When a country is named after a place, you know the latter must have played a significant role in the nation’s history, and is expectedly well worth a visit. On a sandy peninsula once called Tayouan in the southwestern corner of Taiwan (in what is […]
When James and I were planning our trip to Kaohsiung, I was fixated on making a mental list of interesting places to see in this southern Taiwanese city. However, he was very insistent on visiting Tainan as well, some 50 km north of Kaohsiung. I […]
One of the things true global cities have in common is the presence of world-class cultural institutions where people from different corners of the globe converge to share their stories and ideas, discuss important issues, and collaborate on various works, among other things. This, undoubtedly, […]
When I was little, I was taught at school that humans have three primary needs: food, clothing, and shelter. Only when all of them have been fulfilled can we pursue the rest of what we desire. However, decades later I learned that we also have […]
Jakarta is hot and humid all year round, but I wasn’t prepared for what Kaohsiung had in store in late September and early October. When James and I were walking along its harbor on a sunny day, I kept thinking of how sweltering this part […]
Toward the end of the 19th century, East Asia was a very turbulent place with two main powers – the Empire of Japan and the Qing dynasty of Imperial China – scrambling for influence and control over the lands between them. The Korean Peninsula, in […]
Big cities often have humble beginnings. Manhattan was once a land where the local Lenape people harvested wood for their bows, while Tokyo and Dubai used to be merely fishing villages. Kaohsiung, an economically-important industrial hub whose port is the largest in Taiwan, is no […]
Back in my high school years, I always studied in my room from 6 to 8:30pm on weeknights because my parents told me to – they were among those stereotypical Asian parents who wanted their children to study hard to get good grades. But after […]
It was 10 years ago when I visited Taiwan for the first time. While Taipei 101 was impressive with its cool architecture evoking a Chinese pagoda, the gloomy skies and rainy weather of the country’s capital were persistent. Luckily the trip also included a short […]
Being an Indonesian, there are some perennial questions that I always get every time I return from a trip. “How was the food?”, “Did you try anything weird?”, “Was the food spicy?” are some of the most frequently asked questions. Sudip, my cousin-in-law, was startled […]
White canoes embellished with traditional carvings painted in red and black rested on a cove, just shy of the breaking waves. Their pointy tips were decorated with dark feathers, making each canoe unique to one another and from other traditional boats. The Tao have been known […]
The 19-seated Dornier 228 was parked on the far side of the apron of Taitung Airport. A huge hose was blowing Oxygen into the cabin when James and I entered the plane. Seated on the first row behind the cockpit, we could clearly see what […]
What an Amazing World! 