Gangsters running around dark alleys, carrying automatic weapons to shoot any raiding policemen they see. Prostitutes standing under neon signboards, in claustrophobic settlements where the sun hardly penetrates. Meanwhile, residents doing their daily activities, indifferent to the madness around them, carry on with their business […]
Bali, a land with towering volcanoes and pristine rivers flowing out onto turquoise water of the Indonesian seas. Its fertility not only brought welfare to its residents but also sparked wars between Bali’s many small kingdoms, fighting for as many lands to control as possible. […]
The moon. For millennia it has been a perennial source of fascination for humans from almost every culture in the world. The celestial object – often perceived as a gentle balance to the mighty sun – plays an important role in many mythologies: from the […]
Simon, our driver who is originally from the Indonesian city of Atambua in West Timor, transports us from Baucau to the small town of Venilale in the hilly interior of Timor-Leste. The roads are in a fairly good condition, but with few vehicles passing by […]
“East Timor is a very dangerous place. The farther you go to the east, the more you will likely be shot. There was a helicopter flying over the eastern region and it was attacked by automatic rifles from the forest below.” I recall being a […]
It is almost 2pm in Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) as our plane starts its descent towards Dili, the capital of Asia’s newest nation. The rugged green landscape below looks untouched and undeveloped, a stark contrast to an aerial view of Bali – where […]
Gleaming under the morning sun, a gilded petrified flame sits atop a whitewashed monolith. Emanating from its base, trees cover most of the wide plaza providing shade for visitors – and a few decades ago, deer. Monumen Nasional – widely known by its acronym, Monas […]
Delicately carved wooden statues in realistic proportions embellish people’s houses, floral designs are intricately sculpted on temple figurines, and sturdy yet delicate rock-hewn statues stand at major roundabouts and intersections. It is in Bali where statues hold a more significant role in people’s lives than […]
We were standing under Galata Tower, a 14th century gem perched on the hill of Beyoğlu, a district in the European side of Istanbul. South we headed, where an even more ancient landmark emerged from afar, on top on Seraglio Point. Hagia Sophia, once the […]
“Transport Mister? Water Castle?” all rickshaw drivers kept asking me the same questions during my visit to Yogyakarta (Jogja) in January 2011. It was not my first trip to the city, however I always missed Taman Sari – or better known as the Water Castle […]
Semarang is known to have one of Indonesia’s most exquisite collections of colonial buildings. On a recent visit to my hometown I took the chance to do what I should have done much earlier, exploring Kota Lama – the old town quarter. Rows of Dutch buildings fill […]
Men and women drowned in a river, with a fierce-looking character watching them drift away, a big buffalo on his hand. On the other side of the river an ugly giant with scabies all over his body watched the drowning mortals, helpless and succumbed. Meanwhile […]
What an Amazing World! 