Two foreign hotels in Jakarta have been hit by suicide bombers killing at least 9 people and injuring many more.
I was hopeful that terrorism in Indonesia had died along with the 2005 Bali bombers, but it seems as though Indonesia is again under threat from further senseless acts of violence aimed at western interests in Indonesia.
Some parts of tourism had just started recovering in Indonesia and now the bomb blasts are going to resurface the previous attacks in Jakarta and Bali.
It just makes me sad, as I have …

There has been quite a lot of controversy in the letters section of the Jakarta Post over the fact that the new Miss Indonesia Kerenina Sunny Halim can’t even speak Bahasa Indonesia. She impressed the judges with her English ability but need a translator when it came to answering questions in Indonesian.
“It’s been hard for me *to speak Indonesian*, because I use English every day,” says the half-American woman. “But I will learn. Indonesian is an easy language, as long as we’re willing to learn.”
Since she will be representing …

I wrote recently about foreign English teachers being underpaid in Indonesia, but then I saw an article in a free magazine for expats living in Malaysia, on finding an overseas maid.
The article gives two options for employing help from overseas.
An Indonesian maid will cost:
- 450RM a month (around US$125 a month)
- work seven days a week
- and salary is banked into the maid’s bank account at the end of every month, as she is not able to ‘carry cash for the first two years working in Malaysia’.
A Filipina …

The first time I noticed the bamboo suspension bridge in Bukit Lawang was when I asked the lady in the restaurant (warung) where the toilet was. She pointed across the bridge to a place on the other side of the river. It was my second bottle of Bintang and I wasn’t too keen on trying to cross the suspension bridge that looked like it had come straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. It wouldn’t be long and it would be dark, so I thought I could …

A new species of fish has been identified in Indonesia.
The frogfish – which has a swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes that extend from its aqua eyes to its tail – was initially discovered by scuba diving instructors working for a tour operator a year ago in shallow waters off Ambon island in eastern Indonesia.
The operator contacted Ted Pietsch, lead author of a paper published in this month’s edition of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, who submitted DNA work identifying …

Soripada Lubis, a U.S. citizen, originally from Indonesia has been charged with harboring illegal immigrants for commercial advantage and private financial gain.
His wife has also been charged with making false statements to federal agents. The couple have been keeping Indonesian women in their basement since 2000. The women worked as housekeepers in the area.
They lived in cramp conditions, sometimes sleeping three to a bed.
Source

Philip Robert Grandfield aged 62 was arrested last August for sex crimes against under-age boys. He has been given a jail sentence of eight years for his crimes. There is a chance he will face further charges in Australia if he makes it through his sentence in Bali.
Grandfield converted to Islam to try and get a lesser sentence. Michelle Leslie who was caught with ecstasy tablets in Bali also converted to Islam while she awaited her trial, where she was sentenced to 3-months jail.
Grandfield had been living …

This is my new blog on Indonesia.  I plan on writing about news, events and travel in Indonesia.  Having just moved to the country, I have found it a fascinating place.  I love tring to understanding different cultures, religion and languages.
Well, there is a lot to try and understand here!  Hillary Clinton just visited the country, which for a day or two put the country in the news.  There are some upcoming elections in the country this year, which are also going to be interesting to follow.
I am planning to …