Indonesia – General
Whether it’s in a marriage or while traveling, good communication is always important. And language barriers often make for poor communication. Examples of what can happen are found seemingly daily on the internet. Remember the story about how the Chevy Nova didn’t sell well in Latin America because “no va” means ‘it doesn’t go’ in [...]
Some time ago Beth sent us three letters – a father’s day card, a birthday card for Adam and a fun card for Elana. While two cards arrived about three weeks later, Adam’s birthday card never made it. That seems about right – at least one third of the mail here seems to get lost [...]
One of the reasons many people are uncomfortable with overseas travel is a fear of the unknown. Unusual customs, unfamiliar foods – there are so many potential challenges. Perhaps one of the biggest of those challenges for some is what is called the squat toilet. The squat toilet has many names. Arabic toilet, Japanese, [...]
It went up in less than a week. Bandung is a city where new road construction is almost non-existent and road repairs, if they happen at all, are shoddily done. So it was quite surprising to watch a substantial barrier, about one foot wide, one foot high and a kilometer long being quickly built down [...]
It’s been fun exploring new foods while in Indonesia. The kids have loved experimenting with dishes and sauces. Adam’s taste for spices has only increased during our time here, while Elana, who never cared for spices all that much, is going to head home with a new-found love of hotness. Dishes here are of course [...]
It was the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche who wrote “Out of chaos comes order.” Clearly he never spent any time traveling through Bandung traffic. The first thing to know about driving here is that there really aren’t too many rules. It’s rather simple, really. You drive, wedging yourself between other cars and trucks, while [...]
We were in Jakarta recently visiting a few museums. While Jakarta is a major city, its public transport systems are in pretty bad shape. The city has a bus system that may eventually get you to where you want to go. Angkots – mini-buses that have fixed routes – provide a cheaper, if slower alternative. [...]
It’s an interesting promotional statement for a radio station. I’m not quite sure what market they are actually going for with this though: We play “girl songs that are too bitching to be just friends.”
It started off innocently enough. We were visiting a theme park in Jakarta this past week called Tamin Mini Indonesia Indah, or TMII. It’s the Indonesian version of Disneyland, right down to the plushies waiting to greet kids with handshakes and hugs. It even has a Disney-like castle. Opened in April of 1975, TMII was [...]