Circus on wheels

Colorful contraptions like this patrol the streets of Jakarta, hoping to attract the wide-eyed children who are drawn to it with awe. As the driver pedals, the ‘vehicles’ rhythmically bounce up and down in tune with the birthday techno music pumping out of the bike’s roof. Street life is never dull in Jakarta. Cipulir, JakartaRead more

Photography for a good cause

If my photography can, in any way, help others or be a conduit from Indonesia to the world, then I’ll feel as if I’ve accomplished something meaningful. Photography, on its own, is a passion of mine but rather than make money off of selling pretty prints, I feel much more fulfilled if I can somehow give back. I was hoping that my photos of the flooding in Jakarta could help voice how dire the situation was, and to help raiseRead more

Prison Break: Maids

John left this comment regarding my maid posting: “escape out the roof at midnight to ‘hang out’ with the construction workers” 🙂 seems like you’re turning into an old fart. I guess I may as well come out with the full story of this one. It’s Friday and there’s nothing better to talk about at the moment. My next door neighbor has two maids: one about 17 years old, cute but knows it, and one a couple years older andRead more

Further perspectives on the flooding (via Ian's blog)

My friend, Ian, has shared his flooding experience on his blog. He had a bit of a different situation than I did, as he waited around another day before leaving Kelapa Gading – in the relative safety of a military truck versus the manure hauler we cruised in. Several of our friends houses and cars were damaged and we were inconvenienced somewhat but 1000’s of people lost everything – and as is typical in the developing world – it isRead more