Holland’s Indos Celebrate Roots

Halfway around the world from Indonesia, you can enjoy a sumptuous plate of nasi uduk and sip es cendol while taking in the melancholic sounds of a keroncong band. Tese tastes, sights and sounds come to life once a year in the Dutch city of The...

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Annual Fashion, Food Festival Spotlights Multicultural Jakarta

Jakarta’s annual fashion and food festival highlighting culinary treats and the works of home designers is under way. The festival, jointly organized by the Jakarta Tourism Office and...

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Light of the Gods on Bali’s Peaks

The chain of steps, cutting a narrow band through the damp green forest, rose above me. Sweat dripped from the tip of my nose; rustling and chattering in the undergrowth hinted at unseen monkeys and a cool, cloying mist rose from the rice terraces...

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Ruins of Majapahit Obscured By Apathy

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then I would say the roads of Trowulan — home to the Majapahit ruins, one of Asia’s most important civilizations and archaeological ruins — is littered with one well-intentioned mishap after another....

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Unveiling rare beauty

If you think you can only find Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel or the Pendusa God in fairytales and myths, then you’re wrong. In Indonesia, you can also find them on the traditional batik cloths. Hard to imagine? Maybe...

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Wayang Orang Sriwedari: A dying art form

A performance titled “Permadi-Bratajaya Lair”, part of the Mahabharata epic, was advertised at the entrance of Gedung Wayang Orang (GWO), the Javanese dance-drama theater in Sriwedari Amusement Park, Solo. But while visitors flocked to the park that evening, the GWO building remained deserte...

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Dance groups tango with popularity, preservation

The chiming of the gamelan sets 18 hands in motion, as nine women gingerly rotate their wrists and stretch up from the floor, their bodies unfolding like early spring flowers. The dancers’ movements are graceful but precise, their faces masks of concentration. They are practicing the Bedoyo, a...

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Potato Head’s Visual Palate A Feast for The Eyes

Potato Head only opened its doors in January last year, but it has already become something of a stalwart among Jakarta’s young socialites, executive types and expats. While the bar/restaurant serves excellent dishes and boasts an extensive ...

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Of Lagoons, Permits And Lost Sandals

The call to evening prayer reverberated among the hills of Sendang Biru, on the southern coast of Malang district, East Java. On one of the area’s mangrove bays, boats of various sizes surrounded a wooden stilt house that stood above the water’s...

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Indonesia's Paradise Of Pearls

Over the years, West Nusa Tenggara has slowly built a reputation as a beach-lover’s paradise. Located to the east of better-known Bali, it is comprised of the main islands of Lombok and Sumbawa and occupies an area of 20,000 kilometers and an estimated...

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World-Class Dancer Back on Local Stage

The room was abuzz with anticipation from the ladies lunching at the arts fundraiser. Eko was coming, they knew, he was just about to appear, and this was the kind of crowd that could...

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A quirky museum, a welcoming home

An impressive and imposing entranceway seems to stand guard as you approach the Antonio Blanco Museum located on a hill known as Campuan, in Ubud, Bali. Passing under this archway, the entrance road rises up steeply and there is a real sense of approaching something special but also a little reclusive. ...

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2nd Opinion: Urban reflections in 3-D

Amid the urban brouhaha of the metropolitan city of Jakarta, the exhibition of eight artists at Bentara Budaya art space comes like a soothing refreshment on a hot day. Who are we, life size mixed media by Ade Artie Tjakra. Courtesy of the artists While critical of many aspects of urban Jakarta,...

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In Pursuit of the Dragons of Alor

In the fishing village of Lanleki on the island of Alor, I met an old man who had seen a dragon. His name was Achmad. Sitting in the narrow front room of his small house, he told me...

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A Mosque With Chinese Character

It is undoubtedly exotic in its looks, but to the naive passerby the only thing that may seem truly extraordinary about this building in Palembang, South Sumatra, is its colorful architecture....

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Indonesia comes to Harrods

Waiters wearing blangkon (traditional Javanese head-dress) and batik sashes, diners enjoying soto Madura to the unique sound of a Sasando stringed instrument, and girls modeling ikat dresses on a catwalk. All this sounds familiar. Except the above didn't take place in Jakarta, or even Kupang, but...

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Anak Alam brings joy to children of Blandingan

  It was arguably the most touching birthday party Kadek Purnami had ever had. She struggled to fight her tears back as she looked at a group of around 50 children sitting before her. The children were dressed in worn-out clothes and most of them apparently hadn’t taken a bath for quite some...

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500 years on: Rebirth of a ritual

 Stairway to heaven : Hindu followers carry two holy-cow-shaped coffins believed to be vehicles to nirvana for the Palebon cremation ritual in Mt. Lawu area, Central Ja...

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Bali: A Cowboy’s Paradise

You may think you already know everything there is to know about the so-called cowboys of Kuta Beach in Bali. But Singaporean filmmaker Amit Virmani’s controversial documentary, “Cowboys in Paradise,” will make you think again. The film offers...

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Rock for Bali's Shore

Over his two-week Easter break from school, 15-year-old Gary Bencheghib was hard at work. Set on a mission to save Bali’s beaches, he believes the only way to do this is to get more people involved, locals and tourists alike. “Balinese young...

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Nusakambangan Island Up Close

Easy access: A motorcyclist drives onto a ferry from Nusakambangan. The ferry line, owned by the penitentiary, serves prison officials, wardens and their families. JP/Agus Maryono What do Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas, Imam Samudra, former president’s son Tommy Soeharto and timber tycoon Bob Hasan...

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