We played boxing and monopoly. We were playmates.

With pride and excitement, Slamet, an Indonesian man claimed to have been friends with Barack Obama, in an interview a day before the world hailed Obama as President of the United States of America.

Slamet's father worked as a driver of the late Tata Aboe Bakar, owner of the house that the Obamas rented from 1969-1970 at Jl. Taman Amir Hamzah 22 around Menteng area, Central Jakarta. The red-tile roofed house now has many potential buyers. One of them wants to make it a café that will be called "Sweet Home Obama Bar".

Aboe Bakar, who was said to be close to Obama, had passed away last Tuesday (the day the writers visited the place) though due to prostate cancer. (Text and photos by Aurelia L. Castro and Angeline Koh/Singapore)