere in between. After the initial attention I got, these girls seemed far more interested in balls than, well, balls. Then I saw this girl, which sorta reminded me a t-shirt my friend Chuck Lowry once had that said, “when I feel athletic, I go to a sports bar.”
One thing these ladyboys definitely don’t have in common with their Thai sistas is their ability to fool anyone. Or so I thought. As the novelty wore off, I headed back to my guesthouse. As I’m walking out, I spot this aspiring supermodel in the distance.
Hottie or nottie? Lady or ladyboy? I had to find out. Hmmm, what’s the best way to determine if someone’s a ladyboy? Anyone? Bueller?
I stroll over her way, and, as I approach, I begin to wonder less about whether she’s a ladyboy and more why she’s not on the court – she’s about 6’2”. Still, if I were drunk, if it was dark, if I was lonely from 5 months on the road (note: this is a common nightly occasion)….She seemed very interested in posing for photos, so I indulged her.
It turns out, ladyboy volleyball was a fundraiser. The supermodel and a few of her friends were working the crowd not for tricks but donations to support a local AIDS awareness campaign. I thanked the girls for the photos, donated some rupiahs, and headed home. When I got home I tossed the leaflet they were distributing on the table in my room, and noticed the supermodel had conveniently written her phone number on it.
Nice place to end the story, huh?
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