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Starting a novel with the declaration, “This book is based on a true story,” may sound cliche, but it is precisely this factuality that makes the bittersweet accounts in “Kedai 1,001 Mimpi” (“Cafe of 1,001 Dreams”) all the more compelling.

In his latest work, Bandung-based writer and radio announcer Valiant Budi Yogi — popularly known as Vabyo — takes his readers through the highs and (mostly) lows of working as a barista at an international coffee chain in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

A prolific blogger and Tweeter, Vabyo quickly found an online outlet for his culture shock, sharing experiences ranging from depressing to hilarious and absurd. “Kedai,” Vabyo’s fourth book, is a retelling of the whip-smart anecdotes he posted on Twitter throughout his stay at the kingdom’s third-largest city.

His misadventures begin when he decides to act on his fascination with all things Arab and applies for a job in Saudi, planning to write a travel book about the holy land revered by Muslims.

But he quickly finds that working overseas — in an absolute monarchy, no less — may not be his cup of tea.

He expects an enlightening experience that will strengthen his faith, but Vabyo and his ragtag group of Indonesian migrant workers soon feel trapped under the thumb of a strange culture and hostile security forces with often confusing rules.

Joking that it was hard to spot Indonesians in the sea of Filipino workers flooding Dammam, Vabyo said he managed to find fast friends in Yuti, Joko and Bambang — a trio of longtime expatriates who showed him the ropes and helped make his life a bit more interesting.

Vabyo tells their stories with equal measures of sympathy and humor. Yuti used to work as a maid and claimed she had changed employers eight times before her last boss took her as a second wife.

Joko, who had overstayed his visa, was forced to give sexual favors to his boss in exchange for protection from the law. Bambang gave up domestic work to take up an illegal job as a gay sex worker.

The four of them band together to overcome the daily adversities they face, including numerous cultural misunderstandings, harassment on the street and racial discrimination.

While he deals with heavy subjects, Vabyo keeps his writing style light and funny, mixing formal language and slang, to make it an easy read.

He even takes his eclectic style one step further, mixing Bahasa Indonesia with Sundanese (his mother tongue), English, Arabic and even Tagalog, as he struggles to communicate with his employers, customers and co-workers.

Sometimes the results are disastrous. On his first day at the coffee shop, Vabyo is accused of stealing a customer’s cellphone. After subjecting the writer to a full-body search, the irate client is shocked to see that Vabyo has his own mobile phone.

The culture shock continues as Vabyo is asked to sign a contract in Arabic, with his employers refusing to provide him with an English version. He experiences verbal and physical abuse on the streets, is often approached for sexual favors and is made to pay a bribe to report a crime — in which he is the victim — to avoid getting thrown in prison.

Vabyo reaches the boiling point when he witnesses petty acts of dishonesty at the cafe, where baristas use expired ingredients and pilfer cash. This pushes him to pack up and leave.

“Kedai” is a rollicking ride with a twist of tragedy — a humorous yet incisive look at the sufferings of Indonesian migrants. While readers are no doubt familiar with abuse abroad through the news, Vabyo’s book helps humanize the experience by giving names and colorful descriptions of the nameless and faceless victims.

The novel also shatters the idealized view many Indonesians tend to have of Saudi Arabia, the center of Islam, as Vabyo relates his encounters with plenty of not-so-holy local characters.

Vabyo gets a vastly different treatment in the Middle East as a worker rather than a tourist. He writes about how it feels to be regarded as a second-class citizen and the struggle of coming to terms with an unfamiliar culture.

In the end, the book is not simply about Vabyo’s story, but also of the thousands of others like him who suffer but somehow survive in foreign lands.



‘Kedai 1,001 Mimpi’
By Valiant Budi Yogi
Published by Gagas Media
456 pages
Not available in English