Articles from this Category
15 October 2009
Above: Church and village on Bunaken island. It was bright when I opened my eyes. I looked at my phone-clock and it said 0611. But twenty minutes after, my alarm hadn’t sounded. Upon checking, I had misread the clock and it was in fact only 0511. As Manado and Bunaken is in the eastern end […]
14 October 2009
Above: Boats arrive through a clearing in the mangrove. After our errands in the city of Manado, it was time for us to go to Bunaken for a two night stay and two days of diving. We had hoped for a slightly longer stay but it wasn’t meant to be due to yesterday’s morning flight […]
14 October 2009
Above: Chinese temple in Manado. We were due to be picked up at 2pm for our boat ride to Bunaken. That left time for a leisurely breakfast and a walk around town … there’s only really a Chinese temple to visit and that wasn’t quite worthwhile as it wasn’t as impressive as the ones in […]
13 October 2009
Killing time Today we fly to Manado in the north-eastern arm of Sulawesi. We had to checkout at 1000 as it was the required time for Tune Hotel. It wasn’t too much trouble to fill in the time till the 1550 departure: A leisurely breakfast at the patio of the hotel. Walked over to the […]
24 September 2008
Not a bed of roses Today, Mike and I travelled from Bukittinggi to Padang together and stayed at the same hotel. Text continues after this gallery. While looking for lunch we met Ricky (a Chinese Indonesian who works for the maker of the famous Kopiko sweet found around the world). He was absolutely […]
23 September 2008
Above: Today’s ride was about 32km in each direction and included 44 Hairpin turns each way! 44 Hairpins Down and 44 Hairpins Up Today Mike and I with our drivers headed to Lake Maninjau about 32km away. It is a volcanic crater lake and from the top of the rim looking down, we had to […]
22 September 2008
Above: Approximate route for the day. Highland on two wheels I hired a motorcycle and driver for the day to take me around to various Minangkabau cultural sights, especially the beautiful architecture set amongst the green countryside. Travelling with me was a 21 year old English student Mike and his driver. Strangely he’s studying English […]
21 September 2008
“Maiden” flight I woke at 0430 in order to make my 0750 flight to Padang comfortably. While checking-in, I checked out my fellow passengers. It was largely a a maid-and-worker flight. There were a few couples helping their maids with the process eg. making sure they weren’t pinged with baggage charges unnecessarily. It felt good […]
8 May 2008
What Jakarta lacks in sights, it makes up with surprises . The thing that struck me about Jakarta (beyond the obvious factors like heat, grime, crowd) was the friendliness of its people. For a city of 17 (or is it 9 … depends on who you speak to) million people, I find that people have […]
6 May 2008
Jakarta isn’t a city I had planned visiting by itself … perhaps as a gateway to Java and the more interesting cities. But AirAsia had just launched a new route from Kuching to Jakarta and offered free flights both ways! Fuel surcharge and taxes excluded. It was an offer too good to refuse especially when […]