The Christmas Spices of Indonesia
If you enjoy baking festive treats at home during the Christmas season, you may have noticed that imported foods such...
History/Culture
Georgius Everhardus Rumphius: From Hobby to Fame
She was called Rumphius in honour and remembrance of the first naturalist of Ambon. Her hull was painted yellow and...
Ketut: the Hair and Beauty Stylist
Ketut is 27 years old and owns a local wedding and hair stylist salon in the back streets of Ubud,...
Nyoman the Organic Advocate
Abe-do Organic Warung, located 2 kilometres from Ubud, in Banjar Kutuh Kaja, was created a year ago with only three...
Melodies from Indonesia’s Far South: Sasando, the Palm Harp of Rote
If the definition of heaven is a strange but comforting melody telling stories of the timelessness of the human soul,...
Raising the Dead
It is an hour before dawn as I make my way up the gently sloping hill to the cemetery outside...
Jakarta 100 Years Ago
Through the window of early photography, Scott Merrillees has brought the long lost world of Jakarta back to life in...
Indonesia Face To Face
Ivan Southall (1921-2008) was an Australian writer best known for young-adult fiction, but he also wrote seven books for adults,...
Alfred Wallace’ Great Adventure in Indonesia
Wallace?s dedication to research and his perseverance through rainforests in an era of head-hunters, poor medication and tropical diseases was...
A Bali Expat Aid Worker on Syria’ Frontline
John Bunnell, a resident of Bali for nine years, went to war-ravaged Syria as a logistician for two and a...
Women Power and Politics
As things stand, only one major country in Western Europe – you know, that bloc with good football,liberal values and...
Martha Christina Tiahahu – a Moluccan Heroine
This is Ambon in the early 80s of last century. The land we were going to build houses on was...
Ubud’s Museum Mile for Art Lovers
Neka Art Museum Setting out on a Sunday in the slow season, an unexpectedly ideal day to visit museums, the...
Islam in the Netherlands East Indies
Islam came to Indonesia by way of Malabar and Coromandel, the respectively south-western and south-eastern coasts of India, along the...
Terracotta Memories of the Majapahit Civilisation
As a writer, traveller, and art enthusiast, I’ve come to find Majapahit as probably one of the most romantic and...
Sexy Rio Sidik Jazz Quartet
Rio Sidik is Indonesia’s most famous jazz and fusion musician and singer, well known too on the International music scene....
Hari Saraswati: In Praise of Books
With the islandwide celebration of Dewi Saraswati on August 10th, it’s only appropriate to offer a paean to Bali’s bountiful...
How the Other Half Lived – Batavia in the 18th Century
Founded in 1619 on the smouldering remains of Jacatra, Batavia was meant to function as a depot for the produce...
Educating the Past
Indonesia’s historical baggage over the last century and a half means that as we tip headlong into this new fangled...
The Farmer’ Markets of Bali
Bali’s traditional markets were once a necessity in a society where refrigeration and corner stores were not as widespread as...
Vintage Home in East Java
The civilisation of Java boasts of intricately artistic traditional architecture that stands the test of time. But people often forget...