Blogs from Malang, Java, Indonesia, Asia - page 3

a quick note about the photos - they do not follow chronologically with the story. The story below recounts events and travels from April til June. If you scroll down to the last part titled 'Weekends with Irwan' places depicted in photographs are in bold print. All travel accounts and photos were taken in East Java: Lawang, Tretes, Trawas, Malang, Tuban, Gresik, Jember and Kalibaru. PrologueIt is a Friday morning, clear sky, a band entertains a contented crowd at Gubeng Station. Irwan and I jocky about the platform searching the first car business class. Though he's local, he never asks directions. And though I'm the foreigner, I often take the lead. We board the 730 Sancaka Siang bound for Jogja. This is our last weekend together. I've booked us into a posh hotel inside the grounds ... read more

What do think of when you hear Java ?? A software platform, developed by Sun Microsystems ? Cup of coffee ? Jabba the hutt from Star wars ? On our mission to colonize Indonesia, we just reached Java, the 5th larges island of the archipel. Java acts as Indonesia's center of cultural and economic activity, most prominent features are coffee (Java is a paradise for coffee junkies and can be considered the 4th biggest exporter for the famous gourmet robusta coffee, formerly known as liberica and arabica), vulcanos embedded in pitoresque bizarr unreal appearing landscapes which don't even think !!!! about giving up smoking as u can easily can make out from the pix. Even more they erupt from time to time, when the gods (or Allah) are getting angry. What else ... ah yes, Warungs, ... read more