That’s right, readers, TP here with our first update in six months.  I am heading to Indonesia again for three weeks, from February 25 to March 18, to do a bit more research.  While I’m there, you can expect regular new updates on my travels.

Unfortunately, this trip will not be much of a vacation, so I won’t be traveling to interesting locales throughout the country.  My priority is to meet and interview as many academics, politicians, economists, journalists, businesspeople, and the like as I possibly can while I’m there.  So that confines me to Jakarta mostly.  But I do hope to get out of Jakarta, hopefully for a trip to Bandung or Bogor, or maybe to the Thousand Islands in the Java Sea north of Jakarta, or maybe even to Krakatau (Krakatoa) in the strait between Java and Sumatra.  We’ll just have to see.

Hopefully, though, I’ll be able to relate some interesting stories even if I don’t travel too much.  I should also note that JM will not be joining me, which is a real downer.  Instead I will be traveling in the company of James, a college friend who studies colonial American economic history, specifically trade.  He’s had to do research in such hardship places as Mauritius and Cape Town, and now wants to see about ships coming through old Batavia.

Professional priorities

• Interviews
• Data collection
• Make contacts for future work

Culinary priorities

• Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti (Mrs. Suharti’s Fried Chicken)
• gado-gado
• pecel lele (fried catfish and salad)
• masakan Padang
• mendoan tempe (breaded and deep-fried tempe)
• coto Makassar (beef or water buffalo offal soup) from Rumah Makan Losari on Jalan Kendal
• bakso ayam (chicken and meatball soup)
• dendeng (deep-fried beef or goat jerky)
• bebek Bali (Balinese-style duck, cooked until the bones are tender enough to eat)
• bakut Ahon (Chinese pork ribs, Bandung-style)
• Bir Bintang
• sate (satay, all types)