Of course I am interested in reading what other bloggers have to say about my native country Indonesia, especially those of Java blogs.
Indonesia is a beautiful (and especially exotic, for most westerners) destination, but really, reading several blogs that have different perspectives about it really opens up my mind about Indonesia - because growing up there, I unfortunately took things for granted - the beautiful rice paddy scenery, dotted green islands in blue ocean, diversified cultures, delicious food, and rugged ocean shorelines are just another daily life for the most of us.
And I completely understand what these bloggers sometimes have to complain about the country, because I certainly understand both cultures (west and east), and it is somewhat entertaining to read some frustrations and funny stories - squat toilets, police/immigration bribes, spicy food, minaret wake-up calls at 4am, naughty monkeys, to name a few 😊
Quite honest, prior to discovering travelblog, I have no interests in being a tourist at my own city. Well, I thought, what is the point of exploring the city you grew up/live your whole life - but a couple of Indonesian blogs re-introduced me to the love of exploring Indonesia. After that, I always have interests in exploring my current cities - Rome (Italy) and Atlanta (USA), the other two places I have an opportunity to live in.
Although most of the Indonesian blogs are from Bali, a beautiful yet overrated place IMHO, there are more places in Indonesia to explore.
I even bought the LonelyPlanet Indonesia to read and to compare - and I learn quite a bit about the place (and the culture!!!). I discover MANY places and things that they didn't even mention in the book. I was quite disappoited, and even had a thought to employed by LP to explore and re-write some parts of their book, hahaha. That would be a dream job, if somebody paid for my expense and time in exploring some 17,000 islands and 300 cultures of Indonesia.
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