The pancakes came from Paddington House of Pancakes. My stack of three, with caramel sauce and ice-cream, was very palatable. Few establishments can perform as fabulously as that mother of all pancake-makers, The Ministry of Coffee in Yogyakarta. But these were nice.

I was a tad disappointed, having been promised "100 pancakes from around the globe" on their website, to find far fewer pancake types actually on the menu.

But hey...

The pretence was laid on with a trowel in Selamat Pagi, Malam, a movie by Lucky Kuswandi. His characters both represent and are subjected to layers and layers of falseness as their lives unfold over the course of a day.

Ci Surya's dead husband, who she finds out has cheated on her. Indra's Internet-enabled blind date, who turns out to be ugly and crude. Naomi, who is about to get married, in spite of her natural affections, which seem to lie with Gia.

Mostly, this depiction of Jakarta highlights the fake, the false, and the phony.

Plastic friends glued to smartphones, emerging into the real world only when it's time for a sham selfie. Fads like "rainbow cake". Down-to-earth places that have disappeared to make way for glitzy establishments that disdain local products, and specialize in jumped-up names and jacked-up prices. Love-for-a-night at the Lone Star. The English that pollutes Gia's and Naomi's every conversation (yeah, yeah, I know they were in New York together, but even so...).

And the EYELASHES...

According to this review, Jakarta becomes more honest during the night. I'm not so sure... To me, the film-maker just uncovers a more subtle kind of falseness.

This was ultimately a troubling movie. There is indeed "no room" for couples like Gia and Naomi. Ci Surya's paid-for one-night stand won't call unless he needs some more money. And Indra experienced a lot more human connection when her new boyfriend made "kerak telur" for her on a pavement pan than when he made love with her in a Lone Star rent-a-bed.

For a comparatively young director, this is a dark, dark vision of the world, and I would want to challenge and resist it.

Fun to recognize lots of places in Jakarta, though...