Beach Blanket Christmas
Well, this is new. This is the first trip we’ve taken out of spite. Specifically, spite at obtuse airline restrictions designed to keep you from using your travel credits. We had to cancel our scheduled…
They Doth Protest Too Much
I have been wrestling, sadly, just with myself, with writing about Chicago. I think of this blog as my way of deciphering the environment I’m in when we travel, seeing it as an outsider but…
We Are Art Sluts
I’m not ashamed. Of anything, really, but certainly not of being an art slut. So much of our motivation to travel is to see what clever people in different places can do with their thumbs.…
Like Etsy IRL
Java has been a thicket of arts and crafts. Silver, glass, weaving, painting, basketry, leather, puppets… Java has had the richest mix of crafts of anywhere we’ve been, on a par with Morocco or Oaxaca,…
Batik-apalooza
Bali’s ikat fabrics are gorgeous. Subtle, rich, intricate, implausible in their craft. In counterpoint, Java’s batiks are the bumptious clown car to Bali’s sleek Formula 1 racer. Loud, intense, riotous, overstuffed… As we looked around…
Ramayana Ding Dong
Dance and performance have been recurring themes all throughout Southeast Asia. From Cambodia’s post-genocide recreations, to Vietnam’s water puppets, to Bali’s gamelan-fueled Ramayana tales, we’ve sampled performance at every stop. Wayang Orang Sonobudoyo We’d yet…
We Owe It All To Sir Stamford Raffles…
Borobudur : Java :: Angkor Wat : Cambodia. You’ll thank me when you next have to take the SAT. What I mean is that both temples are so iconic that, even if you can’t name…
Meet The Betels
Indonesia is not exactly a drug-friendly country. When we were landing in Denpasar our steward asked us to fasten our seat belts, raise our seats, and lock our tray tables before cheerfully announcing that bringing…
Java Jive
It’s an hour-and-a-half flight from Denpasar to Yogyakarta, and about that long by cab from the airport to our Airbnb in the Kotagede neighborhood. Let’s orient ourselves. Yogyakarta is pronounced Jogjakarta, and is commonly referred…
A Balinese County Fair
All unbeknownst, we arrived in Denpasar in the midst of their annual month-long art fair, Pesta Kesenian Bali. It takes place on the grounds of the Taman Werdhi Budaya Art Centre, which was purpose built…