Imagine having a front-row seat to a spectacle that lasts not merely for a few hours, but for centuries. The southern tip of a hill that guards the northern side of the narrow entrance to Takao Harbor (in present-day Kaohsiung) had always been a prime […]
All posts tagged: cityscape
Saigon through More Appreciative Eyes
In July 2011, my younger and more judgmental self was walking the streets of Saigon, Vietnam’s largest city as well as its economic hub. Maybe it was the heat, or the incessant motorcycle traffic, or the fact that a few days earlier I was still […]
Quy Nhon: Easy and Breezy
I must admit, before learning about the ancient Hindu temples built by the people of Champa in what is now Binh Dinh (Bình Định) province in Vietnam, I had never heard of Quy Nhon (Quy Nhơn). This city in the south-central part of the country […]
Jakarta, Three Ways
Next month, the Indonesian capital will turn 495. Its position as the business and economic hub of the nation will likely stay for many years to come, although it will soon be stripped of its special status as the country’s seat of government. The administration, […]
Why Tegal?
To my international readers the name Tegal might sound distantly foreign, but those from Indonesia would almost certainly have heard of it. It’s a city in the western part of Central Java whose residents speak a dialect of Javanese that is so distinct compared to […]
Kota Lama: Between Restoration and Reinvention
Part 2 of 4 Only time will tell. This cliché has been proven over and over again. We’ll never know what the future has in store, and despite our best efforts to anticipate what lies ahead, in the end we have to let time do […]
A Look at Hong Kong’s Hybridism
Hong Kong has always fascinated me since my first trip to the city back in January 2012, and since then I have returned five more times, with the most recent visit being in December 2019. I always tell people how Hong Kong’s hiking trails, white […]
Embracing the Southern Lifestyle
If you think this post is about the American South or Southern Europe, it is not since I have never been to those parts of the world. Rather, this is a story about the southern part of Jakarta, a city I have called home for […]
Ancol: Dreaming of Blue Skies
Rainy season has officially arrived in Jakarta, after a prolonged dry season which rendered a lot of parks and gardens in the city brown and barren. Those which received a regular watering schedule, either from the city government or from local community associations, fared slightly […]
Hong Kong at a Slower Pace
Hong Kong is a fast-paced city – no doubt about it. Those who have been there must have come across and seen firsthand how fast the people walk, how efficient and punctual the MTR trains are, and how quick the service at restaurants is, to name […]
Melbourne’s Alluring Warmth
“What if we prefer Sydney?” James raised a question out of his slight worry that both of us would actually like Australia’s biggest city better than Melbourne, its perennial rival. A lot of people have remarked on how wonderful the latter is, and numerous indices […]
Semarang: My Cherished Hometown
“Semarang is squeezed in the middle,” a pun my father once told me about the Central Javanese provincial capital which is also my hometown. We were discussing about how slowly Semarang developed compared to other major cities in Java – Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and even Yogyakarta. […]
What an Amazing World! 