Selamat Datang di Indonesia
In Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Jakarta) you may have had an unpleasant experience to share. By the end of this article, I...
Outreach
A Little Perspective Please?
Sitting in the Bali domestic airport it can be easy to forget the reasons why I call Indonesia home, no...
Akasayapudin: The Shoe Repair Man
If you happen to be at home in Kemang and you hear the gentle, lyrical call of “Solbatu” there is...
Bed and Breakfast and a Bogus Baby
In the 1980s I was working as an agency truck driver in Oxford on my days off from the fire...
The Jaksa Position & Jl. Palatehan
Jalan Jaksa and Jalan Palatehan have been serving the needs of tourists and expatriates in different ways for decades. Jaksa,...
Sutejo : The Recycling Man
Name: Sutejo Age: 62 Sutejo floats around the rivers of South Jakarta on a blue foam mattress which enables him...
A Bottle of Wine and a Playroom
In Eastern Promise (EP) we now have a playroom for kids. During recent trips to New Zealand and Australia, I...
Pocket Guide to How to be a Bureaucrat
Follow these simple rules to being a good Bureaucrat and enjoy countless benefits for you, your friends and your family....
The French Spirit of Wine
Wine is the only subject that I can’t handle as the “Grumpy French Man”. Wine is not only alcohol for...
Humorous Educational Experiences: Raising Children
If I had no sense of humour, I would long ago have committed suicide. ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~ Is there...
Education Extremes
‘‘I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way’’. I couldn’t agree more...
The Truth Hurts
I have decided I am going to be completely honest with everyone from now on. No more lies, no more...
Just Take it Easy
We expatriates must admire the Indonesian ability to put things in perspective and to talk things down because it could...
Happy Birthday Grumpy French Man
40 years old. All of the people who are on the way to pass over this age say that it’s...
Solution to the Global Economic Crisis
We are, most of us, living far from our families, which is good for some people and sad for others....
The Fearless Guardian Angel
My friend Tony and I were coming back from a party late one night on his Suzuki 250 motorcycle when...
A Self-Help Model for Aid that Really Works: The East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP)
When writing about aid projects words like ‘uplifting’, ‘inspirational’ or ‘downright bloody fantastic’ rarely, if ever, enter the vocabulary of...
I Hate St. Valentine
That’s the most stupid fake date on earth! When I was a teenager in Europe, it even didn’t exist (or...
The Unnecessary Fire
We call the magical device we have in our pockets a “phone”, but it really should be called a “communicator”....
Enlightenment from my Chinese Friends
I have been living here for a while now, but I realised that I am totally ignorant about the Chinese...
Straight From The Heart
The Family at Lestari Sayang Anak Orphanage I think a lot of us, although we may not like to admit...