Jakarta is hot and humid all year round, but I wasn’t prepared for what Kaohsiung had in store in late September and early October. When…
Remembering the Fallen
What is a hero? Perhaps it is someone who, because of personal reasons and sentiments, is generally revered and exalted, someone whose name is mentioned…
Embracing the Southern Lifestyle
First, let’s talk about the brand-new MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) line Jakarta badly needed to alleviate its traffic problem. In the first few weeks after…
Chasing the Sun in Nara
Holidays are usually a time that people use to decouple themselves from the stress of work and reconnect with things they love; this often involves…
Mount Kencana: Into the Tea Country
Nowadays, wherever you go in the world, it seems like cafés and coffee shops can be found at almost every corner of a city. Many…
Memories of Anuradhapura
I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who like to look at their old travel photos to relive the good…
Puncak: Jakarta’s Lush Backyard
Merak. In your language this word may or may not mean something, but in Indonesian it refers to the peacock, one of the most extravagant-looking…
A Taste of the Levant: Lebanon
From the balmy Mediterranean Sea to the snow-covered mountains of Lebanon, the magnificent Roman ruins in Baalbek to the spectacular rock city of Petra, and the scorching heat of Jordanian desert to…
Vijaya and the Defeat of Angkor
Trying to imagine how Vijaya looked during its heyday is difficult when you see what it’s like in the present. The day after we went…
A Slice of Taiwan in Semarang
Kota Lama. That charming part of my hometown Semarang seems to know how to keep me visiting whenever I’m in town. Despite the haphazard “revitalization” done by…