Last entry was supposed to be a goodbye. My last entry from Jakarta. But then I went for a walk the other day and this all happened. After work, I needed to […]
One Last Walk
One Papaya Leaf and Counting…..
It’s the end of Ramadan in Jakarta. The perfect time to be here. The city has emptied out. Some 80% of Jakartans have gone elsewhere for the week. Electricity usage is down […]
Our Daughter the Shredder.
Daughter of S.A.M. got a summer job at the embassy. Often kids can’t work on the local economy. They do a great job of creating positions for kids on summer breaks either […]
Momma Jockeys
I’ve talked of traffic lots. Jakarta traffic jams are the worst in the world, based on the number of times drivers apply the brakes over a given distance. The whole of traffic […]
On the Rock
I’m back in Papua New Guinea, the other end of the island. Not much has changed in Port Moresby. Major road construction projects are winding up and it’s easier to get around […]
Oleh-Oleh!
Oleh Oleh is a tradition here. The practice of bringing back gifts for people when you go away on a trip. Most Indonesian airports here have dedicated Oleh Oleh shops for just […]
The Trouble with the Gays
It’s been just six weeks since the bombing and shooting in Central Jakarta, so it is understandable that the country is in an uproar about… the gays. All the other letters are […]
Istiqlal Mosque
We’ve been here for a year and a we hadn’t been yet to the Isitqlal mosque. This is a huge presence in the north of the city. It’s the largest mosque in […]
To Market, To Market
Suddenly, just like that, we’re on the downward slope of our time here. A handful or two of months. A bushel of weeks. The clock is ticking insistently. With the dwindling weekends […]
Jakarta Outside the Box
A few rapidly digested thoughts on Jakarta. We heard about the disturbance in Jakarta about 30 minutes after the initial blast. We check on each other. We check on the kids who […]
Secret Asian Man 