This gallery contains 37 photos.
I’ve been standing still for far too long, even as I’ve been travelling more than I’ve ever travelled before in a single year. But travelling for work is not quite the same as travel for travel’s sake. I’ve been virtually … Continue reading
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Here are the highlights of my talk on Old Batavia (Jakarta). The full talk may be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD81C_LExjo Do come for my next talk on Friday, 30th Oct. Details to follow…
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So the question is this: how does one re-create something that is no longer there? The Hotel Des Indes was the oldest and the grandest of the Grand Hotels in Southeast Asia, having been opened in the 1860s. It was … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Jakarta was a weird one. I debated for sometime whether or not I would actually visit it – since the fundamental criteria for it being part of the Grand Tour was missing: Jakarta’s Grand Hotel – the Hotel Des Indes … Continue reading
This gallery contains 28 photos.
Across the Kali Mas (Mas River), East of the Jembatan Merah (or Red Bridge), sits a different world altogether from the one the Dutch lived and worked in. Here, there is a sort of dignified stillness and anonymity, associated with … Continue reading
This gallery contains 25 photos.
The colonial is everywhere in Surabaya, even as it lies buried underneath a layer of outwardly nationalistic symbols and slogans. Behind the banners in Bahasa, and past the hordes of chugging motorcycles and cars, the Dutch East Indies still lurks, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Paradise on Earth If it weren’t for the Hotel Majapahit, I would have had trouble remembering that Surabaya even existed, so entirely overshadowed has the city been by the Indonesian capital Jakarta, and by other tourist hotspots like Bali, Lombok … Continue reading
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“ ‘What do you think of that?’ asked Rienkie’s mother, pointing at the painting. ‘A real Indies sky, don’t you think?’ And only a few people could reproduce an Indies sky, she went on to say. To do that you … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 