January 2010
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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...
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...
May 2009
12 posts
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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...
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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...
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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
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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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