Sometime 2006. On my first trip to Jakarta, I went down to the lobby of our office building so I could go to the bank to change my US dollars. When I got in, I saw two tellers. The other one had a line while the other one was free. As I made eye contact with the teller where there was no line, I walked towards her place. In front of her was a neatly made up sign which said "Tutup".
"Hello Tutup, " I said. She just gave some sort of stare. "I'd like to change my US dollars," I added. Her face was a picture of confusion. I repeated my purpose for going to the bank. I don't think she spoke much English (and I don't speak much Bahasa) because all she did was point me to the other teller. Her face now a bit more irked. "Hhhmmm, strange," I thought to myself.
I recounted the entire story to my fiends that night during dinner. I must have made their day because they all started giggling and laughing. Only then did I find out that "tutup" meant "closed". That explains her confused look. It sounded like a name to me. Oh well. Now I know.
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