Samiati buys a guling... in Australia!

I have been to Indonesia 3 times now, and every time I have seen a funny long pillow which slightly resembles a garbage bag dispenser that my Mum has in one her kitchen cupboard:

I always just thought they were an extra big pillow. Not really sure of their purpose, I assumed it was similar to that of the U-Shaped pillow I had as I grew up. But actually I found out that its purpose is more like a teddy bear, whereby you wrap yourself around the pillow like a Koala hugging a tree:

So anyway, I only found out this purpose on my recent trip to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Suddenly I wanted one to take home. But how does one take home such a massive pillow? Some people suggested vaccum pack it, but alas time was of the essence and I left Jakarta that night guling-less.

I came back to Melbourne in search of a guling. I searched in big department stores, and in some pillow-selling stores, but clearly Australians have different, erm, values when it comes to sleeping.

One fine Saturday, my 'other half' and I went to the local shopping precinct for breakfast. Coffee and croissant.. Yum! We dropped into the conveniently located Indonesian supermarket and picked up a copy of one of Melbourne's free Indonesian magazines. On the back was an add for that same supermarket we had just walked in with their specials for the week. To my surprise there was a big, long pillow with the word 'GULING' under it!

We raced back to the supermarket. I showed the shop keeper the advertisement and pointed to the guling. I asked in my best Indonesian accent, "ada ini, gak?" which means have you got it?

"Iya, ada... di paling belakang.." She responded (Yes, right at the back).

So I rushed to the end of the store and cheerfully picked up my guling.

On the way to the checkout, my other half (sorry I refer to him as this, but partner seems weird and boyfriend sounds so high school and he is neither my fiancée or husband) made a suggestion that we would need a cover. No problem! I'll ask the checkout chick if they sell covers too. Hang on, wait a second, what is Indonesian for 'cover'? Oh, lucky my other half is conveniently Indonesian meaning I have access to a walking, talking dictionary (don't ask him about any slang though, hehe).

It turned out there was no covers sold, and I don't know how we will find one in Melbourne, but oh well, nonetheless I bought the guling.

The guling stayed in the plastic bag unopened on my bedroom floor for two weeks. I don't know how you feel about using pillows without covers, but I don't like to do it. One day creativity got the better of me, and I made a makeshift cover!

I got one sarong from Bali, and two hairties. I wrapped the guling like a present and secured it with hairties. Now I can enjoy my guling every night!