Most Indonesian wayang golek wooden puppets have a faint resemblance to real humans.  In my last blog I showed you one example in Putro Wayang Workshop of a Javanese woman puppet that moved toward realism.

Not far from the southern gateway through the fort walls of the Jogjakarta sultan’s palace one comes to Prawirotaman Street—long a famed hangout for backpacker tourists.  But these days there’s an increasing number of higher grade hotels, restaurants & even antique shops on Jalan Prawirotaman.

There's just 7 days left for you & your friends to get in on the 2013 Java-Bali Photo Tour

The island of Java, in Indonesia has been documented to have the most fertile soil in the world. The volcanic soil here grows rice like crazy. Where there’s abundant food people have time to do more than just look for dinner & culture thrives.  

Many Javanese have long been freed up to delve deeply into the arts.  Batik, filigree silver making, ornate wood carving—some of the world’s best of these can be found in Java.  And then, there’s wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre!

Penang, Malaysia is famous not only for being the food capital of Asia & the UNESCO World Heritage-preserved-site of one of the world’s last 19^th century Chinese port towns.  Penang is also getting talked about for the growing number of mass public sports events held here—round-island cycle rides, an annual marathon & the Penang Triathlon.

This year’s Triathlon started in the north coast fishing town of Teluk Bahang.