Angeles City in central Luzon (Philippines) was a unique stop on our travels. It was the only place where we had local friends. In particular, Robert and Mel, formerly of Boulder, Colorado, now live there again. This is where they met and married long ago. They lived here in the 1970s, and now again in… Continue reading Imerex Plaza Hotel – bad management, poorly built rooms, but nice art
Author: todd
bye bye, Bali
On Monday October 26, we checked out of the Mango Tree Inn in Pemuteran on the north shore of Bali, and our driver took us across the island to Kuta on the south side, a journey of several hours. Kuta is very near the airport, where we flew out for Manila on Tuesday October 27. Bali… Continue reading bye bye, Bali
my Balinese spa experience
We are staying at a B&B in a village on the northwest coast of the island of Bali called Pemuteran. One reason we chose Pemuteran is that it isn’t as touristy as much of Bali is. But there are some big, fancy resorts around, places with gates and guards and $200 a night rooms and… Continue reading my Balinese spa experience
sightseeing in Kumai and Pangkalan Bun
Here’s the third of three posts about our trip to Kalimantan. The first covered the strange journey from our B&B in Jakarta to our ecolodge in the jungle of Borneo. The second post covered our klotok trip, where we spent three days and two nights on the river watching birds, orangutans, and other wildlife. There’s… Continue reading sightseeing in Kumai and Pangkalan Bun
orangutan mother and child
I shot this video at one of the feeding stations at the Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It’s a mother orangutan and her child. I just loved the way that she went from one tree to the next by causing the entire tree to sway back and forth, with child clinging on… Continue reading orangutan mother and child
our river trip to Tanjung Puting
On the morning of Tuesday, October 13, 2015, we got up, had breakfast, and checked out of the Rimba Ecolodge. This was the day our tour of Tanjung Puting was going to start. Tanjung Puting is one of two places where orangutans still survive in the wild. They’re terribly endangered, due to their long lives,… Continue reading our river trip to Tanjung Puting
our first day in Borneo
Leaving Jakarta for the Tanjung Puting National Park was an adventure. Jakarta is a big, big city with major traffic problems. And all I knew about Central Kalimantan, where we were headed, was that it’s sort of a backwoods area. Quick geography note: Jakarta, which is Indonesia’s capital city, is on the island of Java. The… Continue reading our first day in Borneo
a few final thoughts about Jakarta
I already wrote about Jakarta’s streets and the weird stuff we saw there. And I wrote about the warung dining experience, specifically at Warung Nasi 007. And I wrote about our first experience with a style of food called nasi padang, which bewildered us but was also very tasty. I also shot and posted a… Continue reading a few final thoughts about Jakarta
a short walk down a Jakarta street
I mentioned in an earlier post that Beth suggested I should shoot some video of what it’s like walking down the street here in Jakarta. There’s no way I could describe the mayhem in words. So I shot some footage with my GoPro camera, just holding it in my hand. I hope you watch the… Continue reading a short walk down a Jakarta street
nasi padang, and I didn’t know it
Beth and I were walking around Kemang this morning, looking for something to eat for an early lunch. Many places were closed, and at least one of the warungs I found a sign for didn’t even exist anymore (such is the way of Indonesian street food, apparently). But after visiting an ATM for some cash,… Continue reading nasi padang, and I didn’t know it