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Scotland’s Java Connection
Nick and
Airin Gilmore only wanted to import a few pieces of Javanese furniture
for their Scottish home. Instead, they found their new calling.
Primastuti Handayani reports.
 The Gilmores were
decorating their house, nestled between the picturesque small towns of
Dunkeld and Blairgowrie, and decided to import furniture from Jepara,
Central Java.
“Our
friends suggested that we buy a full 20-foot container because it
would be much cheaper and more cost effective," said Airin, a
32-year-old Indonesian.
“We sold
the extra furniture to our friends and family. And that was the
beginning of our business here.”
Airin
and her Scottish husband Nick decided to open a furniture store in
Ballinlluig, which is a10-minute drive from Dunkeld. They moved to
Dunkeld three years ago after buying property in the town.
That was
the beginning of the Batavia bed-and-breakfast cottage (they later
refurbished their old house as a second cottage).
Their
three-story store is located within walking distance of beautiful
River Tay and 14th century Dunkeld Cathedral.
Business
is growing, and the couple imports a 40-foot container of goods every
three months. They also often return to Indonesia to meet their
suppliers in Jepara, and make sure to stop at Kemang, South Jakarta,
to check out the latest furniture models.
Inevitably, some customers have questions.
"People
here often ask the source of our products because they often hear news
about illegal logging in Indonesia," she said.
 We spent the night at
their second cottage called Berrybrae. Although it is located near the
store, it is hidden from the main road and located in the middle of a
wheat field. It reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on
the Prairie, to which Nick responded with a laugh, "I don't think so”.
Their
sons, Woody, 6, and Archie, 4, rushed to their mother once we arrived
at the house, with their dog, Bugis, joining the huddle.
We also
met Airin’s mother, Emmy Thamrin, who usually spends the summer in
Dunkeld to help her daughter during the peak holiday season.
Dinner
was a full Indonesian spread (the best meal we had away from home).
There was bandeng balado (milk fish cooked in chili), semur
ayam (chicken cooked in soy sauce) and stir-fried vegetables,
along with kerupuk udang (shrimp crackers) and emping (melinjo
nut chips).
Later we
sat in the spacious living room with a huge window looking out onto
the sunset. “Sometimes a deer comes and knocks on the window,” Airin
said
Airin
and Nick met when he was working in Jakarta as a construction
consultant.
They
married 11 years ago at the Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Menteng, with Airin
in tartan.
 Many of
the bungalow’s guests come to trek through the rolling hills
surrounding the town. “Scottish people prefer to rent the cottage for
at least three nights, sometimes up to one week. It's much cheaper
than if they stay in a hotel," Airin said.
The
Batavia
cottage consists of a living room, five bedrooms and a kitchen, all
decorated in Indonesian style. That touch of the distant tropics also
is found in the Berrybrae cottage.
We
cooked our own breakfast, instant noodles with fried eggs, plus piping
hot tea to counter the bracing Scottish weather even though it was the
middle of summer. And then it was time to say goodbye.
One
night in beautiful Dunkeld was too brief for us.
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