The water vapor escapes the small rice container as the old lady opens up its lid. Before it, plates of side dishes cooked in rich Balinese condiments tease the senses of passersby with their sweet and fragrant aroma. A few meters away some women are […]
Throngs of upscale fashion boutiques, fancy restaurants, and trendy clubs fill the streets of Seminyak – one of Bali’s liveliest areas north of the raunchy scenes of Kuta and Legian. However some might find it hard to feel the tranquility and the laidback atmosphere of […]
Despite calling Semarang in Central Java home, I only spent a brief 1.5 years in the city since I was born. Life had taken me to live in three cities in South Kalimantan (Borneo) and four cities in Java. Until a few years ago, the […]
On the slopes of Mount Ungaran in the temperate climate of Java’s hilly terrain, perches several small ancient temples amid rose gardens, cabbage fields, and wild taro and coffee trees. The sky is clear, the sun shines brightly. This place is only less than 40 […]
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 […]
Our 5-hour train journey ended at Taitung, one of the biggest cities in the eastern coast of Taiwan. I could only understand the size of the city as our taxi driver navigated his way to our hotel, passing through empty streets. A stark contrast with […]
Sitting on a bench at Taipei Main Train Station, we tucked our luggage between our feet – 2 backpacks of mine, 1 backpack and 1 small suitcase of James’ – while waiting for our train to Taitung, a small town at the eastern coast of […]
Rice fields and houses with small vegetable gardens stud both sides of the highway from the airport to the city center of Taipei, giving a glimpse of how agriculture is still an important part of many Taiwanese despite the world-renown high-tech industries of the country. […]
Bold, savory, refreshing, mouth-watering, amusingly foreign. Turkey has some of the most interesting dishes that I have ever tried by far. During my stay in the Turkish largest city I had the chance to tickle my palate by tasting local dishes made from fresh and […]
A cylindrical tower covered in bricks made of stone rises among the dense residential area of Beyoğlu, a historic neighborhood across the Golden Horn from Seraglio Point where Topkapı Palace overlooks the Bosphorus. The 14th century Galata Tower – originally Tower of Christ – was […]
What an Amazing World! 