August 2010
1 post
Masquerade
Surrounded by hipsters and scared to be caught in a scene, self-consciousness takes over. A girl in orgasmic tights thrashes on stage. The crowd competes while her screams create a mini-riot.
Masks dot the faces of the people below. Tarts in hooker heels tower overhead. And I am nonexistent.
When the band stops, anxiety kicks in. The DJ muffles lubricated conversations with an eclectic mix of...
January 2010
1 post
Returned to Oz
Everyone keeps saying, in strong Australian twangs, “You’ve come full circle”. And I suppose I have, ending in the very same place I left a year and ten months ago. After a year working in Indonesia and travel stints in Canada and South America, with dread and an empty bank account I returned to my hometown.
I was scared that I had changed and more that I hadn’t. I was terrified of Australia...
October 2009
1 post
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Wasted places
He only left the hostel to purchase Oreos and Doritos from the corner store when he was met with the munchies.
Shifting in the hard, narrow bed he had paid US$4 to spend the night, he thought his thoughts were wasted. A ceiling fan clunked overhead, its breeze unable to kiss his sweaty face. Four single girls in four single beds slept to his right, each girl lay curled in the fetal position, each...
July 2009
1 post
The slaughterhouse 12
Goats started to line the streets in the week leading up to Idul Adha. Tied on short leads to fence posts, and feeble.
The smell of manure mingled with the stench of the city in the heat of the day, as the goats breathed in the spluttered smoke of bajaj, kopajas and other fuel-inefficient vehicles.
The goats disappeared this morning.
I watched 10 goats and two cows get sacrificed in a car park...
2 tags
Santiago
Triping over my tongue to order una cerveza. Tripping over my toes to dance the salsa. A middle-aged man breaths pisco, while I stare at my feet. I quickly escape presumption.
Cold air, cold beer and drunken laughs. Thieves linger at the edge of darkness along the streets of Bellavista. Unseen. Collecting cameras and credit cards, and stealing into the night. Police swagger to the scene, puff...
May 2009
12 posts
2 tags
1 tag
Efek Rumah Kaca: Insomnia
karena aku masih belum...
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Should never drink two coffees in one day. A strange mix of unexplained excitement and anxiety brews.
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Au Revoir Simone: Sad Song pour mon amour parce...
1 tag
Which Disney character are you?
Facebook quiz #863:
Question one of one
Which animal do you most identify with:
(a) A male mouse with large round ears;
(b) A female mouse with large round ears;
(c) A short-tempered duck;
(d) A clumsy anthropomorphic dog that walks on his hind legs; or
(e) A regular stupid dog that cannot speak.
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Disparate worlds
And some more things about Jakarta:
The difference between the rich and the poor is palpable. Completely different worlds coexist (or struggle) within the one tangled city –- different economies, different temperatures.
When the rich are rich they are obscenely so. They make their way from large houses to shiny mega-malls in chauffeured SUVs, air-conditioned, cool, barely needing to step outside...
2 tags
First impressions
Some things about the place I have recently been:
Jakarta is a series of choked arteries, tangled. Motorbikes weave around stuck SUVs and taxis, while the roads collapse under the weight, potholed and vulnerable.
The city is manic and gasping for fresh air. Smog traps the heat and they swirl together, suffocating the millions below.
But as the city stresses and heaves, its people appear...
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An elation for creation →
my platonic lover
8 tags
From the Big Durian to the Australian Burbs
My brain wanders, looking for direction
Where ojeks once darted past the Hello Misters of children,
The streets are silent and the pubs are full.
My lungs rejoice.
My liver braces.
My heart slumps.
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