Mark, my Oz fren, came to my hometown of Yogyakarta, Indonesia sometimes in April 2007, and wanted to learn Indonesian Language. He allocated 6-7 months to learn and speak fluently. I was surprised that he could eventually speak Indonesian language fluently only in…2.5 months. When I asked him, he simply said “Bahasa Indonesia adalah bahasa [...]
Have you watched Avatar movie? One thing that amazes me is how James Cameroon displayed his imagination, especially of the plants and animals. One of the best displayed was the flying dragon, the blue and the colorful one, the Toruk Makto. It was just yesterday when we believe that a real dragon lives in Indonesia, it [...]
Measuring up Indonesia’s many airport executive lounges, waiting around in luxury. One of things I like about Indonesian airports is that executive lounges are in general much less exclusive and cheaper to visit. Where visiting the executive lounge overseas can cost hundreds of dollars in an annual membership, in Indonesia all you need is the correct [...]
I met this ‘creature’ many times in my childhood, even until now, I can still find it in my hometown in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I never realized that it attracts scientists’ attention so much. This animal flies from trees to trees and climbs up at it with incredible speed. I am not sure of the scientific name [...]
Indonesia, blessed with abundant natural resources, is on its way creating new materials that are natural and more environmentally friendly for eco-friendly applications including bio-automobile, organic electronics, and structural building materials. Utilizing cellulose nanofibers, researchers in Indonesia are developing bio-nanocomposite materials that are flexible, transparent, mechanically strong and thermally stable. This research is in collaboration with [...]
I was surprised to received an email this morning from GNFI reader, he/she’d like me to post something about a metal band from Finland, named Battlelore. Few who know this band, as it is from somewhere in the far north, and iIam not sure if they’ve released their album internationally. What is so special about Battlelore? [...]
The economic crisis of 2008-09 appears to be over, but along the way it has transformed the shape and dynamics of the global economy. This unexpected and dramatic development has not been due to the vigour of the Chinese economy or the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies as a whole, but the emergence of a [...]
By Karim Raslan Over the past few weeks, as Indonesians have bemoaned the state of their own industries that are seemingly crumbling in the face of China’s export machine, I’ve been on quest to write about uniquely Indonesian products. It has taken me from Bandung and Dendy Darman’s hyper-cool UNKL347 clothes line to Tumanggong and Pak [...]
Singapore, a tiny nation to which I always give my appreciation, is arguably the hottest spot for visitors in Southeast Asia. I have been to Singapore for more than 30 times, and each visit gave me new story about this island. No wonder, this compact nation remains receiving many millions of visitors per year. In 2009, [...]
After China and India, Indonesia is the fastest growing economy among the G20 By Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo Indonesia’s economy, Southeast Asia’s biggest, grew 4.5 percent last year and is on track to lead the region’s recovery from the global economic crisis, officials said Wednesday. Resilient domestic demand, stimulus spending and political stability helped the mainly Muslim nation [...]