Lessons from Jakarta

A great thing about living in a new place is that it makes all of the things that you thought were ‘normal’ become ‘strange’. All of your habits, routines, rules that you live by; things that you think are valuable or of the most importance, often lose their sense of urgency or significance as you […] Read more »

Being a Bule

Since I first came to Indonesia (and up until this point) I have been confused. Any time I walked around the streets of this city, or just took a stroll to the supermarket, strange things would happen. Apart from the cries of “hello mister” with my initial thought that maybe I was looking a bit […] Read more »

Masuk Angin: Believe it or not?

When it comes to taking health advice from Indonesians, I have to admit, I have been a little skeptical. This comes from Indonesian friends telling me that Indonesian cigarettes are really healthy because they are made from herbs (not tar and nicotine), and from the constant cracking of bones every time an Indonesian stands up […] Read more »

Jakarta or Bali?

One of the first things that an Indonesian will assume about an expat, is that the reason that they are in Indonesia is that they love Bali. And one of the first things an expat may think about Indonesia, if they are more of the garden variety suburban types (such as myself) is that Indonesia […] Read more »