All posts filed under: Southeast

Taman Ayun: Beauty in Serenity

It appears on many advertisements and campaigns, from tour companies to the national airline. It is comfortably located in central Bali, off the main road connecting Bali’s capital to the western port of Gilimanuk, and easily accessed by anyone who’s visiting Ubud. Yet, Taman Ayun […]

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From Fish Balls to Submarines

Ask any Indonesians about what comes first in their minds when they think of Palembang, quite possibly most of them would answer “pempek”. Also known as empek-empek, the dish comes in a wide array of variety; from fish balls (adaan), to cylindrical fishcake (lenjer), tightly […]

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The Burgeoning Pearl of the Musi

September 2004. First time in almost five decades that the Indonesian National Games (PON) were hosted by a city outside the island of Java. A 40,000-seater stadium was built in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province, quite possibly the second biggest in the country […]

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Bogor at A Glance

Spread over a basin fringed by Mount Gede and Mount Salak, Bogor lies 54 km south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, which together with the nearby cities of Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok form one of the world’s biggest urban agglomeration with a combined population of […]

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Batukaru: Sight, Sound, Taste

The silver minibus speeds through the main highway that connects Bali’s cultural heart at Ubud with the volcanic lakes of Bratan as well as Buyan and Tamblingan further north. Short moments after passing by a roadside traditional market where fresh local fruits and vegetables are […]

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Creating A City in A Garden

“From the beginning, even before Singapore became independent, we sought to build a world-class living environment here through greenery. At first we aimed to be a “Garden City” – parks, reservoirs, Kallang River cleaned up, Singapore River, later cleaned up… The next phase from being […]

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The Dutch, the Caretaker, and the Little Girl

Far from the bustling tourism hotspot in Bali’s south is the city of Singaraja, the capital of Buleleng Regency on the island’s northern coast. Founded by the king of Buleleng, Ki Gusti Ngurah Panji Sakti, in 1604 on an empty grassland surrounded by buleleng – corn-like […]

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The Red Dot: A Matter of Being Too Perfect

The tiny island has been serving one of the world’s busiest trade routes for centuries, beckoning people and money, like the Japanese fortune cat, to come to this strategically located piece of land. Evidently business and trade flourish, backed by sound economic management which now […]

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The Menjangan Part 1: Sweet Air & Birdsong

The intense sweet and faintly zesty redolence of lush forest instantly permeated the air as I opened the car window. The deep, earthy scent of the dirt road augmented the complex chemicals in the air, evoking my childhood memories of playing out in nature. I […]

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Paris of Java, Past and Present

Asia, late 19th century. The long-contending British and Dutch colonial forces have by now settled on their respective colonies. The British realm in this part of the world was unrivaled, straddling vast swathes of land from the entire Indian subcontinent (modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and […]

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