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Jakarta Floods 2007

Wow. What an experience that turned out to be. My last posting was written during the first day of rain when Kelapa Gading (my area in the north side of Jakarta) was flooded but still functioning. Things went quickly downhill from there. That night, torrential rains began falling and continued throughout the night. My wake up call came in the form of my air conditioner shutting off due to the power being cut. My initial reaction to that is toRead more
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Floods in Jakarta

When I heard the downpour around 4am this morning, I had no idea how bad it really would be. The city is drowning as we speak, under the torrential rains of these past two days. Some areas of Jakarta are under more than 6ft of water. People are using rafts to get around, and some have become stranded. One of the worst things is that the vile canals have mixed in with the floodwaters, creating a potentially toxic, soupy messRead more
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Kuala Lumpur – Suggestions?

We’re considering going to Kuala Lumpur for a week in March. I’ve only been through the airport, so I really have no idea if this is a good idea or not. Do any of you have any advice? I considered Bangkok, but it’s quite a bit cheaper to head to K.L. via AirAsia, unless of course going to Bangkok is well worth the difference in price. The catch is that I have to book it by tomorrow. If we headRead more
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Handphones are destroying memories (handphone cameras vs point and shoot cameras)

What a bold statement to make, right? Having lived in Indonesia for half a decade, I’ve witnessed a revolution in handphone/cellphone technology – a revolution which swept across Asia and throughout the world. Upon my arrival, handphones were something you used to call someone with – and that’s about all. With the arrival of video and photo capturing abilities built into these pocket rockets, there’s little need to carry other gadgets around – or is there? I cringe when IRead more