I SAW YOU STANDING ALONE…

The strip running south from Anyer along the Sunda Strait was once spotted with a host of small bars that served Expatriates from the project-intensive Anyer/Cilegon/Merak industrial area. The bars themselves were all quite modest and all used the same basic ingredient to attract customers – beer, food and billiards. Each night, expats would be found criss-crossing the strip, checking the pulses of the various bars – maybe looking for a change in menu, the hottest pool game, the favourite barmaid or where the most action was on that particular evening. Despite the divergent nationalities and backgrounds – and the fundamental itinerant nature of the expat worker – camaraderie was high and as one Brit used to say “it was all good crack.”

But things can change very rapidly in this world. Some projects just ran their natural course and the uncontracted expats returned to their homelands. However, it was Indonesia’s krismon that bit hardest. It not only stopped projects dead in their tracks but also ensured there would be no more. The “good crack” days were over.

Nowadays, of all those small bars, only one remains – the Blue Moon – the last bar standing. Some may say that this is a classical example of survival of the fittest but more than likely, it’s survival of the most stubborn. The owners, Ralph (known in some quarters for his mule-like qualities) and Linda Cook, came to the Anyer area in 1994 when Ralph was contracted to Polypet and they both liked the place so much they decided to open a bar, and, eventually, put down some roots.

The competition was pretty fierce back then. There were bars like the popular Parakesit, the Karyana, The Club (a little after-work favourite on the other side of Anyer) and later Leif and Lina’s L&L Bar. There were also the hotel resort bars like Mambruk’s Lighthouse (although in decline since the loss of its bar-wise GM), the Sanyhiang Indah bar and the late night, last chance Marina Disco. The Moon, however, more than held its own and with a large contingent of long-stay expats a short walk away, even flourished.

In 1997, the Moon was re-located, taking over the lease of the Karyana, a few hundred metres up the road. Ralph and Linda poured a fair wad of money into the new Moon – a top class bar, band equipment, big TV screen – the works, in fact. It looked like a smart move at the time but anyone with the hindsight of recent Indonesian history would know that the timing could not have been worse. When things started to hit that proverbial fan, it was Ralph himself who was the Moon’s best – and too often, its only – customer. But he kept hanging in. Having a bar was better than having no bar, Ralph probably figured. And things would get better.

Wrong. The current Blue Moon may now be the last bar standing but it wasn’t always standing. In 2002, about a week before the Bali Bombing, the Moon burnt to the ground. Everything was destroyed and nothing apparently insured. Ralph, now with nowhere to drink, was devastated. But you can’t keep a good man down and you can’t stop good friends from helping out.

And so Blue Moon Mark III was cobbled anew out of the rubble. Now it’s a more modest bar. It’s built of bricks – perhaps taking a leaf out of the Three Pigs’ book – although the only huffing and puffing that’s likely comes in the form of cool breezes that blow in from the Strait. The restaurant part of the bar takes advantage of these breezes with its much more open-air design. The actual bar is squarer and smaller and friendlier – no one is far from a conversation or two. Ralph’s still there, holding up one corner of the bar and full of information about what’s happening in the area, whether it be fishing, surfing or just relaxing. Things are getting better, he reckons. The traffic through the bar is on the up – there are those who come down to do the boat thing for whatever reason; the Krakatau Hash House Harriers are still run every last Saturday of the month; those on the way to Sambola and beyond like to break their trip at the Moon and the word is out that there may even be a few new projects starting up.

Yes, things are looking good. And yet through all the ebbs and flows of the Anyer strip and the Blue Moon, one thing has remained constant – the basic ingredient for pulling in the punters is still cold beer, good food and a relaxing game of pool.