On our final day in Beirut, it was drizzling, just like how the Lebanese capital was throughout most of our stay. While the city had been all…
Killing Time in Semarang
However, on a trip to Semarang toward the end of Ramadan last year, I came to a point where I got a little bored. Not…
Beirut’s Scars and Hope
However, in 1975 conflict broke out in Beirut, and soon afterward it escalated into a prolonged civil war that took 120,000 lives, displaced tens of…
Tang Shipwreck: Digging into Controversy
In the ninth century CE, an Arabian dhow sailed from the Middle East to China, possibly bringing precious cargo from Africa, Arabia, Persia, and other…
Sambisari & Kedulan: the Underground Temples
Imagine an alternate world where ninth-century cathedrals across Europe and mosques throughout the Middle East and North Africa were buried deep in the ground for…
Ngawen & Losari: Temples on the Outskirts of Jogja
A pair of big round eyeballs are staring at mine with a curly mane accentuating the creature’s fierce face. Standing on its hind legs, with…
Raw Beauty of Papandayan
Living in a place with the highest number of historically active volcanoes in the world (as per USGS), most Indonesians (except for those living in…
Petra the Magnificent – Part 1
The world is filled with so many wonderful places, and that’s often why a lot of us travel across the globe to see and experience…
A Change of Heart about Semarang
This time around, we met a lot of new and interesting people, including a young entrepreneur who turned a derelict building in Kota Lama into…