It was 9:00 pm and drizzling outside. It was the perfect time to drift off under a blanket at home. Instead the three of us were stranded inside a car, waiting for Adhiel, a warga kampung sekitar (local resident) in the Arab Quarter. He would serve as our intermediary for  a special occasion amongst people of Arab descent in Surabaya: the overnight domino competition!

This is actually just the first half of the competition, held to celebrate the tujuh bulanan or 7-month “baby shower” of the daughter-in-law of Salim Bahmid, a well-known local figure. This two-round contest will run for two nights. Many people were looking forward to the event since a competition like this one is a rare occasion.

Crashing the event proved tricky. First, none of us were acquainted with the host. Second, none of us are of Arab descent. And finally, we are all women. From what we had heard the women’s celebration, a music performance, had already been held at the Grand City Ballroom. The event we were crashing was exclusively for men. This reminds me a bit of the Bachelor and Bachelorette parties in the States, separating the men from women.

Domino from Chimp Chomp on Vimeo.

These circumstances led us to seek Adhiel to help us first obtain permission from Salim, the owner of the house and event organizer, to make sure that our “crashing” was okay and would not cause any disturbances. Fifteen minutes later Adhiel and his friends knocked on the car window giving us the thumbs up. Alright, we’re in!

As we entered Salim Hamid’s house near Jalan Johor, we saw rows of motorcycles parked out front. Parts of the terrace, garden, and garage were covered with red carpet, transformed into a domino arena. Dozens of men, mostly of Arab descent, were sitting cross-legged on the carpet in small circles playing spirited games of dominoes. Most participants were not only from Surabaya but also from neighboring towns. There was a brown piece of cardboard in the middle of each group labeled A, B, C, and so on. The atmosphere was vivacious. You could hear a combination of dominoes clinking and dozens of men joking and cursing. Ashtrays filled with cigarette butts were strewn along with cups of strong Arab coffee, purportedly guaranteed to keep men awake overnight.

Brass kettles, teapots, and tiny ceramic cups filled with the sludgy coffee grounds and tea leaves were strewn alongside the kitchen table. It was a seducing moment which told a story, leftovers from a meal which had begun before the competition.

Several large sheets of paper were displayed on the walls. On one side, one sheet detailed the game rules under “Game 110,” while on the other, the current rankings. Yet another detailed records of the matches. I immediately thought of the World Cup scoring system. Okay, this domino competition was definitely something serious!

Next to them, sat a group of chatting elders. Two of them apparently came from Mecca. We immediately conjured up our own adventurous, exciting story of distant relatives traveling all the way across the  ocean just for the event. Nothing of the sort! They just happened to be in Surabaya, and thus stopped to see the competition. Tinta, anyway, did not seem dampened—she immediately held an impromptu interview with them. Mr. Mohammad kindly accommodated our whim by translating for us. Apparently the people in Saudi Arabia also love playing dominoes. We youths began to wonder where this domino game originated. After some quick Googling, some sources said that the game came from Saudi Arabia but others said that dominoes came from China. Further investigation and tracking are needed, indeed.

Who knows where it came from, or when it started, but the Arab tradition of playing dominoes is said to have a long history, even in Surabaya. Although we may rarely see a game of dominoes these days we still find people playing in coffee shops. And not just for special events but people play on ordinary days, often at a smaller scale. This is not limited to certain places either. Many people still love to spend their spare time playing dominoes with their friends. These games are often accompanied by small dares to wear embarrassing items (like laundry clips on the ears) to make it more fun. The daily domino games however do not usually use a complicated ladder, but rather a gugur ganti (or whatever the term).

The dominoes we saw here were black-and-white  blocks, different from the standard yellow cards that we used to play with as children. “Well, I did not even know that dominoes come in cards,” said Adhiel. We grimaced upon realising our ignorance—same game, same city, different materials (and same ignorant youths, haha!).

The domino blocks being used here were quite thick, made from ivory-coloured mica. Someone said there were many made from genuine ivory too. Like many other board games that have been used to resolve war conflicts these blocks were stored inside a wooden box  with a sliding cover, inscribed with the word “Dominoes.”

On average, people who participated in this event looked to be at least 40-years-old. When we asked why there were not many young people participating, one player, Mr. Mohammad (not our translator—there were many named Mohammad here!) said, “Yeah well, what to do, only the elders want to play. Youths don’t feel like playing this anymore.”

Pak Mohammad

One of us was reminded of her box of domino cards which she later found in storage. It is now displayed as a piece of nostalgia on top of a book shelf, next to other childhood games. Mementos of times gone by, the set is no longer complete. Old childhood games, now housed as vintage accessories for their time-worn colours (good for Instagram). Still, there is a possibility of bringing interest back to dominoes.

The short hand of the clock was pointing at “11” that night, but the game showed no sign of ending. Finally we decided to end our adventure, as much as we would have loved to stay, considering how rarely such events are held, even among the people in the Arab Quarter.

Soon Adhiel bid us goodbye, thanked Mr. Salim and his friends, and relayed our gratitude before joining us for the ride home. The drive home was filled with happy chatter in the car about the experience, and the Arab Quarter, always full of delightful surprises.

This English version edited by Matt Borden.

This article has been revised to reflect to following correction:

Correction 26 November 2013: An earlier version of this article stated that there were some simple bets. They were dares, not monetary bets, to wear embarassing items like laundry clips on the ears to make the games more fun. 

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