nomad4ever

Jakarta – the capital of Indonesia – is a huge bustling Moloch of 23 million people, almost as many cars, motorbikes, exotic smells, street dogs and clouds of pollution. Currently you can add flooded streets and houses, which increase the usual chaos even more. Still it’s an amazing city, a mix of many cultures and a cosmopolitan place to live and work.

Locals and Expats who live here are longing for a weekend getaway, just to see something else than hectic traffic and jammed intersections. They want to experience nature, lush green hills, unspoiled beaches and most of all – uncrowded space:

written by Chris

Going to Bogor and Puncak over the festive days, we were taking Lion Air to get to Jakarta from Bali and back. Apart from being competitively priced (around Rp. 350.000 one way/person), I was positively surprised about the Lion Air flights.

The plane used was a spanking-new Boeing 737-900ER, one of the newest mid-range/single-aisle planes of Boeing. This youngest member of the 737 family only received its FAA certificate in the US in April 2007. And guess who was the launching partner?

Wait a minute – Lion Air Indonesia launching partner for the 737-900ER?

written by Chris

The year is almost over and thanks to your continuous support – it was an exciting and successful year, which saw phenomenal growth for nomad4ever.com.

Checking over at problogger.com, I noticed an interesting list of his best articles in 2007, copyblogger.com has a similar one.

I liked the idea and simply ‘copyblogged’ it, so much about this short introduction and the intention for this article.

Here is the wrap-up of the monthly highlights of Nomad4ever.com in 2007; the posts which attracted the most readers and sparked a lot of comments from you guys:

written by Chris

As the election booths were closed earlier today following the first election after the Coup of the Thai Military – the smoke is slowly starting to clear up. It looks now like the Allies of then deposed former PM Thaksin Shinawatra are headed for a victory.

This would come as a double blow to the Military who executed the ‘bloodless Coup’ accusing Thaksin of Corruption and robbing money from the people. They basically took over the country, when the PM was on a business trip in Europe to meet with other leaders.

Seems that the people have a different opinion:

written by Chris

As mentioned earlier – people around the world love and crave Asian food. I’m not talking about your standard Chinese Restaurant. There is more to experience and taste out there. Let’s start to introduce some of the many delicious dishes you can find around this vast region.

Where to begin?

As I’m currently residing in Bali, Indonesia – naturally I have to start with food from Indonesia. Indonesia has a wide variety of tribes, religions, cultures and cuisines. The most dominant food you can find at almost every corner, street or restaurant is Javanese food – originally from Java – and for good reasons:

written by Chris

Inspired by an idea of Mon earlier on this post, I searched the net far and wide to find the most common stereotypes about Nationalities.

Generalizations about cultures or nationalities can be a source of pride, anger or simply bad jokes. Some people say that in all stereotype there is some basis in reality, as they don’t develop in vacuum.

To give a more serious definition: “National Stereotype is a system of culture-specific beliefs connected with the nationality of a person. This system includes beliefs concerning those properties of human beings that may vary across nations, such as appearance, language, food, habits, psychological traits, attitudes, values etc.”

written by Chris

Volcanoes are a fascinating species. They are usually huge and quiet and suddenly can become very grumpy. That’s when they start to spit out smoke and ashes. But when they really are in a bad mood – all hell can break lose.

There were plenty of Volcano warnings recently in Indonesia, with Mount Kelut on Java getting the most media attention. He is in a densely populated area and the latest breakout was only as recent as 1990. Over the years Mount Kelut has claimed more than 15.000 lifes. Just yesterday when the Volcano Alert Status for Mount Kelut was downgraded from ‘breaking out any time’ to ‘breakout likely’; another Volcano spoke out once again with a big roar:

written by Chris

Most people still believe that they are dependent on what Government pension plans or their previous company will provide for them when they are ready to retire. Or that they have to work until 65, 68 or even until they drop dead to the floor. That debt, cost of living and steady consumerism and expenses will never allow them to live a more relaxed life and enjoy their day – with whatever comes to their minds.

Do you belong to them?

written by Chris