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 […]
All posts tagged: travel
In Search of Spices
If every single person on the planet were given the opportunity to travel around the world, I believe they would have answered ‘yes’ without the slightest doubt. Each individual, however, has his/her own preferences, things that would excite them along the way, energize them, and […]
The Menjangan Part 2: Underwater Gardens
He plunged into the water and darted in front of us, the effortless movements of his slender body a telltale of his affinity to the ocean. He looked around, scanning the corals beneath him, and noticed a small arch encrusted with corals tucked amid the […]
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 […]
An Unlikely Urban Sanctuary
Tiny palm-sized winged creatures hopped gleefully among curious visitors. Each bearing a navy blue mask around the eyes, a contrasting ribbon amid its cotton white feathers. Bedazzled eyes followed them as they tweeted and then flew away to nearby branches where cut pineapples, papayas and […]
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 […]
An Epic Love Story, Retold
The sun starts to slip into the horizon, slowly giving way for night to crawl in. The blue skies turn orange, then red, and purple before darkness takes over. Meanwhile under the velvet sky a grotesque-looking character lights up dried coconut husks, encircling a lone […]
Building A Multicultural Singapore
Multi-tiered pastel-colored shophouses lined the narrow alleys of Singapore’s Chinatown. Every turn revealed a lively street culinary scene with food carts and restaurants serving a wide array of Chinese dishes, occupying the muggy pedestrian-only walkways crisscrossing under bright red and yellow lanterns. Curiously, at one turn […]
Tastes of the Island of Gods
Bali lures people from all over the world to come and see its prolific rice terraces, turquoise beaches, rich marine life, and active volcanoes. Also for its unique cultural scenes mostly exclusive to this island – with a land area a little larger than Connecticut […]
Behind the Scenes at What an Amazing World!
Last week marked the fifth anniversary of my blog, and over the years this blog has evolved in many ways, most notably its visual appearance and writing style. Many of you, dear readers, have been very kind in leaving comments, thoughts, even emails allowing me […]
Pura Singapadu: Beauty in Details
We only had 3 hours left before we had to be at the airport in Bali to catch the flight back to Jakarta. But after watching the Barong performance at Batubulan and having visited some of eastern Bali’s most picturesque palaces, gardens and temples we […]
A Day of Retreat at Stanley
From Hong Kong Island’s heavily-indented southern coastline a sleepy town called us in on a chilly winter night. The double-decker bus that we took meandered through winding, narrow roads, dimly lit by street lamps, while houses and apartments were occasionally sighted from the bus’ window. […]
What an Amazing World! 