I've been back to Jakarta many times since moving to England. But this trip was different. I went back with Mandi7 in my head, and suddenly I saw everything.
The flowers near the graveyards
In Jakarta, there's no florist on the high street. If you want flowers — for mandi kembang, for anything — you go to the markets near the cemeteries. That's where they've always been sold, because scattering petals on graves is part of how we honor the dead. I'd walked past these stalls my whole life without thinking about it.
The neighbour with the oils
My mother's neighbour sells essential oils. When I asked where he got them, he mentioned Ciledug — a neighbourhood in Jakarta where people go for perfume ingredients. I didn't know this existed.
The thread
This trip was about tracing the supply chain backwards — from the flowers to the oils to the artisans who make the packaging. What I found was that none of it was hidden. It had been there all along.
