We just returned from our little jaunt to Bandung. It’s about a 3 hour train ride from Jakarta, but it’s like a different world. It’s still smoggy and busy, but not nearly as smoggy and busy as Jakarta. It’s far…
Last night the third and final Ramadhan discussion was led by two Indonesian economists who discussed their recollections of the Indonesian economy under Suharto (they’re both really old). That’s right up my (TP) alley, of course. Thee Kian Wie is…
We’re sure that you’re all tired of reading about the Red Sox, but no one else you know is writing about Boston from Indonesia, so just put up with it. We’re thrilled to have the BoSox win. Aside from Yankees…
Indonesia is in the news today due to the discovery on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores of a descendant of Homo erectus now named Homo florensis. What makes this discovery so compelling is that this new species seems to…
I’ve (jm) put two new pictures on the site, check them out if you like. We were just walking around at our apartment and happened to see this beautiful sunset. These are fairly common here, which is lovely for looking…
Today is the second “Diskusi Ramadhan” at the Freedom Institute. It entails a free dinner (yum) and a discussion of Francis Fukuyama’s views on state-building (blah). The kitty who hangs around the Freedom Institute seems to know that food is…
I (TP) was all set to post about how we had discovered a new delicious kind of fried snack, and then JM comes up with “You know, I decided I didn’t really like that stuff after all.” Reflecting on it,…
Today is what you might call a “lazy day” for us. We’ve used our day off to sleep late, nap, watch TV, and go swimming. All in all, a good way to spend a hot one. I (TP) am dealing…
The “Ramadhan Discussion” last night was similar to almost every conference that I’ve attended. It involves a lot of bluster, talking, blah blah blah, not a lot of substance. Let me break it down. Fareed Zakaria (the guy who wrote…
We forgot to mention yesterday that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took his oath of office as the first directly-elected president of Indonesia. The news around here is good. People are attempting to be optimistic about his chances to foster real change…
