Jakarta is a city of noise, a cacophony of noise. From the moment you arrive in the city, whether it is by airplane, train or bus, the new arrival steps into a warm, humid bath of sound. The noise is mostly man made, motorbikes, trucks, cars, horns, sirens, bells. It is a place not for those who like peace and quiet.







Rural Indonesia is quite the opposite- a mixture of man made and nature’s sounds gently rolled into a smooth,… Continue

I measure coffee culture in the crema of my very short ristretto. This is nigh near impossible to do in Indonesia, where an espresso can come in cups as big as cappuccino mugs. Often the cafes of Indonesia make the mistake of changing the time honoured drink preparations to suit the perceptions of the coffee drinkers of that country, instead of educating them to what is a short black, a piccolo or a doppio. There is a tale, which may or may not be true, about the opening of the first Starbucks… Continue