It was one of those waking moments when I thought I was still trapped in la-la land because the text message that woke me up read something like, “we are being invited to guest on a TV show. Get your ass online.” So I staggered in the middle of the night and checked our email. Lo and behold, it was true. But then as I scanned the message, the taping dates fell on the dates Ron and I will celebrate his birthday in God-knows-where. I contacted the researcher and our chance of making ourselves …

We came, we saw, we kicked some arse!
Our short trip in Sri Lanka was packed with stories we would not get tired of telling over and over–over some bottles of beer. We got loads of pictures and gigabytes of video clips as proof of our little Indian ocean conquest. But more than the whole experience and those two dimensional accounts in my hard drive, we were able to leave our imprints in this Non-Indian island south of India in the middle of the Indian ocean.
We never expected that we would make …

When people ask us why we travel together, our answer is plain and simple. We travel together because we complement each other in a lot of ways.
We tell stories in our own styles, we crave different adventures stretching wide across the id-anal continuum; one has a hunger for exotic food adventure while the other is contented with a quaint quiet time on the dinner table; one gravitates toward extreme activities and the other will fall silent in a cozy corner with a good book at hand. It is a good …

“The brighter the sunlight, the deeper the shadows…” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The long and winding road did not lead me to the significant other’s door, but to the yard of Batik Painting Art Centre by Hery’s. It was the day I met my guide who led me to the inner streets without telling me where we were going. I was so ready to show my ninja moves if he was ever going to try something. But he didn’t, and my kunai stayed hidden under my clothes.

The place is a batik …

After immersing myself in the majestic Hindu culture, my guide and I hopped on the motorcycle and went directly to Borobudur to bathe under Buddhist awesomeness. I had to revert back to my old deaf character as soon as I entered the complex. Like the temple I saw earlier, Borobudur was towering among the clouds and was bathing in the afternoon sunlight.  
  
Yes, you read that right. Borobudur, the most impressive Buddhist monument and complex I’ve ever seen, predates the famous Angkor Wat of Cambodia by nearly 300 years. Unfortunately, a few …

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Bandung Bondowoso. We shall call him Hunk. And also during that time, there was a gal named Roro Jonggrang. Let’s call her Babe. Of course, Hunk wanted to marry  no less than “the” babe. So he went to Babe’s dear dad and impressed the living lights out of him that by the end of the courtship (you really have to court the parents, and not the object of your demented affection), dear dad said “alrighty!” plus thumbs up with a wicked wink in one eye. Pissed …

The streets of Jogjakarta smelled of whisper in the middle of the day. As I quietly traced its pavements, they turned into more audible sounds and I felt like I was taking crazy pills heightened by my hangover from the last night. The walls seemed to talk.

I walked the stretch of Malioboro until it led me to The Kraton, or Sultan’s Palace, a symbol of ensuring that the harmony between the court and the divine forces of the universe is intact. The courtyards mirror the ocean that surrounds the main pavilion, which in turn represents …

“If you are what you eat, then we are FAST, CHEAP AND DIRTY!!!” ~Ron Cruz

Somehow, I don’t think that is what Brillat-Savarin wanted to say… But I have to admit liking fast and cheap food, though the concept of eating sometimes escapes me. The dirty part is just an added bonus, like the fly on top of the cherry that is on top of the cake. Yummy!

My gastronomic trip led me to sit down Bladok restaurant on my first night in Jogjakarta. Since the food was a bit expensive, I decided …

There is one thing that ticks me off when I travel, and that is being asked the never ending question of why I am alone (except, of course, when I travel with Ron, then WE suffer the question: “how long have you guys been dating?” Ugh!). Sometimes, people get clever and would ask me if I am meeting a friend when I get to my destination. I open a can of worms the moment I answer, “No.” Then follows the question of my civil status; of why, at my age, …

I am a selfish person. And Ayn Rand… I owe it all to you. If I wasn’t able go to Beijing, I shall go somewhere else. Hello Indonesian people! You shall have me for a visitor! Please make sure you change my perception that you lovely people exude this certain… certain, hmmm… certain… thing…

And so my journey began at Jakarta airport which felt like committing suicide every minute because I had to stay there for 18 hours (why I did not leave the airport is a testament to my laziness). At …