This eclectic gallery consists of images taken in Indonesia during several visits to this country between 2006 and 2011. My original intention was to include images that would have included a trip to Komodo/Rinca/Flores where Komodo dragons roam in November 2011 but due to unforseen circumstances I had to cancel that trip and therefore I had to put this gallery together with just images that I took up to this point. Prior to 2006, I used a film camera system. Although the slides were scanned but still I prefer straight digital images for this gallery.

I was born and grew up in Indonesia. As such, I am familiar with a lot of the tradition, cuisine and culture of that country. However, I left Indonesia in 1970, although I came back to visit twice in 1990's but not until 2006 when I came back more on a regular basis. Based on our fairly frequent visits to that country lately, it is fairly easy to keep up with the development over there.

The Indonesian Archipelago consists of some 14,000 islands, spread out over a huge area, similar in width of the United States. Some islands are very remote and the smaller ones are not populated. No wonder Indonesia is such a diverse country. Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. I remembered when I was little, my parents took us a few times to visit different parts of Java and it wasn't that easy to communicate with local people as they spoke a different language, not dialect but simply a different language. However, Indonesia has changed since my early years living there. Now, there is one common language spoken throughout the country, Bahasa Indonesia, although some folks still speak their own tongue among each other in remote areas.

Jakarta, the capital city on the island of Java is a sprawling metropolitan. The number of fancy shopping malls, luxurious hotels, ultra modern offices, high rises and luxurious apartment complexes in Jakarta is enormous. I was very impressed with the development in Jakarta. No question that Jakarta in particular or Indonesia in general has experienced an incredible growth in more than one way, and mostly positive ways. But that is not the image of Jakarta I was familiar with and grew up with. As such, I didn't include any images from that part of Jakarta. You have to take my words that there are very modern, very upscale life styles in Indonesia, maybe more so than you may have imagined. I was thinking out loud of naming the gallery "Traditional Indonesia" but decided against it at the end.

This change also brings about a change in their cuisine as I could see some blending of various dishes with some influence from the West. Some traditional food items that were common back then became rare and had to be special ordered. It seems like the development of real estate projects, sprawling shopping centers, golf courses, manufacturing facilities, etc. put a significant dent in the availability of agricultural fields, especially on Java. Fruits that were common back then have become rare now.

Quite a bit of images of typical Indonesian food items made it to this gallery, although photographically they may not be that interesting but they do bring back a lot of memories. The sequence of the images is not based on a certain theme nor event. However, images that are related to each other are put in a sequence to tell some kind of story.

As a side note here - Bali is one of the many islands of Indonesia. It is nicknamed the Island of Paradise and it is unique, even for Indonesia in general. Practically during every visit to Indonesia, I went to Bali and I do have a separate gallery for that particular island here: https://pbase.com/ageojo/bali For that reason, images from Bali are not included in this gallery.

Normally, we go visit places on our own. Indonesia is a very special place in more than one way to us. We were able to blend in more like local tourists, especially since we travel together with relatives and friends that still live there. Therefore, I would like to thank the following folks: Bapak Julius Kawilarang, Ibu Lydia Lasmana, Bapak Anton Supit and Ibu Supit, Bapak Halim, Ibu Tjiong Sin Hian, Bapak Gunawan Budihardjo, Dr. Samuel Simon, Ibu Daisy Darmadi, Bapak Lee Yung Hauw and numerous high school friends for their hospitality.

Enjoy the images and feel free to leave comment on the gallery or the images themselves. Thank you!