The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Indonesia' Category

WoWasis book review: Asian Godfathers, powerful, influential, dangerous business barons in Asia

For those of us who frequently travel to and do business in Asia, it becomes increasingly important to understand who the major players in the business world are, and how they have traditionally operated. Two books we here at WoWasis have reported on before are Martin Booth’s The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of the […]

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WoWasis book review: Do-it-yourself adventures in Southeast Asia by Harold Stephens

The problem with many adventure travel books is that the layperson can’t easily replicate the travels discussed in them. This is not the case with veteran adventure writer Harold Stephens’ Return to Adventure Southeast Asia, with Amazing Thailand as the Hub (2000, ISBN 0964-2521-6-3). As experienced travelers ourselves, what fascinated us here at WoWasis is […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Painted in the Tropics,’ the life of painter Theo Meier, by Harold Stephens

If you’re like us, you weren’t prepared to find that the Indonesia’s island of Bali hosted a number of extraordinary expat painters. Balinese museums and private collections are full of their work, and the viewer is left wanting to know more about these extraordinary artists. Noted expat Asian author Harold Stephens provides many important details […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Who Needs a Road? The Longest and Last Motor Journey Around the World’ by Harold Stephens and Albert Podell

Back in 1999, we here at WoWasis drove 4000 km through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We broke down in soft sand up to our axels in the bush with lions nearby, got an accidental fill-up of diesel 200 km from the nearest Kalahari town, and did it all while driving solo in a […]

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WoWasis introduces author Harold Stephens’ people of Southeast Asia

Harold Stephens knows Southeast Asia about as well as any author we’ve read. He knows it by sea as well as by land, and has written two books based on the fascinating people he’s met in Asia over the years, At Home in Asia: Expatriates in Southeast Asia and Their Stories, and The Strange Disappearance […]

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WoWasis book review: Harold Stephens’ ‘The Voyages of the Schooner Third Sea’

Ever thought about cashing it all in, grabbing a sailboat, and traveling in the South Seas? Writer Harold Stephens did just that, and chronicles the romance and challenges of doing so in his thrilling book The Voyages of the Schooner Third Sea (2012, ISBN 978-0-9786951-5-6). Here at WoWasis, we’ve become real fans of the travel […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘The Strange Disappearance of Jim Thompson’ by Harold Stephens

Don’t let the title of the book fool you. There’s more here than just a story of the demise of the legendary silk king. Harold Stephens’ The Strange Disappearance of Jim Thompson and Stories of Other Expats in Southeast Asia (2003, ISBN 0-9642521-7-1), which originally was published in 1978 under the title Asian Portraits, is […]

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Sharia follies continue in Indonesia’s Sumatra with proposed banning of face-forward female motorcycle riders

Ignorance remains bliss in Indonesia’s Aceh province in Sumatra as the city of Lhokseumawe has proposed a  Sharia law that would ban female motorcycle passengers from riding face-forward. Deeming the position “improper,” according to the mayor, women now must ride side-saddle. Sumatra recently banned tight trousers on women, as reported in an article appearing in the […]

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WoWasis product review: a wristwatch compass that’s efficient and inexpensive

Carry this great small compass with you whenever you’re in an unfamliar place

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How to avoid excessive phone charges when traveling in Asia

Avoiding excessive phone charges while traveling is easy. Here’s how…

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